The Toronto Raptors were hit with a real double-whammy of lousy injury luck over the last few days. Not only has Fred VanVleet been slowed down due to a back ailment, but superstar power forward Pascal Siakam had to leave a loss against the Dallas Mavericks due to a groin strain.
Officially, VanVleet has been listed as questionable, with Siakam doubtful to play against the Chicago Bulls in their back-to-back series. Considering the fact that Pascal has had groin trouble in the past, the Raptors will likely be very cautious with how they handle this injury.
The Raptors will have back-to-back matchups against a solid Chicago Bulls team on the ledger before returning home to face the Houston Rockets. Considering the lack of clarity on his long Siakam specifically is going to be injured, Nick Nurse needs to formulate an impregnable plan of attack.
If Nurse can identify these three players and give them more enhanced roles while Siakam recovers from his injury, the Raptors could win some games while their stars heal up. Even though the schedule eases up, no game can be taken for granted in the NBA.
3 ways Toronto Raptors can win without Pascal Siakam
3. Play Chris Boucher 30 minutes
While Precious Achiuwa has been solid this year, he is still so volatile that you never know quite what you’re going to get from game to game. Boucher, who signed a three-year contract in the offseason, has been without question the best bench player on Toronto’s roster.
Boucher is averaging 12.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in just over 21 minutes per game. His performance this season is reminding many of his standout performance in the Tampa bubble, although he looks like a much deadlier and more versatile scorer this season.
Chris Boucher could be a standout for the Toronto Raptors.
The Raptors made a solid run against Dallas, narrowing a double-digit gap to one point before eventually losing. Boucher played a big part in that, as he is both one of the best 3-point shooters on this team. He only has one game this year in which he’s scored less than 10 points.
While disrupting the Boucher-Achiuwa tag team off the bench that has been so effective is likely something that Nurse does not want to do, it’s necessary to keep this new-look, fast-paced offense operating at peak efficiency. A few 15-point or 20-point outings from the Raptors’ developmental star are needed right now.
2. Reintegrate Thad Young
The Raptors made a significant commitment to Young in the offseason, signing him to a multi-year contract after a very impressive stint with the team last year. Rather than sustain that momentum, Young has found himself on the outside looking in with regards to the rotation.
Young’s minutes per game have fallen to just 7.3 per contest, with his 2.3 points per game totally unbecoming of a player with such a high pedigree in the league. This needs to be corrected at some point, and the absence of Siakam might prompt Nurse to turn back to old reliable.
Thad Young will need to step up for the Toronto Raptors.
Young’s best assets at this point in his career are his versatility on defense, solid passing, and finishing at the rim. All three of those traits are hallmarks of Siakam’s style of play, so the Raptors might be able to piece together a convincing facsimile if Nurse kicks Young into overdrive.
Without Siakam, and potentially VanVleet, on the floor, a young team is going to be lacking leadership. This is the perfect opportunity for Young to get back on the floor and show Nurse that the current alignment needs to be reworked in order to give No. 21 some juice and tamp down rumors of him being trade bait.
1. Give Scottie Barnes the keys
While Barnes was playing arguably his worst professional game before the fourth quarter against Dallas, he was able to turn it on in the fourth quarter, becoming the youngest player in team history to record a triple-double. He’ll be in focus with all this firepower out.
While O.G. Anunoby will be asked to take on a bigger role and Gary Trent Jr. will get the green light to bomb away from 3-point range, who is going to bring the ball up the flo,or, defend whomever Nurse asks him to, get to the rim, and be a threat from the perimeter? This scenario is exactly why Toronto drafted Barnes.
Scottie Barnes must star for the Toronto Raptors.
On one hand, Barnes’ lack of aggression in taking the ball to the rim has been problematic. On the other, he has become a 42% 3-point shooter over the course of one offseason, showing that he can be an effective offensive player away from the rim.
With Siakam having missed the first part of last year due to his shoulder surgery and VanVleet’s body starting to fail him late last year, Barnes showed he can be a trusted primary or secondary scoring option. He’ll need to perform similarly well this time around, albeit witcouldhe pressure sightly kicked up.