3 Glaring flaws that will come back to haunt the Raptors this season

The Toronto Raptors may not be trying to win games this year.

That was the message they tried to preach at Media Day, that they are a rebuilding squad and not as focused on wins as they are on long-term growth. That's all well and good, but the head coach and players aren't going to pull punches once the season begins -- they are going to try and win games.

Seen through that lens, the Raptors will try to do that with a flawed roster. They have a number of good players who are young enough to take a step forward, but around and behind them are areas of questionable depth.

What are the fatal flaws on this roster? If Toronto falls short of what it could accomplish, what will likely be the reasons? Let's take a look at three flaws that could haunt the Raptors' season.

Flaw No. 1: Bruce Brown is still around

The Toronto Raptors and Bruce Brown should not still be married to one another.

The Raptors failed to flip him at last year's trade deadline, then decided to pick up his team option despite a lingering knee injury. Unable to trade him this summer, Brown just got knee surgery and will likely miss the start to the season. Add in how he is an extremely awkward fit with the Raptors' stars, seemingly relegating him to a smaller bench role, and you get a $23 million problem on the roster.

There will be a tension from the front office to play Brown to showcase he is healthy and valuable in a trade, but his lack of shooting makes him a terrible fit with the starting lineup. His place in the rotation at all blocks younger players like Ja'Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead from playing as well. If the goal is to develop young players this season, Brown is an expensive roadblock; if the goal is winning games, he would be much more valuable in a trade than in the starting lineup constricting the spacing. It's largely a lose-lose all around.