Toronto Raptors: Three players who need to step up during the injury crisis

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

When Rondae Hollis-Jefferson joined the Toronto Raptors during free agency, expectations were certainly low. His time with the Brooklyn Nets had been marred by injuries and bouts of inconsistency, but in the ruins was the sign of a solid player.

The jump shot is a mystery, which creates a lot of problems for the Raptors when he’s on the court, but, so far, the Rondae Hollis-Jefferson experiment has been a quiet success. Like Ibaka, Hollis-Jefferson’s game is predicated on energy. He’s an undersized wing player who has spent the majority of his time at small forward this season, dabbling at the power forward position on occasion.

On offense, he’ll spend the majority of his time at the dunker spot due to his struggles as a floor-spacer. Hollis-Jefferson is a career 22-percent shooter from three and is averaging that same number this season, albeit it on a career-low 0.5 attempts per game. Still, Hollis-Jefferson has been more efficient than ever, shooting with an effective field-goal percentage of 52-percent, a career-high.

OG Anunoby has started at the power forward position since Siakam went down, but Patrick McCaw slid into the starting small forward position, which puts even more weight on Hollis-Jefferson off the bench.

The Raptors need his energy, rebounding, and passing off the bench to keep the ball moving. He’s been an integral part of the bench at the quarter mark of the season, but now the Raptors need him to step up more than ever.