3 second-half goals the Toronto Raptors should accomplish
By Mike Luciano
2. Decide on what the backup guard rotation will be.
The extreme amount of minutes that VanVleet has been playing is finally starting to catch up to him, as he’s suffered some minor knee injuries that kept him hampered over the last few weeks. Nurse’s plan to give VanVleet some rest often fluctuates from game to game.
The Raptors have been leaning on Dalano Banton lately, but they have often decided to use the likes of Siakam and Barnes as temporary fixes. Malachi Flynn has been almost completely thrown to the wolves, as he only gets playing time when multiple players in front of him sit out.
The Toronto Raptors need to give Fred VanVleet more depth.
We know that Trent can rain 3-pointers down in any given game, but asking him to shoulder so much of the 3-point shooting burden night after night is not a wise strategy. Nurse might be limited by the configuration of this roster, but he’s come up with more unusual solutions for more complex problems than this in the past.
As good as VanVleet is, Toronto needs to find a way to prevent overworking him in the regular season. Be that through Banton coming into his own or making some addition on the buyout market, putting VanVleet out there for 38 minutes every single night is not sustainable.