2018-2019 Finish: 40-42

Season Highlight:

The highlight for this season was the play of one Bradley Beal. He had a career high in points at 25.3. He’s had to carry quite the load on this Toronto team so GM CarlSpackler took to the trading block and morphed the roster in a few moves to help take the pressure off of Beal by adding LMA and Mudiay through some trades to be discussed below. Ultimately, they fell short of their goals which leads into their season lowlight.

Season Lowlight:

The Toronto Raptors’ lowest point of the season had to be missing out on the playoffs. Toronto made a few big trades to get them into the playoffs in the East but ultimately came up just short, falling 8 games behind Boston for the 9^th seed. They did improve by 3 games over the previous season so there is some good things to be had from this.

Best Trade:

The Milwaukee Bucks send Iman Shumpert and Lonzo Ball to the Toronto Raptors. The Toronto Raptors send Solomon Hill to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Toronto Raptors send Marshon Brooks to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Philadelphia 76ers send a 2nd-Rounder (Phi) to the Toronto Raptors. The Toronto Raptors send a 1st-Rounder (Tor) to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Philadelphia 76ers use their trade exception over $ 1,656,092.

Bringing in a former #2 overall pick who’s still developing is always a good move. In doing so, they moved on from over-achieving Marshon Brooks and over-paid Solomon Hill. All in all, this was a savvy trade to add some more talent to the roster. Of course, a few months later, they moved Lonzo Ball in the next trade to be talked about.

Worst Trade:

The Denver Nuggets send Reggie Bullock to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Minnesota Timberwolves send Elie Okobo to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Minnesota Timberwolves send Emmanuel Mudiay to the Toronto Raptors. The Philadelphia 76ers send Tomas Satoransky to the Denver Nuggets. The Philadelphia 76ers send LaMarcus Aldridge, Lance Stephenson and Semi Ojeleye to the Toronto Raptors. The Toronto Raptors send Lonzo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Toronto Raptors send Bogdan Bogdanovic, Dwight Powell and Kevon Looney to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Minnesota Timberwolves send a 1st-Rounder (NO) to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Philadelphia 76ers send a 1st-Rounder (Phi) to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Philadelphia 76ers receive 5 GM points. The Toronto Raptors trade -5 GM points.

This one was a head scratcher for me. In this deal, Toronto moved multiple young, talented pieces in Bogdanovic and Ball for older players like LaMarcus Aldridge and Lance Stephenson. Not only that, but they also paid 5 GMs on top of that. At the time, I believe the intent was that this would push Toronto over the top and into the playoffs but unfortunately that didn’t occur. This will look better if Mudiay continues to play and elevate his game.

Other Notable Trades

The Toronto Raptors send Ivan Rabb to the San Antonio Spurs.
The San Antonio Spurs send a 2nd-Rounder (Utah) and 2nd-Rounder (Tor) to the Toronto Raptors.
The San Antonio Spurs use their trade exception over $ 1,378,242.
The San Antonio Spurs receive 3 GM points. The Toronto Raptors trade -3 GM points.

A small trade that netted them a couple of assets to use down the line.

Free Agency

It should be a quiet FA day for Toronto as far as re-signing their own. With 61 points currently

Emmanuel Mudiay – RFA, likely to stay.

Iman Shumpert – plenty of other, better PG options on the roster. I don’t see him being retained by the Raptors.

Star

Bradley Beal – as mentioned above, Beal was the star for the Raptors. A career-high in points, he was the player that kept opposing coaches up at night while they game planned for him. With a bit more help on the roster, he should be able to get freed up for more and better looks next season.

Goat

Iman Shumpert – a veteran with many years of experience, Shumpert only managed 5.8 points last season and only took part in 53 games. The old coaches’ adage is the best ability is availability and Shumpert was not able to deliver. This performance this season might have him looking for another job next season.

Draft Grades

#14) Nassir Little, #31) Ty Jerome, #44) Tremont Waters, #53) Jalen McDaniels

Raptors took a guy I really liked in Nassier Little.  He fell in the NBA but was a top 10 prospect going into the night.  I also love Ty Jerome and think he’s going to be a solid starter in the NBA.  Both picks got me excited, and I think the Raptors did a good job there.

Grade: A

The Future

GM Carl has to be commended for sticking to his guns and adding more talent around his star, Bradley Beal. While this talent is a bit more grizzled (LMA at 34), there’s no doubt they can still provide a punch. With a fresh season upcoming, most every team has eyes on the playoffs, especially this team as they come so close but miss the cut. With some uncertainty with some of the higher ranked Eastern teams, there may be an opening for the Raptors to come in and secure a spot.