DECISIONS AWAIT WITH VANVLEET’S RETURN
Raptors may tinker with starters when guard is healthy
A change to the starting lineup just past a quarter of the way through the season might sound drastic to some and something avoided at all costs.
Nick Nurse does not view it that way. The Toronto Raptors coach is contemplating changing up his starting five once everyone is healthy.
For now, Fred VanVleet is out with injury and Norm Powell is with the starting five and doing a nice job. VanVleet sounds unlikely for today’s game against Detroit, but his return is imminent. At that point, Nurse will make his decision.
To those of us on the outside, the switch looks obvious. Keep Powell, who is finally showing signs of consistency, in the starting five and move VanVleet to the bench to bolster that unit while maintaining his end-of-game minutes.
It’s not that VanVleet has done anything to warrant a move out of the starting five. You can make the case easily that his presence in that starting unit along with Pascal Siakam’s scoring carried this team during a near monthlong absence of Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka.
But if the starting five can continue to function at a high rate with Powell in there and VanVleet can bolster the second unit without being missed too much, isn’t that the logical move?
When Nurse was asked how tough a conversation with VanVleet would be if the move was made, he paused noticeably.
“I don’t know that it would be Fred, that’s why I’m hesitating to answer your question,” Nurse said. “Would you like to rephrase that?”
Told no, Nurse continued. “I don’t know that it’d be Fred,” he said again. “But yeah, they all wanna start. We’ve been through this a million times, right? Like with Serge a year ago, with Jonas (Valanciunas), you know, we’ve been through it. It’s like this territory they’ve got and they don’t want to give it up. Everybody likes hearing their name called and running out there in front of 20,000 people.”
But while Nurse remained coy about which change he was contemplating, there is no doubt he would like to change it up with a specific reason in mind.
“It’s not like if we would make a change, it’s not like those things are etched in stone, either. It’s kind of a moving thing,” Nurse said. “It could be one night one way and one night the next and the third night that week another way.
“The guys we’re talking about, there’s probably seven of them that could all end up probably starting two of the three. So it’s not like banishment to the bench for the rest of the year or whatever. And you’ve gotta explain that.
“We would do those things again; it’s more for an eye for later. It’s not a short-term plug-in, it’s ... so we’re more flexible later.”
That flexibility is what Nurse is aiming for. He doesn’t want five guys expecting night after night that a starting role is theirs simply because that’s the way it has been.
“From my past experiences, it felt like we were always locked into a set lineup and then all of a sudden we were facing a team and we had bad matchups to start the game,” Nurse said. “Then it was hard, almost impossible to have those conversations that we were switching.
“You start all 82 and then all of a sudden here come the playoffs and you’re not. So I think I’m just trying to lessen the devastation factor.”
Nurse may not want to reveal his plans any sooner than he has to, but he most definitely does not view lineup switches as something negative or problematic.
“It’s not trouble at all,” Nurse said. “I think it’s great. When we started the year, I would have said we have eight guys who could end up starting with Pat (McCaw), OG (Anunoby), Serge, Norm and Fred. We didn’t know which way it was going to go.
“Freddie kind of settled in there and then Kyle went down. Now Fred’s out and Norm has continued to take his responsibilities and played great. Pascal and OG have played good. But that’s not a problem.
“It’s good. I think two months ago we didn’t know if Chris (Boucher) and Terence (Davis) and Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson) and Matt (Thomas) and all those guys — we didn’t know what they were going to do. And now I think we feel like we should play them.”