The Toronto Raptors were one of the most surprising teams in the league last year, thanks to a 48-win season that established the fraudulent nature of their Tampa performance. Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and O.G. Anunoby entered this season with tons of promise, but their team hasn’t been as dominant as some may have expected.
Toronto has played three top-eight seeds from last year in the Cavaliers, Nets, and Heat. While they narrowly edged out a home win against Cleveland, a late comeback by Brooklyn and a pain-inducing first half against Miami have helped them slip to 1-2 on the season.
The Raptors were certainly done no favors thanks to a very difficult schedule to start off, but this team has some issues that would pop up against even the worst teams in the league. Nick Nurse has made a reputation for himself as a great problem solver, and it’s on him to fix things.
These three issues have been glaringly obvious in the first few games of the season, and they could evolve into even larger problems if Nurse doesn’t smooth things over in the next few games. The schedule is going to get more challenging, but that shouldn’t be an excuse.
3 Toronto Raptors problems that must be fixed
3. Fred VanVleet’s passiveness on offense
VanVleet has taken on more of a facilitating role this year than what we saw at the beginning of last year, likely aimed at getting players like Scottie Barnes and Anunoby the requisite number of offensive touches. That sounds good in theory, but VanVleet needs to be more assertive.
VanVleet has taken just 28 shots in the first three games of the season, even going scoreless in the first half against Miami with just a handful of shots from the field. This is a guy who was scoring 25 points per game with regularity last season, and he needs to be treated as such.
The Toronto Raptors need to lean on Fred VanVleet.
While his Miami game was a disaster for large chunks, VanVleet was effective in close fourth-quarter situations against Cleveland and Brooklyn. There was a period in the middle of last season where VanVleet carried an injured roster with his clutch shooting. If Fred went into games demanding 15 shots, no one would look at him strangely.
VanVleet might not be the most versatile scorer in the world, given his size limitations, but the Raptors need to make sure VanVleet is firing on all cylinders. Since 2019, the Raptors are 31-18 when VanVleet takes at least 15 attempts from the field and makes 40% of his 3-pointers.
2. O.G. Anunoby is struggling offensively
This was supposed to be the year Anunoby went from a very good player to a borderline star on the back of his combination of lockdown defense and improved offense. The defense has largely been as rock-solid (as ever), but his scoring could use a lot of work.
Anunoby has scored just 13.7 points per game this year while connecting on 37% of his shots. Despite nailing 47% of his 3-point attempts, Anunoby’s ability to muscle through the paint and convert tough looks inside has turned to dust this season. This strange regression needs to stop.
O.G. Anunoby has not been himself for the Toronto Raptors.
His 3-point shooting has been terrific, but he has struggled to create opportunities for himself with the ball in his hands. Like many Raptors this season, he has apparently forgotten how to finish at the basket. The mixture of those two negatives working in tandem is impossible for a thin team like Toronto to overcome.
Anunoby started slowly last season, and the Raptors followed suit with a 1-3 start. That should give them confidence that he will eventually break out of this funk. If the injury bug keeps biting the Raptors, they will be forced to lean on No. 3 for large chunks of their scoring.
1. The bench remains terrible
Yeah, I get it. Otto Porter Jr. and Chris Boucher haven’t played yet this season. I like those guys! They’re proven veterans. However, losing those two is not an excuse for a team with the expectations Toronto has to get even less production from the second unit than they had last year.
Christian Koloko has been very impressive defensively, but he needs a metric ton of work on offense. Preseason star Dalano Banton moves the needle not one iota. Thad Young looks nothing like the player we saw last season, somewhat concerningly so. Even Precious Achiuwa has been far from dominant in Games 1 and 2.
The Toronto Raptors need to have a better bench.
If Barnes is going to miss time or play at less than 100% for the next few games, this already thin unit is going to get stretched to the point of bursting. The only things that can save this group now are Achiuwa playing out of his mind or Young turning back the clock.
The Raptors’ lack of a bench is likely not going to go away anytime soon, so any improvements need to come internally. We’ve seen these players have individual moments of greatness, but they need to start showing their skills more regularly.