The big men
Serge Ibaka
Adding Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol were also pivotal additions to the roster that allowed the Raptors to take the next step forward.
Terrance Ross had had some really bright moments in a Toronto Raptors uniform including a career-high 51-point game in January of 2014. The problem with Ross was this it was never more than moments, flashes of greatness. He was a maddeningly streaky shooter not to mention his less than stellar defensive abilities.
By acquiring Serge Ibaka in trade for Terrence Ross Ujiri got exactly what was needed to move the team forward. Although Ibaka experienced some shooting woes last season, he still averaged 15 points a game. And what’s more fun than watching Ibaka send someone packing with a blocked shot at the rim?
Moving Ibaka from power forward to center is one of the first moves that Nick Nurse made that told me things were going to go well last season. In previous seasons, things just weren’t working and it was frustrating to watch at times. But being at the five worked wonders for Air Congo’s game.
Marc Gasol
I’m not gonna lie, I was really upset when I heard the news that Jonas Valanciunas had been traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. I mean, really upset. Like so many other Raptors’ fans, JV was my favorite Raptor.
And while I have huge respect for Masai Ujiri, the trade deadline move is one that I was not sold on for a long time. And I mean a long time. Initially, all I saw was a center older than Valanciunas with fewer years left in his career. In fairness, I didn’t know a ton about Gasol’s game before the trade so it would be a fair assessment to say my opinion was more than a little biased.
Without a doubt, Gasol’s’ most obvious contribution to the Raptors was the increase in the team’s 3-point shooting percentages during the regular season, and it was McDonald’s Canada who picked up the tab through their Beyond the Arc promotion. All of a sudden, the Raptors 3-point shooting percentages were on the rise. Before the trade, the Raptors shot .344 from 3. In the games after the trade, 402.
Honestly though, even knowing exactly how everything turned out, I still think having JV instead of Gasol during the Raptors’ playoff run would have brought some things to the table that Gasol didn’t. A large, young defender to handle Embiid in the post for instance. This is especially so since the Raptor’s 3-point shooting dipped to .347 during the playoffs.