You play GM: Decide the fate of the Toronto Raptors offseason

Make the Beal trade

For the Raptors, you just added another big-time player to the team and now have perhaps the best starting five in the league. Beal is someone who can create their own shot, facilitate for others, and desperately take some pressure off Kawhi Leonard.

For the time being, let’s assume the Wizards chose Fred VanVleet.

With Beal, the Raptors roster now looks like:

• Point Guard: Kyle Lowry,
• Shooting Guard: Bradley Beal, Danny Green, Norman Powell
• Small Forward: Kawhi Leonard, Malcolm Miller
• Power forward: Pascal Siakam, Chris Boucher
• Center: Marc Gasol, Dewan Hernandez

This team is talented, but it is thin. The Raptors actually lost some salary in the Bradley Beal trade which helps. They still have a few trade exceptions and the Taxpayer’s Mid-Level Exception still available, although they likely won’t use all of them.

As a contender, Toronto will be able to attract veteran players looking for a ring, more than younger players looking for playing time. As a result, their free-agent pool will look older and better than most.

It’s reasonable that,  for the time being, the Raptors will enter the season with only 14 players. Their tax bill is already through the roof and the need of their 15th spot would likely be based on injury.

That means — assuming the team keeps Boucher, Miller, and Dewan Hernandez–the team still has three roster spots available.

The most important area, and the area where Toronto will likely use some of their Mid-Level Exception, is at backup center. With the position more crowded and less needed than ever, there should be a couple of bargains available.

Backup center options:

• Robin Lopez
• Ed Davis
• Kenneth Faried.

For illustrative purposes, we’ll choose Robin Lopez, but understand you can fill in whoever you’d like.

They’ll also want a backup point guard and an additional wing. Let’s move forward with trusted veterans Shelvin Mack and Thabo Sefolosha, although you can really choose whoever you’re able to sign for a minimum.

A couple of possible point guard options:

• Raymond Felton
• Isaiah Thomas
• Rajon Rondo
• Shelvin Mack

That means the final roster you’ve chosen is:

• Point Guard: Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Shelvin Mack
• Shooting Guard: Bradley Beal, Danny Green, Jodie Meeks
• Small Forward: Kawhi Leonard, Malcolm Miller
• Power forward: Pascal Siakam, Thabo Sefolosha, Chris Boucher
• Center: Marc Gasol, Robin Lopez, Dewan Hernandez

Not happy with the results? Feel free to start back over.