Young core Raptors’ only hope
Breaking down team’s prospects compared to other bottom-feeders
A look at the present and future for the NBA’s current bottom-feeders (with records before Friday’s games):
WASHINGTON (1-12)
WHERE THEY ARE: Struggling like no other team in the league, slow start can be chalked up to absence of the injured John Wall and Nene, until this week. It’s unclear how they can get out of this mess and another date with the lottery seems almost certain right now.
BUDDING STARS: John Wall. VETERANS: Nene (11th season), Emeka Okafor (9th season) YOUTH: Bradley Beal (rookie)
COACHING: Randy Wittman (2nd
year)
FUTURE: There are questions about the mishmash of a roster and it could be a summer of divesting themselves of veterans and continuing a long, drawn-out growth process. Wall and Beal seem solid but there are precious few other pieces in place.
TORONTO (3-13)
WHERE THEY ARE: Nowhere near where they wanted to be; off to the third worst start in franchise history with a long western road trip ahead. The goal was to challenge for a playoff spot in the third year of the postChris Bosh era but it’s an uphill climb now; if Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross develop, and DeMar DeRozan keeps improving, things look OK; but perhaps without a firstround draft pick, this is the core of the group that will have to get it done.
BUDDING STARS: Jonas Valanciunas VETERANS: Jose Calderon (8th season), Andrea Bargnani (7th season), Kyle Lowry (7th season)
ORLANDO (5-9)
WHERE THEY ARE: At the very start of a long and difficult process. The Dwight Howard saga probably droned on about three months too long and the rebuilding process has just begun. This is, in effect, a throwaway season and the team and its fans seem content to play it out.
BUDDING STARS: Can’t find one VETERANS: Hedo Turkoglu (13th season), J. J. Redick (7th season), Al Harrington (15th season)
YOUTH: Andrew Nicholson (rookie), Mo Harkless (rookie)
COACHING: Jacque Vaughn (1st year) FUTURE: They’ll need to hit some draft home runs because it’s going to be hard to attract free agents, always a crapshoot at best. The treatment of Stan Van Gundy and the Howard situation has many in the league wondering about the franchise.
YOUTH: Valanciunas (rookie), Terrence Ross (rookie)
COACHING: Dwane Casey (2nd year) FUTURE: Without a draft pick next June (dependent on lottery results and final standings), it’ll most likely have to be more growth of a young core that moves the Raptors up the standings. Could clear cap room to make a free agent run if someone’s available who’ll make a difference.
CLEVELAND (3-12)
WHERE THEY ARE: About where they expected to be with an extremely young roster that’s led by the now- injured Kyrie Irving. This season was all about getting youngsters more experience, as painful as that will be in the win-loss column. But the course has been charted.
BUDDING STARS: Kyrie Irving VETERANS: Anderson Varejao (9th season), Daniel Gibson (7th season)
YOUTH: Dion Waiters (rookie), Tristan Thompson (2nd season)
COACHING: Byron Scott (3rd year) FUTURE: They will need time to jell but they are on a good track. A couple more pieces, and if Varejao continues his play of this season and they are going to be fine. They’re younger than the Raptors but both are continuing to deal with fallout of the LeBron James-Chris Bosh summer.
NEW ORLEANS (4-10)
WHERE THEY ARE: Still digging out from Chris Paul and probably a year ahead of the likes of Orlando and Detroit and Washington overall. In the West, though, it’s a much harder road to respectability and a much longer one as well.
BUDDING STARS: Anthony Davis VETERANS: Ryan Anderson (5th season), Roger Mason (10th season)
YOUTH: Davis (rookie), Austin Rivers (rookie)
COACHING: Monty Williams (3rd
year)
FUTURE: Davis has been all that they dreamed of and seems destined for stardom; Rivers has been a disappointment and they’ll need at least one more spectacular draft to keep moving steadily along. But it is the West and even steadily might not be good enough for a few years.
DETROIT (5-11)
WHERE THEY ARE: Hard to tell. They seem stuck in some kind of warp between young and old and unwilling to commit to either way. Young is probably the right way and the longer they fritter about, the longer it’ll take to get back to relevance.
BUDDING STARS: Andre Drummond VETERANS: Tayshaun Prince (11th
season), Corey Maggette (14th season)
YOUTH: Brandon Knight (2nd season), Greg Monroe (3rd season), Drummond (rookie)
COACHING: Lawrence Frank (2nd
year)
FUTURE: Murky. Interesting young pieces up front but until they fully commit to youngsters to gain them some experience, the more difficult it will be to move up in the standings. Probably further away than most and current success may be Fool’s Gold.