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Throughout this disappointing season, most of the talk about why the Raptors have underperformed has centred on injuries (to Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon), on failed experiments (the Bosh/Jermaine O'Neal frontcourt, playing Andrea Bargnani at small forward) and on the lack of a star-quality shooting guard. While I don't want to completely dismiss the importance of these factors, the larger problem is the Raptors did not play contender-quality defence this season.
The teams that have emerged as championship contenders this season have all demonstrated the ability to defend at an elite level. In the following chart, I've listed the four main contenders along with their Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) and ranking in that department.
There's nothing shocking about this chart, of course. These contending teams have superior size, quickness and strength, as well as the work ethic to shut down opposing offences. In comparison, the Raptors don't appear to have any of these things. Currently, Shawn Marion is the only above-average defender in the starting lineup and nobody knows whether he wants to return to Toronto next season or if Colangelo is willing to pay him what he wants.
Regardless of what happens with Marion, I think that addressing the Raptors' defensive woes should be Colangelo's main focus on draft day on June 25th. Based on where the Raptors are projected to draft, I think they should target Memphis freshman shooting guard Tyreke Evans. He's 19 years old, six-foot-five with a great wingspan and athleticism that he used to rack up 2.1 steals and 0.8 blocks per game this season. He has his flaws on the offensive end (he's not a great shooter and he turns the ball over too often) but he's young enough to develop those skills and it's unlikely the Raptors would ever ask him to be more than a third option on offence.
Draft Express has Evans going eighth (one spot ahead of the Raptors' current draft position) while nbadraft.net ranks Evans all the way down at 24 — so I have no clue where this guy actually ranks. But he does seem to have the raw tools to be a very good perimeter defender in the NBA so I'm officially on the Tyreke Evans bandwagon for the next couple of months.
There's also the matter of free agency and whether or not to re-sign Marion. I'm not really sure it makes much sense to re-sign a 31-year-old who relies primarily on his athleticism, so that's why I advocate renouncing him, Anthony Parker and Joey Graham so that the Raptors can spend over the mid-level exception and steal Trevor Ariza from the Lakers to play small forward.
With those two acquisitions, a significant weakness on the Raptors (perimeter defence) will have the potential to become a strength. How nice would it be to have a couple of athletic, shot-challenging ball-hawks on the Raptors' wing positions for a change? I know I'd appreciate it, but these specific moves would acknowledge that the Raptors are building for the future — and I'm not sure if that's a path Colangelo and Bosh are both willing to go down. 
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