Let the Masai Ujiri era begin.
The Toronto Raptors general manager’s honeymoon period has been an extended one, and with good reason. When your first move of consequence is trading Andrea Bargnani and getting a first-round draft pick in return, you deserve some good will.
And when you trade Rudy Gay and turn a seemingly lottery-bound team into one of the most successful outfits in the Eastern Conference — Toronto’s 97 regular-season wins the past two years trail only Chicago and Atlanta (each with 98) — you become a star.
But going into his third year on the job, Ujiri’s tenure has been marked by patience and even caution, rather than any definitive declaration of where the team is going and how it’s going to get there.
Following the Raptors’ first-round playoff decimation at the hands of the Washington Wizards, Ujiri will have to be more active in order to steer his team out of the NBA’s middle class, exactly the spot he pledged they would never be when he took the job.
He still believes his core of DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Jonas Valancuinas and Terrence Ross is improving, but after two years of organic growth it’s Ujiri’s job to find them the right help.
With the NBA Draft on Thursday, what promises to be a frantic off-season across the NBA begins earnestly. What the Raptors do on draft night will give a peek into what happens as the free agency period opens July 1.
“They are connected,” Ujiri said.
Draft
A year ago the Raptors took Brazilian project Bruno Caboclo with the 20th overall pick, a shocker given that his resume was so thin he didn’t even appear as a potential second-round pick on most mock drafts. They also have big-man Lucas Nogueira to develop.
Next year the Raptors have their own pick and rights to either the New York Knicks’ or Denver Nuggets’ first-rounder (whichever ends up being the lower of the two), which is projecting to be a valuable asset given both the Knicks and Nuggets appear lottery-bound.
All of which is to say that the Raptors are looking for production, rather than potential, from whoever they select with the 20th pick on Thursday night.
With six free agents and question marks at multiple positions, it’s hard to pin down where the Raptors will go from here but some safe bets include:
That said, executives from other teams expect the Raptors to work hard to move up in the draft and they might have some opportunity to get into the second-half of the lottery given that there is expected to be some fluidity in that range this year.
Free agency
This is where things get really interesting.
Barring any significant moves on draft night, the Raptors’ headlining free agents are Amir Johnson and Lou Williams, and while bringing them back hasn’t been ruled out, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of appetite internally to provide them with the kind of term and dollars a pair of veterans looking at their last big contract would likely be seeking.
The mileage on Johnson is an issue, and for all the fireworks provided by Williams off the bench, playing him alongside Greivis Vasquez won’t be an option next year.
With Vazquez under contract for another season, betting is it will be Williams who finds a new address, even though Vasquez was pumping the rumour mill all by himself, suggesting that Minnesota was trying acquire him via trade — perhaps in a deal that would bring back underachieving forward Anthony Bennett, a Toronto native.
One change in the Raptors’ philosophy regarding free agency is that after plotting to keep their powder dry for the star-studded 2016 class, headlined by Kevin Durant — the object of the Raptors’ recurring fantasies — reality has set in and no longer is waiting until next year the plan.
The 2015 class may lack star power, but it’s got a lot of depth that is appealing to a club like Toronto that invested in its existing core and is hoping to grow organically and incrementally.
Presuming they don’t commit to their existing free agents, the Raptors should have about $17 million to spend under the salary cap.
Don’t be surprised if the Raptors use that flexibility (and any more they can free up) one of two ways: Overpaying on a short-term deal to an established veteran that fills a need — Dallas Mavericks centre Tyson Chandler, anyone? — or giving a player viewed more as a role player near max money to help DeRozan and Lowry get closer to competing for the conference finals in the East.
Ujiri’s not a reckless spender, but with the NBA’s new TV deal kicking in, it’s a good time to be aggressive. As an example, DeMarre Carroll of the Atlanta Hawks — a journeyman who has turned himself into a solid two-way role player — could command a massive contract from a team like the Raptors who are trying to beat the rush and add to their roster.
Overspending now is made more palatable as it’s expected the NBA’s salary cap could skyrocket to nearly $90 million in 2016-17 and as high as $110 million in 2017-18, meaning deals that look pricey now will be easily absorbed in a couple of years.
Another situation Raptors fans should monitor closely involves Cory Joseph, the Toronto-native point guard who is a restricted free agent with the San Antonio Spurs.
There are reports that San Antonio is going to make a run at Portland Trail Blazers free agent LaMarcus Aldridge, in which case they may renounce their rights to Joseph to clear money under the salary cap.
Even if they don’t, the Spurs might be vulnerable to a team that gives Joseph a carefully constructed offer sheet given they already have Tony Parker and Patty Mills under contract at point guard and have needs to fill this season as they try to extend Tim Duncan’s championship window.
The Raptors are high on Joseph, regardless of his passport. He can defend both backcourt positions and doesn’t require the ball to be effective, making him a strong compliment to both Lowry and Vasquez in the Raptors guard rotation.
But there are few secrets in the NBA and it’s believed Toronto won’t be the only team trying to land the 23-year-old with four years NBA experience and a championship with the Spurs.
“There will be a lot of competition for him,” said one Western Conference source.
While trying to round out their roster of players, the Raptors are still actively pursuing assistant coaches to bolster Dwane Casey’s staff. With both the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder changing head coaches, it makes sense that the Raptors would look to their staffs to bring in a lead assistant from a winning program.
Andy Greer helped the Bulls’ Tom Thibodeau put together one of the NBA’s best defences in recent years, while Rex Kalamian helped shape one of the NBA’s most talented young rosters with the Thunder and has ties to Casey going back to their days in Minnesota.
It will be an interesting development to watch. Elite assistant coaches are going up in price.
Melvin Hunt — the interim head coach in Denver who lost out on the head job to Mike Malone — was about to sign with the New Orleans Pelicans before the Dallas Mavericks outbid them. Hunt was another assistant the Raptors had targeted. Monte Mathis — formerly of the Mavericks — may also be on the Raptors’ radar.
Given that MLSE committed $50 million to Mike Babcock to coach the rebuilding Toronto Maple Leafs — among other hires — finding the cash to pay assistants with the Raptors shouldn’t be a problem.