Quote:
Originally Posted by Suave
So this is what the Raptors lineup might look like on opening day. They have 3 roster sports open and are $12 million under the tax level thanks to the trade along with MLE and LLE. Guys in italics are possibilities
PG: Jose Calderon, Roko Ukic, Marcus Banks, Quincy Douby
SG: Antoine Wright, Carlos Delfino, DeMar DeRozan,
SF: Hedo Turkoglu, Linas Kleiza, Devean George
PF: Chris Bosh, Reggie Evans,
C: Andrea Bargnani, Rasho Nesterovic, Patrick O’Bryant
I think it is an improvement over last year and they can challenge for a playoff spot. They are not going to go from pretenders to contenders in one off-season.
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Wright won't be the starter at SG. Chuckfino will be or they will even go with a pattern used a lot these days with DD starting but not playing the most minutes. Get's him used to playing with starters yet he is relied on to do very little but slash, rebound and play defense. In other words use his athletic talents which are considerable. BC talked about Rasho again today and I don't think he even needs the italics. AB's defense is improving but no way he can line up against Howard or Shaq and do anything but get owned. Wright did a good job with the Mavs as their sixth man and that would be a good role for him with the Raps.
Kleiza to me makes a lot of sense because he can play the 3 or the 4. Delfino can play the 2 or the 1. Wright can backup 2 or the 3.
They can waive Douby--his contract is only partially guaranteed as well. Or trade him for another piece.
The nice thing about Delfino and Turk is they are both very capable of running the offense. So in that regard they don't really need to go out and get a guy like Jack. But Jack would be so good at the backup PG spot and he and Bosh are the best of buddies so that makes sense on a bunch of levels.
They could also go after Childress, Sessions, Felton or Robinson. Plus Von Wafer and Matt Barnes. They could do a one year deal with the likes of Grant Hill. They could go after Lee or or Marvin Williams.
They can offer in addition to the MLE the prospect of playing time to many of these players so they can showcase their talent and hope to get a bigger contract next year. Of course with the likes of Felton, Jack and Lee their teams likely just match but the possibilities are sure out there.
If you cancel out injuries last year you come down to that they as usual could score points. Couldn't play a lick of defense, horrible rebounding and a brutal bench.
Rasho adds defense, Evans adds defense, Wright adds defense, Delfino adds defense. The bench will be solid. They got a good defensive coach added in Iavaroni. They aren't going to contending status but they could easily make the move to one of those teams you don't want to face in the playoffs. They will present a ton of matchup problems and IF they can add solid defense they will be very much improved.