Pascal Siakam, Masai Ujiri, and the Toronto Raptors have had to suffer through an absolute gauntlet of an opening schedule, as half of their first 12 games came against the 76ers, Bucks, or Celtics. That doesn’t excuse the entirety of their uneven start, as they have picked up some very bad habits in the last few weeks.
Toronto has looked inept without OG Anunoby on the floor, often found themselves digging huge holes in the first half, and still possesses the worst halfcourt offense in the league. Hiring an offensive-minded coach like Darko Rajakovic hasn’t been enough to stomp out these issues completely.
Ujiri had some solid moves in the offseason. The collective coaching staff seems to be a big fan of the Gradey Dick selection, and Dennis Schroder has been a terrific addition despite some rough patches in the last few games. That doesn’t mean Ujiri’s overall body of work has been excellent.
The Raptors probably want another crack at the offseason, as they already appear to have left a lot of meat on the bone by failing to address some of their key issues. Hindsight is always 20/20, but letting some of these wounds remain open was a puzzling choice from Ujiri in the moment.
3 offseason moves the Toronto Raptors likely regret.
3. Not getting a backup point guard
While Malachi Flynn has had some very solid performances against names like Kyrie Irving in the Dallas game, his overall performance has been lacking this season. Flynn has struggled with efficiency, as every good performance has been followed up with another classic dud.
When Schroder leaves the court, the difference in talent as a passer, generator of offense, and scorer between him and Flynn is quite apparent. While he’s cleaned up some of the back-breaking turnovers, the overall product of work is still so inconsistent that some will question Toronto’s inability to make a move.
Should the Toronto Raptors have kept Malachi Flynn?
No one can accuse the Raptors of not giving Flynn a chance. How many teams would be willing to give someone who hasn’t been able to secure a rotation spot in three years another shot at sticking? He’s better than the other options, but that isn’t saying much.
With how thin the bench has been, Rajakovic doesn’t have a ton of options to lean on. Unless Toronto wants to lean into the Scottie Barnes at point guard experiment (which has largely been underwhelming), Flynn might need to be thrown back out there and continue to flail.