The Process. Toronto Raptors

Is Kyle Lowry’s Pit-bull like mentality and high motor worth investing in for the next 5 years or should the Raptors look elsewhere for their future point guard? Is Serge worth the reported 20$million/yr contract? Will PJ tucker be in a Raptors uniform next year? Are there any free agents out there that are worth signing? There are tons of questions to be answered about the Raptors future and I’m ready to give you my take on those 4 burning questions.

For the Raptors this past season, all the pieces to become a championship contender were in place, but whether these pieces fit together, is the question Masai Ujiri is going to have ask himself before he dips into the forbidden fruit of the NBA, the luxury tax. Now when you think about Kyle Lowry, the first thing that should pop into your head is DeMar DeRozan and the bond that they have created over the past 5 years on and off the court together. Now Masai must figure out whether this duo, as tight net as it is, is going to take the Raptors to next level. In my humble opinion, I don’t think it is. We saw a quick glimpse of what the Raptors would look like in the 2017-2018 season without Lowry in the lineup for the last two playoff games of the season and it wasn’t a dreadful sight.

The ball was moving with a purpose and there were countless open shots that should have gone in and changed the fate of the Raptors playoff hopes, but it didn’t happen. Raptors fans shouldn’t dwell on the past but instead focus on the future that looks bright with the Canadian native, Cory Jo, taking the reins for the young Raptors squad.

The Serge Ibaka question is an easy one to answer but I’ll give you my answer with one simple question to you. Have you ever seen a Raptors forward with this much upside and talent on any Raptors roster? Sign him!

Now people might think that the 3rd question is the easiest question to answer but is it really? There are some factors that might prevent this signing. If Masai dips into the luxury tax and re-signs Lowry to a max contract, then there could be little to minimal amount of money left to resign the muscle of the Raptors. Now if only the Raptors fans could donate their hard earned Tim Horton’s coffee money to signing PJ tucker, they probably would, but sadly that’s not a possibility. At the end of the day we still strongly believe that PJ tucker will stay a Raptor and become a full time viable piece for the organization on their quest to its first NBA championship.

Now the fourth and final question is ready to be answered and it’s the best section of this article, Free Agency! Blake Griffin, Gordon Hayward, Chris Paul, and Paul Millsap: what do all 4 of those players have in common? Well they are all free agents this summer and second of all, none of them are going to sign with the Toronto Raptors. Now that we have cleared that up, it’s time to talk about two players that would have a major impact to the Raptors roster if they both came to the north. A more realistic signing for the Raptors would be the 6’4 veteran shooting guard, JJ Redick. Redick is an outstanding 3-point shooter and an above average wing defender, which are two qualities that the Raptors badly need. Dwane Casey would have to play around and adjust his lineup, but in the long run, it would work out beautifully for both parties. Finally, we get to talk about one of my favourite players in the league and in my opinion, one of the most underrated point guards in the association, Jrue Holliday. He’s one of the league's most agile players, an absolute threat from downtown, and impressive passer. Now he’s only getting mentioned based on my intuition that Lowry won’t be back next year and he would be an excellent replacement for Lowry and it would be like replacing him with a player of similar basketball DNA.

To wrap this segment up, this is only my opinion on what I think is going to happen during the offseason and some key acquisitions that would fit in. Keep in mind that I’m not a fortune teller and if all of this comes true, Lady luck is not only on my side but on the Raptors side as well.