I watched Master Chef last night. Those people love preparing food far too much, and I have absolutely no clue how anybody could enjoy cooking that much more than eating. In related news, I’m dying for the NBA to be back and we are 47 days away from the first regular game for the Raptors. 47…long…days.
This of course means that we are fast approaching training camp, preseason, and actual roster news. Until then, we will have to make do with trying to discern what Jonas Valanciunas will bring to the Raptors this year based on his performance in Eurobasket, dreaming of Luis Scola maintaining his Greatest Of All Time status that he displays at every international tournament, and seeing clips of Cory Joseph running the show for team Canada when they aren’t up 24 points.
I miss the NBA, and there are 10 Raptor related things in particular that I am most looking forward to seeing this year:
1) Skinny Kyle Lowry
The dude looks incredible. Remember how good pudgy Kyle Lowry was to start last season? He was the clear leader of the team on both sides of the ball. When at his best he can set the tone on both sides of the ball, and can make all the difference for Toronto.
But the problem here is well known to every fan of the team. Lowry hasn’t shown that he can last an entire season playing at this ideal pace. His defense struggled for most of the year and got progressively worse as the year went on, and even his offense was hit and miss towards the end of the season. He was relatively healthy, but his conditioning did not allow him to maintain that level of energy through the entire season.
Now? Only time will tell, but based on the pictures we are seeing he looks primed for a long run.
2) Casey’s Defensive System
It was my biggest complaint last year. Casey was brought to Toronto almost entirely due to his reputation as being a defensive innovator. He helped build the system that allowed the Dallas Mavericks to win their first and only NBA Championship. His resume was sparkling and his reputation for his defensive knowledge was even better.
Toronto has reaped little of this success during his time on the bench. In fact, the defense last season bottomed out and finished the year with the 23rd ranked defense, allowing opponents to score 104.9 points per 100 possessions. The only teams that were worse in this regard were the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings, Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, and the Brooklyn Nets.
The Raptors over-rotated, and created far too many mismatches that the opposition easily exploited. It was uglier and uglier as the year went on. It became painful and predictable to watch.
It was largely for this reason that the Raptors let Lou Williams walk and traded Greivis Vasquez, while also focusing their attention on players like DeMarre Carroll, Bismack Biyombo, and Cory Joseph during free agency.
Add to that that Masai Ujiri hired Andy Greer to be one of Ujiri’s assistant coaches. Greer was a key assistant to Tom Thibodeau in Chicago and helped Chicago to be one of the top defensive rosters in the league (12th last season in points allowed per 100 posessions).
Casey may be the first defensive head coach to have a defensive assistant coach that has been hired to help him. With the 2016-17 season being a team option for Casey, he could very easily be entering the final year of his tenure in Toronto. He has one season or less to prove that he has what it takes.
3) DeMar DeRozan’s Contract Status
It has been regularly reported that DeRozan will be seeking a max contract next summer as he is currently underpaid for the value that he brings. But $25M annually would make him criminally overpaid for the type of player that he is.
I love DeRozan, and would even love to see him be a lifelong Raptor. He has embraced the city and its identity, and has seen it through with the team during some very lean years, but I have no desire to pay him that type of money.
With that being said though, I anticipate that he will at least get very close to his desired salary. With the explosion of the salary cap, a terrible free agent group, and enough teams that will need to reach the salary basement in regards to spending, DeRozan will be primed for a massive raise.
I hate the thought of losing him for nothing, and his contract status will be a key talking point for the entire season.
4) Celebrating Every Knicks’ Loss…Even More than Normal
Andrea Bargnani turned into the gift that just keeps on giving. Just thinking about how Masai Ujiri abused New York by trading gives me a big smile on my face. Ujiri not only managed to get the Knicks to take Bargnani off his hands, he also convinced the Knicks to give him their 2016 First Round Pick…for the second time!!!
Ujiri was the one who traded Carmelo Anthony to New York while he was the GM in Denver. A piece of this trade was acquiring the rights to swap 2016 First Round picks with New York. Now he went and got the worse of these two picks.
Denver is coming off a season that saw them finish with just 30 wins, and are now turning their team over to a rookie point guard. New York meanwhile managed just 17 wins last season, and are caught somewhere between trying to compete with Melo while also developing young players like Kristaps Porzingis.
The Raptors could easily be looking at a top 10 pick next summer, while also competing to make a run in the playoffs. And if everything breaks right, Toronto could even see themselves in possession of a top 5 pick in a draft that features talents like Ben Simmons, Skal Labissiere, Jaylen Brown, Brandon Ingram, Dragan Bender, and Jamal Murray.
I will gleefully hate on New York and Denver all season.
5) The Potential Collapse of the Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are in a great place when it comes to talent. They are on the verge of competing for the Championship this season and have their core (Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin, Lance Stephenson, J.J. Redick, and Paul Pierce) under contract for at least two more seasons. In fact, the only key player for the Clippers that isn’t under contract for 2016-17 is Jamal Crawford.
And yet, the Clippers seem to be in disarray. Reports have surfaced that the franchise is as unstable as ever and could be on the verge of self-destructing.
As Raptors fans we can enjoy both sides of this franchise’s present state, and can hope to see them towards the bottom of the playoff picture in 2017, as the Raptors own the Clippers’ 2017 First Round pick, top 14 protected.
Perhaps I take too much pleasure in watching other teams suffer.
6) All-Star Game in Toronto
The entire NBA world will turn it’s eyes to Toronto in the middle of February, and the greatest players will join together. Ujiri and company will aim to use this weekend as a selling point to players like Kevin Durant, as they try to sell their franchise as a free agent destination.
7) Jonas Valanciunas
I can’t wait to see how the new $64M man will be used. The pressure is on him to not only meet the expectations that come with that contract, but the room is there to exceed the value that he is getting paid. It’s up to him (and Casey) to stay on the court deep into the game, and to play more than his 26.2 minutes per game.
I fully expect to see him regularly north of 30 minutes per night.
8) A Crushing Sense of Doom
I’ve been a Raptors fan for too long. I know it’s coming. It happens every year. It’s only a matter of when my soul will be smashed by the team I love.
9) Raptors 905s
Bruno Caboclo, Normal Powell, Delon Wright, Lucas Nogueira, and potentially Ronald Roberts. I can’t wait to see which of these players might show the potential to be key contributors to the franchise’s future.
10) Something Other Than Netflix and Master Chef to Watch
October 28 can’t come soon enough!
