There are Miles to go with Raptors’ offence
Three-point shooting star has been more of a decoy with Toronto’s second unit
The Raptors had a plan for what C.J. Miles would do for them as a shooter, a player who could help change the team’s offence a little bit and drag it deeper into the free-flowing, threepoint shooting frenzy of the current era.
It will get to that eventually, and Miles’s skills are undeniable, but at the moment he is a decoy and a floor spacer who is the focal point of defences rather than a gunner who can change a game with his shooting the minute he gets on the floor.
The 31-year-old is averaging fewer field goal attempts per game (7.2) than in any of his last 10 years in the league and he’s playing fewer minutes per game (18.8) than he has in that same decade. His role in the Raptors offence is very much, as coach Dwane Casey loves to say, a work in progress.
And no one’s the least bit con- cerned.
“Teams are coming in with a real focus on me individually, what I’m doing and the ways that I affect the game and it’s a different role for me because I haven’t been — I won’t call it a go-to (guy) — but the main attraction in a five in a long time,” Miles said Tuesday. “It’s a learning process for me and the guys that I’m with.”
Miles’ usage, or lack thereof, has been easier to take because of the overall success Toronto’s second unit in the infancy of the season. Miles and that group — whichever four of six young players he’s on the floor with — have been consistently good despite the fact he hasn’t grabbed a game by a the throat and taken it over.
It has given the youngsters a boost of confidence because they don’t have to rely solely on the veteran among them. And it has given opposing teams issues because the youngsters are quick and aggressive and willing to pass up good shots to get better ones. Casey is fine with what he’s getting, even if it isn’t precisely what was envisioned when Miles was signed to a three-year, $25-mil- lion contract in the summer.
Casey joked that there aren’t many open shots for Miles because of the attention he attracts, but that’s now part of the grand plan.
“It may not be effective as far as him getting shots, but he is a product of great spacing,” Casey said. “He helps our spacing and that is one reason why the roll guy is so productive. They are hugged up on him (out beyond the arc), which is great, and to me that is just as good as C.J. knocking down a three or even getting an attempt.
“That is kind of how we hope it works out . . . He creates space just with his presence on the floor. We don’t run as many plays for him. We do have a few plays in the package for him, but we hope to add more as we go along.”
It is the end game that matters the most and the Raptors will take full advantage of Miles’s shooting as the season progresses. There will come a time when talent and need will cut the rotation from an unwieldy dozen to a more manageable nine or 10. And, at some point, Miles is going to get time with a majority of the starters where he might be able to sneak away from defenders. His minutes and individual production will go up.
That’s when Miles will be the guy they signed, a complement to the attacking skills of DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Norm Powell.
“It’s Game No.10 and we are still — I know it sounds like a broken record — learning, still growing that young group, that young core,” Casey said. “And some of this disjointedness, if that’s a correct word, is because we are playing so many guys, so many different lineups. We don’t have a set nine or10. We are up to 11 or 12 so that could be causing some of that. Guys getting used to each other, finding that comfort level with each other and a rhythm with each other.”