Toronto Raptors: Major Changes Need To Be Made

Is Anyone Off Limits?

Casey’s only a part of the problem, however. Even Gregg Popovich wouldn’t have been able to coach this team to the NBA Finals. Simply put, Kyle Lowry can’t be your best player. The same goes for DeMar DeRozan. That much became clear watching a real superstar in John Wall for four games.

Valanciunas had a career season and is an efficient player in the post, but he can’t defend anyone and will continue to be far from elite until he can.

As good as the Raptors are (in respect to the landscape of the East), they still need a superstar. Bearing that in mind, no one should be off limits this summer as Ujiri tries to trade or sign his team’s way back to prominence.

For example, Ujiri hasn’t been shy about wanting to bring Canadian players to Toronto. Andrew Wiggins is at the top of that list, but it would take a Godfather offer to get the Minnesota Timberwolves to even think about parting ways with Maple Jordan. Even for a king’s ransom, they probably wouldn’t let him go.

But Wiggins would be a bonafide star in Toronto and if Ujiri doesn’t at least make some kind of massive offer, he’s not doing his job right. If the Raptors got Wiggins, they’d have a young superstar in the making and because he’s Canadian, there’d be no rush to put a contending team around him right away. Wiggins could change professional basketball in Canada forever with the hype alone.

Going for Wiggins would probably be futile, but the point still stands: this team needs a different franchise player. The Raptors really don’t have anyone on this roster who should be off limits. Sometimes it takes a tough personnel decision to bring in a star, and this situation is no different.

DeRozan is still young, but how much room does he have to grow? Will he ever develop a three-point shot? Will he ever be able to defend and become a two-way player or game-changing superstar? It seems unlikely. Keeping DeRozan would be preferable given how young he is, but depending on what the Raptors could get for him, they shouldn’t tab him as off limits.

As for Lowry, it might seem hypocritical to consider moving him after everyone celebrated his re-signing last summer. But what kind of leader has he been? The playoffs revealed his true colors. We’ve heard about his bad attitude in the past, so even if he mostly adjusted it during his time with the Raptors, it reared its ugly head when his teammates needed him the most.

Terrence Ross is will be on the last year of his rookie contract and remains a complete enigma. The potential is there, but he was moved to the bench because he was struggling and suffice it to say, he hasn’t taken the next step forward as expected. Valanciunas is efficient and young, but he still can’t defend, making his eligibility for a rookie extension this fall a tricky proposition.

Lou Williams is an unrestricted free agent this summer and likely heading for a big payday elsewhere. Amir Johnson and Tyler Hansbrough are also unrestricted free agents this offseason. Williams is likely gone unless he fails to get any good offers on the free agency market, but the point is, no one under contract for the next season should be off limits as this team looks for answers.

Next: The Ideal Fix