TORONTO – The predictions are in and they’re not pretty.

The NBC Sports website predicts the Toronto Raptors will finish in last place this season with just 18 wins. The CBS Sports website has Toronto in the basement in its NBA power rankings. SI.com was slightly more kind, ranking the Raptors 29th in the 30-team league.

Drop five dollars in Las Vegas on the Raptors to win the championship and you’ll cash out for a cool grand if they actually did it.

To say expectations are low for Canada’s only NBA team would be a grand understatement. This is a club that plans to give its young players as many minutes as possible with its eye firmly locked on the future.

New head coach Dwane Casey will have his work cut out for him in what has already been declared a rebuilding campaign — or as he and general manager Bryan Colangelo like to call it, a “building” season.

In previous years, stars like Damon Stoudemire, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and Chris Bosh were the feature players on the club. This season, there is no easy choice as the face of the franchise.

The roster is a collection of youngsters with potential and some decent veterans who will be counted on to provide guidance on court and in the locker-room. A team-first mentality is in place with a focus on strengthening the club’s foundation.

“It’s a group effort, it’s not a one-guy show,” forward James Johnson said in a recent interview.

Expect youngsters like DeMar DeRozan, Amir Johnson and Ed Davis to see plenty of minutes and crunch-time action as they soak up as much experience as possible. They’re considered key building blocks for the Raptors, who are coming off a weak 22-60 season.

Andrea Bargnani provided some offensive spark last season with a career-high average of 21.4 points per game. However, his blocks (46) were down significantly and he had 150 fewer rebounds than the previous year.

The pressure will be on the No. 1 pick from the 2006 draft to deliver under Casey’s defence-first philosophy. Toronto native Jamaal Magloire may not see a ton of minutes but he’ll give the Raptors some much-needed toughness under the glass.

Young players like forward James Johnson and guard Jerryd Bayless haven’t had starter’s minutes for a full season. They could blossom if given the opportunity.

The 66-game schedule may actually help the Raptors, who have plenty of young legs to handle the many back-to-back games throughout the compressed season. Casey will likely experiment with different lineups over the first few weeks as he gets a feel for the players.

“To me everybody is a starter,” Casey said this week. “You’ve got to prepare as a starter and think that way — just because of the packed-in games and the rapid-fire games that are coming.”

Expect Bayless to start the season as a backup to veteran guard Jose Calderon, who tied a career high with an average of 8.9 assists per game last season.

Guard Leandro Barbosa could provide some spark off the bench, although he has been saddled with injuries in recent years. Barbosa was limited during training camp with a sore knee.

Colangelo recently filled out the roster with the additions of guard Anthony Carter, centre Aaron Gray and forwards Rasual Butler and Gary Forbes.

“Everybody is going to have to earn their minutes,” Casey said. “I’m not trying to be a dictator or anything like that, but guys will determine the amount of time that they have when they’re on the floor.”

One player who will start the season on the bench is forward Linas Kleiza. He’s likely a few weeks away from a return as he works his way back from right knee surgery last February.

The Raptors used the No. 5 pick in the 2011 draft to select centre Jonas Valanciunas, who will spend the season playing in his native Lithuania. Toronto will likely get another decent selection next year in what should be a very deep draft.

By then Colangelo expects to have even more financial flexibility and a stronger foundation. For this season, however, the chances of the Raptors returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2008 are slim at best.

Toronto opens play Monday night in Cleveland before welcoming the Indiana Pacers at Air Canada Centre two days later.

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Published Thursday, Dec. 08, 2011 9:17AM EST

Last updated Thursday, Dec. 08, 2011 9:18AM EST

The Toronto Raptors say they’ll be starting from the ground up when the lockout-shortened NBA season stars up at the end of the month. General Manager Bryan Colangelo says their main goal is to build a championship-winning team.

Dwane Casey may have already made his most important coaching contribution of the season.

With the accelerated NBA free agent period already in high gear, don’t expect the Toronto Raptors to be making plays for the handful of big name prizes out there.

And according to those familiar with the team’s mindset at the moment, the Raptors newly hired coach is good with that.

“He supports this,” was how one insider put it.

Now, that may sound redundant. Despite the potential cap space the Raptors could have at hand – as much as $17-million if they took advantage of the new collective bargaining agreement’s amnesty provision to make unwelcome contracts go ‘poof’ – it’s hard to imagine the franchise attracting top talent now.

Casey may have forged a strong bond with free agent centre Tyson Chandler in Dallas over the past season, but strong enough for the 29-year-old defensive whiz to leave a championship team in Dallas for an uncertain present in Toronto?

Unlikely. There was a report Thursday that the Raptors would be active in pursuit of the likes of Chandler as well as Nene, the free agent from the Denver Nuggets, and Marc Gasol, a restricted free agent centre who played with the Memphis Grizzlies. All will command contracts beginning at $50-million and heading straight up from there.

But the sense around the Raptors now is a splashy move is far off the radar at this stage. Even if there were an option to “get in the game” on the sexy free agents, the team’s brain trust is focusing on building, rather than re-building.

Translated: Look for free agent moves or trades that will have minimal impact on the long-term. Instead look for moves to fill out the roster or provide a look at a potential development piece. In general, expect an effort from the team to encourage the fan base to be patient as president Bryan Colangelo uses this year and next to position the club for long-term success.

Newcomers will likely be brought in on one-year deals, although there might be an exception made for a veteran who could help Casey communicate the former Mavericks defensive specialist’s message on that side of the ball.

Chuck Hayes, the undersized centre by way of the Houston Rockets might get a look, as could Jason Collins, who veteran Raptors fans will remember for neutralizing Chris Bosh during the 2006-07 playoffs when Collins was with the Nets.

That Casey is onboard for a longer term approach is significant. It’s his resume that will bear the brunt of the wins and losses this year.

And while you’ll never hear anyone associated with an NBA team throw words like ‘tanking’ around – that’s for the guys like me -there is an acknowledgement that competing in a top-heavy Eastern Conference will require some significant talent infusion best achieved through the draft.

Accepting short-term pain for a long-term payoff is risky – drafts being by their nature uncertain – and also a departure by Colangelo, who has typically embraced the challenge of rebuilding on the fly.

That Casey has bought in will only help.

But coming off a 22-60 season and with their first overall pick, Jonas Valancuinas playing in Europe and looking at a 2011-12 campaign that will be two months shorter than the norm, it’s a perfect time to hit the reset button.

Like most NBA talent evaluators Colangelo and executive vice-president of basketball operations Ed Stefanski were expected to be in Lexington Saturday to watch the University of Kentucky host the University of North Carolina.

Raptors fans should pay close attention to the Wildcats’ Anthony Davis and the Tar Heels’ Harrison Barnes – the Raptors decision makers doubtless will be.

If accepting another losing season is going to be worthwhile the payoff will need to be in the form of a high pick in a deep draft and the addition of a franchise-changing type talent. Barnes and Davis may just qualify.

Does it have to a long slog through the bottom of the NBA to get back to respectability?

Not necessarily. Colangelo, remember, only managed to gain a two-year contract extension so he’ll be motivated to show progress sooner than later. He’s not the type to take the long way ’round anyway.

Passing on long-term contract commitments at this stage could set the Raptors up well a year from now, when – if the amnesty provision were in play – they could have as much as $24-million of space under the salary cap.

As well, Valancuinas would be available to them, along with whoever they manage to land in what again is considered a deep, talented draft.

In place already are the likes of DeMar DeRozan and Ed Davis.

It’s not a playoff team, but it’s a base of talent worth building on.

There’s hope in that.

Michael Grange will provide insight and analysis on all the top stories in sports.

Eric Koreen 
Nov 25, 2011 – 1:51 PM ET
| Last Updated: Nov 25, 2011 4:35 PM ET

Posted in: Basketball, NBA, Sports 
Tags: Howard Triano, Jay Triano, Raptors, Toronto, Toronto Raptors, Trianos

Eric Koreen 
Nov 25, 2011 – 1:51 PM ET
| Last Updated: Nov 25, 2011 4:35 PM ET

Posted in: Basketball, NBA, Sports 
Tags: Howard Triano, Jay Triano, Raptors, Toronto, Toronto Raptors, Trianos