3. Will the load management gamble pay off?
Short-term pain, long-term gain is one way of explaining the concept of load management — rest your best players through the regular season thus keeping them fresh for when real games begin:
Kawhi Leonard: "There’s 82 games and for me these are just practices and playoffs is when it’s time to lace them up."
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) March 2, 2019
Perhaps in Toronto, more so than any other NBA market, the subject of load management has been a highly debated subject considering all that has gone on with Kawhi Leonard. The former Spur has played 55 games in his first season with the Raptors, after playing just nine a year ago.
A mixture of minor injuries and managed loads have caused Leonard to miss 21 games (22 after Saturday’s tilt with the Bulls) — Kawhi will not play in Chicago for “personal reasons”.
Once the playoffs come, and there are no more back-to-backs and fewer games per week, no player on the Raptors roster should be missing games due to a previously determined rest schedule.
Toronto has stuck with its load management plan throughout the year, resting both Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry when the team’s medical staff felt such a decision made sense. Both those players, along with Pascal Siakam, will be heavily relied upon to carry Toronto through the playoffs, and we’re about to find out if all the rest had its intended impact.
Bring on the first round.