1 advantage the Toronto Raptors have over every Atlantic rival

The Toronto Raptors are not only being doubted by the larger basketball media because of the fact they lost Kyle Lowry in free agency, but also due to their misfortune of being grouped in with some of the best teams in the game in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division.

The Raptors must contend with two of the championship favorites in the Nets and 76ers, who are once again expected to fight each other for the division crown. The Celtics have a very strong foundation that should get them back to the postseason, and the Knicks are once again a threat.

That doesn’t mean that the Raptors should just curl up in a ball and accept that they are going to finish behind all four of those teams. In fact, the Raptors actually have some quirks on their roster and within their culture that are better than their counterparts in the division. They could exploit these advantages to potentially leapfrog them in the standings.

While the Raptors will be in for some dogfights in games against their Atlantic rivals, but these four factors might be what gives Toronto the edge in some of their head-to-head matchups.

1 edge the Toronto Raptors have over each of their rivals.

Boston Celtics: Backcourt depth

Let’s just go position by position here. At starting point guard, the Raptors have Fred VanVleet coming off of the best offensive season of his career, while the Celtics have Dennis Schroder. While he’s a quality player on a team-friendly deal, he is coming off of a disappointing season in which he disappeared in the postseason.

Marcus Smart vs. Gary Trent Jr. is an interesting comparison given how one is a defensive specialist and one a young gunner. Trent’s scoring with Toronto before his injuries should help the Raptors feel comfortable about how he can deal with Smart, who accentuated his tough defense with a measly 38% shooting clip over the last two years.

The Toronto Raptors have plenty of young guards to throw at the Celtics.

Payton Pritchard and Malachi Flynn should make for an intriguing head-to-head pairing, but considering that Flynn was outperforming Pritchard considerably in April and May, Toronto may have the edge here as well.

Josh Richardson can get a bucket at this level, but some of the advanced numbers (subscription required) show that he was a liability for Dallas at times. Say what you will about Goran Dragic, but he was still an effective player on both ends for Miami last year.

Boston will be a very tough matchup, as the still effective Al Horford in the paint alongside arguably the best young 1-2 punch in the game in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown is quite a headache, but the Raptors might be able to feel reasonably positive about their chances in a head-to-head matchup.

New York Knicks: Perimeter scoring

The Knicks are once again a winning franchise by following the patented Tom Thibodeau formula. They’ve dominated the paint on both sides of the floor and created a crunching defense. However, as the Hawks showed in the postseason, they could be in trouble if they are forced to get into a shootout.

The Raptors are coached by a mastermind at generating production out of guards in Nick Nurse, and the combination of his schematic acumen, two guards like VanVleet and Trent, and OG Anunoby continuing to make strides as a shooter and scorer, Toronto shouldn’t be scared of the Knicks.

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The Toronto Raptors could be able to beat the Knicks in shootouts.

Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker are coming off of slightly disappointing tenures in Boston despite their talents, and Immanuel Quickley started to slightly regress in the latter half of the season.

With the VanVleet-Trent combo nullifying Walker and Fournier, Toronto’s deep bench full of veterans and youngsters alike might be enough to cause the Knicks some real headaches.

Julius Randle will get his, and RJ Barrett continuing his development into a star could almost totally fix those issues, but the Knicks would be unique to count on such a drastic improvement from the squad as a whole. If Toronto wants to have a better record than New York this season, they need to lean on their ability to shoot the lights out.

Philadelphia 76ers: Chemistry

The 76ers are a more talented team than the Raptors right now. For all of the criticism of Ben Simmons, he’s an elite defender, and Joel Embiid has emerged as one of the best players in the game. Tobias Harris is a perfect tertiary scorer, and Doc Rivers is a quality coach. What’s stopping them?

It might be themselves. Embiid and Simmons have a bit of a frosty relationship right now, and Rivers doesn’t even know if the LSU standout is the right point guard for Philadelphia. When paired with the fact Embiid has missed 42 games over the last two years, the boat is rocking in Philly.

The Raptors appear to have a much more stable setup than Philadelphia.

Harris has acknowledged in the past that the team had chemistry issues, and Simmons returning to the lineup after a de facto trade request and a fractured relationship with Embiid could create some issues that spill over onto the court.

Lowry is gone, but the Raptors appear to be unified in their pursuit of success behind Vanleet, Scottie Barnes, and Pascal Siakam. Of course, even if everything is peaches and cream in Philly, Toronto could use their positionless lineup to run circles around a bigger 76ers unit.

Brooklyn Nets: Bench quality

The Nets are several tiers above the Raptors, as the combination of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden all on the floor at one time would make even the best defensive team shudder in fear. Toronto played well against them last year, but the Nets rarely had all of their stars healthy.

Those injuries exposed poor depth that Toronto could easily end up exploiting. Spencer Dinwiddie is in Washington, and Jeff Green is in Denver, so Brooklyn will lean on either first-year players like Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe or aging veterans like Patty Mills and DeAndre Jordan to carry the load.

The Toronto Raptors can exploit a thin Brooklyn roster.

The Raptors’ rotation can easily go 10 players deep, as each starter is supplemented by a high-end backup. Barnes, Flynn, Chris Boucher, and the rest of the bench mob could have some success attacking the Nets when one or more of their big stars are on the bench, a formula Toronto proved last year can lead to wins.

The Nets might as well start every game with 75 points on the board given their collection of stars. What Toronto needs to do to give them issues is choke the life out of them whenever the bench players come in.