Amidst the Nuggets completing the final wave of their comeback, wily old vet Jack Armstrong implored Masai Ujiri to use the fourth quarter of the disheartening but moral victory to evaluate the unit on the floor. Specifically, to gauge their fit on a championship team. It’s not often that you see a paid employee (or for that matter, a media member) openly call out the deficiencies on the roster, such is the allure of this Raptors squad which brims with hope. This wasn’t the case of Armstrong’s senility catching up with him, after all the man is younger than Mr. Three Keys, believe it or not. No, this was not that. It was mostly Armstrong looking at CJ Miles and being like what the fuck?
Delon Wright’s poor contract year, Norman Powell’s injury, Fred Van Vleet’s growing up pains, Pascal Siakam’s occasional shifts to the starting lineup, and CJ Miles’ marketing campaigns have all taken an effect on what used to be the best bench in the NBA. The fourth quarter used to be the time where a 1-starter, 4-bench lineup would see the team through the first 4-6 minutes, holding their own or even outplaying the opposition. This season, though, that is squeaky-bum time, and the poor initial play in the fourth has resulted in extended minutes and more pressure on the closers. It comes as little surprise that when the Raptors enter the fourth trailing, don’t have the resources to pull through more often than not.
Nick Nurse can be absolved to some degree as the Raptors have little trouble generating clean looks for their perimeter players. It’s making them that’s been a problem. Remember, we didn’t come this far to only come this far, which puts the onus on Ujiri to tinker and tamper with his assets to increase the likelihood of championship contention. The Raptors don’t need disruptive Bradley Beal-type blockbuster trades, they need minor tweaks to compensate for lack of expected production from bench players. Kyle Korver, though not available now, would have been a fantastic addition, and it’s in that tier Ujiri is likely to be searching.
The pressure in the search for improvements is accentuated by how the Raptors have factored against Milwaukee. The Bucks weren’t considered in the same realm as Boston and Toronto in pre-season, and to this observer is currently the scariest Eastern challenger. Shot-making against a lengthy defensive team that on the other end is scoring on every possession is a premium, as the Raptors have found out against the Bucks. At best, the Raptors bench unit is slightly behind Milwaukee’s, to the point where you can’t afford to do a traditional 1-4 split, and have to play at least 2-3 starters to keep even. This is made more complicated if Brook Lopez is thrown into their second unit mix, as he demands a taller defender who can guard on the perimeter, and the Raptors don’t have that other than Siakam. The unit of Snell, Ilyasova, Maker, and perennial Gerald Henderson-award candidate, Donte DiVincenzo, make Milwaukee’s bench an issue. If the equation in past was that the Raptors defensive unit would bring an energy boost, now the mandate has shifted where shot-making is not a nice-to-have but required.
This constitutes part of the reason why there are increased, or at least consistency, expectations of CJ Miles. The other reason is that thanks to Danny Green, we’ve now seen first-hand the dramatic impact a serviceable wing can produce. Looking at the Raptors depth chart, Miles and (arguably) Powell are second in that rotation, which is a tad bit scary. Green’s been able to supply excellent transition defense, post-up smaller players, spread the court by hitting the three, rotates on offense along the perimeter better than anyone else, and brings an aura of confidence when on the court. Scanning the free-agent list, the Raptors are not going to find anyone close to him, but they should be able to maneuver an upgrade on Miles and Powell. Powell is very difficult to move because of his contract, about $33 million owed beyond this year, all guaranteed. Miles has a one-year player option after this season which he will very likely exercise because, let’s face it, nobody’s paying him $8.7 million, even for a year. Upgrading on this position means trading from one of your real assets whose loss won’t be critical.
That brings us to Delon Wright and OG Anunoby. The former’s struggles and impending free-agency make him less attractive, which leaves us with Anunoby. The question now becomes how comfortable are the Raptors with shipping Anunoby, who while being productive now, is definitely one for the future. His value on the market is also likely to be inflated because of the glimpses of real potential he’s shown. It may sound sacreligious to think about shipping someone called KD-lite, but it needs to be weighed in against how much you want to win now. Of course, an Anunoby three years into the future is the guy we’re looking for right now, so an option could be to just hope he picks up where he left off last year (his three-point shooting is down from 37% last season to 29.9% this season).
Jonas Valanciunas is also a candidate, but given that the next guy in line is Greg Monroe, makes this one more scary. The incoming package of any JV trade has to include a big. However, leaving the need for a three-point shooting wing aside, there is one trade that may tickle your fancy: a Jonas Valanciunas for Bismack Biyombo trade works straight-up. I’m not sure where the 7th seeded 14-15 Hornets are going, but if you were a Bismack fan back in the day, there’s hope.
Going back to the top of this post, if Masai Ujiri’s assessment is aligned with Jack Armstrong’s, it would not be a surprise that the Raptors double-down and ship someone who many had deemed untouchable.
