With Andrea Bargnani on the shelf, the Raptors aren’t getting much from their centers.  27-year old Aaron Gray is now the starting center for the Raptors.  He has played in 9 games (5 starts) for the Raptors so far this year and he is averaging 16.8 minutes, 3.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Gray has been a solid rebounder so far this year, but he’s very offensively challenged.  33-year old Jamaal Magloire is looking like he’s running on fumes this year.  He has played in 16 games (0 starts) for the Raptors so far this year and he is averaging 12.4 minutes, 0.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.  He is only shooting 25% (6 of 24) from the floor so far this year.  The Raptors need Andrea Bargnani to get healthy soon.

The Raptors have had a hard time scoring points this year, so they need Linas Kleiza to step up. He has played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Raptors so far this year and he is averaging 17.6 minutes, 7.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Kleiza is only shooting 37.5% from the floor so far this year and the Raptors need him to improve on that. Kleiza has the offensive skill set to help the Raptors, so they need to start giving him more P.T. in the near future.

22-year old SG DeMar DeRozan has been awful lately for the Raptors. In DeRozan’s last six games he is averaging 13.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He is only shooting 28 of 92 (30.4%) from the floor in his last six games and 2 of 12 (16.7%) from three point range in those games. DeRozan has played in 19 games (all starts) overall this year and he is averaging 33.2 minutes, 14.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He is only shooting 38.3% from the floor and the Raptors are going to have a hard time piecing together a win steak with him shooting the way he is right now.

32-year old Rasual Butler has been starting at small forward this year for the Raptors, but he has been playing awful basketball. Butler has played in 6 games (all starts) for the Raptors so far this year and he is averaging 18.8 minutes, 4.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. He is only shooting 25.8% from the floor and 22.7% (5 of 22) from three point range. The Raptors should seriously consider replacing Butler in the starting lineup with 29-year old Leandro Barbosa. Barbosa has played in 6 games (0 starts) so far this year for the Raptors and he is averaging 21.5 minutes, 10.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

52-year old head coach Jay Triano had to deal with Chris Bosh’s departure last year and the Raptors left behind didn’t play too well. The Raptors were a woeful 22-60 (26.8%) in 2010-11. Triano now has a record of 87-142 (38%) in his three years as the Raptors’ head coach. The Raptors often looked in disarray last season due to frequent changes in the starting lineup as Triano tried almost everything he could to get the team going, but, nothing seemed to work. I’m starting to think the Raptors need a new head coach to take them in a different (winning) direction.

UPDATE: (6/1/2011) - The Raptors have declined Jay Triano’s option for the 2011-12 season. So the Raptors are officially on the hunt for a new head coach.