Toronto Raptors: Top five bellwethers for the Raptors this season
By Jason Mills
The Toronto Raptors 2019/20 season is a little over a quarter complete. There are five bellwethers or trends to watch that may affect the future of the team.
The Toronto Raptors have played 33 games with a won/loss record of 22-11. In terms of games, this is just slightly more than a quarter of the season finished and there are signs, trends bellwethers both positive and negative to both excite and trouble the fanbase.
There have been concerns about Marc Gasol’s single-digit scoring average, team depth both at the forward spot and overall with the departures of Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard, whether OG Anunoby could step up his game and even if the Raptors would be a playoff contender for a seventh consecutive year.
There may be concerns about the number of money players like Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, and Marc Gasol are earning.
The intense defensive scheme the Raptors confound opponents with, can it be effective for an 82 game schedule? Should the Raptors resign Fred VanVleet this coming summer or stockpile salary cap space for 2021 for an attempt to sign Giannis Antetokounmpo?
Some of these trends have had little to no impact on the team’s overall success and others may still be yet unanswered entirely. The following is a look at the top five bellwethers concerning the Toronto Raptors: