Toronto Raptors: Whose stock is rising/falling, plus Kawhi takes Texas

Greg Monroe – Stock Down

Earlier this week, I wrote about Greg Monroe and how his minutes showed be replaced in the rotation. Someone needs to stick a fork in Moose because it looks like he is well and truly done now.

If this week was an indicator of anything, it’s that Nick Nurse may well have lost all trust in Greg Monroe. A moment that has been on the horizon for a few games now, but one that should have been playing on Nurse’s mind from the minute Monroe walked into the door.

Yes, he is likely to be the third center in the rotation once Jonas Valanciunas returns. But even as the third center on the team, Moose gives you all kinds of worrying thoughts. Especially as a playoff team.

If JV or Ibaka go down during the playoffs and you don’t have another option, does Moose see the court? The answer can’t be yes. It surely can’t be yes. Monroe ranks 424th in Real Plus-Minus at -2.78, just five places ahead of Lorenzo Brown. So there’s that. Moose is a net-negative regardless of the lineups he features in, the Raptors would be throwing points away if he played any significant minutes in the playoffs or even moving forward.

This week was a big step, it seems. Moose played a grand total of nine minutes and thirty-five seconds against Dallas and Houston and was a -14 combined on both nights. Pascal Siakam saw more minutes at center and while he may get bullied against bigger centers, he surely can’t be any worse than Monroe.

We probably haven’t seen the last of Moose, but it’s looking like his bags may be preemptively packed already.