26-year old Andres Bargnani is a good offensive center. He played in 66 games (all starts) for the Raptors last year and he averaged 35.7 minutes, 21.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Bargnani has now played in 367 games (260 starts) in his first 5 years in the NBA and he is averaging 30.2 minutes, 15.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Bargnani has shot 37.1% from three point range so far in his career, but the Raptors would likely be better served if he played a little closer to the basket to help with the rebounding. 23-year old Solomon Alabi might get more of a chance to play this year. He played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Raptors last year and he averaged 4.9 minutes, 0.5 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. The Raptors drafted 19-year old Jonas Valanciunas in the first round of the NBA Draft last June, but he has to spend one more year overseas before arriving with the Raptors in 2012-13.

24-year old Amir Johnson got a nice contract from the Raptors last season and they hope he continues to earn his cash by playing well. Johnson played in 72 games (54 starts) for the Raptors last year and he averaged 25.7 minutes, 9.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. He has now played in 289 games (83 starts) in his NBA career so far and he is averaging 17.8 minutes, 5.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. 22-year old Ed Davis will be Johnson’s backup once again in 2011-12. Davis played in 65 games (17 starts) for the Raptors as a rookie last year and he averaged 24.6 minutes, 7.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game last year. The Raptors need rebounding and shot blocking out of their power forwards as they don’t get much of it from their centers.

The Raptors have three decent players at small forward (James Johnson, Leandro Barbosa and Linas Kleiza) but they need one of them to really step up in 2011-12. 24-year James Johnson will likely be the starter when the season begins. Johnson played in 38 games (25 starts) for the Bulls & Raptors last year and he averaged 21.6 minutes, 7.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. He has now played in 103 games (36 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 15.3 minutes, 5.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. 28-year old Leandro Barbosa will get minutes at both small forward and shooting guard this year. He played in 58 games (0 starts) for the Raptors last year and he averaged 24.1 minutes, 13.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Barbosa has now played in 524 games (109 starts) in his NBA career so far and he is averaging 25.0 minutes, 12.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. 26-year old Linas Kleiza is coming off of microfracture surgery on his knee last February, so he might not be ready for big minutes right away. He played in 39 games (23 starts) for the Raptors last year and he averaged 26.5 minutes, 11.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Kleiza has now played in 340 games (59 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 19.9 minutes, 8.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.

22-year old shooting guard DeMar DeRozan had a really solid second year in the NBA in 2010-11 for the Raptors. DeRozan played in 82 games (all starts) for the Raptors last year and he averaged 34.8 minutes, 17.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He has now played in 159 games (147 starts) in his first two years with the Raptors and he is averaging 28.4 minutes, 13.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. The Raptors hope that DeRozan increases his shooting range this year, but other than that it’s all systems go for 2011-12 as far as he is concerned.