Toronto Raptors: 100 most important facts before the season starts
OG Anunoby
13. OG Anunoby shot just 58-percent from the free-throw line last season. More than 18 percentage points lower than anyone returning from last year’s team (Greg Monroe was the only player on last year’s team who was worse).
14. Last season, OG shot a lower percentage from 2-point range, 3-point range, and the free-throw line than his rookie season.
15. Despite his relative struggles, Anunoby still averaged more than 14 additional points per 100 shots than new additions Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Stanley Johnson.
Norman Powell
16. In 1,126 minutes, Norman Powell took zero charges last season.
17. Despite being an impressive athlete, Powell averaged just .4 blocks per 36 minutes, less than Fred VanVleet, Jeremy Lin, and C.J. Miles. He’s a solid on-ball defender, but there is work to do off-ball.
18. Besides 2017-2018, Norman Powell has posted an above-average TrueShooting percentage every season of his career.
19. Norman Powell’s assists per game have increased every season of his career.
20. Powell’s turnovers per game have also increased every season of his career.
Kyle Lowry
21. In 2016-2017, 44-percent of Lowry’s shots at the rim/in the short midrange. That decreased in 2017-2018, and last season, it dropped to 31-percent. Losing 13-percent of your shots from close in the paint shows a lack of penetration he once had at his peak.
22. Kyle Lowry’s foul rate has decreased each of the past four seasons another sign of his game-changing along with his age.
23. Lowry was 2nd in the NBA in assists per game last season to Russell Westbrook. With Westbrook in Houston alongside Harden, he has a chance to lead the NBA this season
24. No one would describe Lowry as a transition athlete. However, the Raptors have been a better transition team with him on the floor six of the seven seasons he’s been on the team, including last year when the team scored an additional 1.6 transition points per 100 possessions with him on the court
25. Lowry shot 35-percent from 3 after shooting 40-percent or better each of the last three seasons. Expect that number to regress to his career average (even if it doesn’t get all the way back up to 40-percent)