1. Toronto Raptors

Vegas Win Projection: 54.5

My Win Projection: 50

I think I am in the minority here, but I think that Demar’s move to San Antonio was better for the Spurs than Kawhi’s move to Toronto. I am not a big believer in players that obviously don’t want to be somewhere and forcing it.

Kawhi has made it known that L.A. is where he wants to be and Toronto is the antithesis of that. His mysterious injury, lack of chemistry and his attitude are all key factors to look out for. Yes, the East is down this year but putting Toronto at the same win projection as the Philadelphia 76ers doesn’t make sense to me.

Besides Kawhi the Raptors have; a rookie coach in Nick Nurse, an aging and downward trending Kyle Lowry and no real go-to scorers after that. Yes, this team won 60 games last year, but that was with a team that had built an insane chemistry due to the main cogs of the team being there for years. Now that Masai Ujeri disrupted all of this, are we sure this team will be better than just good? Certainly, they won’t be as good in the regular season compared to 17-18.

I don’t see Kawhi making a ton more of a difference than DeRozan did, to be honest. Yes, Kawhi packs a better defensive punch but will his offense still be there post injury? Is he a better scoring option than DeRozan?

For reference, DeMar has averaged at least 23 points per game in three consecutive seasons and averaged 27.3 points during the 2016-17 season. Leonard’s career best single-season scoring average was 25.5 points in 2016-17 and averaged at least 20 points in only one other season during his career.

Does this move really push Toronto into contention with Boston and Philly? I’m a little hesitant about this one. Kawhi is a better defender sure but that’s not where Toronto’s problems resided. Is he the answer to finally getting over the hump in the East? Not to me. I don’t see them getting 55 wins. 50-ish sounds about right.