Raptors Preview...

The old saying “time heals all wounds” isn’t necessarily accurate when it comes to the NBA in Canada. The Vancouver franchise that once filled the west coast with excitement was given ample time to develop a winning strategy both on and off the court, but it proved futile. A year ago many Toronto fans would have filed their franchise next to Vancouver in their “precious memories” scrapbooks. These days, however, things are looking up. It would seem that we don’t need time to heal our beloved team’s wounds. We just need a little Bryan Colangelo.

On July 12th this year, the first day player signings could be officially announced, Colangelo immediately hit the button on a number of deals. The most significant obviously being the resigning of Chris Bosh to a three-year deal, with a player option for the fourth. With that taken care, Colangelo was able to focus on finding the building blocks needed to create a winner.

The first of these blocks came in the form of the first overall pick in this year’s draft. With Andrea Bargnani, the Raptors have an incredible talent that if nourished properly will be a star in the league. Although he hasn’t quite lit-up the scoreboard in either the preseason or the Las Vegas summer league, he has shown some flashes of brilliance.

The second block will be T.J. Ford. Often thought of as the fastest point guard in the league, Ford will be counted on to lead the Raptors’ run-and-gun offence. He is the first true pass-first point guard that the team has had since Mark Jackson in 2000-2001. Ford has never had the opportunity to show how good of a point guard he is – but he will in Toronto. And with an expiring contract, expect Ford to outperform expectations.

The third building block for Colangelo’s Raptors is… European talent. When Colangelo hired Maurizio Gherardini as the club's vice-president, he opened the doors for an influx of stars from overseas. Not only is the city attractive because of its cultural and ethnic diversity, Gherardini is well respect by European players thanks to his work with the Benetton Treviso club in Italy. This year, the parade to Toronto includes former Philly draft pick Anthony Parker and Jorge Garbajosa (the Garbage Man). With the Garbage Man averaging over 13 points per game in the preseason, he may find himself in contention for rookie of the year. With more Europeans in the pipeline, the Raptors may be looking overseas for years to come.

Finally, the Raptors will continue to depend on Mo Pete to come up with stunning defensive performances night after night. He will also need to pick up where he left off last year, in terms of maintaining his scoring touch. Often times, the Raptors live and die by the performance of Peterson. This year, with the team’s added depth, there will be less pressure for him to perform. Expect big things from Mo, and the rest of the team... especially considering their undefeated run in the pre-season.

Lasr Year's Record: 27 Wins, 55 Losses (4th in Atlantic Division, in Eastern Conference)

CNNsi Prediction: 2nd in Atlantic, 10th in the East
ESPN Prediction: 3rd in Atlantic, 10th in the East
thewhitebarry Prediction: 2nd in Atlantic, 8th in the East