Hoops Habit
Fansided

Toronto Raptors: 2016 Offseason Grades

By Gerald Bourguet

Apr 1, 2016; Memphis, TN, USA; Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) and guard DeMar DeRozan (10) look on during the second half against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Toronto beat Memphis 99-95. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 1, 2016; Memphis, TN, USA; Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) and guard DeMar DeRozan (10) look on during the second half against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Toronto beat Memphis 99-95. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 7
Next
Toronto Raptors
May 11, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) celebrates his basket with point guard Cory Joseph (6) and point guard Kyle Lowry (7) against the Miami Heat in game five of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Heat 99-91. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

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.

Live Feed

Raptors training camp report, other preseason dates to know
Raptors training camp report, other preseason dates to know /

Raptors Rapture

  • NBA rumors: Top Raptors trade target likely off the market in 2023 Raptors Rapture
  • 3 achievements Raptors rookie Gradey Dick should target in 2023 Raptors Rapture
  • Raptors: 3 must-watch games to look forward to this season Raptors Rapture
  • 2019 Raptors champion stunningly deported from Belgium Raptors Rapture
  • Best Toronto Raptors players in franchise history from every country 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+

    Home/Toronto Raptors