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3 important lessons learned during 2022 Raptors preseason

By Mike Luciano

MONTREAL, CANADA - OCTOBER 14: Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors dribbles the ball against Derrick White #9 of the Boston Celtics (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, CANADA - OCTOBER 14: Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors dribbles the ball against Derrick White #9 of the Boston Celtics (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Raptors, OG Anunoby
Oct 5, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Toronto Raptors forward OG Anunoby (3) attempts a shot past Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports /

2. The lack of shooting is still a major problem

Toronto has a much better bench than they have had in recent seasons, and the lack of height seems to have been fixed by the addition of Koloko. Even with Otto Porter Jr. coming over from Golden State, his injury has shown just how far Toronto has to go in this area.

While the Raptors managed to come alive from deep in their preseason finale, they went 21-103 (20.8%) from 3-point range in a three-game span, two of which were losses. Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. will help mitigate the damage, but they can’t save the rotation by themselves.

The Toronto Raptors have poor shooters on the roster.

With O.G. Anunoby finishing the preseason strong against Boston and Scottie Barnes making some improvements in his game, those two need to start the season very strong if Toronto wants any hope of being a feared offensive team. Both of them looked much more confident offensively in the preseason finale.

The Raptors are going to go nowhere fast in the modern NBA unless they can get some of their starters to perform at a high level once again. Porter is going to be a huge help to the perimeter game as a whole, but losing him should not be so destabilizing for this offense.