I met Patrick Patterson at OVO Fest. He was the guy I had been wondering about all summer. As a Toronto Raptors fan, you know that 4 of the Raptors starting spots are secured by Jonas Valanciunas, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll, and Kyle Lowry. Amir Johnson left for Boston, and now the back-up Power-Forward for the past 2 years for the Raptors will assume the position as starter.
Patterson thinks it’s his spot to lose. According to Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star:
“I see it as it’s mine to lose . . . But it’s all about what coach (Dwane) Casey wants, what (general manager) Masai (Ujiri) sees, and who works hard and who earns it.”
Patterson could get some run for minutes with the new additions of Luis Scola and Bismack Biyombo, and James Johnson, but the Raptors don’t look very good defensively at the 4 position. DeMarre Carroll can possibly play as their stretch four. Coach Dwane Casey has stated that he loves the fact that this defense can play small ball at the end of games. The Raptors have been linked to trade rumours with Taj Gibson, Markieff Morris and Kenneth Faried. It’s growing highly unlikely that a trade will be made, so Patterson will probably be the starting PF in October.
