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TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO - On the court, the Raptors' transformation from NBA punchline to conference finalist has been plain to see, but for further proof of the franchise's continued evolution consider how they have fared behind the scenes, particularly during the summertime.

After nearly two decades of serving as a revolving door for some of the league's most talented young stars, including Damon Stoudamire, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and Chris Bosh - who all bolted or forced their way out at their earliest convenience - Toronto had developed a reputation, one that would haunt the organization and its long suffering fan base until recently.

"Honestly, that's something we had to build here," general manager Masai Ujiri said at his end-of-season availability session on Monday morning. "You hear all these things about this place, that people don't want to come here, and to me we were done talking about that a few years ago, three years ago maybe. I don't see it."

Two years ago Kyle Lowry bucked that trend when he became the franchise's first-ever unrestricted free agent to stick around. Just about everything that has happened since, on and off the court, has represented a changing of the guard.

Toronto has become a place where players feel comfortable, and why not? The Raptors have a strong foundation in place - from a highly regarded front office and coaching staff down to a cohesive locker room - the city and its fans have earned rave reviews and, most importantly, they've built a winning culture.

With that comes an unfortunate reality: good teams have to make tough decisions. It's part of the business, a byproduct of their success, and after so many years of having their personnel decisions made for them, it's not exactly a bad problem to have. Simply put, in a salary cap league, they can't pay everybody. Someone is going to be disappointed. Last summer, they opted to part ways with long-time glue guy Amir Johnson and Sixth Man winner Lou Williams, both of whom had hoped to stay and were admittedly surprised not to receive offers. Instead, they allocated that money elsewhere in the hopes of improving the team. It worked.

Now, with their off-season officially underway, the attention shifts to DeMar DeRozan and Bismack Biyombo, who will hit the open market as unrestricted free agents in just over a month's time. They have both made it pretty clear: if it was up to them they would be back in Raptors uniforms next year, but it's not up to them, not entirely.

Even with the cap expected to skyrocket from $70-million to somewhere in the neighbourhood of $92-million this summer, the Raptors won't have the space most teams will, leaving Ujiri hard pressed to both keep the band together and make the necessary additions to enhance his roster.

"I don’t know how possible that is, but honestly, it’s about jobs," said the Raptors' president and general manager. "We have to figure it out. That’s why we’re brought here to do this. Some of the things are more difficult than others. But to me, the approach is, our guys have said that they want to be here. That’s the first step, to build your culture and build your team, and you try to learn how to win and build winning. That attracts players. That makes players want to stay here. That’s the first step. And then, it’s kind of put on my table, and our guys in the front office, to figure it out. We’ll try to figure it out."

DeRozan, according to Ujiri, will be the first order of business when free agency opens on July 1.

"Our number one goal is to bring DeMar back here," he said. "We feel great that he wants to come back to our organization."

That's a pretty strong endorsement from Ujiri, who rarely tips his hand. At least publicly, he was noncommittal about whether they were willing to offer the 26-year-old guard a maximum contract but the belief is that's the amount it will take to get a deal done, and he knows that. So, connecting the dots, if Ujiri intends to bring DeRozan back, he's ready to do so at that cost, which will be upwards of $25-million annually.

Is DeRozan a max player? Two or three years ago the answer would have been a resounding no. However, the league's financial landscape is on the verge of looking a whole lot different and, as a result, it's time to change the way we evaluate player contracts. Now more than ever, a player is worth what teams are willing to give him and, in a thin free agent class, there will be far more cash out there than stars to spend it on. If you let DeRozan walk you're likely spending nearly as much to replace him with an inferior player.

So, with DeRozan signed to the max and the extensions of Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross kicking in, that would leave the Raptors right up against the cap. The odd man out in that scenario is likely Biyombo.

Thanks to his breakout season and inspired performance in the playoffs, the Congolese centre is in line for a substantial raise. ESPN recently reported the floor figure that teams could offer is $15-million - five-times what he made this year.

While Ujiri indicated that he has, and has always had, the commitment of ownership to exceed the luxury tax threshold if need be, that probably won't come into play until next year, when Lowry hits free agency. To clarify, you can only go into the tax to sign your own players, assuming you have their Bird rights. The Raptors don't have Biyombo's Bird rights.

Bringing him back would require them to dump salary, and even then he would almost certainly have to take a hometown discount in order for them to upgrade elsewhere. Would he really be willing to leave millions on the table to reprise his role as a back-up when others will be offering up a starting gig? And how much can the Raptors justify spending on a reserve centre, one that didn't log a single minute on the court with Valanciunas during the regular season?

As valuable as Biyombo was to them this past year, as much as he's beloved in the organization and amongst the fan base, the team has other, more pressing issues to address if they're going to take the next step.

"The obvious one is the power forward position," Ujiri said. "I think that’s always kind of been the question. We’ll see. The way the NBA’s going and also the emergence of Valanciunas and Biyombo, it’s a position where we really kind of have to get creative there and figure out what’s going to work, not only financially and not only fitting with the cap but also the type of player that we bring. That’s the one that really stands out now."

Like Biyombo, Luis Scola was brought in on a cheap $3-million deal last summer and ended up starting in all but six games this season. After wearing down late in the year, even losing his job in the playoffs, the 36-year-old vet is not likely to be back and the team seems to prefer Patrick Patterson as a reserve, meaning they will be in the market for a starting four.

Could the Biyombo and Valanciunas frontcourt pairing work? Perhaps on some teams, but it would seem to be impossible on one that relies so heavily on two players - Lowry and DeRozan - getting to the rim. For the Raptors, spacing is and will continue to be crucial. Three-point shooting is already something they will have to address this summer - they shot 30 per cent from distance in the playoffs - so it's hard to see a lineup with three non-shooters (DeRozan, Valanciunas and Biyombo) working, especially in today's NBA.

Maybe the pressure shouldn't be on Ujiri to bring Biyombo back at a price that exceeds his value, but to go out and find the next Biyombo, the next diamond in the rough.

Whatever they decide to do, they will have to get creative. Toronto's front office is comprised of some of the brightest minds of the business - including Ujiri, Jeff Weltman, Bobby Webster and Dan Tolzman - and they will have some assets to work with. Norman Powell, the standout rookie, will earn just over $800,000 next year, an absolute bargain, which could make Ross and his $10-million contract expendable. They also have two first-round picks - ninth and 27th overall - to dangle, and they almost certainly will given how young the back-end of their roster is already, along with the fact they're in win-now mode.

Their playoff run revealed what most already knew, including Ujiri: they're a good team, perhaps a very good team, but they're not good enough to get to where they ultimately aspire to go.

"I go home, my wife says, ‘You should be proud of the season,' and I say thank you to be a good husband," Ujiri joked. "But there’s 29 teams that have lost, and there’s 29 disappointed teams in the NBA at the end of the season, and we’re one of them. So I go in with that mentality.

"I don’t know if I feel differently, sometimes, from last year and this year. Because we didn’t win the championship. Could we have won the championship? I don’t think we are good enough yet. We’re not there yet. But you have that disappointment in you and that urge that you want to go and do better."

They've come a long way. Gone are the days of players racing for the nearest exit, but that's only the first step, as Ujiri says. Now the power shifts from the players and the coaches, the on-court product, to Ujiri. Their future is in his very capable hands, the question is: what will he do with it?

"I think the good thing is they all want to be here, and we can attract players here without moaning about anything anymore," he continued. "I think that’s the first hurdle. And then you go tackle the other issues. We have to get creative. We have to figure things out. I don’t know exactly what they are now. There’s tons of them. I also can’t tell the whole world what I’m trying to do, you know?"

If last season was the best in franchise history, this will be their most important summer.