Raptors season preview part 1: Off-season moves.

Just so you know I'm a Raptors fan, so most of my posts will be about them.

With the relative lack of Raptors news over the last couple of month, I’ve had plenty of time to think about the potential of the upcoming season. I’m excited. There are good reasons to believe that they will improve over last season and could easily win a playoff round or two or even three, who knows. In an effort to make the waiting more bearable and to spare my wife from having to listen to me blab on and on about how good I think the Raptors will be, I have instead decided to annoy a larger audience, you. That is, anyone who obsessive or foolish enough to be reading an NBA preview by some nobody, in the middle of August.

This first part will be focusing on the Raptors off-season moves. I realize that pretty much every sports writer and blogger has already covered this ad nauseum, but I guarantee that my analysis will be better thought out and more accurate, or at least slightly different.

The off-season has been pretty quiet for the Raptors. I consider this to be a good thing, mostly because I feel that the they have a good, young, promising core and are really very close to being an elite team. Whether Bryan Colangelo has done enough this year remains to be seen. Let’s start with the losses.

Lost FA Morris Peterson to the Hornets:

As much as I liked and respected Mo Pete, this was probably a good move for both sides. Aside from a couple of games in the playoffs, he never really seemed to understand what the coaching staff was trying to preach. It made no sense for the Raptors to spend their MLE on a player who did not fit in their system, and made even less sense for Mo Pete to sign with a team where he was likely to see limited playing time. Despite his frustrating inconsistency, (I could never understand how he could be so dominant in some games and almost invisible in others) he was still an important part of the Raptors franchise for a long time. I wish him all the best in New Orleans. Grade: B.

Other Free-Agents that are unlikely to return include, Uros Slokar, Pape Sow and Derrick Martin. Of these three only Martin had any impact on last season and that had more to do with his mentoring of the young PGs than anything he did on the court. Not resigning these guys frees up some roster slots for better players. Grade: N/A.

Trade two second-round pick to Pistons for Carlos Delfino:

Bryan Colangelo committed highway robbery here. Delfino is an under-rated player who never really got a chance to play under Flip Saunders in Detroit. Despite limited playing time and being generally neglected in Detroit, Delfino has managed to increase his PER through his short career. With more playing time in Toronto and in system that is a better fit, he is in the perfect situation to have a break-out year. Be ready, this guy will surprise you. Grade: A.

Signed FA Jason Kapono from the Heat:

I’m a little uncertain about this move, while Kapono can most definitely hit open threes, I not sure what else he brings to the table. Kapono is at best an average athlete (by NBA standards), but he does have a good work ethic and high basketball IQ, that should minimize this short-coming. I would probably feel better about this signing if the price had been about 1-1.5 million a year less. On the other hand, Colangelo has proven to be very good talent evaluator, so we will have to wait to see what he sees in Kapono that I don’t. Grade: B.

Signed FA Maceo Baston from the Pacer:

He couldn’t cut it on a floundering Pacer squad and that has me a little worried, but the Raptors brought him in to play a limited role at a cheap price, so it really doesn’t matter much if he doesn’t work out. Best-case scenario, he is an athletic big man who helps the Raptors keep up the fast pace while Bosh and/or Bargnani are out of the game. Worst-case, he pushes and mentors the raptor young forwards in practice. At least he will be quicker than Nesterovic. Grade: B-.

Signed FA Jamario Moon:

This guy is a complete wild card. From what I’ve heard he is crazy-athletic and driven, but still pretty raw. He sounds like an older, less polished Joey Graham, (do the Raptors really need another one??), but for the money that he’s getting, (his contract isn’t even guaranteed) he seems to have enough upside to be worth a serious look. I wouldn’t expect him to be a significant contributor any time soon, or perhaps not at all. Grade: B.

Since the Raptors off-season activity seems to be pretty much done, I’ll give them an overall grade of a A-. Mostly because Colangelo resisted the urge to move any of his valuable young pieces and managed to steal Delfino from the Pistons. Next up, a look at the returning players on the Raptors roster, expect it sometime is the near future. You know, whenever I get around to it.

Sorael, Raptors Fan Extraordinaire.