Over the next month, we will be previewing every team in the NBA. Here is the fourth installment of our series on the Toronto Raptors.

2014-15 Record: 49-33

Notable Acquisitions: DeMarre Carroll (FA), Cory Joseph (FA), Bismack Biyombo (FA), Luis Scola (FA), Delon Wright (Draft), Norman Powell (Draft)

Notable Departures: Amir Johnson, Lou Williams, Tyler Hansbrough, Greivis Vasquez

Temperature Check:

Despite setting a franchise record with 49 wins last season, the Raptors hardly seemed content with the status quo this offseason. Though their core trio of Demar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Jonas Valanciunas remained unchanged, the supporting cast around them will have a few fresh faces. After two straight first-round playoff exits, Toronto fans can only hope these new additions take the team to new heights.

Inside the Playbook:

Most players who spend their time during NBA games zipping around screens off the ball typically possess one common skill: a killer outside shot. It’s probably not surprising to find out then that, of the five players with over 200 possessions in these off-the-ball screening situations last year (per Synergy Sports data), three of them -- J.J. Redick, Klay Thompson and Kyle Korver -- would be card-carrying members of the league’s “Knockdown crew,” if there was such an awesome club. Yet despite lacking the terrifying shooting ability of the aforementioned trio, Toronto’s opponents better prepare for a steady diet of Demar DeRozan snaking around screens in a variety of fashions:

Even though the Raptors used DeRozan a lot in screens off-the-ball, he wasn’t particularly effective at it, checking in at just .816 points per possession (PPP), placing him in about the bottom third of the league. It’s hard to believe Toronto could have had the league’s fourth-best offense last season despite devoting a decent chunk of possessions to such inefficient play. But as per usual, those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

While DeRozan subsisted on a steady diet of mid-range jumpers coming off screens (and in general, really), the threat of his scoring prowess opened things up for his teammates. Whether it was actually assisting them himself...

Or letting his movement occupy help defenders long enough to create opportunities for his teammates to attack…

Toronto was able to find the efficient shots modern NBA offenses crave out of these actions -- just not always when DeRozan was the one taking them. And given the volatile nature of Lowry (more on that in a second), DeRozan’s ability to generate good looks for himself and his teammates in screening situations off the ball will once again be vital to the Raptors' success.

Lineup to Watch:

Bismack Biyombo-James Johnson-DeMarre Carroll-Norman Powell-Kyle Lowry

After earning the Toronto job in part because of his work as defensive coordinator under Rick Carlisle in Dallas, Dwane Casey must have spent all summer waking up to nightmares of his 25th-ranked defense getting shredded apart on a nightly basis last season. But this year, Casey will have a handful of mobile, versatile lineups capable of shutting down even the best offenses at his disposal.

After finishing last season fourth in block percentage (min 1,000 minutes) ahead of heralded rim protectors like Anthony Davis and Serge Ibaka, per Basketball Reference data, Biyombo gives Casey and the Raptors a true, shot-swatting force they lacked. He could anchor a lineup capable of switching most assignments from point guard to power forward.

And speaking of power forwards, Johnson -- who finished second in defensive rating on the team last season, per NBA.com data -- has the potential to be Toronto’s version of Golden State’s Draymond Green, if he shows he’s committed (Which, as always, is a big ‘if’). Though Johnson’s not quite the pick-and-roll destroyer as his physical tools suggest he could be, he still does a solid job when swapping assignments on smaller guards, using his length to contest (and more than most, block) jumpers. Johnson can get caught trying to reach or poke the ball away at times, something that rarely results in success against the league’s top guards. But overall, as the stats suggest, Johnson, despite his somewhat undisciplined approach (the thing that makes Casey hesitant to play him), can cause problems for opposing offenses.

The same might be said in time with the rookie Powell, who, after a solid Summer League showing, might be on track to earn minutes under the defensive-minded Casey. Though he’s listed at 6-foot-4, Powell has a wingspan of nearly 6’11”, something that could allow him to both slide up a spot to guard bigger wings and also move down the lineup sheet in order to swallow up opposing point guards. In combination with Johnson, Carroll and Lowry -- who can be a pitbull on that end of the floor when he wants to be -- Powell could be part of a lineup that causes opposing coaches to lose sleep, instead of Casey.

The Wildcard:

Kyle Lowry

If you’re looking for the culprit behind the Raptors second-half malaise, it’s hard not to see the correlation between Lowry’s lackluster performance after the All-Star break…

...and the team’s output during the final months of the season.

While the arrival of Cory Joseph (hopefully) alleviates some of the pressure on Lowry to produce at All-Star level for Toronto to be at the top of the East, this team will still go as their enigmatic point guard goes. If Lowry is happy, healthy and focused, like he was when he averaged 20.7 points and 7.7 assists on 45.1 percent shooting -- numbers that would have been career highs if they held up for an entire season -- as his team went 24-8 to start the last season, this revamped Raptors roster could be formidable in 2015-16. But if Lowry continues his Jekyll and Hyde routine, it will hold the franchise back from being a serious contender in the East. No pressure, right?

Coach’s Question:

What is this team’s calling card on offense?

In part because of the unpredictable play of Lowry, it’s hard to figure out where Casey will look for points when his team needs them most. DeRozan is something of a jack-of-all trades scorer, operating fairly well in post ups, pick-and-rolls and, as mentioned earlier, off screens. Lowry is a solid pick-and-roll operator but can become a bit of gunner, something that is especially problematic during his bad spells. And the way both of those players tend to focus on scoring first may cause the team to miss the presence of current Milwaukee Buck, Greivis Vasquez.

There’s an argument to be made that maybe even the slowly developing Valanciunas should earn a bigger role. The Lithuanian big man isn’t going to remind people of Hakeem Olajuwon at any point in his career, but Valanciunas has developed a workable post game -- he averaged 1.02 PPP per Synergy data, ranking him just outside the top 10 percent in the entire league -- that could perhaps grow to be a foundational piece of an offense.

There is always going to be some element of the matchup carousel for star-less teams and the Raptors are no exception. Each of these options can be viable answers to the riddles opposing defense present on a nightly basis. One night, DeRozan and Valanciunas can post up weaker matchups while another opponent can be exposed by Lowry in pick-and-rolls. But at some point great teams just need to know what they are best at and run with it regardless of the best matchup.

This could partly (big emphasis on the ‘partly’ part) explain why the Raptors dropped from third in overall offensive efficiency, per NBA.com data, to eighth when ahead or behind by five points late in the last five minutes during the regular season. And when it came to the playoffs, the Raptors posted a horrendous efficiency rating of 79.4 in the same situation -- the third worst mark margin of the 16 teams involved. So while fixing a leaky defense is the more obvious problem, if the Raptors want to make a deep playoff run, this identity crisis must be solved as well.

Best Case Scenario:

58-24 If....

‘Good’ Lowry shows up from start to finish. Dwane Casey and James Johnson get on the same page allowing a 35-year-old Luis Scola to occupy a much more suitable ‘fifth big’ role for the team. Patrick Patterson emerges as a plus/minus darling while Cory Joseph takes another step forward in his career, leading a versatile and productive Raptors bench.

Worst Case Scenario:

47-35 If….

Lowry struggles to find consistency while one of Joseph or Carroll proves to be a product of a the famous Spurs (or Spurs East, in Atlanta’s case) culture. Biyombo fails to make an impact while Johnson is confined to a very limited role, meaning a steady, but aging, Scola sucks up big minutes on a nightly basis.

Click here for a full list of NBA Season Previews from Brett Koremenos.