It’s a daunting offseason for the Toronto Raptors, coming off their best season in four years, there’s a mounting pressure to improve on that performance. Armed with all of their own first round picks, and some major decisions to make, this offseason will define the Raptors future.
That sounds scary when you put it like that, and I’m slowly starting to learn (armed with some excellent advice from my Mom) that you can’t look at the big picture that way. You need to make a plan with defined steps, goals, and milestones that help you reach your end goal. So for the Raptors, instead of the saying ‘improve the team this offseason’ we need to break it down into the individual tasks they can complete to get there. The journey begins one step a time, and this one starts with the NBA draft.
June 23 – Draft: Make selections at 19 and 50
It’s unlikely that the Raptors, or any team for that matter will make any moves ahead of the draft, so the first action of the offseason will come on draft night. The Raptors currently own the 19th and 50th picks in the draft and with the class boasting a deep pool of players, there’s an opportunity to add at least one impact player.
I’ve given up on predicting who the Raptors may draft, as they seem to always go in an unpredictable direction, but others at Raptors Republic have done some excellent work in this area. Brendan Stewart has done thorough analysis on Morez Johnson Jr. and Ebuka Okorie, with more to come, and Samson Folk has done podcasts covering various draft targets including an episode on Johnson Jr., Allen Graves, Billy Richmond III and another on Cam Carr, Jayden Quaintance, and Christian Anderson. For the real basketball sickos, Samson has also done an episode on some options for the 50th overall pick as well.
The Raptors could try and trade up in this draft if they have their hearts set on a guy projected to go higher, but there will be great options at 19 if they stay put.
Canvas the trade market
While I’m generally a believer in continuity, and I don’t think a trade should be made for the sake of making a trade, if there’s an opportunity to get Barnes a real co-star, you have to strike now. The longer the playoffs have gone on, the more beatable the league has looked. Well, outside of the New York Knicks who are currently riding a 13-game playoff win streak.
Some of the biggest names on the market — Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ja Morant, Domantas Sabonis — have all been linked to the Raptors at one point or another, but with the new lottery rules the Raptors picks (which they own all of) may have increased value. Perhaps they can entice a team to part ways with a player they otherwise wouldn’t.
Outside of any superstar trades, they could look at guys like Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins of the Oklahoma City Thunder who both fell out of the rotation in the playoffs this year and are rumoured to be on the move. Joe is a career 40% three point shooter and Wiggins had a down year but has shot 38% over his career.
The other trade looming over the Raptors’ offseason is one that would see their 2023 first-rounder Gradey Dick get a fresh start somewhere else. There’s been rumours that he’s open to a trade and that the Raptors are open to trading him. The remaining question is if any team out there is willing to trade anything for him.
June 30 – Free Agency: Re-sign Sandro Mamukelashvili
Barring any trades, the Raptors don’t really have any money to do anything in free agency, which is okay because this year’s class isn’t anything too special. The only real goal the Raptors should have is to retain Mamukelashvili, who had a breakout season in Toronto this year. His performance this past season may have pushed him out of the Raptors’ price range, but he’s emphasized the importance of finding the right fit over the most money. That’s easy to say when the difference is small, but if a team throws him a big bag, akin to what the Orlando Magic did with Bismack Biyombo in 2016, he’s as good as gone.
Re-signing Mamukelashvili is another reason why the Raptors may try to move off Dick, if they can create some cap space with a trade they can use that money to keep Mamukelashvili, who fits excellently alongside Barnes.
Don’t sign RJ Barrett to an extension
While this is more of a to-don’t than a to-do, the Raptors should not be signing Barrett to an extension this offseason. This has nothing to do with whether Barrett should be on the team and everything to do with preserving future flexibility and not overpaying yet another asset. I personally love Barrett, and I think he’s an excellent player who stirs the drink for the Raptors. In the playoffs he showcased his importance as a driver and shot maker. He fits well alongside Barnes and is still young with potential for growth.
But, the Raptors have a mess of a cap sheet right now, and they got into that mess by paying players before they had to. Jakob Poeltl for example, they extended while he still had two years left on his contract, which almost never happens for players of his caliber, that deal has already hamstrung them so badly and the extension hasn’t even kicked in yet. Brandon Ingram they signed to a three year extension before he even played a game for the team, and while that was likely agreed to before the trade was finalized, they could have played hardball a little bit, who else was offering that kind of money? They signed Quickley to an extension early into his Raptors tenure as well, and again before they had to, though with it being a flat contract and his play improving as the year went on, it doesn’t look bad. If it stood alone I’d have no issue, but it’s part of a pattern they’ve demonstrated of paying guys too early, and that’s where the issue lies. While I undoubtedly want Barrett on the team long-term, they literally can’t afford to make that mistake again.
Pray for a Jakob Poeltl miracle
The last thing on the Raptors offseason to-do list is to hope and pray that a magic fairy or a genie can perform a miracle and fix Poeltl’s back pain. A healthy Poeltl would change so much for this team. When he’s feeling good, and moving quickly he’s an excellent backline defender for the chaos that Barnes creates up front, his screen setting, push shot, and passing combination elevates the Raptors offense and he’s the only seven-footer on the roster.
The team is trending upwards, they were one game away from a second round appearance, the East is open and the Knicks are proving that perhaps the whole league is open. The Raptors have gained a ton of intel on what’s needed to improve. Whether it’s a big splash or moves around the edges, they need to have a plan and execute it. They can’t mess this one up.