General Manager Bryan Colangelo had a tough and busy offseason just to "offer" Chris Bosh a competitive team that can make some noise in the Eastern Conference. Chris Bosh is entering a contract year and few doubt that he will depart from Toronto if they fail to be competitive like they failed last season. Colangelo added 9 new players (and I'm not counting the 2 rookies DeRozan and Weems) and in fact, only Bosh, Bargnani and Calderon remain in the team.

It's a risk for a team to have so many changes in just one season, but with a 33-49 record in the previous season and while being in the brick of losing your franchise player, you have to take the odds and I won't criticize Colangelo for doing this, even if the season goes wrong for the Raptors. Colangelo decided to stick with the previously interim head coach Jay Triano for this season and this will be a huge challenge for him. He is an inexperienced coach in this league and he has the responsibility to create a good team chemistry with this new group as fast as he can.

A lot of things didn't work for Toronto last season. Jermaine O'Neal simply didn't fit in Toronto, as he works in the same area as Bosh and the Raptors were erratic down low in both ends of the floor. Their backcourt was undersized and was constantly beaten by the opponents, as the Raptors had a difficult time in defending the perimeter and keeping opponents off the lane. Jose Calderon got injured early on the season and despite having returned to the court in the middle of the season, he played with a bad hamstring the whole season. The Raptors weren't a good defensive team last season - they gave up 101.9 points per game (20th in the league), allowed their opponents to hit 46.5 % from the field (21st in the league) and finished the season with a -1.48 rebound margin, not bad for the 22th best team in the league.

Jose Calderon will be their playmaker and he has been solid since he took the job for the Raptors. He is coming from a season where he posted career-highs in points (12.8 PPG), assists (8.9), three-pointers made (1.2) and also he once again led the league in the assist-to-turnover ratio with a 4.23 ratio. These numbers are surprisingly good numbers because he played the majority of the season with a bad hamstring. He declined to participate this Summer in the European Championship, in order to heal the injury and start the new NBA season at 100%.

The Raptors sent TJ Ford to Indiana last season and so, they lacked a reliable backup for Calderon in the roster. However Colangelo made a wise move during the offseason by signing free agent PG Jarrett Jack from the Pacers. Jack is a different player than Calderon, as he is an Andre Miller type of PG and he's coming from a positive season in Indiana. After the all star break, he played more minutes and averaged 17.3 points, 4.9 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.4 steals - while shooting over 48% from the field. The Raptors have a great and solid duo for the Point Guard position this season, surely one of the best PG duos in the league.

Last season the Raptors underperformed in the Shooting guard and Small forward positions with Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon (later it was Shawn Marion) being the starters. Not only they struggled to be consistent offensively, but also with their undersized bodies, they were a mess defensively and did not help the Raptors in both ends of the floor. Obviously Colangelo doesn't want this to happen again this season and so, the Raptors have 6 new players just for these two positions! The biggest addition was bringing Hedo Turkoglu from the Magic. Turkoglu is one of the most underrated players in the league and at same time, one of the more versatile forwards! With his big size (6′10″), Turkoglu is a tough matchup for his opponents and with his guard-like skills, he can be effective by playing a Point Forward role for the team like he did in Orlando. We must also not forget how clutch he is, as surely we all remember the innumerable number of games the Magic won down the stretch thanks to Turkoglu. To complement Turkoglu, Colangelo signed former Dallas player Antoine Wright to play in the SF and SG positions. Wright was a starter last year for Dallas even in the playoffs and he is a serviceable player for 15/20 minutes per game who can play some defense and will also surely bring some much needed toughness to the team.

For the Shooting guard position, the Raptors have 3 new players: DeMar DeRozan, Marco Belinelli and Quincy Douby. DeRozan was the No. 9 pick in the draft and he is a raw athletic talented player with a large wingspan. I talked about the lack of size of the Raptors last season in their backcourt and Colangelo surely thought the same thing when he drafted DeRozan. Belinelli is an excellent three-point shooter who played well in some moments for the Warriors last season (averaged 14.1 points per game in December in 30 minutes per game, but then Don Nelson completely forgot him for the rest of the season). Quincy Douby will have a marginal role for the Raptors, but then again he will also bring some toughness to the team.

The Raptors were labeled "soft" in the frontcourt these past seasons, as with Bosh and Bargnani, the Raptors lacked a powerful body down low, but still both players have other qualities that can compensate that. Bosh is one of the more efficient and effective big men in the NBA. He can score on the block or he can step back and fire away from the perimeter. Also his 80% from the charity stripe is a rarity in this league for a big man. Bosh has been consistent throughout his career by averaging at least 22 points and approximately 10 rebounds per game each of his last four seasons. His 2003 draft teammates Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwayne Wade have already shone in the postseason, while Bosh has never gone further than the first round of the playoffs, so he will enter this season hungry for some success.

Meanwhile, Andrea Bargnani showed a lot of improvement in the second half of last season and one of the reasons for that was the departure of Jermaine O'Neal. He established as the starting center of this team and made a terrific second half of the season. After averaging 9.5, 12.4 and 8.6 points per game in the first three months of the season, he exploded for 19.8, 17.9, 20.3 and 16.3 points per game for the rest of the season. He has also set career-highs with 5.4 rebounds, 1.5 three-pointers, and 1.2 assists per game. Yes, he won't be a powerful physical player because his body won't allow him to do that, but the Raptors will have to take advantage from his long range skills. Just look at Rashard Lewis and you will understand what I'm trying to say in here. Colangelo also feel the need of filling the frontcourt with aggressive players that can offer some hustle to the team and he took care of it. He signed Reggie Evans from the Sixers and he is an enforcer and a tough defensive player. He has also signed fan-favorite Rasho Nesterovic and "Nesto" will provide experience and backup quality minutes for the team. Finally, he also added the youngster Amir Johnson that has some potential and he may be a pleasant surprise for the Raptors this season.

The Raptors have more than enough potential to return to the playoffs this season and a failure in accomplishing that would have to be considered as a disastrous season. The Atlantic Division is in theory one of the weakest divisions of the league with only Boston being a lock for the playoffs. I don't expect the Raptors to compete with the heavy guns of the East (Cleveland, Orlando and Boston), but they will be leading the group that will be just behind these teams in the Conference standings.