Raptors are stuck in the NBA’s mushy middle | The Star
Halfway through another NBA season, and the Toronto Raptors find themselves in the worst place in pro sports.
No, not the province of Ontario, the only jurisdiction in the NBA that doesn’t allow fans in buildings. And no, not the going-away party for outgoing MLSE CEO Michael Friisdahl, the executive with so much passion for sports that it was quietly announced Tuesday he’s leaving to run a private aviation company. Apparently the budget-conscious and not-so-beloved Friisdahl — the man still best known for giving this country the chiropractic cash cow known as Air Canada Rouge — can’t wait to bring his bean counter’s eye to the realm of charter travel. For once, pity the jet set.
Anyhow, we’re not talking about any of those sad locales. We’re talking about the mushy middle of the NBA standings — that murky no man’s land where the residents aren’t quite good enough to call themselves real contenders yet aren’t quite bad enough to concede to an all-out tank. Heading into Tuesday night’s games, the Raptors were a game over .500, good for ninth place in the Eastern Conference and 15th in the league.
That’s precisely the territory, you may remember, where team president Masai Ujiri has always said he most certainly doesn’t want to live. Coming off last season’s Tampa-based debacle, in which the Raptors helpfully dropped 11 of their final 12 games to help secure the lottery pick that produced Scottie Barnes, Ujiri scoffed at an organization that would consider itself satisfied with the mediocrity of conference seeds No. 7 through 10.
“Play-in for what?” were Ujiri’s headline-making words of derision.
If the playoffs would have started Tuesday, of course, it would have been the play-in for Ujiri’s team.
Which is not to say that anything’s amiss in Raptorland. As Ujiri also said at the season’s outset, this collection of players is “not a team of ‘now.’” There are going to be “growing pains,” is how Ujjiri phrased it. And as much as there’ve been pains — head coach Nick Nurse has already pronounced this the “toughest” of his four seasons at the helm on account of the “lower valleys” and “stark downs” of a maddeningly persistent pandemic — there’s also been undeniable growth. So let’s start there.
Fred VanVleet has gone from Kyle Lowry Light to something closer to a Kyle Lowry clone. Pascal Siakam, over the past month and a bit, has suddenly begun to make a compelling case that he’s returned to the form of his all-NBA campaign in 2019-20. And he’s done it while adding an element of point-forward playmaking that has him leading the team with 6.9 assists per game over the past 11 contests.
Barnes, while he’s slowed of late, has established himself as a versatile, spirited presence who, if he found a second-half second wind, could make a run at rookie of the year. And there are nice things to say, too, about a small handful of other regular contributors. OG Anunoby, though his shooting efficiency is down, is putting up points at a career-best pace while playing his usually stern defence. Nurse said the other night that he’s “fallen in love” with Gary Trent Jr., the shooting guard who, apparently secure in the three-year deal worth $54 million (U.S.) he scored in the off-season, suddenly took up defence this season. Chris Boucher, after a wobbly beginning, has been effectively channelling the energy of Dennis Rodman after rightly abandoning the dream of cribbing Kevin Durant.
So the core is coming along. But as Monday’s six-man rotation in a loss to Miami underlined, the core is almost everything. This is the second season running in which the Raptors rank 30th in bench scoring. They’re developing their best guys. But they’re not exactly grooming an army of next ones.
Pinning down what the Toronto Raptors will be in the second half is a fool’s errand | Toronto Sun
In truth, even with half the season gone, no one can say with much certainty what is in store for this team in the second half.
They have a solid core of three veterans in VanVleet, OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam who are the foundation of the club.
The future foundation, or at the very least the fourth member of that core, appears to be here as well in the form of Scottie Barnes who, as a rookie, has joined that trio and looked very comfortable with them.
Barnes, though, for all his athleticism and his well-above-average passing skills, is still learning the league, learning what it takes to play an 82-game schedule and what it means to be a professional.
You won’t hear a single complaint about the progress he has made to this point, that’s how far ahead of the curve he is. That said, he’s still learning the things VanVleet and Siakam and Anunoby have already figured out that has allowed them to develop a routine that allows them to be the consistent producers they are.
Barnes will get there and perhaps even surpass all three, but right now he’s still playing catch up.
Through 41 games if Barnes’ rapid development isn’t the biggest surprise of the year, then it has to be what the team is getting from Gary Trent Jr.
The young shooting guard arrived from Portland in the Norm Powell trade as a guy who could create for himself and score when his team needed a bucket. He continues to be that player, but his buy in to the defensive mindset and defence-first mentality that Nurse demands of every player on his roster has been nothing short of eye-opening.
Along with being that guy who can bail out the Raptors offence when things get stuck and more than hold his own with the other big three when everyone is firing on all cylinders, Trent Jr. has been a defensive plus turning teams over and piling up steals and deflections or simply holding his own defensively alongside the big three who all prioritize defence and take pride in making it hard on the opposition.
That defensive focus and improvement from even a year ago has made Trent Jr. impossible to take out of that starting five, something many of us initially thought would have to happen to address the mismatches at the centre position when the Raptors start small.
Lewenberg on Siakam’s game blossoming, Raptors’ lack of depth and more – TSN.ca
TSN Raptors reporter Josh Lewenberg joins Game Play to discuss if Pascal Siakam is blossoming into the star many thought he could be, the minutes distribution issue facing Nick Nurse’s depleted roster, the bond between Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry and more.
The Toronto Raptors Will Move on From Goran Dragic Very Soon – Sports Illustrated
Dragic has spent the last little while in Miami training for a return to the NBA that will surely come after the trade deadline. It’s clear he’s not coming back to the Raptors despite Toronto’s need for a backup guard and some bench depth. Instead, this saga will end on or around the Feb. 10 trade deadline. Either Toronto will move him as part of a larger deal in which they need his $19.4 million salary to acquire a bigger piece or they’ll buy him out following the deadline, allowing him to sign elsewhere.
The Raptors don’t seem upset about it. Remember, they opted to move on without him prior to his departure, and Raptors coach Nick Nurse admitted Dragic isn’t part of the plan moving forward. A divorce is coming and it’s not nearly as ugly as it may seem.
Preview: Mavs looking to sweep season series against Raptors – Mavs.com
Over each NBA team’s last 10 games, no team has been hotter than the Mavs. In fact, the Mavs and the Memphis Grizzlies are the only teams that are 9-1 over the last 10 games. And the Grizzlies’ lone loss came against – you guessed it – the Mavs, last Friday in Memphis by a whopping 112-85 score. . .Reggie Bullock (right knee soreness) and Maxi Kleber (left knee soreness) are both questionable for tonight’s game. . .This is the third of a five-game home stand for the Mavs. So far, the Mavs are a perfect 2-0 on this home stand following Saturday’s 108-92 victory over the Orlando Magic and Monday’s 104-102 triumph over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The game against Orlando started a period where the Mavs are playing 12 of 15 games at home. . .This current home stand will continue with Thursday’s game against the Phoenix Suns and Sunday’s game against the Grizzlies before the Mavs start a short two-game road trip Tuesday at the Golden State Warriors. . .The Mavs are 4-3 on the front end of a back-to-back this season. . .Luka Doncic (20 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists) recorded his 41st career triple-double in the contest against the Thunder. By contrast, the other 349 players who have played for the Mavs since their inception in 1980 have combined to register just 40 triple-doubles. That includes 21 by Jason Kidd, who is now the team’s head coach. . .Doncic also picked up three blocks and three steals against OKC. Thus, he became just the 21st player in NBA history with a 20-point triple-double that also includes three blocks and three steals. . .Following his 17-point, 10-rebound showing against OKC, Dorian Finney-Smith now has 11 career double-doubles. The Mavs are 9-2 whenever he records a double-double. . .The Mavs have led wire-to-wire in the past two games against Orlando and OKC. The last time they trailed in a game was at the 6:44 mark of the third quarter in last Friday’s outing at Memphis when they were behind the Grizzlies, 64-63.
The Raptors 905 might be peaking at the right time. After an inconsistent and sometimes frustrating Winter Cup run, coach Patrick Mutombo stayed the course, and the Raptors 905 are now the top East team with a 5-1 record, despite not having their top players for the most part.
This past weekend, the Raptors 905 swept the Lakeland Magic on their back-to-back series, showing signs of growth in several players starting to find their role on the team. Nobody did a better job taking advantage of the opportunity than Ashton Hagans, who had a career game on the second game of their back-to-back, putting up career-high in points, rebounds, steals, assists, and minutes played. Hagans basically made it difficult for the coaching staff to take him out of the game.
Hagans bring defense, toughness, playmaking, and tenacity every time he’s on the floor. He’s pesky and got chaos in his blood; that’s why he’s successful in his stints, even if he’s on limited minutes. Now that we see his minutes scaled up, Hagans proves that he can do a lot more, as evident by these past two games. Hagans’ shooting is a revelation, and if he can knock 1-2 of them every night, the Raptors should look into Hagans, whether as a 10-day or a two-way contract player. Based on what coach Nick Nurse needs from his bench, he might be a good fit.
Kevon Harris is another one who’s enjoying success with the Raptors 905. He’s gone from fringe rotation player last season to a starter, regardless of how many assignees the Raptors 905 get. Harris has made it hard for the coaching staff to take him out of the starting lineup like Hagans. He’s averaging 16.2 points per game while shooting 48.5% from behind the arc (in 5.5 attempts) while getting more and more of the scoring load for this team. That said, Harris should be on the shortlist of NBA G League’s MIP consideration.
Breein Tyree is starting to get his groove back after a rusty Winter Cup run, and newcomers Justin Smith and Jodie Meeks make the most out of their minutes. Even Raptors’ two-way contract player David Johnson looks like he’s rounding into form after coming back from a calf injury.
Unfortunately, amidst these positive upticks, Raptors assignee Isaac Bonga suffered an ankle injury that has sidelined him for a few games. The outlook looks good for the Raptors 905, but they’re not going to overwhelm opposing teams with their talent. Their wins are still predicated by their tenacious defense, transition opportunities, and hitting their shots when it matters — much like their parent ball club.
