5 Players Toronto Raptors Should Look To Upgrade Power Forward
With the Toronto Raptors being knocked out of the playoffs, their biggest weakness is at power forward. Here are five players that could fix that issue.
Toronto’s starting five is one of the best in the league; DeMarre Carroll, Jonas Valanciunas, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry are all fantastic players. Even Bismack Biyombo came of age after Valanciunas went down with an injury.
Unfortunately, Luis Scola is not in the same category any more and this costs Toronto. Scola averaged 8.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game for the season, these numbers hide some inconsistency.
Scola went missing for a large part of last season, having a 17-game stretch where he only got to ten points once and there were 48 games he did not get into double figures.
Scola also had 35 games where he did not collect more than four rebounds.
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In the playoffs, Scola played in only 11 of a possible 20 games, getting to seven points in two of those games. That is not enough to take the pressure of his teammates.
The other factor against Scola is he is 36. He may have 707 games experience but even that does not appear to be a factor in the playoffs.
Here are five players on the free agent market who would improve the Raptors next year, possibly taking them to NBA Playoffs and showing DeRozan that they are able to take the next step.
Donatas Motiejunas
Depending on Donatas Motiejunas‘ back injury, which voided the trade that would have sent him from Houston to Detroit, he could make a big impact in Toronto.
When given quality minutes in 2014-15, Motiejunas delivered with 12.0 points per game on 50.4 percent shooting. Motiejunas also averaged 5.9 rebounds per game.
Motiejunas’ production decreased in 2015-16 to 6.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, but there were extenuating factors here. Motiejunas missed two stretches of games in the season with injury, playing only 37 games for the season.
He missed the first 20 games of the season, played the next 14 with restricted minutes before missing the next 24, again with injury.
With an unrestricted preseason and good playing time Motiejunas might be able to take some of the pressure off DeRozan and Lowry in the high pressure games of the Eastern Conference Finals, something Scola could not do.
David Lee
David Lee will not add a great deal of defense to the Toronto Raptors, but what he can do is replace the experience of Scola, score and rebound. The two time All-Star averages 14.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game over his 11-year career.
He has had a few injuries since 2014, with hamstring, back and foot problems causing him to miss games. Lee has won a championship with Golden State and could bring this experience to the court next year.
With most of the Toronto offense coming from their amazing guards DeRozan and Lowry, sometimes the rest of the team struggles when they are not able to score. This was shown in the recent series loss to Cleveland.
Lee’s ability to score would potentially take some of the pressure off he guards and keep offense flowing.
If Lee signed with Toronto, this would be his fourth team in three seasons, hopefully he could rediscover the form that gave him five-year stints in both New York and Golden State.
Marvin Williams
Marvin Williams is who I like to call the everything man. He literally does everything in his power for his team. If they need scoring, Williams will score 20 on the night. If they need rebounds, Williams will collect 15. Williams has averaged 10.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.0 blocks for his 11-year career.
Williams preference is that he would like to stay with Charlotte, but if he was offered a starting role on a team that we only two games away from playing in the NBA playoffs he might reconsider.
Williams is a career 45 percent shooter from the field and a respectable 35 percent shooter from three. This versatility would be very helpful for Toronto.
Williams also plays with incredible intensity and effort, meaning that when on court with Biyombo the defensive wall strong, making Toronto very hard to score against.
Jon Leuer
Jon Leuer really came into his own last year with the Phoenix Suns, averaging 8.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, both career highs.
If Leuer moved to Toronto, he could build on that, playing off one of the better guard combinations in the NBA.
Leuer would have been in contention last year for Sixth Man of the Year, except Phoenix needed him to start due to the breakdown of the Markieff Morris and Phoenix relationship.
Leuer looks to be a player who is not afraid of hard work as is happy to be what the team needs him to be.
His three-point shooting is passable, hitting 42-of-110 last season (38 percent). This shooting will assist Toronto space the floor for Lowry and Derozan to wreak more havoc of opposition defenses.
Leuer has played in Europe and the D-League to get where he is. Leuer is only 27 so has many seasons of good basketball left in him.
Last season showed that Leuer belongs in the NBA. Give him a top-tier team to work with, Leuer might just surprise us with how good he is.
David West
At 35, David West is the oldest of the potential recruits. He has 13 years of experience, going from the primary offensive option when playing with New Orleans to a defensive specialist in Indiana.
West left money on the table in Indiana to join San Antonio in the quest for a championship. If Tim Duncan retires San Antonio will not be the same force they were as shown by Duncan struggling against Oklahoma City, resulting in the series loss.
West may see that championship window closing and look for greener pastures. His defensive presence and known scoring ability may help Toronto get over the Cleveland hurdle next year.
Of the five, West is poorest long range shooter but by far the best defender.
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One thing is certain, Toronto need to upgrade their power forward to go the next step.