Photo Credit: Reinhold Matay/USA TODAY Sports
The 2015 off-season may not be anywhere near the madness of the summer of 2010 or the possible free agent frenzy coming up in 2016, but did we see a move that flew under the radar?
Yes.
The Toronto Raptors have held their own in the regular season the past two seasons, but failed in the first round of the post-season.
With the first round failures the team has endured the team unfortunately lost their free agent guard Lou Williams to the Lakers and losing Tyler Hansbrough as well.
The Toronto Raptors still replaced both guys with Corey Joseph and Luis Scola, but the addition of Tom Thibodeau’s former defensive guru Andy Greer could provide the team with a new mentality.
The team struggled on defense in the playoffs granted it was against the Washington Wizards lead by John Wall, but the team allowed over one hundred points in 3/4 games they were swept in.
The hiring of Greer is a game changer the Bulls under Tom Thibodeau the team was top 10 in defense since the 2010-2011 season dating back to last year. Thibodeau is a defensive genius, but Greer was Thibodeau’s defensive assistant and worked alongside Thibodeau in all five seasons he was head coach.
The Chicago Bulls brought back a physical defensive mentality to the NBA which Greer could bring the same mentality to Toronto which the team clearly lacked. The Toronto Raptors do need a player like Terrence Ross to develop, but the addition of DeMarre Carroll will also help bring a physical presence that the Raptors did not have at the small forward position.
The Toronto Raptors should not have an issue scoring the basketball with players like Kyle Lowry, DeMarr Derozan, Carroll, and Valanciunas.
The problem will not only be consistent scoring off the bench with the loss of Lou Williams, but how they improve on defense which general manager Masai Ujiri may have gotten himself a perfect candidate from a strategy standpoint for the team.
With the addition of Bismack Biyombo the team has given themselves a young and athletic big man that can provide the team with solid minutes off the bench.
A Toronto Raptors team that ranked below the top 15 in defense last season certainly needed a upgrade which they not only achieved through free agency, but they also helped themselves by hiring Greer.
Overall the Toronto Raptors didn’t have the summer the San Antonio Spurs did, but they certainly flew under the radar and big things could be coming for the team thanks to Andy Greer changing the mentality up north.
