NBA.com's Raptors Pre-Draft Analysis

[Joey]

Areas of Strength
One-on-one offense. The Raptors had the third best offense in the league, ranking in the top 10 in effective field goal percentage, turnover rate and free throw rate. But they ranked 28th in assist rate and when the Wizards' defense took the ball out of the hands of their guards in the first round, they couldn't handle it. Only one team (Milwaukee) was worst offensively in the playoffs.

Needs Work
Defense. The Raptors went from a top-10 defensive team in 2013-14 to a bottom-10 defensive team in '14-15. Jonas Valanciunas hasn't developed on that end of the floor, and his slow foot speed was compounded by poor ball containment and late rotations. In the playoffs, the Raptors had no way to stop John Wall and couldn't keep the Wizards off the offensive glass.

Two Stats That Matter
54.7% -- The Wizards had an effective field goal percentage of 54.7 percent in their sweep of the Raptors, the highest mark for any team in the first two rounds.

102 -- Lou Williams led the league with 102 shooting fouls drawn on jump shots. DeMar DeRozan ranked third with 85.

The Way To Go
NBA.com's Draft expert, Scott Howard-Cooper, offers up his suggestions:
Amir Johnson and Tyler Hansbrough are both hitting the market as unrestricted free agents and the Raptors were 19th in rebounding percentage anyway, so power forward is a good place to start looking with No. 20. Montrezl Harrell may still be available, though it’s not a great bet, and Bobby Portis and Kevon Looney are also options.

2014-15 Team Stats (points per 100 possessions, with NBA rank)
Offensive: 108.1 (3rd)
Defensive: 104.8 (23rd)

Under Contract
G: DeMar DeRozan
G: Kyle Lowry
G: Greivis Vasquez
F: Bruno Caboclo
F: James Johnson
F: Patrick Patterson
F/G: Terrence Ross
C: Jonas Valanciunas
C: Lucas Nogueira

Free Agents
G: Lou Williams (unrestricted)
G/F: Landry Fields (unrestricted)
F: Amir Johnson (unrestricted)
F/C: Tyler Hansbrough (unrestricted)
C/F: Chuck Hayes (unrestricted)
C: Greg Stiemsma (unrestricted)

Recent Draft History
2014: Bruno Caboclo (20), DeAndre Daniels (37), Xavier Thames (59)
2013: None
2012: Terrence Ross (8), Quincy Acy (37), Tomislav Zubcic (56)
2011: Jonas Valanciunus (5)
2010: Ed Davis (13)

Source

Fair analysis I'd say. Underlines are my own for emphasis... Xavier Thames? Damn .. Who? LOL

Still blows my mind we had a Top 3 offense this year ... certainly didn't feel like it at times.

[007]

Pretty sure we sold Thames to Brooklyn, but may be wrong.

And we definitely should get a PF. Portis, Looney, Wood and Lyles are all options.

[octothorp]

The playoff analysis isn't particularly good; wasn't so much that Wizards took the ball out of our guards' hands, more that they defended the perimeter hard and our guards tried to shoot or drive through them rather than pass.

But I agree that PF is the position of greatest need, and it's highly likely that the BPA will be a PF. In addition to Looney, Portis, and Harrell, Woods should also be in that discussion, though less NBA-ready than others.

[slaw]

I think one thing all the tankers, anti-tankers, rebuilders, re-toolers, etc. can agree on is this: this damn organization needs to do a better job in the draft. Look at the last 5 years!!!! And, sadly, that's probably a good of a stretch as they've had since 95-98. Jebus. It's no wonder this team has been terrible for the better part of 20 years.

You go back to 2000, that's 15 drafts, and they've drafted 4 useful players (MoPete, Bosh, JV, Derozan). They have never, in 20 years, had a second round pick that contributed anything to the team. Ever. This organization has not been well-served by its scouting and management teams.

[Bonus Jonas]

I honestly feel like we should take a point guard unless a PF slides to 20.

NYK/Den pick should be a lottery pick next year and it looks like the majority of the lottery picks are bigs.

[golden]

I think one thing all the tankers, anti-tankers, rebuilders, re-toolers, etc. can agree on is this: this damn organization needs to do a better job in the draft. Look at the last 5 years!!!! And, sadly, that's probably a good of a stretch as they've had since 95-98. Jebus. It's no wonder this team has been terrible for the better part of 20 years.

You go back to 2000, that's 15 drafts, and they've drafted 4 useful players (MoPete, Bosh, JV, Derozan). They have never, in 20 years, had a second round pick that contributed anything to the team. Ever. This organization has not been well-served by its scouting and management teams.

Yep. But drafting is only half the story. Raps also need to get better at developing young players. This is on Masai and the coaching staff, and will simply not happen under Dwane Casey's watch, because of the system and his staunch belief in veteran players.

Lou Williams is the ultimate perversion of Casey's philosophy that doesn't help in any way, shape or form to develop anything except a nice new contract for Lou Williams. Lou had a great year and helped us win some regular season games, but is his presence helping or hurting the team long term? That's an interesting side debate.

Until there is a higher priority on player development with a system to match the players, we will simply never know if we drafted players with higher potential, whose formative years of their NBA careers have been mis-managed.

[ceez]

I honestly feel like we should take a point guard unless a PF slides to 20.

NYK/Den pick should be a lottery pick next year and it looks like the majority of the lottery picks are bigs.

wing/PG is definitely what i'd target

[Bear]

We aint picking 20 in this draft, we will be trading up alot higher into it.

[IwishIwasZachLowe]

I honestly feel like we should take a point guard unless a PF slides to 20.

NYK/Den pick should be a lottery pick next year and it looks like the majority of the lottery picks are bigs.

They're ll bigs, the mock drafts, I know they can change, but for 2016 are majority PFs and Cs. If we can move up for Winslow I think he can be a better version of Demar, from the limited games I watched him in. Then use the 2016 pick to get a potential superstar big.

[Mack North]

I think one thing all the tankers, anti-tankers, rebuilders, re-toolers, etc. can agree on is this: this damn organization needs to do a better job in the draft. Look at the last 5 years!!!! And, sadly, that's probably a good of a stretch as they've had since 95-98. Jebus. It's no wonder this team has been terrible for the better part of 20 years.

You go back to 2000, that's 15 drafts, and they've drafted 4 useful players (MoPete, Bosh, JV, Derozan). They have never, in 20 years, had a second round pick that contributed anything to the team. Ever. This organization has not been well-served by its scouting and management teams.

2 words for you: Bring Back Zeke!

As long as we could let him draft for us, we'd be just fine.

[Uncle_Si]

We aint picking 20 in this draft, we will be trading up alot higher into it.

Masai tried to move up last year, couldn't get a deal done. It's not just about wanting to move up, you have to find a deal that works. The problem with trying to move up is teams often fall in love with their picks then the asking price goes up.

[Uncle_Si]

Masai tried to move up last year, couldn't get a deal done. It's not just about wanting to move up, you have to find a deal that works. The problem with trying to move up is teams often fall in love with their picks then the asking price goes up.

But don't get me wrong, I definitely want to and definitely think we should do whatever it takes to do so.

[Bonus Jonas]

wing/PG is definitely what i'd target

I have tunnel vision and want a PG exclusively. We have young wings on this team and although they're not too enticing (Ross, bruno, Daniels) it's better than nothing. We have no pg prospects whatsoever

[Uncle_Si]

I have tunnel vision and want a PG exclusively. We have young wings on this team and although they're not too enticing (Ross, bruno, Daniels) it's better than nothing. We have no pg prospects whatsoever

That's true, but I still think the raptors are in the "draft best available" zone right now and at the 20spot we'd be looking at a big. Even if we moved up, we'd be looking at a big or wing unless we got the 3 or 4 pick (which isn't likely).

[OldSkoolCool]

Yep. But drafting is only half the story. Raps also need to get better at developing young players. This is on Masai and the coaching staff, and will simply not happen under Dwane Casey's watch, because of the system and his staunch belief in veteran players.

Lou Williams is the ultimate perversion of Casey's philosophy that doesn't help in any way, shape or form to develop anything except a nice new contract for Lou Williams. Lou had a great year and helped us win some regular season games, but is his presence helping or hurting the team long term? That's an interesting side debate.

Until there is a higher priority on player development with a system to match the players, we will simply never know if we drafted players with higher potential, whose formative years of their NBA careers have been mis-managed.

+100

I'd like to use Ross as an example:

He is a player who is solely a catch and shoot guy. Casey has been trying to get him to put the ball on the floor and play like DD, instead of running an offense that will generate open shots for him