Last season, the talk of playoff town out East was the Orlando Magic, who proved to be a worthy postseason contender, spearheaded by a dominant frontcourt pairing of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Sure, they didn't get far, but for a team that was still thought to be navigating their rebuild to emerge as a win-now squad, that was a huge development in Orlando's trajectory.
Fast forward to this year, and yet another middling Eastern Conference team has emerged from the depths of NBA purgatory to become a noteworthy playoff unit: the Detroit Pistons.
In an ESPN article titled "Luka, PG, Towns? Which NBA deals provided the biggest lessons?" by NBA writer Zach Kram, he mentions a winning strategy for a young star that ultimately paid dividends: going out and adding quality shooters to strengthen the lineup.
That young star in question is Cade Cunningham, one of the NBA’s most talented young players, but he’s largely been stuck in mediocrity without enough capable shooters around him to help him operate effectively.
Then, the Pistons came to the realization that changes needed to be made, firing their underperforming head coach Monty Williams, and making the effort to add sharpshooting veterans like Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Tobias Harris to the mix.
Which brings us to where the Pistons currently stand: the 5th seed in the NBA's Eastern Conference, and they are currently in a 3-2 first-round series with the New York Knicks.
Kram notes: "This lesson could apply to several teams this offseason but most of all the Orlando Magic, who rank 30th in 3-point makes and percentage and desperately need better shooters to surround Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner."
But you know who Kram missed out on referencing? The Toronto Raptors.
Raptors must pair Scottie Barnes with proven three-point shooters
I've been advocating for this for a long time now. I don’t think the Raptors need to make some huge splash by trading away talent to get a star, though I have to say, the Brandon Ingram trade was definitely solid value, and I wasn’t going to knock that deal. But I think Toronto could solve a lot of their current issues right now by following the Pistons' example—covering Scottie Barnes' outside shooting limitations by adding a roster full of deadly shooters on the perimeter.
Even after the Ingram deal, it only boosted their offensive options but didn't turn them into a lights-out shooting team. Ingram is a decent shooter, but he's more of a dynamic scorer than a perimeter specialist.
Guys like Gradey Dick and Immanuel Quickley are fine, but they’re still very young and bring more to the table than just shooting. If they had vets who could focus on that role, it would just make everything fall into place a lot better; just look at how hot Chris Boucher got at times this year.
As much as I'd like to see Barnes improve as a shooter, I’m not sure that’s the direction to take his game. He operates much better around the basket, and that’s where he looks most dominant. It wouldn’t hurt for him to keep getting three-point reps up, but at least Barnes wouldn’t need to worry about doing it all when he has reliable role players who are better suited to take the shot.
There’s a good guy who fits the role right now on the team in Ochai Agbaji, but I’m not entirely sure he’ll stick around in Toronto long-term. With that in mind, why not toss a couple of low-cost offers to veterans who could potentially slot in as reliable snipers?
Off the top of my head, and based on the upcoming free agency list, guys like Garrison Mathews, Seth Curry, Luke Kennard, and Alec Burks stand out to me.
Detroit set the course; now it’s up to teams like Toronto to follow suit, because it could be their ticket back to the promised land.