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Toronto Raptors: Grading The Offseason

By Gerald Bourguet

Jan 16, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Atlanta Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll (5) and Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) battle for the ball during the first half at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 16, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Atlanta Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll (5) and Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) battle for the ball during the first half at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 28, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) looks on as guard Lou Williams (23) and forward Patrick Patterson (54) and forward Amir Johnson (15) and point guard Kyle Lowry (7) wait for the resumption of play against the Dallas Mavericks at Air Canada Centre. The Mavericks beat the Raptors 106-102. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Overall

After being swept in the first round of the playoffs (with home-court advantage, no less), the Toronto Raptors seemed ready for yet another rebuild. That was the plan after trading away Rudy Gay, after all, but Ujiri couldn’t turn his back on a team that surged to the third seed in the East.

However, the Raptors won a franchise-best 49 games last season and the only acceptable return in a potential Lowry trade (and all other trades to start over) would have been future draft picks that would’ve set the franchise back years. Instead, the Raptors decided to reload and have another go at it in 2015-16.

The Raptors are a better team with the additions of DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph and Bismack Biyombo, helping Toronto recover from the departures of Greivis Vasquez, Amir Johnson and Lou Williams. The question now is, will it be enough?

The Cleveland Cavaliers still have a death grip on the East as long as LeBron James stays healthy, and the only team good enough to give those Cavs a run for their money is the revamped Miami Heat. The Washington Wizards are only going to get better, the Chicago Bulls aren’t going anywhere and even the wounded Atlanta Hawks will still be a good team in a weak conference.

Adding Carroll gives the Raptors a much more formidable starting five, and bolstering the team’s depth with defensive additions should help them even out their offense-heavy attack. The Raptors overpaid a few of their new acquisitions, but with their offseason goal of tweaking a good team and re-signing Valanciunas in the hopes of becoming great, Ujiri did about as well as could be expected.

Grade: B+

Next: Miami Heat: Grading The Offseason

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