2 Obvious, 2 subtle moves Darko Rajakovic must make to maximize Raptors' lottery odds

Obvious move: Give minutes to the youngsters

The No. 1 thing that tanking teams do is to hold out their injured veterans longer than necessary. The No. 2 thing that they do is shift minutes away from proven players to the young unknowns on the roster.

That isn't meant to knock that strategy, as it has both positive and negative elements that benefit the team in the long-run. It certainly does mean that the Raptors are going to play worse, as unproven and inexperienced players fill out the rotation and make the sorts of minstakes that young players do, especially young players who aren't as talented as NBA rotation players.

The positive element is that those players gain experience in those scenarios. Players who would never see the court in a crunchtime scenario get to experience one. They gain valuable game reps running sets, making cuts and trying to defend legitimate stars and athletes. There is no true substitute for that kind of experience, although the worse the Raptors get the more their minutes are divorced from the real stakes of games that matter.

The Raptors have begun to make this move, but they haven't fully embraced it yet. Gradey Dick and Ochai Agbaji are spending time in the starting lineup and playing significant minutes as first and second-year wings, respectively. Javon Freeman-Liberty was recently elevated from a two-way contract and is seeing tick. There is a lot more meat on this bone, however, with Jontay Porter, Jahmi'us Ramsey, D.J. Carton and Mouhamadou Gueye all in the mix to see more minutes.