Year One A.B: Big Shoes to Fill

Photo Credit:

http://ballersfb.nike.com/basketball_content/nba/players/profile/amir_johnson.jpg

Chris Bosh's departure from the Raptors takes away 24 points and 11 boards per game from the Dinos. For now, the burden of filling the Bosh void falls upon Amir Johnson and rookie Ed Davis. Ideally, Andrea Bargnani and other Raptor role players will be able to pick up their scoring and rebounding to help fill the void. However, for the Raptors to have be a successful team, the power forward position must still contribute significantly. Are Johnson and Davis able to contribute enough for the Raptors to be successful?

As it stands, Amir Johnson is probably best known as the last player ever to be drafted straight out of high school. At the beginning of the summer the Raptors locked up the 23 year old for 5 more years with a 34 million dollar contract. I am a big fan of Amir Johnson. I love that at 23 years old he already has 6 years of NBA play under his belt, and I believe that NBA experience is a value that cannot be taught. Amir is also a versatile player; he played all 82 for the Raps last season, averaging 6 ppg and 5 rpg in about 18 minutes per game. If you extend his numbers out to starter minutes (36 mpg), Johnson would average just under 13 ppg and just under 10 rpg, which many would say would be perfectly adequate numbers for a starting four.

Amir's progression throughout the '09-'10 season was on display. We saw him grow more comfortable in a Raptor uniform. He brought energy and crashed the boards off the bench, sparking the team for a run more than often. Amir is excellent off the pick and roll, and even towards the end of last season he was starting to get his number called on plays. He has always been an efficient scorer with a career field goal percentage of 60%.

Amir's offense is still quite raw however. He lacks great post moves and hesitates to take an open foul line jumper. But the bottom line is: with 6 years of experience under his belt and at just 23 years of age, Amir has plenty of time to refine his game.

Photo Credit:

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/cm4lSMmEbMR/North+Carolina+Asheville+v+North+Carolina/huKOHxBb4N7/Quinard+Jackson

With the 13th pick in the 2010 NBA draft, the Toronto Raptors selected a 6'10 left-handed power forward. No, it was not Chris Bosh's clone, it was Ed Davis. I find Ed to be a very intriguing prospect. In his freshman year, Ed averaged about 7 ppg and 7 rpg with the North Carolina Tar-Heels en route to being named to the ACC all-freshman team. In Summer 2009, Davis was slotted to be a top-5 pick in the draft should he have chosen to enter it. Davis decided to go back to school, however in February he suffered a broken wrist which ended his season.

In his years with North Carolina, Davis showed that he has an excellent touch around the basket and is not afraid to grab a rebound or two. He even led the Tar-Heels with 65 blocks (1.7 per game) in his freshman year. In Summer League play, Ed looked right at home. He shot an impressive 63% from the field and averaged 12.6 ppg and 6 rpg for the undefeated Raptors.

I like Ed Davis a lot and I think that we stole him with the 13th pick. I also like that he will not have the pressure of starting in his rookie year. He can learn from Amir, and feel comfortable hanging with the Young Gunz (Sonny, DMDR, Amir). He does, however, need to work on extending his range and hit the weight room a little bit. In his draft interview, Ed said that his favorite player was Chris Bosh. That's a start...

Raps Stumble in Preseason Back-to-Back

The Raps played their first two preseason games over the past couple of days and dropped them both, 107-98 in London, Ontario, and 84-79 in Toronto. It's very tough to raise any solid concerns or point out anything of value for two reasons: a) it's preseason (there is a saying that goes, "you can't find out who can play, you can only find out who can't play") as well as the Raps' two leaders (and likely two best players) in Chris Bosh and Hidayet Turkoglu are sitting out for now with minor injuries. That said, here are some points that can be gleaned from the back-to-back:
Reggie Evans does not arrive anywhere quietly. He put up 8 steals in the two games and was a beast inside and on the glass. He's not afraid to let people know how sharp his elbows are at any point and he picked up 9 hard-nosed fouls. He was, as usual, poor from the free-throw line (7-14) which means he likely won't be able to play at the end of games, and will probably be replaced with Rasho Nesterovic, Amir Johnson or with Andrea Bargnani sliding over to the 4-spot.
Speaking of Il Mago, he led us in scoring in the first game with 22 points, showcasing all his tremendous scoring prowess. In the second game he played under 20 minutes in order to give AJ some time (who put up 8 points, 8 boards and 6 fouls), but if Bargnani can be that dominant on the offensive end it will make things easy for Jose Calderon.
Touted rookie DeMar DeRozan did a solid job filling the stat sheet with a two-game line of 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 three-pointers (2-5 shooting). It's important for DMDR to establish his presence in all facets of the game and realize that he doesn't have to carry the load offensively with gifted scorers around him in Bosh, Turkoglu, Bargs and Jose. He'll likely get some time with the second unit as well, and it could be fun to watch him and Marco Belinelli, two very different wing players, light it up in their own ways.

The Raptors' next preseason game is tomorrow (Friday), 8 P.M at the Minnesota Timberwolves.

ESPN Predicts East Standing, Undercuts Raptors

I always hate getting my hopes up about the Raptors in the offseason, as I am convinced we are destined for a life in basketball purgatory, to be mediocre forever. However this year (as with every other Raptor season) I could not help myself. I analyzed our team over and over, asking myself how high do you think the Raptors can make it in the East. Fourth? Maybe even third?

Yesterday 53 panelists from across ESPN predicted the number of wins and losses for each team in the East and, to my surprise, the Raptors came in at ninth. They predicted the Raps to finish four games under .500 at 39-43. So here is my list of reasons of why I believe in the Dinos.

1. A re-vamped team
Let's face it, the Raptors last season had problems. Amidst persistent injuries to rotation players, a head coach firing a few weeks into the season, constant boo-ing from the fans, and rumors that the face of the team will walk in 2010, the Raps developed a defeated, lackadaisical attitude. This offseason The Architect went to work. He kept 5 of 15 players from last season, 3 being rotation players (guess who). The 2009-10 Raptors are a different team from last year, let's hope they realize that.

2. Depth and Toughness
BC has been talking for a while about adding tough big men who can bang in the key and grab rebounds. Rather than drafting an unpredictable big man (yes, Rob Babcock and Rafael Araujo, this shout out is for you), BC went into the market and grabbed Reggie Evans, Amir Johnson, and Rasho Nesterovic. These three guys bring a unique mix of abilities - Evans with hard-nosed grit and toughness, AJ with high-flying athleticism, and Radoslav with great fundamentals - and they can clean the glass better than Windex (yes, I hate myself for writing that).

Looking at the Raptor depth chart puts a smile on my face. What was once a depleted wingman lineup has now become filled with young players ready to compete for floor time. Behind Jose Calderon is another point guard who beat out T.J. Ford for the starting spot in Indiana. Raptor fans this season will witness a 10-man deep team.

3. The Wing Spot
With the acquisitions of Hedo Turkoglu, Antoine Wright, and DeMar DeRozan, the Raptors have wing players who are not afraid to take the ball to the bucket. Hedo, 'Toine, and DMDR all have the ability to take the ball to the hoop with authority, a quality that has become lost in the Raptors' style of play in the past couple of seasons.

4. We Are Better Than the Wizards
ESPN put the Wizards in the 8 spot over the Raptors. Naturally because the Raptors have had a big turnover in personnel this offseason raises questions of team chemistry. But can Gilbert Arenas really be expected to come back fully healthy and automatically mesh with Mike Miller and Randy Foye?

Raps Nab Johnson and Weems

According to the Toronto Star, the Raps have traded "Hot Cocoa" Roko Ukic and the rights to restricted free agent Carlos Delfino to the Milwaukee Bucks for forward Amir Johnson and guard Sonny Weems. Both come off the books after this season, though Weems has a team option for 2010-11.

Johnson, a very athletic 6-10, put up 3.5 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in just 15 minutes last season in Detroit. He figures to add to our big-man depth, backing up Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu. He'll compete for time with Reggie Evans and Rasho Nesterovic and may pass Patrick O'Bryant on the depth chart.

Weems, 6-6, spent the majority of last season in the D-League playing for the Colorado 14ers. He'll likely ride the pine most of the season. Hopefully he can make friends with Marcus Banks.

Grade for Raptors: B
It's a solid deal that brings a big man with upside to Toronto while reducing the number of contracts for next summer in an attempt to keep CB4 in town. Weems is essentially a non-factor in this deal, and Delfino's skills were redundant with DeMar DeRozan, Antoine Wright, Marco Belinelli and Turk in town. The only downside to this deal (besides losing 2 nations from the UN of the NBA) is giving away Roko. While he likely would have gotten very little playing time behind Jose Calderon and newly acquired Jarrett Jack, he's still a big, young guard with plenty of upside. It's entirely possible he could develop into a solid NBA player, but for the immediate future of this franchise, it didn't make any sense to keep him. Solid deal by Bryan Colangelo to try to make something from pretty much nothing.