Okay, I did this last season and I’d like to do it again. It’s time to get acquainted with everyone on the roster.
Pascal Siakam: The resident All-NBA player on the Raptors roster, and the avatar for vision 6’9″. He’s long, has incredible court coverage, and an endless amount of counters on the offensive end. He can initiate offense as the Raptors main hub, and like many stars in the league, they thrive off of the extra attention he gets. With less spacing last year, he transitioned to short mid-range shot-making (his most voluminous spot on the floor was 4-14 feet) and he hit 49-percent on them. Put up roughly 23-8-5 while still providing a major boost on defense. Fun stats? He led the NBA in isolations, closeouts, and minutes per game. A Sisyphean effort.
Fred VanVleet: Many consider him to be the heart of this Raptors team. He was an All-Star last season, and prior to his injury had completely overhauled his pick n’ roll game to feature more daring shooting and passing that started to net magnificent returns. Every time he touches the floor, the Raptors win minutes. He is still tremendous at the point of attack on defense, one of the best guards in rotation (because of digs, steals, and deflections) and maybe the Raptors best communicator. Fun fact: When Fred VanVleet watches his film, the first thing he watches back is turnovers.
OG Anunoby: Maybe you think the leap is coming, maybe you don’t. However, in 2020-21 Anunoby put up 16-5.5-2 on 60-percent true shooting as a player who hits from downtown, finishes at an elite level at the rim, cuts extremely well, and has hovered around a top-10 defender. That is about as good as a ‘3 and D’ player can get. Anunoby is 25, underpaid, and has no designs on stagnating. The extra possessions he gets to attempt to create? Not only are they deserved (no one this good stops trying to add to their game this young), but the end goal is for him to be more adaptable and capable in the postseason. Even if he doesn’t succeed, players who have tried and failed at creation are far more important in playoff series than those who never did. Defenses are too good at moving you off of the primary action. Fun fact: OG’s ‘man who never talks’ schtick, is just that, schtick. Virtually every public appearance is the latest in an ongoing bit.
Scottie Barnes: The great hope, in more ways than one. Nick Nurse recently reflected on his stardom: “First of all, when you look at a rookie season where you get rookie of the year and do all the things he did at the age of 20, now 21, I think you’re probably looking at somebody who’s heading towards multiple all-stars. I would think he’s got a little superstar element to him already, maybe not in a way so it’s a little bit tricky there.” Hell, I watched every possession of the guy over the first chunk of the season, and came away saying he’s headed towards something big. He’s a very unique mover, decision-maker, and personality. When you think he’s stuck, he often finds inventive ways to bend the court as a passer, or mashes his way out of it with physicality. Whether or not the star jump is this year or the next, or any number of years after that – he’s ruthless in his pursuit of impact and he’ll find his own way to it. Fun fact: He still refers to himself as ‘Scott Barnes’ on instagram.
Gary Trent Jr.: Ever the grenadier. The heat pump to end all heat pumps. The scoring highs of the Gary Trent Jr. experience are akin to sensory overload. Pump-dribble-side step-bucket x 100. Hustle statistics have their caveats (the downside of them aren’t tracked publicly), but Trent Jr.’s rise to the top of those columns indicates, at the very least, engagement on the defensive end. He put together his best year as a pull-up shooter and his best year as a defender. The ceiling of both those things determines how he helps the Raptors, but if he’s simply the same level as he was last year? He’s a big positive. Fun stat: At 39-percent, Trent Jr. is one of the best above-the-break shooters in the NBA.
Precious Achiuwa: I just did a big feature on him, so go read it please. Scouts often talk about a range of outcomes when they discuss players. They try and conceptualize how many skills will translate, which ones have the potential to develop, and what that would allow a player to be. Achiuwa, for what it’s worth, is giving just enough in so many categories to spur on projections of many different outcomes. We’ll see which one we get, but at the very least he’s an elite defender – everything else that comes is a welcome progression. Fun fact: his brothers name is God’sgift Achiuwa.
Chris Boucher: On a freshly inked contract, and one of the ultimate winners of the Raptors cutting edge vision of basketball. He had, far and away, the best year of his career on defense. And when it comes to the Raptors offense that can be quite rote and unimaginative, Boucher’s willingness to cut and ability to finish continuously made his presence valuable on the floor. Getting after the offensive glass, finishing at the rim, and peppering in a made triple every once in awhile was great. When he steps on the floor, the Raptors win minutes. Fun fact: He is the only dishwasher from St. Hubert to ever make the NBA.
Otto Porter Jr.: The great hope for bench shooting north of the border. Since 2015-16, he has one year (last year) where he shot less than 40-percent on catch and shoot threes. He hits a lot of them in practice from what I’ve seen, and we’re all hoping that he has another year of elite shooting to add to his elite offensive rebounding and heady defending. He isn’t healthy for the first game of the season, and Nick Nurse had indicated that he’s not entirely sure how soon he’ll make his first appearance, but whether it’s sooner or later the Raptors are going to be load-managing a bench player – and he’ll be so good in his minutes that it’ll be worth it. Fun fact: Porter Jr.’s high school team, the Braves, has a significant history with his family – His mother, uncles, cousin – they had a family member on the Braves‘ first 11 state championship teams.
Khem Birch: We recently learned that Khem Birch played the bulk of his minutes last year with a torn meniscus. He was back for preseason and looked pretty good. His movement on defense was better than before – he did a pretty good job quarterbacking the defense with a lot of the young guys like Gabe Brown and Jeff Dowtin Jr. in tow. He’s still capable as a release valve on the short-roll or below the free throw line. Unfortunately, he’s out for the start of the season as well. He should still figure into certain matchups this season and will no doubt provide some memorable performances filled with push shots and timely rotations. Fun stat: Since joining the Raptors, Birch has shot 51-percent from the short mid-range – above the 85th percentile for big men in that timeframe.
Dalano Banton: He burst onto the scene in preseason by commanding pace from himself and everyone around him. There were workarounds for his limitations, and he found those in the halfcourt against preseason defenses. The ball-hawk stuff on defense showed itself once again, and he seems to play the part of “dutiful decision maker” extremely well under Nurse’s tutelage. He doesn’t have some of the more traditional skills that typically accompany ball handlers or initiators, but Banton’s dedication to the endless search for advantage & opportunity continue to fuel his on-court foibles. Let’s hope he can continue to make things shake in the regular season. Fun fact: I now live in Rexdale, so Dalano should start giving me food recommendations.
Juancho Hernangomez: The Spanish National is fresh off a Gold Medal at EuroBasket wherein he was the MVP of the Final, and his brother Willy was the MVP of the tournament. That final? It featured 7 made threes from Bo Cruz. He can stretch the floor, screen, pass a bit, and will more than likely plug into a lot of their live-read sets. The bet they’re making is that he can find more success defensively in the Raptors scheme. Fun fact: Of all the set actions that Hernangomez was a part of in the preseason, Spain pick n’ roll actions were the most voluminous and most efficient for him. Kinda funny for the Spanish National.
Thad Young: He is collecting contracts like a wealthy person collects land: vociferously. A veteran’s, veteran. Young continues to speak to the more nuanced, ignored aspects of basketball that have kept him in the league as the style of basketball has changed along with his body. Not only has he come to the Raptors to help impart his wisdom on the players here, but he immediately picked up the defensive scheme to the point that he overtook Chris Boucher in the “this guy wins his minutes” category. The Raptors also love a big/wing (a big wing??) who can reliably dribble and playmake above the break to connect some of their actions – Young is a guy who is almost overqualified for that position. Fun stat: Over the course of his 15-year career, he’s only had 4 seasons where his team wasn’t (statistically) better with him on the floor.
Christian Koloko: Hailing from the same city in Cameroon as Pascal Siakam (Douala), Koloko joins the Raptors as the tallest player on the roster, and an active big. Despite chasing plays around the court being kind of bad for the Raptors defense, it’s been good for showing off his range as a mover – which seems better than usual for a player of his size. Depending on how well he shows, and the Raptors penchant for non-guard lineups, maybe there’s a more space for minutes at the NBA level than some might have thought. Regardless, he’s going to do a lot of damage with the 905. Fun fact: Koloko was the second tallest player at Sierra Canyon High School. A 7’2″ Sophomore by the name of Jia-Hao Yu towered over him.
Malachi Flynn: The forgotten man, always. It’s not deserved, either, as Flynn plays defense better than most guards (although not well enough to make it a calling card), and he’s been left adrift in a Raptors offense that has no wont or inclination to pair him with a good pick n’ roll partner or to even grant those possessions. He is now, in the same position that he’s been in for some time: Make shots off the bounce, or fall to the wayside. It’s not fair, but the Raptors have latched onto a verve in teambuilding that alienates Flynn, and only superb performances will grant him more minutes. Fun fact: His father, through rants on facebook, coined the term “Nick’s Nursery”.
Justin Champagnie: Gone are the days of the two-way, he’s found a spot. The Raptors will be hoping that Champagnie’s grind for improvement will continue to show up in his defense, and that the major volume and efficiency that he hit at from downtown in the G-League carries over. He is one of the finest rebounders on the wing in the NBA, and has very few comparisons over the years. He grabs a lot of boards. He’s a good finisher, a work in progress as a shooter, and a willing (but still underwhelming) defender. There’s a chance that this becomes another Raptors development story, but we’ll have to wait and see on all that. Fun stat: Among wings in the NBA, Champagnie was first in offensive rebound rate (12.8%).
Jeff Dowtin Jr. (Two-Way): The blinding first step and patient probing of the middle of defenses paid off big time for Dowtin Jr. He engineered a comeback against the Celtics, beat players on every team he faced, and brought a level of professionalism at the point of attack. Nurse is looking for a guard who can spell Fred VanVleet, and he’s mostly looking at defensive utility when it comes to replacing minutes – the pick n’ roll defense looms large. Dowtin Jr. is a unique skillset on the Raptors & the 905. He has 50 games of eligibility with the big club, and it should be interesting to see how many of those he eats up. He’s got that wiggle. Fun stat: He has yet to miss a free throw in the NBA (2 for 2).
Ron Harper Jr. (Two-Way): Harper is a large guard, and the bet seems like it’s on the jumpshot here. Although, he initiated a lot of offensive possessions at Rutgers and will likely do so with the 905 as he attempts to become fluent in the Raptors defense. Taking a screen and doing something with it is hard to do in college, harder in the G-League, and harder still in the NBA – we’ll see how it develops. Of everyone who played preseason minutes, we got the least feedback on Harper Jr., who will have to make his name with the 905 before anything else. Fun fact: His father is a 5-time NBA Champion (3 with the Bulls, 2 with the Lakers).
Enjoy the season and these players.
Have a blessed day.
