Toronto Raptors: A Team With No Positional Weaknesses After Adding Ibaka, Tucker

After a successful NBA Trade Deadline, the Toronto Raptors have no positional weaknesses, and no excuses. It’s Finals or bust after for Toronto now

Aside from the DeMarcus Cousins blockbuster deal, 2017 was a relatively quiet trade deadline by NBA standards. Carmelo Anthony and Jimmy Butler stayed put. The Clippers and Celtics didn’t make any moves to shake up their rosters for the playoffs.

On the heels of a terrible start to 2017, the Toronto Raptors clearly won the trade deadline by getting two NBA starting players who can help them right away in P.J. Tucker and Serge Ibaka. But their aging roster, and pricey Free-Agents-to-be make this season Finals or bust for the Canadian team.

Toronto essentially gave up two second draft picks for Tucker – the wing-stopper DeMarre Carroll was in 2015 but hasn’t been since. To get Ibaka, all they gave the Orlando Magic was their late 1st round draft pick and Terrence Ross’s non-existent playmaking (0.8 assists per game) and rebounding (2.6 rebounds per game). Ross proved himself a streaky J.R. Smith-esq player who could get hot and win a crucial game, but overall, his contributions – and missed dunks – won’t be missed.

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The Toronto Raptors are 3-0 with Tucker and Ibaka. Things were looking up for Drake’s team. But today Kyle Lowry had wrist surgery that could hold him out for the rest of the regular season.

While it would be easy to say this is a complete disaster, Lowry’s absence is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it will carve out more playing time for Tucker and Ibaka to quickly develop chemistry with DeMar DeRozan; on the other hand, Toronto may struggle to reincorporate him to the new look team when the games really matter.

Last year, Carroll was hobbled by injuries and Jonas Valanciunas suffered a playoff-ending injury in the second round. The team’s overall talent was tested and nearly failed them in the first and second rounds of the Eastern Conference Playoffs – where the Indiana Pacers, and then Miami Heat – took them to 7 games – before they were predictably hammered by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This year, LeBron James has complained about Cleveland’s depth , and Eastern Conference rivals Boston Celtics (stood pat) and Washington Wizards (acquired Bojan Bogdanovic) didn’t make huge improvements at the NBA Trade Deadline.

With a healthy Lowry, Toronto could have the deepest roster in the East. They have the requisite two superstars – who both exorcised their playoff demons last year – and now good role players capable of shooting three’s, posting up, and defending rival players at their positions. This is how I anticipate their playoff lineups:

PG: Lowry
SG: DeRozan
SF: Carroll
PF: Ibaka
C: Valanciunas
Backup PG: Cory Joseph (above league average)
Back up wings: Tucker (above league average) and Norman Powell (league average or above)
Backup bigs: Patrick Patterson (above league average and recently a starter)
Lucas Nogueira (above league average and recently a starter)

Toronto currently sits in 4th place, 3 games behind the 2nd place Boston Celtics. With Lowry out, it is unlikely they grab the 2nd seed, but – assuming Lowry is healthy – homecourt advantage should not be a deal-breaker in a potential series with Boston or Washington. Toronto has the superior superstars and depth to beat either team on the road.

Beating Cleveland is always the goal for Eastern Conference “contenders” (a term that has been stretched the past few years to include the 2015 Atlanta Hawks and 2016 Raptors). The post-trade deadline Toronto Raptors of 2017 are probably the closest thing to a contender outside of Cleveland since James’s return in the 2014 offseason.

And with James soon to overtake Lowry as the league leader in minutes; and injuries to J.R. Smith and Kevin Love likely to jeopardize Cleveland’s chemistry in the playoffs, now is the time to play like one.

Serge Ibaka, Patrick Patterson, PJ Tucker, and – most importantly – Kyle Lowry will all be up for contract extensions. With a guaranteed team payroll of $76,649,970, Toronto will probably not be able to re-sign all four – even if they trade Valanciunas and Carroll’s contracts. Lowry’s contract alone should put them over next year’s $102 million salary cap.

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Lowry’s injury puts Toronto’s collective feet to the fire. They could collapse, or they could play inspired, all-or-nothing basketball. Lowry’s return could offset the team chemistry, or improve it.

Toronto’s youngest rotation players are Valanciunas and Nogueira (both 24), which means they can not possibly expect the same internal growth as Boston the next few years. Toronto’s core is also much older than that of Washington. They may never have a better chance to reach an NBA Finals. The time is now.

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