2017-18 fantasy basketball preview: Toronto Raptors

Over the coming days, we at FanSided will finish our team-by-team breakdown of each NBA franchise’s fantasy prospects for the 2017-18 season. Let’s continue today with the Toronto Raptors.

Fresh off a second-round sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Toronto Raptors headed into the offseason at risk of hemorrhaging critical rotation pieces. While they did lose PJ Tucker and Patrick Patterson, they managed to retain their two biggest targets in Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka, which makes life far easier on fantasy basketball owners attempting to project each Raptors player’s workload this coming season.

Once Tucker signed with the Houston Rockets and opened a glaring hole at the 3 for Toronto, the team effectively sign-and-traded Cory Joseph to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for CJ Miles, who should slide into Tucker’s vacated starting spot. With the Raptors having traded Terrence Ross to the Orlando Magic in February for Ibaka, Norman Powell figures to soak up significant wing minutes behind Miles and DeMar DeRozan, although he’ll be competing for playing time with Bruno Caboclo and rookie OG Anunoby.

With Joseph gone, Toronto is also somewhat thin at point guard behind Lowry, although the team appears confident in both Delon Wright and Fred VanVleet. In the frontcourt, meanwhile, Jonas Valanciunas may face a stiff test for playing time with young prospects Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam breathing down his neck. Both showed promising flashes during summer league, and Ibaka could begin seeing spot minutes at the 5, too.

Which Raptors players should fantasy owners target with early-, mid- and late-round picks, and who should be left on the waiver wire? Let’s take a look.

Early-round picks

Kyle Lowry, PG: Like a fine wine, Lowry is somehow only getting better with age. During his age-30 campaign, the Villanova product put up a career-high 22.4 points on 46.4 percent shooting, 7.0 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 3.2 triples and 1.5 steals in a whopping 37.4 minutes to finish as the 12th-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues. With Joseph no longer around to back him up, Lowry is likely headed for another heavy workload in 2017-18, although the Raptors would be wise to trim his playing time slightly in hopes of preserving his body for a long playoff run. Owners in eight-category leagues should go after him in the third round, but his low turnover average (2.9 per game last season) makes him a second-round target in nine-category leagues.

DeMar DeRozan, SG: After the Raptors’ dispiriting second-round sweep, head coach Dwane Casey told reporters “the next evolution” of DeRozan’s game was three-point shooting. The eight-year veteran poured in a career-high 27.3 points on 46.7 percent shooting, 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.1 steals to finish as the 46th-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues last season, but he hit just 33 triples across his 74 outings. If DeRozan does begin trading in some of his long 2s for 3-pointers, it could turn him into a legitimate top-25 or top-30 value. For now, though, owners are best suited going after him in the fourth or fifth round.

Serge Ibaka, PF: The days of Ibaka averaging three or more blocks per game are a thing of the past, but he’s traded some of that shot-blocking for 3-point shooting. Upon arriving in Toronto at the trade deadline, the Congolese big man averaged 14.2 points on 45.9 percent shooting, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 triples and 1.4 blocks in 31.0 minutes across his final 23 outings, finishing as the 74th-ranked player on a per-game basis over that span. With a full training camp and preseason to get better integrated in Toronto’s system, Ibaka should again return early-round value, particularly if he plays more minutes at the 5 in small-ball lineups. Give him a look in the fifth round.

Mid-round picks

Jonas Valanciunas, C: According to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, the Raptors entered the offseason hoping to trade Valanciunas and slide Ibaka to the 5 permanently. While they weren’t able to find a taker for the Lithuanian 7-footer, his usage in the playoffs should raise red flags for fantasy owners. Valanciunas started only six of the Raptors’ 10 playoff games and averaged just 11.2 points on 54.3 percent shooting, 6.7 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 22.6 minutes, which put him behind the likes of JaVale McGee, Nene and Channing Frye in terms of per-game fantasy value during the postseason. Considering he has yet to average 30 or more minutes per game in any of his five NBA seasons, it’s difficult to imagine how Valanciunas lives up to his early ESPN.com average draft position of 67.5. He’s more of a ninth- or 10th-round target, at best.

Late-round picks

CJ Miles, SF: Though Miles didn’t stuff the stat sheet this past season with the Indiana Pacers, his averages of 10.7 points on 43.4 percent shooting, 3.0 rebounds and 2.2 triples helped him finish as the 125th-ranked player on a per-game basis regardless. Since DeRozan remains a work in progress behind the 3-point line (to put it kindly), Miles figures to serve as Toronto’s token three-and-D wing in its starting lineup. As such, he’ll carry late-round value as a three-point specialist who will chip in the occasional steal or block. Miles is going undrafted in early ESPN.com leagues, so he shouldn’t cost you more than one of your final few picks.

Waiver-wire fodder

Delon Wright, PG

Fred VanVleet, PG

Norman Powell, SG

OG Anunoby, SF

Bruno Caboclo, SF

Pascal Siakam, PF

Alfonzo McKinnie, PF

Jakob Poeltl, C

Lucas Nogueira, C

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Sleepers/Busts

Sleeper: CJ Miles

Bust: Jonas Valanciunas

Other team breakdowns

All average draft position info via FantasyPros. All rankings via Basketball Monster are based on nine-category leagues.

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