NBA Mock Offseason: LA Clippers win Finals and Bradley Beal is traded

NBA Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
NBA Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
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NBA
NBA Toronto Raptors Pascal Siakam (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Toronto Raptors

Roster

Head coach: Nick Nurse 

2019-20 NBA season results:

  • Lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Boston Celtics

Who they re-signed:

  • Fred VanVleet re-signed to a four-year, $103 million contract
  • Marc Gasol re-signed to a one-year, $17 million contract
  • Chris Boucher re-signed a two-year, bi-annual exception contract

Who they signed in FA:

  • Aron Baynes signed to a one-year, full mid-level exception

Trades they made:

  • 2023 Toronto Raptors second-round draft pick and cash to the New Orleans Pelicans for 47th overall draft pick

Who they drafted:

  • Drafted Leandro Bolmaro, Nick Richards, Paul Eboua

Other moves:

Summary: The Toronto Raptors decide to keep competing now and opt to figure out how to create the resources later if Giannis becomes a real option in the 2021 free agency. They bring back important pieces to their success in 2019-20 in veteran center Marc Gasol, talented guard Fred VanVleet and gritty big man Chris Boucher.

The Raptors were one of the surprises in the 2019-20 season by still being very competitive despite losing their NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard to the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency last off-season and they try to come back with mostly the same team aside from swapping Serge Ibaka with Aron Baynes. Baynes should fit in nicely and bring some veteran experience to their second unit and is a good locker room guy by most accounts.

The team chemistry is what seems to be most important to them winning basketball games, so they don’t really make any major shake-ups. Nick Nurse is a tremendous coach and having so many familiar faces return should work for the Raptors even in what could be a tough Atlantic Division in the 2020-21 season from top to bottom.