Wednesday night’s 115-108 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks takes the 7-11 Toronto Raptors a quarter of the way through this shortened 72-game season. With that in mind, it seems like a good time to check in with how the club is doing relative to the expectations set heading into the 2020-21 campaign.
Clearly, this hasn’t been the season anticipated by a Raptors fan base that has grown accustomed to winning. A year ago, the club opened up its NBA title defense by going 14-4 through the first 18 games en route to a 53-19 mark. However, defensive lapses, an inability to close out games and a lack of production from the center position without Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol has this year’s group far off that pace.
Without further ado, here is a bad-to-good ranking of the biggest surprises and disappointments of the young 2020-21 campaign.
Which Toronto Raptors have impressed this season? And which players have been disappointments?
Note: Alex Len was removed from this list due to him being waived, and Paul Watson, Jalen Harris, and Patrick McCaw were not considered due to a lack of playing time.
13. Aron Baynes
Had the Raptors not been waiting on Ibaka and Gasol’s free agent decisions before exploring the market, perhaps they would have gone after the likes of Tristan Thompson or Bismack Biyombo. Instead, they opted for a ‘safe’ choice with a hard-nosed Aussie rebounder in Baynes. While Baynes has shown signs of emerging from an early-season slump, his numbers this season remain well below career averages and there’s little evidence of a supposedly improved three-point shot that reached 35 percent in Phoenix last year. Baynes needs to pick things up, and fast.
12. Terence Davis II
The allegations against Davis are too serious and complex to tackle in a sports context, let alone through this list-based format. Instead, this ranking is focused on performance, which has been disappointing independent of the assault allegations he’s facing. With a prime opportunity to build on a standout rookie campaign as an undrafted free agent, Davis has actually regressed some, seeing fewer minutes while averaging fewer assists but more turnovers compared to a year ago.
11. Malachi Flynn
You rarely hear much open criticism directed towards rookies that aren’t heavily hyped lottery picks. But if we’re being honest, weren’t we expecting more immediate results from Flynn? Perhaps it was unfair to expect more based on a three-year college career and some evident similarities to Fred VanVleet, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the 22-year-old has looked overwhelmed and uncertain at times. His decision-making also needs to improve, particularly with a shot that’s only going in 27 percent of the time.
10. Norman Powell
We are into year six of Norm Powell as a member of the Toronto Raptors, and it’s still hard to know exactly what to make of the bench scorer’s value. He’s been a difference-maker of late, especially in scoring 23 points on 10-18 shooting off the bench against Miami last Friday. Too often, however, he’s taken the offense out of rhythm with a questionable shot or trying to do too much. His future with the club, as well as the status of his $11.6 million player option for next season, remain very much up in the air.
9. Pascal Siakam
Coming off a disappointing playoff performance, initial attempts at an early season rebound for Siakam this year couldn’t have gone worse. A five-turnover game was followed by fouling out and leaving the court after an 8-23 shooting effort, earning the 26-year-old a one-game benching. More recently, there were missed game-winning attempts on back-to-back nights. Still, a 32-point night in Phoenix and a first career triple-double have provided hope before a knee injury put Siakam on the sidelines. Siakam is performing well in spurts, but he isn’t playing like a No. 1 scoring option on a playoff team.
8. Matt Thomas
The fair thing to do here would probably be to remove Thomas from evaluation given his inability to find a regular role in Nick Nurse’s rotation, but he’s been making enough plays to where his exclusion from the rotation looks even more puzzling.. Thomas, who has seen a total of 58 minutes of floor time this year, has shot well in what is a very small sample size (47.6 percent from the floor, a whopping 57.1 percent from three). However, all the wings who have leapfrogged him in Nurse’s rotation provide more of a defensive edge.
7. Kyle Lowry
It’s hard to say it’s been a down year for Lowry, but the heart and soul of the Raptors’ franchise might just be showing his age as his production decreases ever so slightly. Sure, there’s still the fiery persona, the leadership, the buried open looks, and the charges taken, but a slight decrease in offensive output may signal a trend more than an aberration. That said, the 34-year-old’s numbers (17.8 points, 6.6 assists, 6.2 rebounds per game) remain well above his career averages, even if they signify a drop from his All-Star form of recent seasons.
6. DeAndre’ Bembry
The challenge in doing this type of exercise after 18 games is that, in some cases, even the head coach doesn’t quite know what he has. That’s clearly been the case with Bembry, who has alternated between mop-up duty roles and DNP-CD’s, save for a 20-minute audition in the first half of the back-to-back against Indiana. Bembry made the most of his opportunity, recording four points, three assists and three rebounds while remaining active defensively. Still, the free agent signee hasn’t particularly stood out for better or worse, not that he’s had much of a chance. Still, when he’s on the floor, he shows defensive versatility and consistent hustle, which is enough to slot him this high given what was expected of him.
5. Fred VanVleet
If you were wondering whether VanVleet’s new $85 million contract would change the “bet on yourself” point guard, the answer has been a clear ‘no’. The 26-year-old’s three-point shooting is down slightly and his rebounding is up, but mostly he’s the same floor general and capable Lowry fill-in he’s always been. FVV was a central stabilizing force in the club’s rebound out of a 2-8 hole and continues to be a key part of the overall identity of the franchise. Currently the club’s leading scorer, VanVleet is one of the few Raptors in 2020-21 exceeding expectations.
4. Yuta Watanabe
When Watanabe, Alize Johnson and Henry Ellenson were signed to Exhibit 10 deals this past offseason, it’s fair to say that Watanabe was the least likely of the three to stick. On top of positional needs, Johnson is two years younger and Ellenson had a stronger pedigree as a former first round pick, but not only did the Japanese forward emerge, he’s carved out a valuable role as an energy guy off the bench who can knock down an open three. He’s even earning admirers back up north in Toronto. Watanabe could climb higher up this list if he develops a more reliable and efficient offensive game.
3. OG Anunoby
Raptors fans have been waiting for OG Anunoby’s rise to stardom for a few years now, so maybe his emergence as a core component of the organization isn’t entirely surprising. Still, it’s Anunoby’s consistency that has defined his season to date. The defensive calling card is, of course, always there, but an improved three-point shot (43.3 percent, up from a 37.4 percent career mark) has helped his offensive game achieve some of that same consistency.
2. Stanley Johnson
It’s taken a year, but the Raptors appear to have cashed in on the free-agent gamble on Stanley Johnson made before the 2019-20 season. In recent weeks, he appears to have earned the trust of Nurse, being regularly featured in a shutdown defensive role in crunch time. With a killer nickname (the “Stanimal”) and strong upside as a former lottery pick who is still just 24, Johnson certainly has the look of the latest in a long line of development success stories for the franchise. He still has a long way to go on offense, but Johnson appears to be becoming a fan favorite among Raptors fans.
1. Chris Boucher
With no disrespect to Johnson, the development story of the Raptors’ first quarter has unquestionably been Chris Boucher. The lone bright spot among the big man rotation, the Montreal native is averaging 14.3 points while shooting 45.3 percent from deep and recently came off a string of five 20+ point efforts in six games. Already a heartwarming rags-to-riches story, Slimmduck is now being discussed in early Most Improved Player conversations.
Development is never linear, and this Raptors team is showing just that. As some pleasant surprises (Boucher, Johnson) emerge, perceived ‘safe’ additions like Baynes and even established veterans like Powell haven’t come through in the same way. Perhaps the ceiling on this squad simply isn’t the same as in recent years, but there’s still room for the whole group to grow as the season continues.
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