3 lessons Masai Ujiri, Raptors must learn from playoffs in offseason

1. Fred VanVleet needs some help

VanVleet is an All-Star that has proven his quality several times over the last few months. However, as his cold spell in the second and third quarters of Game 2 showed, VanVleet is not in a position where he can help carry a team that lacks a solid backup point guard by himself.

It might be time to pull the plug on the Malachi Flynn experiment. He’s older than Trent, yet has not shown any of the developmental milestones Toronto was hoping to see. Armoni Brooks could theoretically stick around as a backup, but this team needs someone with experience and offensive skill.

Masai Ujiri must unearth a backup point guard for the Toronto Raptors.

The Barnes/Siakam minutes at point guard can be a nice wrinkle that Nick Nurse throws into his rotation, but it’s clear that VanVleet has way too much on his plate right now. A better deputy should be enough to take that responsibility off of his place shortly.

Perhaps that’s why the draft pick could be used on? Perhaps Dalano Banton can suddenly develop some semblance of a jump shot? Either way, Ujiri and Nick Nurse need to work together and make sure that they never end up in this situation again.