More dismal chapters for the Raptors

   The Toronto Raptors have made some nice moves, but there still seems to be little to be excited about. They have a pretty nice nucleus of Andrea Bargnani, DeMar DeRozen, and Jose Calderon. They are not superstars though. Bargnani was their leading scorer last year with 19.5 per game. You need more out of your best scorer if you want to be a legitimate contender. As a whole, the team averaged 90.7 points per game, while allowing 94. They do not have a stout shot blocker. Their two best rebounders are Amir Johnson and Aaron Gray, and neither adds anything significant in the scoring department. They did add some new players, most notably Kyle Lowry. Lowry never averaged over 10 points a game before 2010, but he averaged 13.5 and 14.3 in the last two years respectively. Last season he averaged 4.6 rebounds per game, which isn't bad for a point guard. With all this said, however, it looks like he has reached his ceiling. He is not a great passer or defender. I think he will struggle to be effective when Bargnani is not on the floor.
   Toronto brought in former Knick Landry Fields, who is simply average. He has skill, but he lacks the "it" factor. He will never take over a game. He constantly seems to be going through the motions when he is on the basketball court. They had a solid draft, but I do not foresee superstardom out of Terrence Ross or Quincy Acy. Dwane Casey is a fantastic coach, as he illustrated while being an assistant for the Dallas Mavericks during their title run. But I doubt he can do much with this roster because it lacks talent. Throwing together a bunch of decent players does not equal greatness. Also, Aaron Gray is their only true big man. The x-factor for this team is Jonas Valančiūnas, their 1st round pick from 2011. He is supremely talented and athletic. I do question if he is a good fit however, considering that Bargnani is also a finesse big man.
   All in all, Toronto made some slight improvements. I personally love the stable of point guards they have in Calderon, Lowry, and John Lucas III. I wish my Knicks had those point guards (*sigh). Still, they clearly have not enough to be a actual threat. I will have more confidence when they get a real center.