4. Share the ball more on offense
The Raptors certainly aren’t getting anywhere with their current offensive infrastructure, as they are 25th in the league in assists per game. The combination of a lack of ball movement and poor individual creation is incredibly limiting to this team’s potential.
While their defense has been deplorable over the last two games, the Raptors have shown slight improvements on the offensive end. VanVleet breaking out of his stupor is obviously a big help, but there seems to be a bit more juice on the offensive end than we saw in the Orlando trip.
The Toronto Raptors need to become more pass-happy.
The Raptors’ identity not only left them without a ton of shooters, but they also gave them a series of players who lack great distribution skills. VanVleet, Scottie Barnes, and Siakam are the only Raptors that can go into every single night expecting to pile up the assists. Masai Ujiri and Nick Nurse must take note of this reality.
The only teams below Toronto on the assist chart per game are three potential Victor Wembanyama destinations (Detroit, Orlando, Houston), one of the most injured teams in the league (LA Clippers), and the Luka Doncic iso show in Dallas. Toronto’s strategy isn’t rooted in success, which should prompt some major soul-searching from Nurse.