Toronto Raptors: 2016 Offseason Grades

The Toronto Raptors are coming off their greatest season yet, but did they close the gap on the Eastern-dominant Cleveland Cavaliers? Here are their complete 2016 offseason grades.

The Toronto Raptors were unable to knock off the eventual NBA champions in the greatest season in their franchise’s history, but they still had plenty to feel good about with their 2015-16 campaign.

Their ride to the Eastern Conference Finals was bumpy for their star backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, sure, but it marked the first time the Raptors made it that far in the playoffs, and it came in a franchise-record 56-win season.

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The Raptors were unable to solve the LeBron James problem in the East, but with DeRozan hitting unrestricted free agency and a definite need of an upgrade at the 4-spot, they had internal issues to take care of heading into the summer.

Luckily for the Raptors, they were able to address one of those two major concerns. Unluckily for Toronto, even as they enter the 2016-17 season as heavy favorites to be the No. 1 challenger to Cleveland’s reign, their summer wasn’t as productive as one might have hoped.

Here’s a look at every move “We The North” made this summer with complete 2016 offseason grades.

Next: Draft Pick No. 1

Draft Pick No. 1

With the ninth pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, general manager Masai Ujiri had plenty of high-upside prospects — the kind of player he’s regularly dabbled with in the past — to choose from. Instead, he chose an NBA-ready prospect who should carve out his place in the league as a consistent fringe starter/backup big for years to come, Jakob Poeltl.

A 7’1″ center from the University of Utah, Poeltl is one of the safer, more refined low-post scorers in this year’s draft class. He averaged a healthy 17.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game on 64.6 percent shooting in his final season with the Utes, he’s a hard worker and he’s got a high basketball IQ.

For a seven-footer like this, Poeltl’s skilled touch, rebounding and shot-blocking ability should help him find his role on a Raptors team that could use the frontcourt depth, especially with Bismack Biyombo leaving in free agency.

In NBA Summer League, Poeltl averaged 6.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 steals per game while shooting an efficient 66.7 percent from the field.

If he can get stronger, develop a more respectable jumper and even come close to providing the kind of numbers he posted in Summer League as a rookie, this safe pick will start paying dividends from day one.

Grade: B+

Next: Draft Pick No. 2

Draft Pick No. 2

Remember that one time Ujiri selected Bruno Caboclo with the 20th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft? Taking Pascal Siakam out of New Mexico State University with the 27th pick in this year’s draft was pretty much the exact opposite of that.

Rather than taking a player who’s two years away from being two years away, Ujiri continued his trend of making safe picks for a franchise that’s trying to maintain and build upon its contender status in the here and now — even if the front office is also very high on his possible future in Toronto.

The Raptors had the opportunity to take players like Thon Maker, Cheick Diallo or Skal Labissiere with their two first-rounders, but instead they went with Siakam, a 6’10” power forward with a 7’3″ wingspan who averaged 20.3 points, 11.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game in his final season at NMSU.

Those massive numbers didn’t quite get a chance to translate to NBA Summer League, with Siakam posting 12 points and two rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting in his lone appearance.

But as a solid shot-blocker at the 4 who is still putting his offensive game together, Siakam is a more NBA-ready addition despite possessing a lower ceiling than similar prospects like Diallo or Labissiere.

Grade: B-

Next: Re-Signing DeRozan

Re-Signing DeRozan

Does the term “necessary evil” ring a bell?

That’s not to say that DeMar DeRozan is a bad player, or that the Raptors would’ve been justified in letting him walk in free agency this summer.

In fact, it’s a significant victory in and of itself that for the second year in a row, Toronto has been the favorite to retain one of its prized free agents despite plenty of interest from other suitors around the league.

Keeping the Kyle Lowry-DeRozan backcourt intact ensures the Raptors will be in the running for a top seed in the Eastern Conference again next year, and ponying up for a player who just averaged a career-high 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game on 44.6 percent shooting makes sense.

But a five-year, $139 million contract is a whopping amount to play for such a flawed player when it comes to his three-point shooting and defense. Seriously, without the allure of “We The North” and his fun chemistry with Lowry, what is DeRozan other than a less talented, less efficient James Harden?

Harden got paid up, and there’s certainly enough money to go around for one-sided players like the Beard and DeRozan in this league, but paying $27.8 million a year — 29.6 percent of next year’s salary cap — for DeMar is still a significant chunk.

However, DeRozan played massive minutes for a Raptors team that won a franchise-record 56 games and made its first conference finals. Toronto wouldn’t have been able to find a better replacement with their cap space had DeRozan walked, and under the booming salary cap, this deal won’t look so massive a few years down the road.

The Raptors really had no other choice here, and his deal is $13 million shy of the full $152 million max DeRozan could’ve pushed for. But like a college student just trying to get by that last psych class with a passing grade to graduate, the Raptors putting their heads down and doing what needs to be done is only enough for a C+.

Grade: C+

Next: Signing Sullinger

Signing Sullinger

The Toronto Raptors didn’t find the upgrade at the power forward spot that they’ve been looking for for years now, but they did bolster the position with the addition of Jared Sullinger.

After the Celtics made Sullinger an unrestricted free agent by rescinding their qualifying offer, the Raptors used their full Mid-Level Exception ($5.6 million) to sign him, hard-capping themselves in the process.

This is something of a surprise considering how few teams reached that point with the NBA’s salary cap shooting through the roof, but it’s a decent addition for Toronto’s frontcourt depth — even with Sullinger’s well-documented flaws to worry about.

Last season, Sully averaged 10.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 23.6 minutes per game for a well-balanced Boston Celtics team. He started in 73 of his 81 games, making it the healthiest of his four seasons in the league.

If Sullinger can stay healthy — and more importantly, stay in shape — he’ll be a quality and cost-effective backup. With Patrick Patterson set to hit free agency next summer, the Raptors will also have options as to who they’ll want to keep on the roster moving forward.

At only 24 years old, Sullinger still has yet to carve out a concrete role in this league, but perhaps playing for a superior Raptors team will help him find it. If not, his contract comes off the books next summer anyway.

Grade: C+

Next: Feeling Out VanVleet

Feeling Out VanVleet

As a four-year guard from Wichita State, Fred VanVleet was one of the biggest reasons the Shockers were so fun to watch year in and year out. Thanks to his performance for the Raptors at Summer League, he’ll get his chance to prove himself at the NBA level.

In his senior season at Wichita St., VanVleet averaged 12.2 points, 5.5 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, shooting 38.1 percent from three-point range despite his paltry 39 percent shooting overall.

At Summer League, VanVleet only posted 6.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, but he performed well with the long ball, knocking down six of his 11 three-point attempts through five games.

The perimeter shooting and careful ball handling (only three turnovers in five games) was enough to earn him a three-year, non-guaranteed contract.

This doesn’t move the needle much for a team that’s already got two quality guard backups in Cory Joseph and the promising Norman Powell, but you never know. VanVleet could come in handy in a pinch, and a non-guaranteed deal makes this a no-risk proposition.

The Raptors also signed another undrafted player, Iowa’s Jarrod Uthoff, on a partially guaranteed two-year deal to add another body for training camp to vie for that 15th roster spot.

Uthoff averaged 18.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game on 44.8 percent shooting in his final season with the Hawkeyes.

Finally, Toronto agreed to sign E.J. Singler, a 6’7″ small forward from Oregon who went undrafted back in 2013. Singer has spent the last few years traipsing around the D-League and will compete for the Raptors’ 15th roster spot. If he doesn’t make it, he will most likely return to Toronto’s D-League affiliate, the Raptors 905.

Grade: C

Next: Overall

Overall

A grade of C+ might seem too severe for a team that will be contending for the title of second-best team in the East next season, but before “We The North” goes all “The North Remembers” on me, keep in mind: C+ is better than a passing grade! It’s just a teensy bit better than average!

As steady as Poeltl and Siakam might be for the Raptors in both the short-term and long-term, as cheap as Sullinger was and as much as it was necessary to retain DeRozan to preserve this team’s status as quasi-contenders, it’s hard to get particularly excited about anything the Raptors did this summer.

Raptors Rapture

Keeping the Lowry-DeRozan backcourt intact obviously means the difference between another possible conference finals appearance and becoming another middling Eastern team, but that $139 million price tag is hard to swallow, even with the skyrocketing salary cap.

DeRozan is an athletic scorer, but he’s a piss-poor defender, his three-point shooting (a career-high 33.8 percent this season) leaves a lot to be desired, and his flaws were exposed in Toronto’s bumpy ride to the conference finals, when he posted appalling .394/.154/.813 shooting splits in 20 playoff games and was a complete defensive liability on the other end.

Paying up for DeRozan was a necessary step to keeping this NBA Finalist understudy intact, and there’s something to be said of cohesion and team chemistry for a team that just won 56 games last year.

But it’s hard to give the Raptors’ relatively quiet summer top marks when the Boston Celtics added Al Horford, a few other playoff teams got substantially better, and the Raptors replaced Biyombo and Luis Scola with a rookie and Jared Sullinger. The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t going anywhere either.

Perhaps it’s a bit unfair, but as much as the Raptors added some younger depth and took the necessary steps to keep DeRozan around, Toronto is still largely the same team entering the 2016-17 season.

More hoops habit: New York Knicks: 2016 Offseason Grades

Couple that with downgrading from Biyombo to Poeltl/Sully, and the fact that nothing they did this summer addressed their most glaring need at starting power forward, and it’s difficult to feel like Toronto’s offseason was anything more than decent.

Grade: C+