RAPTORS SECOND UNIT WILL BE FULL OF HUNGRY YOUNGSTERS
Stronger bench this season may allow Casey to give his starters a longer break
In an ideal Toronto Raptors world, coach Dwane Casey would not have to extend the minutes of Kyle Lowry or DeMar DeRozan to flush out a second unit after a quick breather following a much longer stint with the starters.
But there are issues with that scenario.
Over the past two seasons, that second unit was at its best when it had Lowry joining Cory Joseph, Patrick Patterson, P.J. Tucker, Terrence Ross, Bismack Biyombo or Lucas Nogueira, depending on which year we’re talking about and what the injury situation was at the time.
Five of those names are no longer with the team and Nogueira is currently fighting off Jakob Poeltl for minutes.
But what Casey does have at his disposal is plenty of youth with what he is hoping is just the right amount of experience, too.
Tuesday night he rolled out a second unit of point guards Delon Wright and Fred VanVleet, along with rookie OG Anunoby, newcomer and grizzled vet C.J. Miles and Poeltl.
That unit clicked and it clicked very, very nicely.
Now, the Detroit Pistons were on the back end of rare backto-back pre-season games and looked a little sluggish, but the success has Casey at least considering the possibility that the days of over-extending his starters are over.
“I don’t want to put too much into the pre-season, but I like that look with that group and one thing it will do is buy us some time with Kyle and DeMar and not run their minutes up,” Casey said. “If they can maintain and sustain that continuity, that effectiveness .... My whole thing is when you are a second unit, you have to increase the lead or maintain it and as long as you do that you are doing your job. And as long as they do that, they will be a group that we have to look at to get out there.”
Casey, though, wants to see more from this group before he commits.
“We’ll see,” he said when asked if he is comfortable sending a second unit out there without one of his two big horses to do the heavy lifting. “It’s not 100 per cent yet, but they are close.”
The crux of the decision comes down to having someone out there who can run that second unit.
Obviously, when Lowry is out there with them there is no drop off because he’s also the guy running the starting unit.
But the tandem of Delon Wright and Fred VanVleet, both four-year college products and both guys who have been in the Raptors family for two full years now, could provide that level of comfort.
As it stands now, VanVleet comes in with that second unit handling most of the point guard responsibilities, while Wright plays off the ball. But Casey has no issue with either one in either role.
“Those guys haven’t logged a lot of big NBA minutes, but I don’t think (experience) factors into those,” Casey said. “I don’t think they get rattled in those two positions with Fred and Delon. I think they are cool customers who can handle pressure.”
The use of Miles with that second unit was particularly interesting, even eye-opening at the risk of reading too much into one pre-season game.
Miles gives them both that elite three-point presence that can take advantage of Wright and, to a lesser extent, VanVleet’s drive and kick game.
But he also fills in any potential knowledge gaps that may come with sporting such a young second unit and did so on Tuesday, according to VanVleet.
“He was talking to OG a lot and just helping him,” VanVleet said of Miles’ night, which also included a team-high 19 points and a 5-for-8 night from behind the arc. “That makes a big difference. I think that group can do some things in the way we move the ball and play with speed, and me and Delon bring different things to the table at the ballhandling position.”
VanVleet, though, knows one good game alone isn’t going to convince anyone to make this a more permanent feature of Raptors’ games.
“I think that our second unit, while they’re giving us a chance, it’s kind of up to us to prove, and then the trust will build and we’ll go from there,” VanVleet said. “We’re young and we’ve got a lot of proving to do, but I think that we’ve got a good chance.”
And if it doesn’t work out, Casey has other options.
“We are here to win and if other people are not affecting winning, then you have to put people out there who are,” he said. “And I know one thing for damn sure — Kyle Lowry affects winning. If those guys can’t produce, then we have to go to Plan B which is making sure Kyle or DeMar are out there.”
In an ideal Raptors’ world, they won’t have to be.