By RaptorTalk

Back when the Raptors acquired hall-of-famer Hakeem Olajuwon, Sports Illustrated predicted that Toronto would win the NBA East. Of course, the SI curse ensured that the team would struggle that year. And they did.

Now, Marty Burns of Sports Illustrated provided this early assessment of the 2008-09 Toronto Raptors:

“GM Bryan Colangelo made perhaps the most underrated move of the offseason, acquiring five-time All-Star Jermaine O'Neal from the Pacers for T.J. Ford and Rasho Nesterovic. If O'Neal is recovered from his knee problems, he should join with Chris Bosh to give the Raptors one of the best frontcourts in the East.”

“Colangelo also re-signed Jose Calderon and brought in Croatian star Roko Ukic to replace Ford as backup point guard. The Raptors still need Andrea Bargnani to live up to his billing as a No. 1 overall pick, but Toronto definitely will be a team to watch next season.”

                    

Burns has the Raptors pegged to finish 7th in the East. On the other hand, some other so-called experts have the Raptors finishing as high as 2nd behind Boston (which is highly unliklely).

Right now the Raptors' fortunes are completely dependent upon how well JO and CB4 play together, if they remain healthy and if Andrea Bargnani can become a legit NBA player.

Assuming everything falls in place like Raptor fans hope, then the Raptors can finish in the top half of the Eastern playoff qualifiers.