I wanted Chriss the year we drafted Poeltl, but with guys like him and Bender, I really have a hard time seeing how guys who couldn't crack the rotation of absolutely terrible teams finding a role here where they can get the minutes required to develop. Maybe Nurse would be able to coach them up and get them productive, but I'm very skeptical.
As for Vince. I don't like the whitewashing of history with him and don't want to see him back or his number retired. As incompetent as Babcock was, Vince still quit the team in such an unprofessional way, I can't overlook that. He told the Sonics our play. I forgive him and won't boo him when he comes back or chant VC sucks, but I don't think he should be honored.
Raptors have a real banner now, and a team leader who will get his number put up (Lowry). This team finally has a legitimate history. No need to whitewash history to try to give us some sort o "rosy" history with Vince. I'd also take down those damn division championship banners while I'm at it.
Bender didn't crack the rotation because of Chriss in Phoenix, and then by the time Chriss was out, he was already stuck at the end of the bench. He really needs a fresh start to see if he's a breakout candidate or another Darko/Tskitishvili type flop. Plus the Raptors in a hypotheticla "Kawhi stays" scenario aren't in a position to get sexy free agents to round out their roster. They're going to be like those late-LeBron era Cavs, subsisting on G-league fringe projects, reclamation/redemption contracts, and ring-chasing over-the-hill veterans. So that means that if you want to maybe take a shot at finding someone who brings surplus value to the table, you're going to have to leverage
something in free agency, be it untapped potential (Bender) or positive feels (Vince) or just plain old desperation to win (possibly Vince again, though given that he went to Atlanta last season he seems pretty OK with not being a ring-chaser)
Also I find it a little hypocritical that you're going to lambast Vince for being "unprofessional" while your stance comes across as needlessly bitter/petty with talk of how this would represent "whitewashing" history, because it wouldn't. Nobody pretends that what happened never happened. They simply move on. Vince has admitted he didn't handle things well. the fans had their period of anger and vitriol and have moved past it. It's all over and done with. Never mind the fact that the whole Sonics mess was never proven (and I mean actually proven. not "but if you look at it the only explanation I think makes sense is that he did it" type proven. That's the kind of nonsense that gets trotted out for moon landing or kennedy assassination conspiracies.)
besides, it's not like bringing him back is just a feel-good story. He legitimately does things that could help the team. He hits 3s, he's a wing, he can defend and he can rebound. He would basically be what Powell was supposed to be. If he can do it for a year to help prop the window open a little longer and be someone the team could legitimately work out a deal with, I wouldn't turn it down just so I can be vindictive about something that happened almost 15 years ago.
I took a little look at the free agents list and names I liked were:
Beverley ( rumours say he wants to go back home to Chicago)
Vince Carter for obvious reasons
Terrence Ross
Bojan Bogdanovic
Bender
Ed Davis
Didn't really look at the higher priced guys so these are guys that I think wouldn't be too much
Ross and Bogdanovic I would bet are too expensive for the Raptors. The one big ticket they'll have to hand out is the taxpayer mid-level exception, which I think is supposed to be a little under $6m a year. Both those guys earned $10m+ last season and there'll be enough of a market for them to not need to take a big pay cut. Davis, on the other hand, I think is a reasonable target as a bench big who could sign for MLE money and help with rebounding and interior work alongside someone like Gasol or Ibaka.
Presuming Kawhi and Gasol stay and Danny Green is kept on a decent contract, the roster at that point would be:
PG: Lowry, VanVleet
SG: Green, Powell
SF: Leonard, Anunoby
PF: Siakam
C: Gasol, Ibaka
OG would probably float between the 3 and 4 and with Powell's rotation spot shaky and Nurse inheriting Casey's love of the Lowry/VanVleet 2PG lineup, you have 9 spots filled out of a 12-man roster (and probable 10.5 man rotation) with only 3 real needs (in order of importance):
1) Another frontcourt 4-ish player to prevent any semblance of Gasol/Ibaka from needing to happen ever again.
2) A wing to be both a prod to Powell and cover for when OG gets time as a small-lineup-4
3) Another guard to be there to spell Lowry/VanVleet when they rack up too much time together.
For needs in terms of skillset, the biggest one is rebounding. The team was a disappointing middle of the pack 17th in RPG. Next up while they were 5th in FG% and 6th in 3P%, we can see in the playoffs how their 3 point shooting deserted them at times. So they could use some more of that. More defensive ability would always be nice, but if we're talking 2nd unit players here, and especially end-of-the-rotation players it's not a huge issue since the Raptors were one of the best defensive teams in the league.
Davis fills your rebounding void in a big way. He can play the 4 and he can be a small 5 if you need it. Carter fills you in on the wing and gives you more shooting range (his stats for last season would've been 5th on the team in attempts and 4th in % once you filter out the small-sample guys) Now you can look at finding some cheap pet project PG or reward Jordan Loyd for being a good soldier and one of the team's black aces last season (his job in the playoffs was essentially as a practice drone, mimicking the opposing PG.)
Bender is a bigger gamble and isn't a rebounder like Davis, but he provides you with a potential stretch 4 with playmaking ability who represents the upside pick of potentially being a more useful all-around player.
Beyond that I'm looking at less secure fits but names that might be interesting like Wayne Ellington, Tomas Satoransky, or Seth Curry. Mostly they provide shooting or back-court help but they could come cheap-ish.
Al-Farouq Aminu also strikes me as potentially interesting, but he's probably a bad fit and probably costs too much.