Who doesn’t love a little internal competition?
When you’ve got a bunch of talented players, it’s definitely a bit of a proving ground — a stage to see which guys can be part of the foundation, while others might get passed by. Last season’s landscape saw a little in-house battle between two young Raptors swingmen: Gradey Dick and Ja’Kobe Walter. At the start of the season, it seemed like they were largely splitting minutes to prove their worth, until Walter embarked on an undeniable breakout and effectively “snatched the chain” from Dick, becoming a key piece in the Raptors’ rotation. Dick went on to basically fall out of favor entirely, only seeing limited minutes after the All-Star break — until, of course, he was moved to the Clippers in the Kawhi Leonard trade.
Which brings me to how things are shaping up for next season. At the helm, you can expect the Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Barnes show, as they’re the team’s core 1-2 punch moving forward. Elsewhere, guys like Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl still have something to prove. Then there are the young guns: Ja’Kobe Walter, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Jamal Shead. Those eight guys are pretty much locked in as recurring faces in the lineup based on how things look right now.
But lower down on the roster, the window is wide open for the remaining pieces to step up and stake their claim for a secure role. That group includes resident sniper Jamison Battle, newcomer Allen Graves, and veteran signee Kyle Anderson.
Who will stand out in the rotation next season: Battle, Graves, or Anderson?
Now, I’d probably expect one of these men to land that rotation spot at the start of next season. If I had to lean more on one guy right now, I’d probably put a safe bet on Jamison Battle — mainly because he’s got seniority over the others, while also holding some underrated value as a secret weapon for Toronto to boost their three-point ceiling.
Over his two seasons in Toronto, we’ve seen Battle go off in some pretty modest sample sizes. That’s the good thing about him: he doesn’t need to demand a ton of minutes or touches. Just find him on a hot streak, let him shoot, and it can easily be the swing factor for Toronto in certain situations. But at the same time, I wouldn’t overlook the importance of Allen Graves or Kyle Anderson either.
Graves is entering his first year, and he might spend some time with the 905 to build his reps, but even just in Summer League, we saw how he can impact the game on multiple ends of the floor. And you don’t need me to tell you about his reputation coming into the draft as an analytics and advanced stats darling.
He may not be the most flashy player out there, but he does all the little things that impact winning — the quintessential “glue guy” as he's been called in some previous Raptors Rapture pieces. Sure, it might take some time for Graves to find his groove (especially on the shooting front) at the next level, but I can still see a scenario where he impresses the brass enough to lock down a solid role. Toronto already has a knack for stumbling upon youngsters who can be win-now players right from the start. Who’s to say Allen Graves can’t help the Raps during this win-now window with Kawhi Leonard’s return in full swing?
The same goes for Kyle Anderson. He was a sneaky pickup in free agency, and while essentially an older Allen Graves variant, there’s definitely a logical role cooking up for SloMo. The Raptors can utilize him as a small-ball option in certain matchups or as part of an already formidable defensive lineup — another versatile piece for Toronto to maximize.
It’s sure to be a show-out campaign for who deserves the most minutes off the bench on a consistent, nightly basis. Yeah, there’s a world where you could just try to play all the guys whenever you can or spread them out across different games, but there are only so many minutes to go around — and it’s only going to get tighter as the Raptors inch closer to playoff season. Do you lean on the rookie, the wily vet, or the underrated shooter who’s quietly proven his worth over the years?
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