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Toronto Raptors 2008-09 Season Preview

Written September 30, 2008 by Luke Knight

The Toronto Raptors made the playoffs last season as the number 2 team in the Atlantic Division. In the offseason the Raptors made what most consider a bold and risky move; they brought in Jermaine O’Neal to play alongside Chris Bosh in the post. Coach Sam Mitchell was NBA Coach of the Year in 2006-2007, but things did not go as well last season, so he hopes that bringing in Jermaine O’Neal will allow him to create the same type of system that worked when David Robinson and Tim Duncan played together with the Spurs. Read on to find out how we think the Raptors will do this season. Head over to BetUS to check out the latest odds on the Raptors winning the NBA Championship.

One thing the Raptors did this offseason was to trade away T.J. Ford in the deal that brought Jermaine O’Neal. In doing so, the Raptors resigned Jose Calderon, who split time with Ford at the point. Calderon ranked 5th in the NBA in assists per game with 8.3 despite the fact that he averaged 30.3 minutes per game. Calderon also had the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the league with a 5.38. Calderon volunteered to play off the bench last season, but this year he will be the floor general in charge of getting the big men the ball. Roko Ukic of Croatia will back up Calderon. Ukic was drafted by the Raptors in 2005, but spent last season with Lottomatica Roma.

The Raptors have great depth at this position. Anthony Parker started all 82 games last season and averaged 32.1 minutes per game, and is one of the most accurate 3-point shooters of all-time ranking 7th at 42.5%. Jason Kapono is the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-point percentage with 46.4%, which is well ahead of Steve Kerr’s second place 45.4%. Kapono defended his 3-point shootout title at all-star weekend last season. The Raptors ranked 2nd in 3-point accuracy in the league last season, but were 12th in 3-point baskets per game so they need more consistent scoring out of Parker and Kapono. Hassan Adams and Will Solomon will add further depth at this position. Both went to Europe after being drafted by other teams in the second round.

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Jamario Moon, a minor-league journeyman, emerged last season averaging 8.5 ppg, 6.2 rebounds, and started 75 games. He just missed making the all-rookie first-team. Moon was extremely valuable on the defensive side of the ball where he could take advantage of his length and athleticism. Joey Graham , a former first round pick, was sent to the bench when Moon emerged last season and appeared in just 38 games averaging less than 10 minutes.

Chris Bosh picked up a gold medal this summer in the Beijing Olympics for Team USA. Bosh has certainly established himself as a star, but last season his numbers dipped slightly. Perhaps most glaringly, Bosh averaged only 8.7 rebounds a game, which was an area where the entire Toronto team was weak. Bosh also faces the situation with Jermaine O’Neal being in the low post also. Sam Mitchell has made clear to the rest of the team that if they want to score they better get out and run because Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal are going to be the ones with the ball to score. Bosh did a fine job in the Olympics with bigger personalities, and he will still be the man in Toronto so the on court chemistry between he and O’Neal should not be affected as long as Mitchell can get the offense to run the way he envisions it.

If Jermaine O’Neal is healthy and comes in with a “team” mentality, then the Raptors will have a very formidable inside game. O’Neal has been affected by the incident against Detroit where he and other Pacers got into a brawl with the fans. O’Neal has stated that he shed tears of joy when he got word of the trade, which he sees as a rebirth, a chance to put the incident behind him. O’Neal at his best brings a very solid defensive presence to this team, because he can clog the middle and block shots, and all-in-all give a different look. The concern is whether O’Neal can actually get on board with the team mentality, as the Pacers were better with O’Neal on the bench, because the ball movement improved. Andrea Bargnani may be the backup to O’Neal here. His defense and rebounding have struggled in two NBA seasons but Bargnani had offseason surgery, which could explain his sophomore slump last season. Second round pick Nathan Jawai, who the Raptors expected big things from, is being held out of practice after a cardiac screening. The Raptors also picked up Jamal Sampson to get some front court depth with Jawai down. O’Neal desperately needs to stay healthy at this point.

Final Analysis

If Jermaine O’Neal is healthy and buys into a team concept the Raptors will be solid on the front line, but if he gets hurt it will be a long season up north. Jose Calderon running the point with Bosh and O’Neal underneath is incredibly intriguing as Calderon is a proven team player and should emerge as one of the East’s top point guards. We have Toronto finishing 3rd in the Atlantic Division ahead of the Knicks and the Nets. They should grab a playoff spot although we have them finishing lower in the division than they did last season.

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