So the Raptors roster for the 08/09 season is complete. It is highly unlikely we see any trades or movement prior to the start of the season in the fall. Some Raptor fans will always keep thinking about trades and moves but the reality is this will be your Toronto Raptors when they get started in late October or early November. Bryan Colangelo will still keep looking at ways to improve the team. He just is that type of guy that he never stops in that mindset. But any moves this team would make likely don’t come at all until mid December at this point. That is when everyone on the roster is able to be moved in a trade. Recently signed and traded for players can not be traded until that point based on the CBA rules. So let’s look at what we have shall we?
Point Gaurds: Jose Calderon (Starter), Roko Ukic, Will Solomon
Jose is now the man and the Toronto Raptors success or failure in this season will ride a lot on how Jose does in his new role. He will play more minutes and is expected to be a leader for this basketball team. The one thing that I have always taken issue with about Jose should not be as great an issue with the trade with the Pacers. Jose for all his great performance on offense has some serious trouble on the defensive end of the floor. He is not a great on the ball defender. But with adding some shot blocking to the mix with Jermaine O’Neal that should help. It will cover up the mistakes and ultimately make the Raptors a tougher team on the defensive end of the floor. Even if Jose makes zero improvement on defense which he could improve even, the changes will still help Raptors and when players get to that second layer of defense they will have O’Neal and Bosh to deal with and block shots.
Offensive wise, Jose had an amazing season least year and the hope his he can keep on that pace. I personally see him taking a small step backwards from the numbers he put up last year. Some say that based on his extended floor time as the starter that would make no sense. But for any player to improve after a career year like Jose had last year is not the norm it is the exception. Still even if Jose takes a small step back if he takes that same step forward on defense it will be O.K.
Roko Ukic has in a sense benfited from the fans love of Jose. Roko has been build up to support the idea of Jose as the starter. But let’s get serious how ready was Jose in year one coming over from Europe? He was not good enough to make Bryan Colangelo not to trade for T.J Ford. The truth is Jose from year one to now is an amazing rise in level of play. So much so that Ford is a Pacer today. But at the start he was not the player he is now. So why do people think Roko can be better than Jose was in year one. I mean YouTube video aside the reality is Roko has never played a minute in the NBA. He will have the chance to be the back-up to Jose but if anything happens to Jose Calderon the Raptors are in serious trouble as honestly Roko is not ready to play big minutes in the NBA. At the end of this season he could be but early on it will be a learning process and adjustment period.
As for Solomon I am not going to lie about it. Till yesterday I didn’t know dime one about this guy. But Bryan Colangelo did and he watching him in a game over seas and was impressed enough with him to bring him here. John Lucas had a chance to change Bryan’s mind and did not. Solomon and his role will greatly depend on two things. The health of the Raptors and if he will be needed. How Roko Ukic plays in the back-up role to Jose. When you consider Derrick Martin was in this role in the past I would think that Will Solomon is an upgrade from that. Let’s face facts that Martin was more coach than player in his time with the Raptors.
Shooting Gaurds/Small Forwards: Anthony Parker (Starter) Hassan Adams, Jason Kapono( Starter???), Jamario Moon( Starter???), Joey Graham
Jamario Moon Skywalking
The key for the Raptors is they did not exactly find the answer for the drive to the basket scoring swing man. So this is going to be the most interesting and flexible part of the Raptor roster. The two guys that start on the opening night are not locked in place for the season. The odds seem to suggest Anthony Parker and Jason Kapono are the front runners to fill the starting line-up at this point. But Hassan Adams, Jamario Moon and Joey Graham all have a shot to change that.
Anthony Parker now the second most famous Parker in his own family needs to have a strong start to his season. He showed interest in a return to Europe and he is in the last year of his contract with the Raptors. This makes an interesting season as far as AP goes. It might be tough to trade him as there really is a chance he gets a very big offer to return to Europe next off-season. This hurts his trade value for other teams. So Parker could be a Raptor for the entire year and that is not a bad thing. He is a good player and can contribute. I feel and I think a lot of others agree that we want more out of Anthony Parker. It just seems that Parker can do more if he takes the bull by the horns. The change of Jose Calderon to the starting point guard could be the best thing for Parker above all of the Raptors. T.J Ford at times would look for his own offense and at times it took away from nights in which Anthony Parker was looking to have his shot working. T.J never seemed to get in the grove with Parker and vice versa. So we will see if Jose helps AP get to a new level.
Jason Kapono had a rough start to his Raptor career. But by the end of the playoffs we saw why Bryan Colangelo wanted this guy as part of the Raptors. The addition of O’Neal should help Kapono. He had his greatest success playing with another O’Neal. The fact that Jermaine can play in the post and you have the threat of Bosh as well should lead to more open looks for Kapono. He is an excellent shooter and when he gets open looks he can be deadly. The two time defending 3 point shoot out champion has an amazing career % from 3 point range. The problem for Kapono is his lack of defense. But much like I said in reguards to Jose, the addition of shot blocking in O’Neal will make the defensive errors seem less of a problem. This is why he can play as a starter in front of Jamario Moon. Jamario was inserted into the starting line-up because of his defense and that is why he kept the spot for good once he got it.
Moon coming off his story book rookie year will likely have a new role and be a key member of the rotation. Moon is said to be spending his summer in the gym. But not shooting and dunking but pumping iron. The Raptors would like to see Moon look a little closer to Joey Graham. Not as a player but in size. The addition of size should help encourage Moon to slash to the hoop more and shoot less. The Raptors would be very happy to see Moon haeding to the line more often. This not just true for Moon but all the Raptor wing players. But with Moon and his skills to dunk the basketball he more than anyone should be able to succeed at this.
Hassan Adams is the guy that in part got his chance based on the success of Moon last season. Adams comes from the same free agent camp idea that produced Jamario Moon. If Jamario had not had his success would the Raptors have had another camp this year? Hard to know or to say but after the success of Moon the Raptors were more open to trying the concept of a free agent camp. Adams spent time with the Nets and he was with the Raptors at summer league. In those games he showed that he can score and defend. Adams had said that going into the free agent camp in Toronto he knew what Sam Mitchell was looking for out of him and he did a good job in giving Sam and the Raptors what they wanted to see. So much so he had a contract before he was playing in Summer league. He can be a guy that will push everyone to be better. He also seems to be a type of player that Mitchell will like. That always helps when the coach is on the same page as the player. Adams will always push for more time. If he plays well he is likely to get some minutes.
Joey Graham was sent to summer school. He did get passing grades as he played on the Raptors summer league roster. But if he hadn’t that would have been the true basketball death of Joey Graham in Toronto. We have all been fooled by Joey in the past with these flashes of brillance on his part. But we are at year 4 of Joey Graham experience. Most fans have had enough and they want results or they want Joey flying a plane out of Toronto. At this point who could argue that point. Graham is a tremendous athlete to look at. He works hard in the work out room and it shows. However if he works as hard on the basketball court as he does at the gym it really doesn’t. There is a lot of people wanting minutes and Joey will need to prove that he can give the same quality performance night in and night out. He did that in summer league but he needs to do it when it counts. It is no secret that Raptors likely have tried to shop Joey Graham to move him but no takers have been found. The Pacers even took Maceo Baston instead of Joey Graham. That says a lot right there. The Pacers did know what they were getting in Baston and they had no idea what to expect from Joey Graham and that is the same as many around the Raptors feel. So make or break year for Joey Graham is here.
Power Forwards: Chris Bosh(Starter) Andrea Bargnani( 6th Man???) Kris Humphries
Chris Bosh will be wearing the Red, White and Blue of team U.S.A in a few weeks. Raptor fans will like to see Chris Bosh do well and bring home another Gold Medalist to the Raptors. But in the end be it Jose Calderon with a Gold Medal or Chris Bosh is not important to Raptor Fans. The health of all the Raptors including Roko Ukic is the only concern that matters. Bosh has had injury concerns the past few seasons. Last year his injury came at the worst possible time. It was at a very what should have been easy part of the schedule and it would cost the Raptors in a major way. As far as Bosh the player beyond health the addition of Jermaine O’Neal is a help to Bosh in a lot of ways. Less double teams will make life easier for Chris Bosh. O’Neal is the second star that Bosh in his years in Toronto has never had in his prime. O’Neal should also help Bosh grow as a defender as well. O’Neal is a great shot blocker and he can likely help Bosh improve that area of his game. Jermaine stated that this is still Chris Bosh’s team and he is the franchise player. But unlike in the past Bosh has O’Neal and now Calderon to help him lead this team in the right direction. In every way shape and form Chris Bosh and his job became a lot easier the day Jermaine O’Neal became a Raptor.
Andrea Bargnani had a disappointing second season in the NBA. He was pushed into a starting role and he clearly was not ready. But this year he will not have to be concerned on if he will start at all. He has 2 multi time NBA All-Stars in front of him. He becomes the Raptors 6th man and will be counted on to play a role along side Bosh or O’Neal. He will likely get to play more minutes in the 4 spot on the floor. This is more his natural position and should help him not having to try to play the 5 as often. Hopefully Andrea is learning from O’Neal and has in general taken this off-season to improve. Italy was not in the mix for the Olympics and that has given the Raptors a chance to get Andrea doing the things that they want him to be doing. This is a key year to what the future will be for Andrea. Everyone including him knows it. So he needs to step up and embrace his new role. Jermaine O’Neal said that Bargnani will be a key part of the team having success. I agree with that in the sense that if Andrea can produce the Raptors become a very scary team to face with many options in the front court to score. He needs to develop a tough attitude and a better approach to rebounding the basketball. This is the year that Andrea Bargnani will define what he is and what he will be. It all is up to him.
Kris Humphries is still here and really will need to fight hard to see floor time. If Nathan Jawai is a early success story that could mean less minutes for Humphries. Jawai is bigger and likely better when all is said and done. But Kris has experience that Jawai does not have. Ultimately Humphries has to do the things he has always done since coming to the Raptors. He can not force any offense as he has been known to do at times in the past. The hook for Kris will be a lot faster with the additions to the front court of O’Neal and Jawai. Even if Kris does everything right at his best level he still may be hard pressed to see floor time on this Raptor roster.
Centers: Jermaine O’Neal (Starter) Nathan Jawai (Rookie)
Jermaine O’Neal if healthy is a force and as mention several times has major impacts on this entire roster. He says he is healthy and read for a new challenge here in Toronto. Can he return to the O’Neal that the NBA knew prior to the brawl in Detroit? That is the real question. It is one thing to say you have turned the page it is another to actually do it. Vince Carter when he left for New Jersey was able to rekindle some Vinsanity. Can Jermaine bring back the JO that was a guy that ran neck and neck with Chris Bosh for All-Star team honours in the Eastern Conference? If he can the Raptors will have some kind of a 1-2 punch like the vision of Robinson and Ducan that coach Sam Mitchell has expressed. Health and attitude are going to be key factors in if O’Neal and this trade can be viewed as more than just a great cap move for 2010. Bryan Colangelo wants to hit the home run and with the trade and have the cap room to boot.
Nathan Jawai is a raw talent that has a lot to learn but could turn into something far beyond the average second round selection. He will be a student under both O’Neal and Bosh and will look to learn all he can. Nathan has only played basketball for 5 years and from an experience point of view has much to learn. But NBA scouts have seen the talent he has and many not just the Toronto Raptors have seen that Nathan Jawai could turn out to be a very talented player. He could even become a star. That is a lot of praise but it has a lot of evidence to support it. This guy has size and skill and really has so much room he can grow it makes you excited just thinking about it. Sam Mitchell will keep him grounded and use him to both rebound and set picks. Both skills that Nathan is already fairly good at. While time marches on he will expand his role but for now, Nathan Jawai is someone that will battle on the boards and provide some energy of the bench for the Raptors. If thinks go very well he could ultimately take over for Jermaine O’Neal in 2 years from now. But that is a long way from happening and Nathan will need to work hard and get better. He does have a great work ethic to have come as far as he has this fast.
So lots of questions to be answered. But there is also lots to be excited about. I was talking about these things today with Matt Devlin. I am going to be having him by for an interview very soon and he was kind enough to talk with me so we could get to know each other. He too is excited about his new role here in Toronto and like all of us hopes for good things being ahead for the Toronto Raptors in this coming season. After spending time with the Bobcats Devlin is looking forward to having a team that can win a lot of games and be a playoff team which was not in the cards for the Bobcats. What is in the cards for the Raptors this year is not known but they have added a few good cards to their hand. So that is why the blog was a bit late today. A very good reason and this has also been a bit longer blog as well.
