The Toronto Raptors celebrated a franchise-record 49 wins and an Atlantic division championship last season but the optimism didn’t last long as they went on to get swept by the Washington Wizards in their opening round playoff series.
Despite the rampant speculation that there would be major changes in Toronto this summer, the team didn’t make any major moves with the exception of adding free agents DeMarre Carroll, Luis Scola and Cory Joseph while letting Amir Johnson and Tyler Hansbrough leave. The biggest changes expected from the Raptors will come in their approach to the game and the focus will be the rotation and how head coach Dwane Casey uses his players.
Here is a look at the four potential changes we could see for Toronto this season.
Joseph Will Play Next To Lowry
Casey shared some interesting insight when he revealed that he expects Joseph to play next to Kyle Lowry in the Raptors backcourt. The two-point guard system didn’t work well for Toronto last year when they used Greivis Vasquez with Lowry, but Joseph is a different player. The decision would support the team’s desire to play with more pace and tempo.
Joseph was solid when he started 14 games for the San Antonio Spurs last season as he averaged 13.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and shot 56.2% from the field in those games. It will be interesting to see how he performs next to Lowry and one has to wonder if he’s a possible Lowry replacement as there have been lots of trade rumors surrounding the incumbent.
Carroll At The Four
There was no reason for Carroll to suit up at the four in Atlanta when they had Paul Millsap and Al Horford playing together as one of the best big-man tandems in the Eastern Conference but Casey has said that he wants him to play power forward in Toronto. Carroll does have the size at 6’8’’ and 212 pounds, and he has shown his versatility as a two-way player over the years for the Hawks, so it will be interesting to see how he holds up at the position.
The NBA has trended towards smaller lineups in recent years and Carroll’s versatility and ability to shoot the three-ball could make him a very dangerous weapon at the four spot for the Raptors. The biggest question might be how the rest of the roster shapes out with Patrick Patterson expected to compete for the starting power forward spot while Luis Scola is also in the mix as a veteran backup at the four spot.
DeRozan’s Usage Decreases
One change that absolutely has to happen is DeRozan’s usage rate, which can no longer be ignored if this team wants to win a playoff series this season.
DeRozan has been incredibly inefficient and after struggling in last year’s playoffs, it was that much more obvious even for the anti-analytics crowd that something had to give. Joseph’s insertion into the starting lineup next to Lowry could lead to DeRozan moving to the wing and while that move could be beneficial to his performance, Toronto would still be better off asking for less out of him this season. Lowry, Joseph, Carroll and even center Jonas Valanciunas can bring some offense to the table and Casey needs to do a better job of making sure the ball is moved around. The team can be successful relying on DeRozan as much as they have in the past.
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Decreased Role For Ross
DeRozan’s potential move to the small forward position would have the obvious impact of reducing Terrence Ross’ role but it isn’t the only factor that will cause his playing time to take a hit. Ross is a terrific athlete that has the ability to produce highlight reel dunks but he hasn’t been a consistent enough shooter. Until he develops that aspect of his game, he needs to have his minutes limited. Lowry, Joseph, DeRozan, first-round pick Delon Wright, James Johnson and even youngster Bruno Caboclo will be looking to carve out roles in training camp. While nothing is set in stone right now, it’s fairly clear that the team has soured on their former first-round pick and his minutes will be trimmed as a result.
