Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

New Found Depth

Masai Ujiri has always valued youth at the end of the bench, which is already a rousing success.

I entered the 2016-17 Raptors’ season with many of the same concerns I did about the 2015-16 Raptors’ season, the biggest of which was an apparent lack of depth.  As Masai Ujiri indicated almost as soon as he was hired, the team once again has used the end of the bench on talented young players rather than old and experience veterans.

In addition to last year’s motley crew of Lucas ‘Bebe’ Nogueira, Bruno Caboclo, Delon Wright, and Norman Powell, the Raptors have now added Jakob Poeltl, Pascal Siakam, and Fred VanVleet.

Over two years that is 7 roster spots handed to unproven young talent.  46.6% of the roster spent on the unknown.  For a team that aims to compete right away, and believes they are easily in the conversation for another Conference Finals and perhaps more, that is a shocking amount of youth to carry.

Even crazier though, the strategy is working.

First off, Norm took his name off this list of the unproven last year.  He is clearly an NBA player and has earned more minutes than he gets.  And despite being a 46th pick, he successfully helped the Raptors overcome last season’s injury to DeMarre Carroll.

This season has started much the same.  The Raptors lost Jared Sullinger in the first preseason game, are currently missing Jonas Valanciunas with a knee contusion, had Terrence Ross as a late scratch last game due to a finger injury, and still have Carroll at less than 100 percent.

Siakam and Poeltl have been thrown into the fire to start their careers, having already matched up with the likes of DeMarcus Cousins, Steven Adams, Andre Drummond, Tristan Thompson, and Hassan Whiteside.  And they’ve held their own.

Seven games into the season and Siakam has already played 123 minutes, with Poeltl seeing 116 minutes on the floor.  To put that in perspective, Cory Joseph has played 132 minutes as one of the team’s key reserves.

Even Bebe has made his mark since returning from an early season injury, being a key contributor to slowing down Russell Westbrook at the rim in the Raptors’ win over Oklahoma City.

The Raptors are not just winning in spite of their youth but are getting key contributions from each of their young players.  And then there is Brun…at least the rest of the plan is already looking like a success.

It’s still early, but the Raptors now appear to have not only youth/potential, but strong depth.  The early season involvement of players like Siakam and Poeltl will only help the Raptors in the long run.  Both now know that to expect from the NBA.  With every minute they will learn more about what they need to do to succeed, and how to correct their mistakes.