Three Toronto Raptors who could take home awards next summer

Last season, Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. Will any Raptors win awards in 2020?

The Toronto Raptors were not supposed to be this good. After losing Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green in the offseason, the defending champs lost both Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka to injury early on. Still, Toronto has continued piling up wins despite the loss of two key members of the team’s regular rotation.

Without Ibaka, many felt Marc Gasol would take on an increased role, but Toronto’s starting center is averaging just 6.2 points per game in 2019-20. For his career, Gasol has averaged more than 14 points a night, but as a Toronto Raptor, the Spaniard is scoring just over eight points per contest. Despite his offensive regression, Gasol continues to play a big part in Toronto’s success.

But nobody has been more integral to Toronto’s early-season success than Pascal Siakam.

The league’s reigning most improved player is averaging 25.7 points per game, up from 16.9 in 2018-19. Along with Fred VanVleet, Siakam has carried the Raptors’ offence since Lowry went down with a thumb injury that figures to keep No. 7 sidelined for at least the immediate future.

For Siakam, his level of play in the early going has vaulted him into the MVP conversation. For Toronto’s $130 million dollar man, the road to the NBA’s most revered piece of individual hardware figures to be a long one, but to omit Siakam from such discussions is blasphemous. The fact is, the league has never seen a rise to prominence like the one Siakam is authoring:

Besides No. 43’s status as a dark horse MVP candidate, the Toronto Raptors’ roster is filled with players that should contend for awards at the conclusion of this year considering what we’ve seen in the early stages of 2019-20.

Here are three Raptors that I see as award contenders:

Fred VanVleet – Most Improved Player

In a contract year, Fred VanVleet has discovered another gear in his game, playing at such a high level that Sportsnet recently published an article about whether or not Toronto should explore moving Kyle Lowry. Considering how well VanVleet has played in Lowry’s absence, coupled with the emergence of Terence Davis, the idea of trading Lowry is something worth discussing, but I am in no way supportive of doing so. Moving Norman Powell would be something I’d be much more willing to consider.

Despite shooting under 40-percent from the field, VanVleet has been an offensive catalyst for Toronto this season, averaging 17 points, four rebounds, and seven assists while playing 37 minutes a game.

The improvements in VanVleet’s game are undeniable, starting with the ability to finish with both hands around the rim, something VanVleet had struggled with in the past. Also, VanVleet’s dribbling ability has reached new heights in 2019-20, and it’s clear for all to see when he makes up his mind to take the ball inside. More and more, VanVleet’s game reminds me of Steph Curry’s…I can only imagine how many people I’ve offended with that comparison.

Not intending to spark intense debate about VanVleet’s on-court doppelgänger, instead, I hope to shed light on just how impressive the free agent to be has been, especially since Lowry went down. If VanVleet keeps up this level of play, he should receive strong consideration for the same award his teammate took home a season ago.

Any chance Pascal can present FVV with the award if and when he’s declared the NBA’s Most Improved Player this summer?

OG Anunoby – Most Improved Player (also a dark horse for DPOY)

Could it be that the Toronto Raptors’ roster is responsible for two MIP candidates next summer?

We are all aware of the struggles OG Anunoby has dealt with early on in his NBA career, but he appears to have put said struggles aside this year and is playing like a seasoned veteran, oozing confidence, especially from beyond the arc. Anunoby has shot 50-percent from three this season. Teams can no longer dare him to shoot because the stoic wingman has shown the ability to consistently make open (even contested) shots.

Along with an improved three-point shot, Anunoby has been far more effective inside the arc, shooting 55-percent from the field, up from last season’s mark of 45-percent. If one dives deeper into the realm of advanced metrics, they will see that Anunoby leads the Raptors in BPM and is second in VORP.

A brief consultation of the numbers will paint Anunoby as a very valuable member of this season’s Raptors squad, now if the team could just find a comfortable pair of goggles for him to wear…

As long as he continues to play an inside-out game, Anunoby’s production should continue trending in the right direction. This season, his average field-goal has come from 12 feet, two feet closer than a year ago. He’s taking fewer threes, but Anunoby is making more. A classic case of less is more, I guess.

When Kawhi Leonard was traded to Toronto, Anunoby was thought of as the one player that would benefit the most from Leonard’s presence. Anunoby could take after Leonard from a routine and work ethic standpoint, seeing what exactly goes into being one of the NBA’s most feared two-way players. So far, the lessons Anunoby learned over that one-year span have been on full display this season, and it could result in him taking home some hardware next summer.

Terrence Davis II – All-Rookie Honours

Finally, we arrive at Terence Davis II who, like VanVleet, has quickly burst on the scene after going undrafted. Davis has featured more prominently in Toronto’s lineup ever since Lowry went on the shelf, and all the rookie has done is scored in double figures in four of seven games and made 15 of 29 threes (52-percent). The 22-year-old does not look like a first-year NBA player. Davis is wise beyond his years, as far as basketball IQ goes.

As much as I’d love this bit to be a sales pitch about his status in the Rookie of the Year discussion, brighter minds have convinced me to dial back my expectations for Toronto’s newest diamond in the rough. Rather than try to convince basketball fans that Davis deserves to be in the Rookie of the Year race, I’ll settle for the All-Rookie team, and even that, for some, might be pushing it.

In some ways, Davis’ situation works against him, in that he was signed by a team with an established core that will allow Davis to grow at a sustainable and comfortable pace, compared to, say, RJ Barrett. In Barrett’s case, he is expected to almost single-handedly transform a franchise, whereas Davis can play a role and develop in a less stressful environment. Being thrown to the wolves can work for some young players, but it can also permanently damage others.

Toronto has shown it knows how to nurture and develop young talent, just look at Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and even Chris Boucher, who has turned himself into an impactful player after spending several seasons in the shadows.

In the case of Davis, he appears to be more than ready and more than capable of being an every night player at the NBA level and could very well turn out to be the Raptors’ backup point guard of the future, once the franchise finally decides to move on from Kyle Lowry. As tough as it may be for Raptors fans to accept, that day is quickly approaching.

No need to cry, though, because Terence Davis and Fred VanVleet, two potential award winners come the summer of 2020, are here to carry the torch once it’s time to leave Lowry’s hands.