Current Roster
PG: Cory Joseph/Delon Wright/Fred VanVleet
SG: DeMar DeRozan/Norman Powell
SF: DeMarre Carroll/OG Anunoby*
PF: Pascal Siakam/Bruno Caboclo
C: Jonas Valanciunas/Lucas Nogueira
*When healthy
2017 Free Agents
Unrestricted
G Kyle Lowry
C Serge Ibaka
F Patrick Patterson
F PJ Tucker
Restricted
None
Who They Drafted
1-23 OG Anunoby, SF/PF Indiana
The Raptors got a player many had projected as a lottery pick but who fell because of a knee injury and concerns about his offensive abilities. Anunoby is an elite defensive prospect, with long arms, strength, and (before the injury at least) tremendous all-around athletic ability. Anunoby could potentially guard all five positions, including point guards (see his defensive performace against Jamal Murray) and centers, once he bulks up a little more, he's already weighs in the 230s and could another 10-20 pounds easily. Where the question marks begin are his offense. Anunoby is an explosive finisher at the rim but needs an open lane or a shot created by someone else to get there. As a shooter, Anunoby made .365% of his career 74 college threes, but only shoot .311% in his last season and is a bad free throw shooter as well (career .522%) so there are serious worries that he'll never be a shooter or offensive threat in general. However, if Anunoby can become even a 34% three point shooter at a minimum, he'll be one of the best 3-and-D players in the league, though that is where his upside likely ends. Even if he can't shoot, Anunoby could still carve out a Luc Richard Mbah a Moute-like career due to his high level defense. For years the Raptors have been looking for a guy to defend the LeBron James' (or even the Joe Johnson's and Paul Pierce's) of the world, but have been unable to find that guy. Anunoby really could be that guy, unfortunately his arrival is coinciding with perhaps the closing of the Raptors window.
What They Need Going Forward
The Raptors need to figure out if they're going to continue to go for it or are going to start a soft rebuild. If the former, then bringing back Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka are priorities, if the latter then they'd probably want to move on and look to trade Jonas Valanciunas and maybe even DeMar DeRozan. They'll also probably be looking for depth signings on the wing and at guard, where a Kyle Lowry departure would really mess with their team structure.
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