Raptors: roster depth chart has been turned upside-down since trade of DeRozan

Now that DeRozan is gone, someone has to be installed as Lowry’s running mate at shooting guard. The choice isn’t as obvious as it might seem at first blush.

While researching my post about the center position, I had occasion to have a peek at ESPN’s depth chart for the Toronto Raptors. Much to my surprise, some bright spark has decided that newly-acquired Danny Green is now the starting shooting guard.

The prize of the massive trade, Kawhi Leonard, is listed as the #1 small forward, with OG Anunoby as his backup.

To say this “information” knocked me for a loop is putting it mildly. OG started 62 games at SF in his rookie season of 2017-18. If there’s a reason to move him to the bench, I’d be most interested in hearing it.

Let’s build a  starting five

In the world of positionless hoops, the concepts of Small Forward vs. Shooting Guard seem archaic. Yet there’s still a need to understand who’s helping to bring the ball up the floor with the point guard.

I have difficulty envisioning OG as the off-guard. That leaves Kawhi or Green. Is that really a discussion? The Raptors didn’t trade for an MVP candidate to bring him off the bench. However, the Raptors will be vulnerable to pressing defenders if Kyle Lowry doesn’t get some help. We don’t want 10-second violations or backcourt steals, thank you very much.

If I’m determined to start OG at the 3, Kawhi is my shooting guard. His handle should be more than sufficient to minimize ball hawks’ threats.

The front court situation is muddy. We’re short of NBA-proven talent. While starting Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valanciunas seems like a no-brainer, coach Nick Nurse won’t like what he sees when it’s time to give either of them a rest.

A break from the past

There’s an interesting case to be made for starting Pascal Siakam at power forward. He’s certainly capable of keeping up with the rest of his mates in fast break opportunities. His shooting from beyond the arc, which was legendarily bad in mid-season, improved dramatically. Pascal made 3 of 4 tries in our disastrous playoff run. That’s statistically insignificant, but noteworthy all the same. [20-second timeout: I’ve written previously about Pascal’s future as a small forward. With the rise of OG, and the arrival of Kawhi, I’m putting that notion on the back burner.]

Pascal’s biggest problem will be making an impact on the boards. He doesn’t lack for effort there, or anywhere else, but he’s not yet muscular enough to avoid being boxed out. So does Ibaka retain the spot by default?

Not on my team – Serge hasn’t exactly been a rebounding terror recently. His rebounds per 36 minutes last season was 8.2, compared to Pascal’s 7.8.

Another reason I like Serge sitting to begin is his ability to play both front court positions. JV is strictly a center. Ibaka clocked 27.5 minutes per game in ’17-18, which isn’t much more than a top rotation player anyway. Assuming Pascal covers the PF spot adequately, there’s not a bunch of minutes to be made up if Serge becomes the first big off the bench.

So there’s my starting five:

1. PG – Kyle Lowry
2. SG – Kawhi Leonard
3. SF  – OG Anunoby
4. PF  – Pascal Siakam
5. C     – Jonas Valanciunas

We’ll give consideration to what this season’s bench mob looks like in my next post.