Tor - cha

[tenforthewin]

We have a core lineups of Lowry, DeRozan, Gay, Amir, and Val. Have them start and play a full 82 games next year, I think we are heading into the right direction with a minor tweak, we need a backup PG, SG, PF, C, whom we can address through trade or FA

Toronto trade Andrea Bargnani + Terrence Ross + draft rights to Tomislav Zubcic for Ben Gordan + Ramon Sessions + Portland's Pick
Toronto draft Kelly Olynyk or Gorgui Dieng with the Portland's pick
Raps resign John Lucas III
Raps signs Mareese Speights to a 2 years 6 million contract
Raps signs pry Luigi "Gigi" Datome from the Italian league to be our 3rd stringer SF
The last two roster: 3rd stringer SG and C will pick from Raps Camp invites, possibly left over FAs, D-League, or undraftees

Raps Lineups
Lowry/Sessions/Lucas
DeRozan/Gordon/SG
Gay/Fields/Datome
Amir/Olynyk or Dieng/Acy
Val/Speights/C

[tenforthewin]

Lowry and Sessions will go head to head for the starting PG position but Lowry will edge Sessions if we have a coach change, if we stick with Casey, I suspect Lowry will come off the bench.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Backup SG - I'd rather keep Ross than trade for Gordon

Backup C - Gray will likely use his player option, which means he's coming back

Backup PG & starting/backup PF are the 2 most pressing needs:


Option #1 (easy way)
- I'd rather just use the combination of Bargnani & MLE (possibly both via Bargnani trade) to address the backup PF (or possibly starting PF, with Amir going to 2nd unit) & backup PG spots

C: Valanciunas, Gray (player option)
PF: Johnson, ???, Acy
SF: Gay, Fields
SG: DeRozan, Ross
PG: Lowry, ???, Lucas (team option)


Option #2 (hard way)
- use Bargnani to address the backup PG spot and/or backup SF spot
- trade DeRozan for starting PF (Amir moves to 2nd unit)
- MLE could be used to address any spot still left vacant after first two trades

C: Valanciunas, Gray (player option)
PF: ???, Johnson, Acy
SF: Gay, ???
SG: Fields, Ross
PG: Lowry, ???, Lucas (team option)


The remaining 3 spots can be filled using minimum wage veterans and/or young prospects, signed via free agency. Leaving 1 or 2 roster spots open could be beneficial for facilitating potential trades throughout the season, since only 13 spots are required to be filled.