2019-20 Toronto Raptors

2018-19: 58-24 (NBA champs, fool!)
Draft picks: 59

Signed for next season ($131.4m): Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol (player option), Serge Ibaka, Norman Powell, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Chris Boucher, Malcolm Miller
Wow, the only guys signed past next year are Norman Powell and OG Anunoby, neither of whom were terribly meaningful on the championship run. They've gone from a team locked down by their onerous salary cap to a team so unfettered they might blow away. At any rate, doesn't feel like any of these guys will be here long.
Lowry, Gasol, and Ibaka will likely be going into their final seasons with the Raptors, which will leave a giant pile of money to spend next summer.
Powell is a nice rotation guy, as is Van Vleet.
They've got to re-sign Siakam (can they do that this summer? I'm not sure). And I suspect they'll re-sign Anunoby, too. I've heard they really like Boucher, but I'm not sure how committed to his future they are.


This summer's free agents: Kawhi Leonard (player option), Danny Green, Patrick McCaw, Jeremy Lin, Jodie Meeks
Well, getting Kawhi to stay is the first order of business; reacting to Kawhi leaving is likely the second order. He's a great player, just had a great run with the Raptors, you know they'll pay him whatever he wants to stay, so how much does he like money?
Green is a nice shooter, probably in line for a pretty good paycheck, but I don't think he'll be at the top of the Raptors to-do list this summer (with or without Kawhi).
I kinda like McCaw but there's something strange about that guy, not sure where he ends up.
Lin probably has a year or two left in him off the bench. He can still be useful to a playoff team that just needs reliable pros (Spurs or Heat, perhaps).
Jodie Meeks is one of my all time favorite Kentucky Wildcats and I was shocked to see him play as much as he did in the playoffs! But its hard to imagine he'll be playing anywhere next year.


Hmmm....the #59 pick....is the next Kawhi Leonard gonna be there? Could that be Jaylen Hoard (Wake Forest)? Actually I can see Jordan Bone (Tennessee) being a Raptors bench guy.


Next year's lineup:
PG Lowry, SG Powell, SF Kawhi (right?), PF Siakam, C Gasol with Van Vleet, Boucher, Anunoby, and Ibaka off the bench.

Man, that Raptors 2nd string rotation which has played so well for them over the last coupla years is pretty much gone now, huh? Coach Nurse inherited a well-run machine with some fancy new parts; seems like now its up to maximize what the machine can do for a year before a long period of rebuilding it. Not to say that he just picked up where Dwayne Casey left off but Nurse did have a good team ready to go on day 1. When a coach has so much success so quickly, it's hard to tell what kind of coach he actually is. The team has shed a lot of depth in the last year and depending on Kawhi's summer, may lose a lot lot more before opening day. I still feel like the Raptors will be really good in the East with or without Kawhi but with so many expiring contracts, the cycle will be ending and everyone will know it. So whatever happens next year for the Raptors will probably be pretty weird.