The Toronto Raptors have been playing through the season with a clipped wing due to injuries sustained by Pascal Siakam and Yuta Watanabe, and they’ve been surprisingly effective despite their opening injuries.
While we were all optimistic of OG Anunoby and the rest stealing a couple of wins, the thought of a Siakam-less starting lineup didn’t look all that pretty, especially once Goran Dragic turned out to be less than playable.
But to their credit, this team has broken out after a sloppy start, with their best win coming against a strong Knicks squad without Scottie Barnes. What does this team look like when Siakam comes back? How does Watanabe fit in? Some tough calls will need to be made.
Here are a few potential lineups Nick Nurse could go with when he gets a fully healthy lineup to mess around with. The Raptors will have the luxury of going small, big, or completely off the rails with some of their combinations, so it’s best to cover your bases!
3 Toronto Raptors lineup combinations when Pascal Siakam returns.
1. The Best 5 Lineup
- Fred VanVleet
- Gary Trent Jr.
- OG Anunoby
- Scottie Barnes
- Pascal Siakam
Bench: Dalano Banton, Yuta Watanabe, Svi Mykhailiuk, Chris Boucher, Khem Birch
It’s hard to argue that the starters listed here aren’t the five most talented Raptors on this roster right now, so this small-ball lineup is the culmination of that talent.
This lineup plays an interesting game of being long on the wings while being small in the middle, and it’s tough to know right now what that would look like defensively. Pascal’s size isn’t ideal at the center spot, but he’s a step up from Precious Achiuwa any way you slice it.
Meanwhile, Gary Trent has gone from defensive minus to Defensive First-Team with the year he’s been having, so the Raptors would continue to rely on deflections and harassment at the wing to hold down the fort.
On offense, this lineup is miles ahead of what it was pre-Pascal. The All-Star forward’s mix of post presence, ballhandling, and variety will force defenders into tough positions. When defensive attention shifts to one side of the post, it’ll open either jump shots from the wing or cutting lanes through the middle and parallel post.
Now, it’s still on the Raptors to capitalize on these shots. A middle-of-the-road team when it comes to shooting, Toronto’s finding a lid on the basket more times than you’d like, If that continues, Siakam’s gravitational pull is only going to have so much effect.
The Toronto Raptors could improve their offense with this lineup.
As for the bench, Precious Achiuwa isn’t playing NBA-level ball right now. With Watanabe on his way back and Khem Birch drastically outplaying Achiuwa, it may make sense to sit Achiuwa for a bit. It’s a tough call, but if we’re looking purely at a talent standpoint right now, Achiuwa’s the odd man out.
Watanabe slotting in keeps Goran Dragic and Malachi Flynn on the bench, but Watanabe could ultimately slide out for Flynn if he doesn’t play well after a few games. Nurse has finally been giving Flynn a few minutes, and if he can prove himself to be more productive than Yuta, it’s anybody’s guess how the guard rotation shakes out.