Pathetic Raptors officially in tank mode after embarrassing loss to Timberwolves

If Fred VanVleet and the Toronto Raptors wanted any hope of avoiding becoming sellers at the trade deadline and starting another winning streak, they needed to take advantage of the fact that they were lacing up against a Minnesota Timberwolves team that lacked both Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert.

Continuing with the theme of their last few games, the Raptors showed almost no interest in playing defense, allowing the Wolves to score 66 points at halftime. At least the Raptors were able to put up 76 of their own on the back of one of their best shooting halves since before the Dwane Casey era even began.

Only the 2022-23 Raptors can take this situation and completely squash it to bits. After scoring 109 points in three quarters, some laughable offensive sets and defensive efforts that would be unacceptable from 12-year-olds in Catholic school leagues led to Toronto falling in a 126-124 gut-punch.

By the way, thanks to Fred VanVleet for gifting the Timberwolves two game-winning free throws! Cool team leader who is worth $130 million!

Nick Nurse has come under fire for some questionable decisions in the last few weeks with regard to his lack of rotation choices and schematic rigidity, and this game did little to erode those criticisms. If anything, it only confirmed that he is coaching a bad team in a very poor fashion. Bring on the tank.

The Toronto Raptors need to tank.

Nurse decided to mess with his usual plan at forward, sending Precious Achiuwa into the game by himself earlier than expected and reintroducing Thad Young to the lineup. Young and Achiuwa both impressed with their limited action, but moving Scottie Barnes to a more post-oriented role was magic.

Not only did Barnes have the best night of his season, but all the starters were in double figures. Things were great…until Toronto’s laughable end-of-game offense took over. Toronto made two of their final 15 shots from the field.

While this loss brings clarity, as it shows that this team has run its course with the current core, does Masai Ujiri know that? Don’t be surprised if he keeps trying to build around the Pascal Siakam/Fred VanVleet duo indefinitely, all while making the team financially inflexible.

The trade deadline is coming up, and the Raptors know that many of their big names are being thrown in the rumor will fairly regularly. The Raptors may eventually resign themselves to that unfortunate fate, and they should do so as soon as possible if they want to maximize the return in potential trades.