Now What?

Ok, so lockout is here(told you about it in the last blog) and....now what? What should the Raptors do.?...They still have some very bad contracts on there hands that they can trade(e.g Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargs, Amir Johnson and Linas Kleiza) and they could think ahead of time of next years free agents which brings me into more questions. Who will we sign next year when Barbosa is opting out and who should we trade this year to think about the future? We will see right now.

Well, in my last blog, I gave you a list of free agents we should target for but since Barbosa picked up his 7 million contract, we don't have alot of Cap Flexibility to sign those players. Maybe those role players but Thaddeus Young, Tyson Chandler, Andre Kirilenko and Nene, not even close. But Chuck Hayes, Jason Collins and Luc Mbah a Moute might help the team. Those are for short term. But with Barbosa opting out next year, then this could be a whole new thing for next free agency. Well, not really. Jerryed Bayless is going to be a restricted free agent next year and since he is young, we are going to pay him big time. Than we have Jonas to sign a 5th draft pick deal. We most probably will have another lottery pick this year if there is a NBA season and that is going to take up some space as well. But we a few pieces to work with to get a expiring contract in a trade. If we can trade Bargs and Calderon for a few expiring contracts and a few bust-out players, we can give our young gunz like Ed Davis the start at PF and Jonas and be slotted in center right away. Than say we can get a veteran SF or draft Harrison Barnes from North Carolina or maybe even rely on the skills of James Johnson. You never know.


I think the Raptors main goal right is get a star on the team. It looks like Demar Derozan is well on his way but still needs to expand his range outside and his defense needs to improve tremendously. With the help of Dwayne Casey I think he will get there. Now to build around him is hard cause usually, teams have a decent big man on the team to build around with the back court. If Ed Davis and Jonas can do that in 2012-2013 than I think this team is set with some role players.


Things to do when in the 2011 and the 2012 offseason:


1. Work with Demar and help him get better at defense 


2. Work with big men like Jonas, Ed Davis and Amir at post moves and defense.


3. Help Jerryd Bayless become a true point guard


4. Get a good back up point guard


5. Get a veteran to lead the team and some role players


6.  (if they dont do this in the 2011 offseason) Trade Bargs literally and maybe Jose because of his horrifying contract

I will explain who to get next off season. Goran Dragic is the best role player/true point guard player. He is a unrestricted free agent next year and I think Dragic(who was learning from Steve Nash) will really help the team run the offence more smoothly for someone coming off the bench. Now, get a veteran. I think Eddie is the best veteran to get at the point guard position. This guy, who have been into the finals 3 times(as far as I know) and won 1 ring, has really positive energy. He is also always ready to play. He gets in and does what the coach asks to do. If its bringing some offence, he will shoot the three. If it is replacing a injured point guard, he will play like a productive point guard. Now if you are talking about shooting guard, I would bring back Barbosa with a smaller contract for 3 years. Give him about 4 million. I don't need to explain about him, we saw him play and he is great. That is all I need to say. Now for small foward, I would put Mickeal Pietrus cause again, he is always ready to play and when he comes in, he can bring that offence and defense. Just hope he doesn't get injured alot. For PF I think Amir has been in the league long enough to know how to defend and play at his position. At the center though, I think this guy is more of a role player. Ryan Hollins is a great long athlete and he brings such energy to the court and plays with heart. I think he is good solid defender, can teach Jonas that her should some positive energy every night and most impotently, how to play solid defense. Another veteran at C that the Raps can get is Jason Collins who is defensive minded and can play solid D on pretty much every big men in the league. He gives Dwight Howard a whole lot of trouble night in and night out which this team lacks. Defending in the paint was Raps biggest weak points that they must improve. So getting Collins would be a smart idea. 


Now for the role player. I think I covered PG, SG, PF and C but now SF we need to fix. In the 2012 class of free agents, there is no productive young SF that could help this team. But this year, they could take Earl Clark who was drafted 2 years ago. The Suns were really excited about this guy when they drafted him but turned out that he couldn't really fit in with the rotation. So the following year, he got traded to Orlando and he still wasn't in that rotation. Though when I saw some Magic games over the year, I saw this guy play and he played with great energy and he really liked to attack the rim. He needs to improve on finishing and making his mid-range jumper. The one thing I like about him is that he is 6"10 and he can ran the floor really well. He can easily guard SF and naturally, he plays SF. He can also rebound which I like as well. He is only 23 so there is alot of time to work with this guy and improve his game. I think if the Raps can sign him with a low amount of money, this could be a good acquisition.


So yea, these players could be Raptors but hey, it is just my opinion.


Have a good summer :D