The Toronto Raptors have gone through a number of changes this offseason after finishing in the bottom part of the East last season and after general manager Masai Ujiri took over, the team traded away former number one pick Andrea Bargnani to the Knicks and now they are ready to build around Rudy Gay long-term.
Ujiri is happy with the way that Jonas Valanciunas looked over the summer while winning the league MVP and coach Dwane Casey is ready to improve the entire roster and is happy with the development of DeMar DeRozan as well. DeRozan has improved his three point shot and now that the team has added Kyle Lowry as well, the franchise feels that it is ready to compete for a playoff spot.
Linas Kleiza was amnestied and he likely is going to Europe next season and the team feels that it has a solid young core ready to get things done north of the border. The team signed DJ Augustin as well and Ujiri looks as if he is likely to keep Gay for the long-term.
The Raptors traded for Rudy Gay last season and starter Kyle Lowry is back as the starter, leaving Augustin as a solid backup after spending last season with the Indiana Pacers. According to Yahoo Sports, Augustin signed a $1.2 million dollar deal for one-year and he will give the team some solid depth on the bench after the Raptors released forward Linas Kleiza with the amnesty clause. The Raptors also signed Tyler Hansbrough and now Augustin will join his former Pacers teammate North of the border in Toronto.
The 25-year-old point guard had a solid season with the Pacers last year, playing in 76 regular season games while averaging just under five points and three assists with 1.2 rebounds. Augustin was better in the postseason while appearing in 19 playoff games, averaging 8.2 points per game as the team made their way through the playoffs against the Knicks and the Heat. Augustin was originally drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats with the ninth overall pick in 2008 out of the University of Texas and he played four seasons there before signing with Indiana as a free agent.
Augustin will backup Kyle Lowry, who played very well last season while averaging 11.6 points, 6.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. The team still has moves to make and after trading Bargnani to the Knicks the Raptors decided to buy out Marcus Camby, who came over as a piece in the trade and now he will be a free agent after moving in the acquisition. The Raptors knew that Camby did not want to play for them as the deal went through, but his contract was needed in the trade to make the money work for both sides.
The Raptors originally drafted Camby when he was coming out of college and he played in just 24 games last season while averaging just under two points per game. Camby was the second overall pick back in 1996 and he has played in nearly 1,000 games during his career and could provide some solid minutes despite being 39-years-old. Camby is interested in joining a contender and some options could be the Lakers, Mavericks, Clippers, Bulls and Rockets. The Raptors have also confirmed that they will use their amnesty clause move on forward Linas Kleiza.
