Pg- Jose Calderon
Sg- Demar DeRozan
Sf- Hedo Turkoglu
Pf- Chris Bosh
C- Andrea Bargnani
The issue becomes the bench or lack of one. First concern on that list is one we had last year. Back up point guard. What the Raptors should have learned is that Jose Calderon can be a starter but not for extended minutes. There over use of Calderon at least did not help his injury issues. Roko Ukic did not make anyone feel confident enough that he is ready to be a back up. So you would think that B.C still needs to be hunting for a legit option to back up Jose. Not just be hopeful that Ukic improves to a level he can handle the back up roll on a consistent basis. The Raptors do have Marcus Banks but no one expects anything from him and if the Raps can't pawn him off on a team you have to figure they will buy him out.
Shooting guard you have your under 20 year old draft pick in Demar DeRozan and he as of now looks to be your starter at shooting guard. Now Bryan Colangelo did say the Quincy Douby had been doing very well in workouts in Vegas since the season ended. We will get to see how he does in Vegas Summer League and get our first look at DeRozan as well. In what I have got to know of Demar DeRozan he is a confident young man and he may just surprise us and be able to handle all of this. But to have a rookie be responsible for the majority of minutes at any position is a high risk scenario. It could also be high reward. But point being in Quincy Douby enough to back him up? likely not. Brent Petway, Carl English and Smush Parker could all be guys on the Raptors summer league roster that could see this lack of depth at shooting guard as opportunity. English and Parker more a pg/sg option and Petway more a sg/sf.
By the way case you were wondering here is the Raptors Summer League Schedule:
| Friday, July 10 | L.A. Lakers | 8:00 p.m. |
| Saturday, July 11 | Detroit | 4:00 p.m. |
| Monday, July 13 | Portland | 8:00 p.m. |
| Wednesday, July 15 | Milwaukee | 4:00 p.m. |
| Thursday, July 16 | Phoenix | 4:00 p.m. |
Where the Raptors have the most depth is in big people. Not that many are proven talents beyond the first 3 in Evans, Bargnani and Bosh. Humphries has had many chances and really never taken them and run with them. O'Bryant is loved more about his measurables than his actual production. Nathan Jawai had a disappointing rookie season. There is some hope in regards to him with some of the performances he has had with the Aussie National team. However as a group they all have a ton to prove.
I keep hearing how Bryan Colangelo is not done in this make over process. However I think at the end of the day he has shuffled the deck but may have some of the same problems in terms of lack of depth. He will be counting on a lot of people to come through for him. At the top of that list is Demar DeRozan followed by Roko Ukic if he can not find a legit option as a back up point guard.
The Raptor feel that a number of players could fall through the cracks and they can sign them to cheap contracts to address the depth questions. It is risky to play that game. But Bryan Colangelo is a risk taker and that will never change. I have always liked that about him but maybe as I get older I don't have the stomach for it as much as I use too.
It is hard to judge a picture that is only half painted as to if you like it or not. The one thing I can say is the Raptors have clearly lost sight of the long term picture in order to save this team in the short term. It is a big change from the Rob Babcock days. You could argue, he had no clue in the short or long term. But the point is Babcock always seemed to hesitate to make a move and be aggressive. Bryan Colangelo is the exact opposite. If this was a poker game Colangelo would be going all in and he does it with no hesitation at all. The question I have is he going in with a good enough hand to win? It is clear that some teams in the East fell they have added some Aces to their deck. Shaq, V.C and others all making the top teams better according to most.
I want to make it clear, in the short term I am not saying this was a bad move at all. In fact it is likely enough to get this team to the playoffs again. But when Bryan Colangelo came, I believe the goal was to win Championships? On that front when you look at the long term, have the Raptors taken steps in the right direction for that? I am very skeptical on that front. If the Raptors stick to the party line of staying under the tax threshold over the next several years it seems very hard to figure how it all would work money wise.
The way things have been lately it is not just sports teams that will need a capologist people writing and talking about the team might need one as well. That is my thoughts for the weekend. See you Monday.
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