It seems fitting. With confidence in the Toronto Raptors’ defense at a season low point following a frustrating loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, with rim protection in question (despite Lucas Nogueira’s league-best block percentage), and with the rebounding in a woeful state, the Raptors find themselves opposite Bismack Biyombo on Sunday. Biyombo, of course, left the Raptors for the Orlando Magic this summer, a departure that was always expected and would have been very difficult to avoid. There’s no saying if the Raptors would be better overall if they still had Biyombo and had jettisoned the pieces to make the salary match work (likely losing Jonas Valanciunas or two other pieces of their rotation), but it’s pretty easy to draw a line from “Biyombo left” to “the defense got worse.”
Add in that Serge Ibaka is the trade target that got away for some fans (thanks to a ludicrous asking price Masai Ujiri shared with a few of us in the offseason), and the Magic make for an interesting opponent. If the Raptors were to lose, it would likely create one of the nuttier Quick Reaction comments sections of the season (reminder: please be respectful of each other).
But it’s not as if the Magic landed Ibaka, poached Biyombo, and are suddenly amazing as a result. They’re toiling away at 12-16, their defense is only average, and their offense is pretty terrible. Meanwhile, head coach Frank Vogel, the man who may have saved the Raptors 2015-16 playoff run with some curious Game 5 rotations, continues to try to figure out the best way to deploy a group heavy on size but low on scoring and shooting. The Magic have the makings of a fun team, and they’ve had some really incredible performances sprinkled in with some terrible ones. That means the Raptors will have to come out swinging, making sure a repeat of Friday (or the second half of Wednesday’s game) doesn’t occur. Toronto should be just as hungry.
The game tips off at 6 p m. on TSN 2 and TSN 1050.
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To help set the stage, we reached out to Philip Rossman-Reich of Orlando Magic Daily, who was kind enough to help us out.
Blake Murphy: We miss Bismack Biyombo’s presence, smile, quotes, and finger wag around these parts. Him leaving was always expected and entirely understandable (and the right thing for both sides), but it doesn’t mean there aren’t times where we could have used a little Biz in our lives. How much are you enjoying having Biyombo the person in Orlando so far?
Philip Rossman-Reich: The Magic fans love Bismack Biyombo a ton. You are right, he just has this great energy about him. It is not just the blocked shots or the energy plays he makes, he has that warmth and personality fans just love in a player. There is never a moment when he is not working or playing hard, even in his expanded role. Behind the scenes, at least in how he talks to the media, Biyombo is very thoughtful and good at holding the team accountable. He is one of the more light-hearted, but serious-minded guys in the locker room — at least by how he interacts with the media. He seems like a perfect cultural fit. Not all has been perfect. With great contracts come great responsibilities. And plenty of people want a bit more from Biyombo. But it has been hard to argue too much.
Blake Murphy: Lovable Biz aside, the fit hasn’t exactly been perfect from an on-court perspective. The Magic have been outscored when he’s paired with Serge Ibaka despite that making a ton of sense from a defensive perspective, yet when Biyombo shares the court with Nikola Vucevic, the team’s been great on defense (but shaky offensively). On top of that, Biyombo’s hardly been blocking shots. I know these things take time, but what’s your general sense of Biyombo the player in Orlando right now?
Philip Rossman-Reich: He is obviously learning a new defensive system and there have been fits and starts to that process. The Orlando Magic were really strong defensively a few weeks ago and Biyombo was a big part of that. He will still make his highlight-reel blocks that remind everyone why he is such a valuable player. But mixing him with a second shot blocker in Ibaka has proven troublesome. Both players like to go for blocks and they both sometimes get themselves out of position trying to block shots. When Vucevic is in there, Vucevic is steady enough with his positioning to not give up rebounds when Biyombo goes flying around for blocks. Vucevic has surprisingly been a strong pairing for both for that reason. What worries me more than Biyombo’s blocks going down is his rebounding falling off some. Biyombo lacks size and his blocking forays take him out of position sometimes. Generally, though, this Magic team is confusing.
Blake Murphy: Back to Vucci Mane for a second. Out of curiosity, who do you think would have more trade value: Vucevic or Jonas Valanciunas?
Philip Rossman-Reich: This was a question I thought a lot about during the Toronto Raptors’ playoff run. Before that, I might have said Vucevic. After that, I probably would say Valanciunas (exposure, etc.). Now, I am going to toe the line. Valanciunas probably still has more trade value. I think more teams would see him as a starter than Vucevic. Right now, I think the Magic could probably get a veteran quasi-starter for Vucevic and another young player. But it is hard to do a straight starter-for-starter swap. This despite Vucevic’s improved defensive performance this year.
Blake Murphy: The Magic struggling to score was somewhat expected, but 26th in offensive rating is a tough look for a team that had hopes for the playoffs. Evan Fournier’s great, Ibaka’s raining threes, but Elfrid Payton has continued to struggle a bit, and Aaron Gordon’s role is all over the place. What should Frank Vogel be doing to get things going on that end? It feels like unleashing Gordon more could be the key.
Philip Rossman-Reich: He has to continue to hope Payton and Gordon develop offensively and find fits within the offense. In the last six games, the Magic offense has suddenly come alive. They have used Gordon less as a ball handler and gotten him in situation where he makes quick decisions or dishes the ball off rather than trying to break anyone down on the perimeter. Payton too has started to figure things out. The reality with this offense is that there is not a ton of shooting and the Magic are going to stagnate because of it. They are playing better, but still have a lot of work to do on that end. It feels like Frank Vogel is still sorting out what his best lineups and combinations are.
Blake Murphy: I have to ask, otherwise the readers will riot: Is there any chance the Magic look to recoup some assets and put Ibaka on the trade block at any point this year, and if so, do you see any potential trade fit with Toronto?
Philip Rossman-Reich: I think that will happen if the Magic fade out of the Playoff race. If it gets to February and the Magic are out of the Playoff race, they will probably look to shop Ibaka to avoid losing him in free agency. This whole season was contingent on making the Playoffs (or getting close) and re-signing Ibaka. If they are not close to the Playoffs, re-signing Ibaka and running things back will make less sense. The Magic are going to be fishing for scoring so long as they are in the race. If the scales tip the other way, they may go into sell mode to try to rebuild assets to make a push either in the offseason or to rebuild. There is a lot of desperation to make the Playoffs in Orlando, so when those scales tip may actually be later than reality dictates.
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Raptors updates
It remains mostly smooth sailing on the Raptors’ side of things. Delon Wright is cleared for one-on-one contact and for getting caught sleeping on Norman Powell’s Instagram, Jared Sullinger is out of his walking boot (at least the last two times I’ve seen him), and a lack of back-to-backs means DeMarre Carroll is playing night in, night out.
The stasis on the injury report hasn’t made for a steady rotation, though. Head coach Dwane Casey has started Patrick Patterson out of halftime in each of the team’s last two games, and Ibaka would seem to be the type of troublesome opponent (like Joel Embiid and Paul Millsap before him) that could force Casey’s hand similarly. Pascal Siakam is going to continue to get his chances, and in general, the rookie’s been impressive, but these things take time. We won’t rehash the case for Patterson starting here, but don’t be surprised if Siakm continues working with a short hook at the beginning of each half. The Raptors have the depth, even with Sullinger out thanks to an ability to play small, to work around any stumbles in the development process.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, Fred VanVleet
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Norman Powell
SF: DeMarre Carroll, Terrence Ross
PF: Pascal Siakam, Patrick Patterson, Bruno Caboclo
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Lucas Nogueira, Jakob Poeltl
Assigned: None
TBD: None
OUT: Delon Wright, Jared Sullinger
Magic updates
There have been fairly frequent changes to the Magic rotation, but it seems as if Vogel’s found something he likes of late. Moving Payton to the bench maybe isn’t the long-term solution, but it gets him more minutes alongside a strong shooter in Jodie Meeks, and the better shooting on the second unit in general should help the young point guard. The bigs, meanwhile, continue to share the floor in different combinations, including Biyombo playing some power forward, and while those experiments or necessary, it means Gordon’s primarily played the three, which is probably not the spot he’s best utilized at in the bigger picture.
There’s a weird push-pull between development and winning now here, and it extends beyond just Payton and Gordon – Mario Hezonja can barely get on the floor any longer. Hezonja was an intriguing offensive prospect entering the draft, but his play has fallen off a cliff as a sophomore. There’s still something there, and the Magic need to be careful they don’t end up with another Moe Harkless situation on their hands, eventually selling a useful piece for nothing only to see him flourish elsewhere.
The Magic’s best lineup, by the way, is the starters with Vucevic in place of Biyombo, so look for Vogel to give Biyombo an early hook to get that group some minutes. Either look is one Valanciunas should be capable of defending against, but he’s going to have his work cut out at both ends all night. The beauty of three bigs this good is that the Magic never have to be without one of them, and that will be a challenge for the rebounding-starved Raptors.
PG: D.J. Augustin, Elfrid Payton
SG: Evan Fournier, Jodie Meeks, C.J. Watson
SF: Aaron Gordon, Jeff Green, Mario Hezonja
PF: Serge Ibaka, Damjan Rudez
C: Bismack Biyombo, Nikola Vucevic, Arinze Onuaku
Assigned: C.J. Wilcox, Stephen Zimmerman
TBD: None
Out: None
The line
The Raptors are 6-point favorites on the road here, which is a nice nod of respect. Orlando’s not the toughest of places to play, nor is the city a major threat to the team’s energy levels, and the Raptors were able to fly in Saturday without much issue. No excuses, is what I’m saying, and without any reason to doubt the road side taking care of business, the line’s mostly been steady. The over-under, meanwhile, has dropped from 218 to 216, but that’s been a common trend with Toronto only for them to blow the over-under away on a nightly basis (the regression in offense or improvements in their defense just don’t appear to be coming).
With an up-and-down Magic team and the Raptors likely (hopefully?) awake after the Hawks finally made them pay for their sleepy defense of late, this has the makings of a nice bounce-back win. Raptors 112, Magic 102
