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Two straight bad losses reminded the Toronto Raptors that while they have made major strides so far this season, they aren’t close to contender status. Even in a wide-open Eastern conference, Toronto’s deficiencies appear too severe for this group to be able to make a major charge.
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Going from a 30-win, out of the playoffs sad sack last season to where the Raptors now sit, near the top of the conference standings, is an achievement for sure, but making another jump to be the favourite to win at least a playoff round is quite another. Against New York on Wednesday, and Orlando on Friday, the Raptors showed an inability to respond to opposing physicality and their near NBA-worst outside shooting skills.
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Toronto ranks 27th in three-point accuracy, 24th in three-point makes and attempts per game and in the percentage of their shots that come from beyond the arc. They make up for those failings a bit by being fourth overall in points in the paint, but even those in-close points are only worth two, which means they lose the math game nightly (Orlando hit 10 more three-pointers, New York seven). The Raptors also rank 27th in three-point accuracy on shots NBA.com defines as wide open, and on pull-up up three-pointers no matter how close the coverage is, further reinforcing their lack of shooting skills.
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Serious shooting issues
Which leads us to the NBA trade deadline (Feb. 5, 3 p.m. ET). Most of the talk has been about adding either a starting centre (since Jakob Poeltl’s back woes could continue the rest of the season) or a solid backup (since Poeltl is the only player on the roster taller than 6-foot-9). Precious little has covered the serious shooting issues.
The only elite shooter on the team is sophomore Jamison Battle, who rarely plays. Immanuel Quickley is the next closest, and he’s the only true pull-up threat, but is quite streaky and has struggled against physical defenders such as Orlando’s Jalen Suggs. Brandon Ingram is one of the best mid-range shooters in the NBA, but only around league average on three-pointers, of which he doesn’t attempt enough (head coach Darko Rajakovic had said before training camp they hoped Ingram would launch seven a game. Instead he has averaged five attempts).
Reserve big man Sandro Mamukelashvili is a solid outside shooter, but like Quickley runs hot and cold, varying from night to night. RJ Barrett is shooting 33% on three-pointers, one of the lowest marks of his career, and is streaky as well. Franchise player Scottie Barnes got off to a spectacular shooting start, but is down to 30.5% from three, better than last year’s rough 27.1% mark, but ideally he would get back to the 34% (or higher) of his first all-star season two years ago. Even still, Barnes excels at everything else and would best be served being surrounded by at least three other quality shooters. It’s unclear how the Raptors accomplish that, whether by the deadline or in the future. Some of their rumoured targets, such as Sacramento centre Domantas Sabonis, would enhance current areas of strength such as inside scoring, but not solve issues like outside shooting (Sabonis has only hit five three-pointers in 18 games, shooting 18.5% after nailing a career-best 41.7% last season, though on only 2.2 attempts per game) and the absence of rim protection with Poeltl out.
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Perfect fit may not be available
Orlando’s Desmond Bane just torched the Raptors on Friday. How would a player like that look in the Toronto lineup? Bane cost the Magic, run by one of Raptors general manager Bobby Webster’s mentors, Jeff Weltman, a significant amount (four first-round draft picks), but was a crucial addition. Webster has the draft capital to take that kind of swing (with Barrett and/or Poeltl’s contracts likely being needed to balance the salaries), but it’s unclear if a perfect fit like Bane is out there for the taking.
If the status quo holds, all the evidence points to a brief playoff return for these Raptors.
@WolstatSun
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