3 Raptors who deserve blame for horrible offensive numbers

The Toronto Raptors are, as the kids say, “mid” after 26 games in the 2022-23 season. The Raptors are 13-13 on the year, though many of their impressive wins against teams like the Cavaliers and Hawks have been nullified by defeats to bottom-feeders like the Thunder and Magic. Pascal Siakam is not enough to get this team clicking.

Siakam has been let down by those around him on the offensive end. Far too often, it seems like Toronto’s offensive strategy is to give Siakam the ball and let him create magic. His individual brilliance is overshadowing some truly horrendous offensive numbers in their half-court sets.

Per Cleaning the Glass, Toronto has the absolute worst half-court offense in the league, thanks to an 89.1 offensive rating. 29th place is the lowly Rockets, who are barely ahead of them with an 89.3 rating. Without Siakam, that number drops to 83.9.

There is plenty of blame to go around when it comes to dissecting what is going wrong with this offense, but these three factors stand out above the rest. All three of them need to figure out what is going haywire and find a way to somehow lock in as the schedule toughens back up.

3 Raptors most at fault for poor offensive play in 2022

3. Christian Koloko

While Koloko is doing a ton of very good things as a rebounder and shot-blocker, the Raptors need to have a serious conversation about keeping him in the starting lineup. Koloko is a good screener, but it looks like Toronto is playing 5-on-4 in stretches when he is the starter.

Koloko is averaging just 3.8 points per game and taking 3.2 shots per contest while averaging about 17 minutes on the floor. With almost all of those shots coming right at the rim, Koloko has to be anchored to the paint and isn’t a high-volume offensive threat at this stage of his career.

The Toronto Raptors need more from Christian Koloko.

Koloko hasn’t scored more than six points in a game since November 19. While Thad Young is not going to score like prime Hakeem Olajuwon, he can be trusted to rebound, defend, and distribute while being more of an offensive threat than a second-round rookie who needs seasoning.

The fact Koloko has been able to contribute to the Raptors as a rookie is amazing, but it’s becoming clear that he still has many hurdles to surmount before he can be a trusted starter in the NBA. Nick Nurse needs to either get him more involved or put a better scorer in the lineup.