Aron Baynes gives the Toronto Raptors more defensive versatility
One thing the Toronto Raptors took a lot of pride in was shutting down a player like Joel Embiid. That’s because they had that tool in their toolkit with Marc Gasol. With Gasol most likely gone, they’re going to need to replace his presence on defense. This is where Baynes comes in.
Baynes is not as elite as Gasol is a defender, but as previously mentioned he is still a pretty good defender. What they have in common are the type of players they have success defending. Baynes may not hold Embiid to 0 points as Gasol did. However, he can hold his own when defending him. Contrary to Ibaka, who has struggled to defend centers like Embiid, B. Lopez, Jokić.
Having Baynes will allow the Raptors to still operate like a Swiss Army knife on defense. That was the Raptors recipe for success, and continuing to have that unique personnel is something the Raptors would love to have once again.