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"It's been great to see the enthusiasm, athleticism and the speed with which they're playing," said Toronto Raptors General Manager and President of Baksetball Operations Brian Colangelo. "They're creating a little bit of a buzz in respect to their level of play. DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems are our leading scores but you see great effort out of some of new young kids. Ed Davis has done well considering he hasn't played that much in the past five months. He has to get bigger and stronger and get back in the weight room after that wrist injury. I'll tell you though he's got a great knack for rebounding on the defensive end and also challenging shots and coming from the weak side and blocking shots. We haven't had that. That rim protection is something that we talk all the time about as one of our biggest weaknesses. Dribble penetration results in too many layups and it's one of those things that we're challenging so many shots here between Dorsey, Davis, and Alabi. They're going up and challenging everything and it's great to see.
These young players are also coming together with their overall work ethic and what they're putting in to get better. It's good to see that kind of progression with them, especially with Demar. What he got last year in terms of experience was invaluable. Now he's in the position where he's applying that progress on the court and he's getting that much better. I've already had a few people say you've got to pleased with his progress and that it looks like you have a future all-star on his hands. That's where we projected him out, we were hoping he'd become that kind of a player and it's starting to take shape."
These young players are also coming together with their overall work ethic and what they're putting in to get better. It's good to see that kind of progression with them, especially with Demar. What he got last year in terms of experience was invaluable. Now he's in the position where he's applying that progress on the court and he's getting that much better. I've already had a few people say you've got to pleased with his progress and that it looks like you have a future all-star on his hands. That's where we projected him out, we were hoping he'd become that kind of a player and it's starting to take shape."
"We have to find someone to replace the scoring that Chris' departure leaves. We've got Andrea Bargnani who is currently at 17-18 point per game pace. You have to figure he's going to score somewhere at or near 20 points a game. DeMar can pick up some of that scoring. LeAndro Barbosa is going to be a scorer at the two/one and point guards are going to have to put points on the boards. It's exciting to see a different type of game. There's going to be a lot of
speed, quickness and athleticism and we're going to get the ball up and down the floor for sure."
speed, quickness and athleticism and we're going to get the ball up and down the floor for sure."
Barbosa, who is a ideal fit for their system. As of right now though they're not exactly sure how they are going to use him.
"The thing it really depends on is what else shakes out in respect to our roster moves," explained Colangelo. "As you see him now he'll play some two and some one but the way we're designed right now we're going to be playing a lot of smaller, unorthodox style and you're going to have to have some three guard rotations. I wouldn't be surprised to see him out there with another point guard and another two guard because the way we're going to play right now based on our current personnel there's going to be some great opportunities for that three guard rotations."
"The thing it really depends on is what else shakes out in respect to our roster moves," explained Colangelo. "As you see him now he'll play some two and some one but the way we're designed right now we're going to be playing a lot of smaller, unorthodox style and you're going to have to have some three guard rotations. I wouldn't be surprised to see him out there with another point guard and another two guard because the way we're going to play right now based on our current personnel there's going to be some great opportunities for that three guard rotations."
"When you're 30th in the league in a certain category you want to get better," noted Colangelo. "We were very fortunate to see Davis fall to us at 13. We had a feeling he was going to be gone, turns out he was there on the board at 13. We said all along we would take the best player regardless of position but it just so happened that a few days after Chris made it official. He's now gone and we had a void there to begin with. We were able to retain Amir Johnson, he's a guy that protects the basket very well and plays off of Bargnani very well. Our defensive metrics get better when he's on the floor. Now you bring Ed Davis in from the draft and its one more complementary piece to what we're trying to do to get better in that area. We still seek out mental and physical toughness. There's going to be some interesting things out there, a little unorthodox but we've got this wave of talent coming in that's nice to have."
don't be surprised if the Raptors make a few more moves to upgrade their roster.
"You never know," acknowledged Colangelo. "You're always trying to get better and we're talking about a lot of things with al lot of people. Still exploring free agents options that entail sign and trades where. What we have is an exception created for 2.7 million that was created through the Turkoglu trade and a 14.5 million exception in the Bosh trade. Those can be used as tools to acquire other players. It could be a sign-and-trade with another team that's willing to accommodate something or players under contract. To acquire those players you just have to find the right pieces. We're looking and we'll see."
"You never know," acknowledged Colangelo. "You're always trying to get better and we're talking about a lot of things with al lot of people. Still exploring free agents options that entail sign and trades where. What we have is an exception created for 2.7 million that was created through the Turkoglu trade and a 14.5 million exception in the Bosh trade. Those can be used as tools to acquire other players. It could be a sign-and-trade with another team that's willing to accommodate something or players under contract. To acquire those players you just have to find the right pieces. We're looking and we'll see."
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