4 Raptors role players who need to step up to seal playoff spot
By Mike Luciano
While the Toronto Raptors should be heralded for their ability to overcome the doubters and position themselves as a viable postseason team, there are some cracks in the armor. The most noteworthy hole that opponents can exploit is a relative lack of depth.
Toronto’s bench remains one of the worst in the league, and injuries to star players have only exacerbated that need. While names like OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet should be good to go by the time the playoffs come around, the Raptors can’t keep leaning on their stars if they want to pull off an upset.
While Toronto has seen some individually excellent performances from some bench players, they have very rarely watched all of their role players come together at the same time. As good as VanVleet and Pascal Siakam are, they won’t upset one of the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference without substantial support.
These four Raptors players are going to be under a microscope in the coming weeks, as some poor performances could end up being extremely detrimental to Toronto’s playoff hopes. If these four can all peak at the same time, Toronto has as good a chance as any low seed when it comes to pulling off an upset.
4. Khem Birch
Birch was playing so poorly when the second half started that he would go multiple consecutive games without scoring points. While he’s not necessarily dominating, Nick Nurse can take solace in the fact that the rebounding and defense Birch was signed for is starting to show up
Birch has recorded at least three offensive rebounds in five of his last six games, including three games with at least five. Toronto went 4-2 in that span, as he’s pitched in to replace the physicality that Anunoby provides on the interior. Now he’s playing like a $6.3 million player.
Khem Birch needs to bolster the Toronto Raptors’ depth.
The Raptors will get Anunoby back soon, and the emergence of Precious Achiuwa in the second half has helped make up for Birch’s inconsistent box score stats. Still, with big men like Bam Adebayo, Joel Embiid, and Giannis Antetkounmpo potentially coming up on the schedule in the postseason, Toronto needs Birch to play his part expertly.
The Raptors don’t need Birch to be Hakeem Olajuwon. What they do need is rock-solid offensive rebounding, passable defense in the paint, and occasionally finishing a couple of 10-footers. He’s been getting more consistent at checking those boxes in the last few weeks, which is encouraging.