Can the Toronto Raptors become a playoff team pt. 2

If you already haven't checked out my earlier post on the Toronto Raptors becoming a playoff team, you should do so before you read on.

As I've said before in my blog post in part one, I have talked about each player's ability that would  contribute for the team to become successful to make the playoffs. Now, I will talk about the competition whom the Toronto Raptors must deal with and compare them.

In this off season, not only did the Raptors make some big moves, but also some big teams made some moves that make the "rich, richer and the poor poorer".

Brooklyn Nets

For those of you that haven't heard of this team, you haven't gone crazy. The team just moved there from New Jersey to New York, making two teams in New York. The Brooklyn Nets recently signed free agent Joe Johnson, that may increase the scoring for the team. With the team they already have in Deron Williams, Gerald Wallace, and Brook Lopez, their future is promising.

Compared to the Raptors: Toronto will have their hands full, since we're dealing with players of an all star caliber and experience against the young, potential of the Raptors.

Boston Celtics

This team, since the beginning of time has been an elite team, winning countless championships. Just recently, the Celtics lost their best shooter in Ray Allen, which is a huge blow since it was him along with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce that won a championship in 2008. Some recent additions they received are Jared Sullinger, Fab Melo and Jason Terry. The first two players were arguably the steals of the 2012 draft with the 21st and 22nd picks respectively. Jason Terry is a vital piece to this team because they lost Ray Allen, but now get back a shooter that won a championship in 2011.

Compared to the Raptors: Boston might have the upper hand here because of championship experience.

Philadelphia 76ers

To most, this team was a surprise team that knocked out the number one seed in Chicago Bulls in the 2012 playoffs. The bad news about the 76ers is the player they lost in the Dwight Howard trade in Andre Iguodala, one of there most athletic players. Recent additions they received in the off season were Nick Young, Jason Richardson and Andrew Bynum. The additions of the last two players are significant toward them pushing into the playoffs further.

Compared to the Raptors: I would say its dead even because both teams last year were battling it out to become the 8th seed in the 2012 playoffs, but with the additions both teams got, its a close one.

On my next post, i will be talking about the next set of teams in the Toronto Raptors conference.