Toronto Raptors: 2018-19 NBA season preview
2018-19 roster
Key additions: Kawhi Leonard (trade), Danny Green (trade), Greg Monroe (free agency)
Key subtractions: DeMar DeRozan (trade), Jakob Poeltl (trade), Lucas Nogueira (free agency)
Looking at the this year’s roster on paper, it’s the best team the Raptors have assembled during the Masai Ujiri era. The major acquisition is obviously Kawhi Leonard, who is now expected to take this team into unchartered territory (as in the NBA Finals). In the trade, the Raptors also received Danny Green, who has been a steady 3-and-D player his whole career.
Meanwhile, as per usual in recent years, Toronto stayed quiet in free agency, only signing former Boston Celtics center Greg Monroe, who figures to slot in as the backup to longtime Raptor Jonas Valanciunas.
Chris Boucher, a two-way contract, is yet another addition to an already stacked bench unit. During NBA Summer League, he put in a string of impressive performances, managing to turn some heads. Despite the fact that he is still a raw player, it would not be a shock to see him crack the bench lineups by season’s end.
The loss of DeMar DeRozan sure hit many Raptors fans hard, as he had indeed been the face of the franchise after the years of Vince Carter, blossoming from an underappreciated kid coming out of Compton to a perennial All-Star. However, coming up short in the playoffs was no stranger to this team in the Lowry-DeRozan era, as they constantly underperformed and got knocked out most of the time by LeBron James. Losing a promising young big like Jakob Poeltl will certainly hurt in the long run, but luckily the Raptors already possess a magnificently deep bench.
Danny Green is expected to reprise the role DeRozan once had as the starting shooting guard, and Kawhi Leonard slots in at the 3-spot. However, OG Anunoby‘s spot on the bench will not last for long, as he will definitely crack the starting lineup yet again as he did last season.
Having said this, the potential for a great defensive lineup is definitely present. This starting five already has three, if not four average-to-great defenders in Lowry, Green, Leonard and Ibaka. Floor-spacing is also at a premium since they have players who can shoot the mid-range and 3-point shot consistently. Guys like Leonard, Lowry, C.J. Miles, Ibaka, Green and Delon Wright have shown they can flat out shoot it.
In conclusion, this team has certainly got all the ingredients to become a championship team. They’ve got the star power and the bench to make a deep run come playoff time. The question still remains: Will Toronto revert to its old ways and underperform when it matters most, or will the consistently great regular season team show up in the playoffs?