3 best ways Raptors can fill backup PG time behind Fred VanVleet
By Mike Luciano
1. Scottie Barnes or Pascal Siakam
The Raptors are one of the few teams in the league who are crazy enough to play Barnes and Pascal Siakam at point guard and center in the course of a given half. Not only did Toronto lean on this particular strategy fairly frequently, but they saw both perform well beyond excellence.
With Thad Young and Chris Boucher back in the lineup and Otto Porter Jr. coming to town, the rotation is seemingly set at nine people. With Nick Nurse famously running a tight rotation, Barnes might need to return to his point-forward hybrid role regularly in 2022-23.
The Toronto Raptors could use Scottie Barnes at PG.
Barnes already has the passing skill to run the offense, and he now has a full year of experience in Nurse’s scheme. Even Siakam managed to do a passable job when he was put to the sword early in the season. If it worked once, why would you call for a drastic shake-up?
If Toronto is going to lean on this “Project 6-9” dogma, why not go all in? Why try to fit a square peg into a round hole when you have a skeleton key like Siakam or Barnes ready to do the job? Having a 6-9 freak at point guard could be a game-changer late in the season.
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