The Toronto Raptors have started off the season at 1-3 with all three of their losses coming at home. A blowout win in Boston against a tough Celtics team was immediately followed by home losses to the Mavericks as well as an old teammate in DeMar DeRozan and his Chicago Bulls.
The Raptors might have fought hard until the end of this game, and the fact they were in this game against an unbeaten team without Pascal Siakam is encouraging, but that doesn’t change the fact that this team has lost some heartbreakers at home, and they need to pick up the pace to stay alive in the playoff hunt.
Nick Nurse will likely fiddle with the rotation somewhat, as he needs to settle on a combination that gives his marquee pieces time to shine while eradicating some of the issues that have plagued this team.
If Nurse is going to go back to the drawing board and switch things up, he should consider making these three changes to the rotation with the goal of snapping the Raptors out of this funk that they’ve found themselves in over the first few games.
1. Reducing Goran Dragic’s playing time
Dragic, who came to Toronto in the Kyle Lowry swap, is trying to maximize his trade value so that the young, retooling Raptors can eventually move him at the deadline to a contender. Unfortunately for the aging Slovenian, very few contenders may want to take him on considering how he’s playing.
Dragic is making just 31.8% of his shots and 22.2% of his 3-point attempts, all while playing subpar defense. Dragic has a long history of being a successful scorer in this league, but his accomplishments in Miami shouldn’t guarantee him minutes in Toronto, especially at his age.
The Toronto Raptors can’t keep relying on Goran Dragic.
The Raptors might be trying to boost Dragic’s trade value, get a veteran presence in the lineup, and find a consistent backup point guard behind Fred VanVleet, but their current performance on that front is not getting the most out of No. 1, and that should set alarm bells off for Nurse.
Dragic has a proven record of success, so Toronto appears to be taking the approach of letting him get a hearty diet of minutes and working through his slow start. However, Toronto’s is slipping up in the win column, and Nurse can only take so much poor shooting before his hand is forced.
2. Removing lineups that put Chris Boucher on the perimeter.
Late in the second quarter, the Raptors unveiled a lineup combination that featured Scottie Barnes at point guard and Boucher on the floor as part of an ultra-big lineup. Needless to say, that combination flopped, with Boucher ending the first half as a -10 despite playing in just five minutes.
Boucher was supposed to play an integral role on this team due to his ability to space the floor and block shots, but he just looks completely out of whack right now. Nurse didn’t do him any favors with that weird lineup combination that asked him to create on the perimeter.
The Toronto Raptors haven’t seen a ton of production from Chris Boucher.
Boucher looks totally lost right now, and while he is working his way back from an injury, these statistics are not numbers becoming of someone who was one of the best bench players in the game last year. Playing him out of his element in the Chicago game was an experiment that did not work.
Boucher might need a game or two of rest just to recalibrate and get back to his old self. When he returns, put him down in the post, as his lack of bulk is counteracted by his shot-blocking and scoring. Experimenting can be a worthwhile goal to pursue, but learning from failed creations should force Nurse to never use that lineup again.
3. Giving Malachi Flynn a chance
This one just makes no sense. The theme of this Raptors season is letting the young guys figure things out on the floor while getting assisted by veterans. That’s cool, but if that’s the case, why is a first-round pick from a year ago banished to the realm of the benchwarmers to start the season?
Flynn played in garbage time against Boston and has yet to even score a point in this young season. Dalano Banton has clearly jumped over him in the rotation, as it appears Flynn’s late-season surge and Conference Rookie of the Month award from April of last year has done little
The Toronto Raptors have neglected Malachi Flynn.
The Raptors are letting Scottie Barnes start right away, giving Gary Trent Jr. a healthy diet of shots, and making Precious Achiuwa (selected nine picks before him) a starter at center, but Flynn has found it almost impossible to get in the game. We saw last year that he can score at a solid rate in this league while remaining an effective passer, so what’s the deal here?
The Raptors might understandably be worried about Flynn not being an amazing shooter right now and how he would fit in this shooting-deficient lineup, but letting him waste away on the bench is no way to develop a first-round pick.