NBA Free Agency 2016: 5 targets for Toronto Raptors
By Brad Weiss
Who do the Toronto Raptors need to target in free agency this offseason to make sure they get to the NBA Finals in 2016-17?
When the dust settled on the Toronto Raptors’ season, they had to be happy with it. The Raptors pushed the eventual NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers to six games, which was impressive considering most people figured they would be swept away.
The team goes into the off-season with some unfinished business, and will need to start by signing guard DeMar DeRozan and center Bismack Biyombo.
DeRozan has already expressed that he wants to stay with the Raptors, as he and Kyle Lowry formed one of the better one-two guard tandems in the Eastern Conference last season. DeRozan does not plan on meeting with any other teams, so the Raptors should be able to lock him up when free agency begins on July 1.
Biyombo also wants to return to Toronto, though he will obviously cost more than the $2.8 million he was paid last season. He recently said he is open to giving the Raptors a hometown discount. He will be a nice piece alongside a healthy Jonas Valanciunas, giving Toronto a solid front court this upcoming season. Valanciunas was injured during the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and did not play in the Eastern Conference Finals.
If the Raptors can retain those two key players, they should be poised for another run in a very weak Eastern Conference. With DeRozan and Biyombo being the top in-house talent the Raptors will target this free agency period, here are five free agent targets from outside the organization.
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