With the regular season a week away, many questions still surround the Toronto Raptors, ranging from who will claim the final roster spot, to what form the rotation will take — beyond the starting roster — to a more impressive version of a Team hoping to follow up on their surprising 48-34 season a year ago will start to assert themselves.
Toronto is 2-2 on a preseason schedule that has taken them from Victoria to Edmonton to Boston and Houston over a couple of weeks. The Raptors’ final preseason game is Friday in Montreal against the Boston Celtics before they take on Cleveland at Scotiabank Arena on Oct. 19, after which the circus begins in earnest.
Here are some notes from a much needed week of training in the comfort of the OVO Athletics Centre:
Will the new rules help the Raptors?
The Raptors had a lengthy meeting with Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s director of referee development and education, who presented the “priorities” the league will be focusing on this season. One of the points is that behavior on the team’s benches will be monitored more closely for activities that cross the line of fair play – prolonged standing, approaching the ground too close during play, or excessively harassing opponents lining up for a three-point shot from the corner – are all actions which, if deemed excessive, result in a warning and then a technical foul.
More relevant to the Raptors is the elimination of the “take foul,” where the defensive team — often after their own turnover — attempts to eliminate a potential fast-break opportunity by immediately fouling the offensive team with no intention of making a Play to Make Ball. Plays that qualify as take fouls now result in the offensive team receiving a free throw from a shooter of their choice and retaining the ball.
For the Raptors, who were opponents second in points off turnovers, third in fast break points, and first in points off turnovers last season in the NBA, forcing opponents into a defensive play should help as they look for a forced Steal a quick break offensively. “We don’t use it very often as a strategy (defensively) so we don’t really take any part away from our transitional defense,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. “And hopefully we’ll get a few more chances from our turnovers (for quick breaks). … I doubt it’ll be a huge swing, but a point or two here or there over the course of 82 always has an impact.
The last roster spot is still up for grabs
Of the 20 players the Raptors have in camp, 13 have guaranteed contracts and two – Jeff Dowtin Jr. and Ron Harper Jr. – have bilateral contracts, meaning they split their time between the Raptors 905 in the G-League become at the big club, where they are eligible to play 50 games. Dalano Banton was arguably the Raptors’ best player last season and will almost certainly secure 14th place, leaving four players fighting for last place: incumbent Justin Champagnie; three-point ace Gabe Brown; young tall man DJ Wilson; and Josh Jackson, the No. 4 draft pick of 2017, who is struggling to find a home in the NBA. Each offers something a little different, and it really sounds like the final decision – which is expected to be announced on Saturday – will be spot on, with Nurse saying team need and offensive pop would play a role in his choice . “It’s always a tricky thing,” Nurse said of the final selection decision. “We will see how everything develops. I think there are still many questions that need to be answered.”
Champagnie is a well-known figure and popular at all levels of the organization, having played well in a two-way deal last season. What hurts his cause is that with a broken thumb offseason and a more recent hip strain, he hasn’t had the amount of chances he probably desires to show the progress he’s made in his game. There could be a strong showing on Friday night. However, the 6ft 7 forward understands his role. “For me, it’s just about going out there and feeling my presence,” he said after Wednesday’s practice session. “I know very well that when I come into the team and play with the older guys, I’m not allowed to shoot 20 shots. (So) just go out there and still play my part, rebounde, play defense, hit open shots when they come at me. Just be a little more aggressive.”
Boucher (and Porter) to the Montreal game
Chris Boucher’s only game as an NBA player in his hometown of Montreal was a preseason start on the eve of the 2018-19 season when he was fighting for a two-way contract. The sold-out crowd at the Bell Center chanted his name and the area son nearly brought down the house with two threes after checking in late in the fourth quarter. Boucher’s career has taken off since – he’s entering his fifth NBA season and has the security of a three-year, $35 million contract to his name. But a strained hamstring will put him out of action on Friday. Nurse said he hopes both Boucher and Otto Porter Jr. – the veteran free agent who has been out for two weeks and is facing a hamstring injury – will be ready for Oct. 19, but that date is very strong with written in pencil. “I think (the season opener) was kind of always the goal with Otto,” Nurse said. “If that happened we would try to hold him down and see if we can get him ready for launch. But I think the launch is still, what, about a week away right? Yes, and I think it’s probably going to take us all this time to decide.” Third-year security guard Malachi Flynn is left out with a broken cheekbone.
How do you go about Friday night?
One of the messages from the Raptors’ preseason was that they wanted to use their bench more and take the pressure off key players to keep them fresh going into playoff time. Last season, Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam led in minutes per game (37.9) in the NBA, and OG Anunoby (36 minutes) would have finished fifth had he played enough games to qualify. Gary Trent Jr. (35th minute) finished 14th.
So far due to four preseason games reluctance on the subject. The Raptors starters all averaged between 17.7 minutes (VanVleet) and 24.5 minutes (Trent Jr.). But with the regular season looming, could Friday be used to get starters’ minutes up to levels they’re more likely to experience in the season opener?
Siakam, who’s had a healthy offseason and earned third-team All-NBA honors, said he’s ready to go: “I think I’ve been trying to add minutes as I go. To be honest I wanna play whatever, you know what I mean? If it was up to me I would be playing now so (Friday) doesn’t matter that much to me because I feel like the game is obviously different, it’s really different but I just feel like yeah I do ‘ I’ll be able to play my normal minutes.” Nurse says he’ll accommodate the starters’ requests for minutes while trying to accommodate the fighters at the bottom of the list to shake the team fairly as well .
Is Barnes ready for that next step?
Expectations for the reigning NBA’s Rookie of the Year are sky high, and with good reason given how stable Scottie Barnes was during his season at age 20, but also how he seemed to be improving month over month. With a season under its belt and full off-season training to bolster it, we’re hoping Barnes’ suspected improvement will help the Raptors lift themselves beyond the 48 wins and first-round playoff elimination they have accomplished last season. But he hasn’t looked particularly good so far preseason, shooting just 36.4 percent from the floor and 9 of 18 from the line while equalizing his 10 assists with 12 turnovers.
A season ago, it was rare for Barnes to have had a bad game, but by his standards he’s had four of them preseason so far. An explanation? The star has lagged behind the pace after being sidelined with a sprained ankle three weeks before training camp. “Listen, Scottie is playing a little catch-up here and it shows,” Nurse said this week. “I don’t think he showed much here in preseason. … I think he’s just a little bit behind, physically, emotionally, all that stuff. … We just have to keep infecting him and make him feel like he can play really hard out there.
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