Toronto Raptors: Where the Raptors stand in the 2020-21 NBA Awards race

Rookie of the Year

The Raptors’ best chance to have one of their rookies recognized would be Malachi Flynn. His stats are anything but eye-popping. In his 31 games, he’s started four of them. Through those games, he has averaged 5.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.

Compare that to the Minnesota Timberwolves’ shooting guard Anthony Edwards or the Sacramento Kings’ point guard Tyrese Haliburton and it’s clear that Flynn doesn’t stand a chance. Edwards is averaging 18.1 points, 4.4 boards, 2.6 assists. Haliburton averages 12.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 5.1 dimes.

The other rookie on the Raptors this season is Jalen Harris. While Flynn was the Dinos’ first-round pick (29th overall) in the 2020 NBA Draft, Harris was selected in the second round (59th overall).

Harris is known for his shooting ability but hasn’t had much of an opportunity to let the ball fly. He has played just four NBA games and seven G-League ones. In the G-League, he averaged 29.4 minutes per game and shooting an impressive .500 from 3-point range.

The trouble with Toronto getting close to this award is the success they’ve had over the last number of years. The winning records that they accumulated mean that they haven’t been able to draft NBA-ready stars high in the draft. That could possibly change as soon as next year, depending on how the remainder of this season goes.