3 gaping holes on the Toronto Raptors roster that must be filled

1. Bench shooting

Long gone are the days of the ‘bench mob’. Saying the Raptors bench has been underperforming this season would be a severe understatement. The Raptors bench combining for 24.7 PPG is the worst in the league. The bench has struggled mightily from deep as well this season shooting just 27.8% from 3, another league-worst mark.

Just looking at their bench, it’s not difficult to see why they’ve struggled from deep. Statistically, their best shooter off the bench is Yuta Watanabe, shooting 38% from deep. Svi Mykhailiuk, Flynn, and Chris Boucher, who in theory are good shooters, are shooting just 32%, 27%, and 24% from 3-point range respectively.

Combine that with players such as Banton, Achiuwa, and Birch, all of whom aren’t shooting threats, and you’re bound to be tossing up bricks off the bench.

The Toronto Raptors need more out of their bench.

If the Raptors want to return to the playoffs this year, then the bench has to be producing more than it is right now. The lack of scoring the bench provides puts a load of pressure on a player like VanVleet. He’s handled the scoring duties nicely, but he could be ground down with overuse.

The lone bright spot for the bench of late has been Boucher. When the Raptors were hit by a COVID outbreak, Boucher was given a significant increase in minutes and had his best month by far averaging 14 points and 8 rebounds per game on improved efficiency.

With a return to the bench imminent for Boucher, it’s up to him to prove that December wasn’t a fluke.