Toronto Raptors: 3 reasons why the Raptors shouldn’t be slept on

It’s a brand new season and with that comes expectations for every team in the league. However, the Toronto Raptors are being slept on once again.

The Toronto Raptors season is set to begin on December 23rd when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans at home in Tampa Bay and we can already hear everyone starting to doubt this proven team.

With recent losses to both big men Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol, it seems like everyone is doubting this Raptors team once again just like when the Raptors lost Kawhi Leonard in the 2019 off-season. However, the Toronto Raptors ended up proving the critics wrong last season by finishing second in the Eastern Conference.

Just like every other year, they are ready to prove them wrong once again.

3. Star Players

The Toronto Raptors still have their core of players that they’ve kept together for the past couple of seasons, and they are more than capable of carrying a team to the playoffs and making a deep run for the foreseeable future. They have star players in Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry, and Fred VanVleet leading this team every night, and they are more than ready for this coming season to do the same thing.

Siakam and VanVleet are looking like they are ready to take another step in their careers and improve on both ends of the basketball. And for Kyle Lowry, he is more than likely going to average around the same numbers as last season as he isn’t getting any younger but he is still a great point guard despite being 34 years old.

Pascal Siakam just came off a 2019-20 season where he averaged a stat line of 22.9 PPG – 7.3 RPG – 3.5 APG and shooting splits of .453 FG% – .359 3P% – .792 FT% which was all up from a year prior where he won the Most Improved Player Award. With another year under his belt, Siakam is ready to pick up from where he left off during the regular season. But he will also be looking to rebound from his poor play from the NBA bubble.

Fred VanVleet is coming off a career year as well as a big payday from this off-season and is likely to improve a lot this coming season after putting up a stat line of 17.6 PPG – 3.8 RPG – 6.6 APG and shooting splits of .413 FG% – .390 3P% – .848 FT% during last season. Fred who cemented himself a starting role in the 2019-20 season is looking to be one of the key leaders on this Raptors team this coming season.

Lastly, Kyle Lowry who is the backbone and leader of this franchise just came off a very productive year on both ends of the basketball which saw him average 19.4 PPG – 5.0 RPG – 7.5 APG and shooting splits of  .416 FG% – .352 3P% – .857 FT%. Lowry who yet is entering his mid-30s is still playing great basketball and is going to look to help lead this team yet again to the playoffs alongside the two players mentioned above.