2012 Toronto Raptors Preview
After losing All-Star power forward Chris Bosh to Miami last season, they were left with a heap of spare parts without an engine to keep the team running. Toronto ended the season with a 22-60 record and only 3 games shy of the worst record in the East that Cleveland had.
After the season, they decided to make a coaching change and got rid of Jay Triano in favor of former Mavericks Assistant Dwane Casey. Casey played a key part in the Mavs title run with his man-zone hybrid defensive system. It is going to be interesting to see what he will do with the roster that he inherited in Canada.
The Raptors ended up with the 5th pick and used it on 19 year old 7 foot center Jonas Valanciunas. Valanciunas has an opportunity to be something special in the NBA, but he’s currently playing in the Lithuanian League and might not be ready to play for the Raptors in the coming years.
Toronto has been reasonably busy so far this year, signing vet free agents Gary Forbes, Rasual Butler, Anthony Carter, Aaron Gray, and Jamaal Magloire, while keeping their main players from last season in place.
This squad is built around a core of big man Andrea Bargnani, shooting guard Demar Derozan, point guard Jose Calderon and 6th man Leandro Barbosa. This roster was able to offer an explosive and exciting offense. Bargnani was the Raptors leading scorer with 21.4 points/game though only played in 66 games. Derozan chipped in 17.2 points/game, Barbosa came of the bench to add 13.3 points/game, and point guard Jose Calderon about averaged a double-double of 9.8 points and 8.9 dimes.
Amir Johnson started in 54 games for the Raptors last year and averaged a career high 9.6 points and 6.4 rebounds. It looks like he will yet again be the starting power forward. JaJuan Johnson is the player they got from the Bulls last year they are especially excited about. In 25 starts for the Raptors last year, small forward JaJuan Johnson averaged 9.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and three assists/game.
The Raptors also have a returning Linaz Kleiza and Jerrd Bayless in its rotation. With all the free agent pickup, it’s hard to see who Casey will use in his rotation. Toronto’s bench is stuffed with guys who used to be great once upon a time, but now aren’t any more.
Pick: 5th Eastern Conference Atlantic Division – With our NBA predictions we have got the Raptors on the outside looking in as the Atlantic division have got a lot more competitive recently. Boston remains the team the beat, New York is all of a sudden looking like a valid squad with Anthony and Stoudemire in the fold, and the Nets brought in Deron Williams and possibly Dwight Howard. As of at this time, Toronto will have a hard time making an attempt to battle for division seeding and a spot in the postseason. They could have an outsiders opportunity to sneak in the postseason, but they should play extremely well to have a chance.
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