Can The Raptors Be More Than The Bully?
The Raptors have one of the best bench units in the league and a great record. So why are they an afterthought on the Toronto sports scene?
Recently, I had a conversation with a Maple Leafs fan about the state of the Raptors. He quickly dismissed them as a typical second-rate Toronto sports team. He said they reminded him of the mid 2000s Blue Jays or Maple Leafs, teams happy to toil in second place with no shot at a title as long as they were able to sell a few tickets.
I could hardly believe my ears. Those Jays teams were, at best, long-shots to make the playoffs. Before this current iteration, the Leafs hadn’t even been playoff-worthy since the Pat Quinn era. The Raptors recently made the conference finals! They’re way better than that!
Then he asked me if the Raptors could win the title. I said no, probably not.
Best Bench Mob
The Raptors have drafted well from their position over the last few years. They’ve had exactly one top-20 pick since Terrence Ross was drafted way back in 2012, and yet they’ve developed a core of young players to form one of the best bench mobs in the league. Their regular bench rotation currently includes an undrafted free agent (Fred VanVleet), two late first-rounders (Delon Wright and Pascal Siakim), a second-rounder (Norman Powell), one veteran (CJ Miles), and exactly one high pick (Jakob Poeltl).
The second unit – pals of the bully?
But the fact is, that as currently constructed, the Raptors are propped up by their second unit like a schoolyard bully who needs his friends around for backup. DeMar DeRozan might lead the charge, but behind him the bench mob are just a bunch of schoolyard kids.
I told this Leafs fan that we were sitting third in the conference, fifth in the entire league. He asked when the Raptors would be ready to take the next step. The Leafs are ready. Their time is now. The right trade acquisition and a bit of good luck could put them over the top. How could the Raptors do the same?
More from Raptors Rapture
- Scottie Barnes talks Raptors expectations after bumpy 2022-23
- Raptors’ Dennis Schroder completes Cinderella story, wins FIBA World Cup with Germany
- 3 players Raptors could replace OG Anunoby with at trade deadline
- NBA insider praises Raptors’ hiring of “star” Darko Rajakovic
- Raptors fans will love Markquis Nowell’s insane confidence on Instagram
Aside from creating a superstar out of thin air, I didn’t know.
The thing about having a bunch of unknowns comprising one of the best bench groups in the league is that there’s no way for these types of players to burst through that glass ceiling. For all that stuff about working great as a unit, there’s no Oklahoma City-era James Harden on that bench, no Giannis who just needs a year or two to learn how to use his size. The Raptors have a bunch of high-floor guys who know their roles and slot really well into the system they have. But as Zach Lowe mentions in his latest shout out to the Raptors, none of them is a budding superstar.
So What Next?
And to win in the NBA, you need stars.
You can dream on all sorts of scenarios about how to Raptors can take that next step. They could trade for DeAndre Jordan or Marc Gasol. They could prey on OKC if that ship continues to take on water. (Who’s looking forward to suffering through yet another trade deadline rife with Paul George rumours?) Maybe DeMarcus Cousins shakes free again, and if you can get him for JV and Bruno (unlikely), you pull the trigger.
Does that change the equation?
The Raptors can play that bully as long as they have DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry leading the charge. But bullies can be brought to their knees. When the bigger kids come by, they’ve got no punching power behind all their bluster. They finish in second place.
The Leafs are just starting to put it all together. After an almost Sixer-level tank job to get Auston Matthews, they have their eyes set squarely on the prize. The Blue Jays had their shot. There was no LeBron-level reason the Jays had to lose to KC or Cleveland…they just did. They weren’t at their best and let a few weaknesses get exposed.
But it’s not like that with the Raptors. They can run rampant in the regular season and it doesn’t seem like they’ll impress anybody. At the end of their road, the Raptors are staring up at a wall, and until they beat the biggest guy on the block – LeBron – they’ll always just be another bully.