Player development has become the Raptors’ stock-in-trade over the past few years. Toronto has invested a significant amount of resources in skill-development coaches, the OVO Athletic Centre, and high-tech testing and analytical tools in order to make the most out of the players in the organization.
It was those investment tools that attracted Stanley Johnson to Toronto last season. The highly athletic small-forward decided that Toronto was the best place for him to rehab his NBA value, and give him a shot to sand off the rough edges to his game. That long-term thinking gave Toronto the confidence to sign Johnson to a two-year $7.