3 biggest areas of need on Raptors roster after 13-15 start
By Mike Luciano
The Toronto Raptors have been as volatile as any team in the league this year. From game to game (and even quarter to quarter), the Raptors will go from looking like an elite offensive team to a G League offense. The defense vacillates between the Bad Boy Pistons and last year’s Kings.
The Raptors have still managed to fall into a 13-15 record despite some key contributors missing major chunks of the season with injuries. Masai Ujiri and Nick Nurse have done a good job of navigating all of the chaos around this young team and keeping them on the straight and narrow.
The Raptors continue to pick up some impressive wins, but they are doing so with a roster that is both young and top-heavy, which creates some serious concerns about the sustainability of this style. With the Raptors now able to add some talent thanks to the December 15 deadline passing, Ujiri may need to be aggressive to improve this team.
The Raptors have three holes on this roster that stand out above all others, and Ujiri would be wise to hit those areas hard if he wants a shot at making the postseason in the wide-open East.
3 biggest areas of need for the Toronto Raptors in 2021-22.
3. Bench shooting
The Raptors have the league’s worst bench in terms of points per game, and it’s not hard to see why. With Khem Birch and Precious Achiuwa both out, players like Yuta Watanabe and Svi Mykhailiuk have had to take on primary scorer roles. Chris Boucher has also fallen off of a cliff.
Dalano Banton plays tons of minutes and does a lot of things well, but creating offense for himself and shooting from deep are not two of them. As it is currently constructed, that bench might be poor enough to hold back a starting lineup featuring five players averaging over 15 points per game.
The Toronto Raptors need more scorers on the bench.
Toronto might be able to add a player for cheap that aids this roster, as players that can be trusted to nail 3-pointers are out there if you are persistent enough. A player like Malachi Flynn developing into an offensive weapon would take a ton of pressure off of the starters, but that seems unlikely.
Unless Mykhailiuk somehow turns into Kyle Korver and nails half of his 3-pointers, Toronto will need to make an adjustment here. That could come from within by retooling the rotation, but Ujiri may need to make a trade to get a sixth man that has a higher offensive ceiling than Watanabe.