What's next for the Raptors?

As I wrote in yesterdays blog, the Raptors have hit the jackpot. Bryan Colangelo was able to give the team much cap room flexibility, as well as traded for Hedo Turkoglu. All in all, it was a great day in Toronto, and the Raptors have much to look forward too.

But what's next for Bryan Colangelo? According to an interview with Fan 590's Eric Smith, Colangelo stated the team has the MLE of $5.85 million, the BIE of $1.9 million, as well as additional $2.2-4.2 million. You can hear the rest of the interview here:

http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/eric_smith_blog.html

So financially, the Raptors are doing VERY well. With this money, the Raptors will be able to bring in some solid players off the bench and fix that issue. In my opinion, I would bring back Carlos Delfino with the $2.4-4.2 million. Colangelo has expressed much interest in bringing retaining Delfino and it would be nice to have him back. He was excellent for us two seasons ago, and I liked what he brought to the table. Hopefully we'll be able to bring him, along with his shooting ability back to Toronto.

If I'm Bryan Colangelo, I'm also bringing in a backup point guard. Guys like Juan Carlos Navarro, Anthony Carter, and Ramon Sessions are still out there--all three would be excellent backups for the Raptors. Roko Ukic, while he still has potential, hasn't put it all together yet. He needs to develop his game more if he wants to backup Jose Calderon. Hopefully, the Raptors front office can bring in a backup point guard, because I believe that was a big issue for them last year. When Calderon went down last year with a hamstring injury, we didn't have a point guard. Because Roko was still raw, the Raptors were forced to put Anthony Parker at the point. While he wasn't bad at it, it's not his natural position. The Raptors need to bring in a proven point guard if they want to be successful next year.

Lastly, I think the Raptors should bring in a big man. Last time I checked, we don't have a lot of backup big men who can play behind Bargnani and Bosh. The Raptors traded for Reggie Evans a few months ago, but that's pretty much all they have. Maybe the Raptors can bring back Pops Mensah-Bonsu? Rasho Nesterovic?

With the amount of money the Raptors have, many opportunities are presented. Hopefully, Bryan Colangelo uses it wisely, and gives the Raptors much needed support off the bench. The Raptors have a very good starting 5--if Bryan Colangelo can give the team a bench, I believe the Raptors can get the 4 seed in the East.