3 Realistic ways the Toronto Raptors can roar back to life in the East
The Toronto Raptors want you to think they aren't trying to win this season.
It's possible that the team has rightly evaluated its standing in the league, assessed that they don't have the pieces to make a playoff run, and are tempering expectations inside and outside of the organization before the season begins. Multiple times they used the word "rebuild" during Media Day.
It's also possible that the start to the season will dictate their plan. If this young group starts out strong, continuing the success they saw last season in the handful of minutes they played together, then the plan could pivot to trying to win games now in an Eastern Conference with a tissue-paper bottom and soft middle.
No one is expecting that the Raptors are going to knock off the Boston Celtics in the playoffs, but their realistic best-case scenario is absolutely as a playoff team. What will need to happen for the Raptors to roar back to life in the East and make the playoffs with a chance to advance? Let's look at three key developments.
No. 3: Gradey Dick earns the starting spot
Heading into the preseason, it appears that Gradey Dick will likely begin as the penciled-in starter on the wing for the Toronto Raptors, nominally playing shooting guard next to the slightly-shorter RJ Barrett playing small forward. What was expected to be a training camp competition between Dick and Bruce Brown will have to wait as Brown recovers from knee surgery.
The Raptors don't need Gradey Dick to be the last man standing at the 2, nor to be handed the job because of his youth or even just his skillset as a movement shooter. He needs to show up this preseason and seize the job, leaving no doubt that he deserves it and is a long-term stanchion at the position.
The starting lineup needs shooting in a major way, and Gradey Dick has the highest-upside of any shooter on the roster. He also has flashed some on-ball creation ability, and if he can not only be a sniper sprinting off of screens but have the juice to attack a defense in rotation, he will be the start the Raptors need to take a step forward.