WHAT COMES NEXT FOR THE RAPTORS?
The Toronto Raptors will tip off Season No. 23 on Monday with media day, before flying to Victoria to begin training camp. It has been a while since the Cleveland Cavaliers easily dispatched the 2016-17 Raptors in the second round of the playoffs and readers have a lot of questions about what comes next. Here’s our first stab at the answers, writes Ryan Wolstat:
Q: How many three-pointers does DeMar DeRozan hit this year? How many does he shoot?
A: Received a couple variations of this one. We’ve heard a lot about how DeRozan needs to expand his range and it’s bang-on. Even if he merely turns his many attempts made while standing on the line from long twos to three-point chances, it would be a big step in the right direction. This was supposed to start a while ago, but DeRozan actually went from 2.7 attempts (and 0.8 makes) in 2013-14 to roughly half as many makes in each of the past three campaigns. The team wants to turn DeRozan into more of a facilitator, creating open catch-and-shoot opportunities for Kyle Lowry, who is elite in that area, but DeRozan should still hit about 1.1 treys on 3.4 attempts a game. Getting him open in the corners (where he has had far more success) would be ideal.
Q: Why is Lucas Nogueira still on this team?
A: Two reasons: He’s cheap ( just under $3 million in the final year of his deal); many of his advanced stats have been impressive. Basically, he’s insurance and if he happens to break out, the Raptors still can control his rights. Obviously the team has too many centres at the moment. Nogueira seems to always be banged up (including now, apparently), and he doesn’t rebound, but there are enough positives to keep him around.
Q: Is Anunoby getting a shot this year?
A: The Brazilian enigma had better show something soon. Rookie OG Anunoby is being brought along slowly following knee surgery. But he isn’t expected to be cleared for 5-on-5 contact work at camp or in the near future, so there is a need at small forward off the bench. C. J. Miles or Norman Powell will start there, but Bruno Caboclo could be in the mix. His length and sweet shooting stroke continue to intrigue management, but he must work on his mental maturity and come to camp with no sense of entitlement, ready to work for his chance.
Q: Why did it take coach Dwane Casey three seasons to realize the offence needs work?
A: Not the fairest question here. Casey, his staff and management were well aware of some of the issues, but you work with what you have. Lowry and DeRozan punish teams with their downhill attacking style, or DeRozan uses his endless array of moves to free himself for shots. Lowry and reserves have terrorized other bench units. Turnovers are low, the free-throw rate is high and they hit those freebies too. It has all consistently resulted in one of the most efficient regular season offences in the NBA. Of course it all goes to downhill in the playoffs, which is why better spacing and ball movement has been one of the key off-season desires.
Q: The small forward position is once again a black hole. Do you believe the Raptors have a chance of making a midseason acquisition/ trade?
A: I’m not sure this is accurate. C. J. Miles is a good player. Sure, he guards bigger forwards better than swingmen, but on offence, he’s an ideal fit. Miles hit 42.6 per cent and was seventh in the entire NBA with 152 catch- and- shoot three- point makes. He hit 66 corner threes ( only Klay Thompson and Trevor Ariza hit more), making a blistering 53.2 per cent from the right corner. He’s a more consistent outside threat than Terrence Ross, P. J. Tucker or Patrick Patterson were. He will add spacing if he starts. I suspect he will, as things will be clogged up with Serge Ibaka and Valanciunas up front, limiting how much Powell will be able to drive into the paint (with Lowry and DeRozan also looking to attack, Powell likely makes more sense as the main threat off the bench even if he’s been statistically better alongside DeRozan as a starter). In any event, once Anunoby is healthy, the Raptors will be in far better shape at small forward than they have been in years. Unless the team has exceeded expectations, I don’t think they go into the luxury tax by adding help at the deadline at small forward.
Q: Is the roster really the ideal win-now- and-later arrangement, or just what you have to do when your top three guys make US$80 million?
A: Ideally, the Raptors would have LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, or a super prospect or two. You can’t always get what you want. This isn’t a bad spot to be in. Not the best, but far from the worst. The East is a tire fire, James could head West in a year, the high-dollar guys are only signed for a few years. The club will be competitive, able to reach the conference final in the best case, while also keying on developing its prospects to step in as starters in time. Having surefire future all-stars would be great though, no question about that. That’s not Toronto’s reality.