The Toronto Raptors are coming into the season with plenty of hope after Kyle Lowry signed in free agency and now a trade involving players like DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Jonas Valanciunas or Patrick Patterson is likely off and has fallen by the wayside for GM Masai Ujiri, as the team has a great young core to build around in the future.
According to ESPN.com writer Marc Stein, the Raptors considered trading DeRozan and Valanciunas last season when things were going bad, but luckily for Toronto fans, Ujiri opted to move Gay instead and then backed off moving his most prized young players. Gay was traded to the Kings and that gave DeRozan and Lowry room to grow and now the Raptors are looking like one of the better young teams in the east.
The Raptors are coming back after having a franchise best season and they are feeling confident and optimistic now that Kyle Lowry has returned in free agency. The team has a very good young core of players and they are coming off of a division title over the Brooklyn Nets and they could be the favorites once again in the Atlantic. Last season DeRozan led the team in scoring, while Valanciunas was tops in rebounding and Lowry was the top assist man and showed he can be one of the best starting point guards in the league.
Last season many thought the Raptors would try and tank to get Andrew Wiggins since he is from Canada, but the team actually did the exact opposite. After the trade of Rudy Gay to the Kings everyone thought the tank was coming, but instead it opened up the offense and mane everyone better, including DeRozan and Lowry, with the former making the All-Star team and the latter being the biggest snub or at least one of them.
Last season the Raptors were in the top 10 in points allowed and that was big for the team and they opted to bring back Dwane Casey to keep building this team with Ujiri. The Raptors were very good offensively, averaging 101 points per game to rank 13th in the league, while rebounding and assists were in the middle of the pack. The Raptors have the chance to win the division again and they likely will be battling the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, while the Boston Celtics could be a wild card if they pull off a trade or two.
Ujiri has worked on moves this offseason, including signing back Patterson while also trading Steve Novak to the Utah Jazz. The team got guard Diante Garrett and now they lose Novak, who has averaged five points in his career and is a great three-point shooter. Patterson re-signed on a deal worth $18 million over three years, while Lowry is now locked up as well for the long term on a four year deal worth over $45 million. The Raptors have a chance to build things from the ground up and in the eastern conference they have plenty of competition with LeBron going to Cleveland, but they should be a playoff team again.