Offseason Report Card: Raptors get an A, four Bs, three Cs and a D for summer moves

Full offseason report card and grade

The Toronto Raptors didn't make many waves this summer, instead building through the draft and retaining their core players. How does the big picture look?

Traded for Davion Mitchell and Sasha Vezenkov

Grade: A

Inked Scottie Barnes to an extension

Grade: B+

Drafted Ja'Kobe Walter

Grade: B+

Signed Branden Carlson

Grade: B

Drafted Jamal Shead

Grade: B-

Re-signed Immanuel Quickley

Grade: C+

Drafted Ulrich Chomche

Grade: C+

Picked up Bruce Brown's team option

Grade: C

Drafted Jonathan Mogbo

Grade: D

Overall Grade

The Toronto Raptors closed the door on the path not taken, picking up Bruce Brown's team option instead of going the cap space route. They signaled as much early when they traded for veteran big Kelly Olynyk and then signed him to a contract extension, cutting into their cap space for this summer, but they still could have mustered a large amount if they had let Brown walk.

Instead, they decided that whatever they can receive in a trade return was better than whoever they could sign with cap space, instead focusing on the draft to add to the roster. They selected four players, including three second-round picks, and signed all of them to a contract. That appears to be a commitment to developing a young group of players and not pushing to win now.

On the other hand, they did not move off of any of their veterans (including Bruce Brown) and inked Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes to lucrative new contracts. They are expensive and don't project to have meaningful cap space for years; this, for better or worse, is their core. Is it good enough to make a different in the league? It certainly appears to be too good to land a top prospect in next year's draft.

That's the ultimate indictment of the direction the Raptors have taken, because it's not truly a direction at all. They are living in the unfortunate gray zone between trying to win now and rebuilding to win later. This summer just reinforced that reality. In isolation, most of their moves were positive ones. In the macro, the big picture is a questionable one.

Grade: B-