Pascal Siakam and the Toronto Raptors were handed a challenging start to this season, as they played nearly a dozen straight games against teams that either made the playoffs or were in the play-in. After two impressive wins against the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers, the Raptors hit a major speed bump.
44 points from Tyrese Maxey helped the 76ers outscore Toronto by 22 points, sending the Raptors to 3-3 on the season despite the absence of Joel Embiid on the floor. The Raptors’ flaws in terms of how their roster is constructed were laid bare for everyone to see.
The Raptors have one of the game’s best starting lineups, with all five of their best players capable of leading the team in scoring on any given night. However, when players like Fred VanVleet put forth horrendous shooting nights, it shows that this team still has a long way to go.
This series illuminated several truths about the Raptors roster, some of which were good and some of which were horrendous. The Raptors need to analyze these data points and correct their current way of operation to make sure that they can bounce back and get over .500 relatively soon.
3 hot takeaways from the Toronto Raptors’ series vs. 76ers
3. Scottie Barnes must be more aggressive
Barnes has been playing very well this season, as the reigning Rookie of the Year looks even more relaxed as a shooter while maintaining all of the physicality in the paint Toronto loved. However, he hasn’t had the quickest trigger finger in the first handful of games.
Eschewing a Heat game in which he left early due to injury, Barnes has not topped more than 14 shots from the field in any game this season. Despite making more than half his shots and improving his 3-point shot, Barnes still seems just the slightest bit gun-shy in the early stages.
Scottie Barnes must shoot more for the Toronto Raptors.
While Pascal Siakam being on fire has undoubtedly taken some shots away from Barnes in the first few games of the year, Toronto needs to figure out a way to make sure he doesn’t plateau as a scorer. They didn’t draft him to be a 15 points per game switchblade. They picked him with the expectation he’d be a primary scorer.
Is it unreasonable for Barnes to soot around 17 times per game? A little over four shots per quarter? He wouldn’t be ballhogging, but he’d get ample opportunity to show that his offensive game has improved since last year. While the team’s loss against Philadephia was an atrocity, Barnes did nail a couple of 3-pointers.
2. The bench remains awful
The Raptors’ bench appeared to be doing well enough without Otto Porter Jr. to alleviate some of the concerns, but the top-heavy construction of this roster came back to haunt them. Not one bench player can look back on their performance and say they played even below average.
Precious Achiuwa looked like the same irritating offensive player we saw in the early stages of his first season with Toronto, while Chris Boucher was unusually passive from the floor following a nice return from his injury. Thad Young returned to the rotation, but his impact was minimal.
The Toronto Raptors lack quality bench players.
Dalano Banton, Malachi Flynn, and Christian Koloko weren’t even on the floor long enough to make much of an impact. Toronto can win games leaning on their starters early in the regular season, but how sustainable will this be as the playoffs draw closer?
We’ve seen Achiuwa pull down 22 rebounds in a game, Boucher dominate offensively, and Young be that wily veteran every contender needs. This is not necessarily a talent issue. Rather, it’s a consistency issue, as you never know which bench you’ll get game to game.
1. Pascal Siakam is dominating
The Raptors eschewed making a huge offseason trade and decided to run things back with their 2021-22 core. They wouldn’t have done that unless they had the utmost confidence in Siakam becoming a no-doubt All-NBA performer once again.
Siakam is playing like an MVP candidate, both in the eyes of NBA.com and everyone who hasn’t sustained a massive head injury since the start of the season.25.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game with a 57% true shooting percentage is mind-boggling.
Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam is playing his best basketball.
Defenses are obviously going to adjust to what Siakam is doing, but that shouldn’t necessarily mean that Pascal will take a huge step back. The fact that he’s able to make a positive impact on the game in so many areas is what will ultimately vault him toward an even more select tier.
The Raptors trust Siakam to be an occasional point guard while being the team’s top rebounder, one of their best interior defenders, and an elite isolation scorer. The list of players who can do all those things with efficiency and success in the win-loss column is very short.