It has been a dubious start to the season for the pair of Toronto Raptors point guards.
Immanuel Quickley is third on the team in points scored, yet he sports a far below-average 55.1% true shooting percentage. Jamal Shead does a lot of things well on the court, but there is only so much you can do when you shoot 33.3% from the field and 24.4% from three. The inefficient start to the season begs a question: are these two playing the right roles on this Raptors team?
Immanuel Quickley is struggling as the starting point guard
There is no question that Quickley is a quality NBA player, but Toronto is asking him to be their starting point guard. That comes with certain responsibilities. Namely, he needs to make good decisions and lead the team's offense.
Quickley's inefficient shooting and good, but not great, 5.6 assists per game indicate that he is not doing the best job of leading this offense. The eye test matches those numbers. Too often, Quickley is settling for contested jump shots when he should be making an extra pass.
But honestly, it is hard to blame him. Quickley has always been a spark plug offensive player who could catch fire at a moment's notice. Asking him to bottle up that spark plug mentality and only let it out in spurts while he facilitates the offense might be an unfair ask. It's just not who he is.
Jamal Shead is a natural playmaker, but struggles to score
Let's compare that to Jamal Shead, who at times has struggled with the opposite issue. Shead is a gritty defender and a natural playmaker. He is always looking for his teammates.
Sometimes, opposing defenses lay off him because they know he is not a threat to shoot the ball himself. Plus, when he does shoot the ball, it usually misses. Despite his inability to consistently knock down shots, he is one of the best players on the team at forcing his way into the paint to create offensive opportunities for his teammates.
Toronto should start Shead and maximize Quickley off the bench
With such polarizing point guards, is there a way Toronto can best maximize each player's strengths and minimize their weaknesses? I think the answer is clear: Jamal Shead should start, and Immanuel Quickley should be Toronto's sixth man.
This idea is not an indictment of Quickley or, to be honest, a compliment to Jamal Shead. It would simply put both players in the best position to succeed given their skill sets.
Jamal Shead's gritty defense would be much more annoying to opposing teams if he were playing against their starters. His playmaking would also be much more effective if he were passing to Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Barnes rather than Toronto's bench. Similarly, Shead's inability to score himself would be masked if he played more alongside better offensive players.
If Immanuel Quickley came off the bench, he would be totally free to just be himself. No longer would Toronto need him to lead the offense. Instead, they would be asking him to provide a spark off the bench when the starters sit. Doesn't that sound like the perfect situation for him?
Let's not forget that in the two seasons before Toronto traded for Quickley, he finished second and tenth in Sixth Man of the Year voting, respectively. He has experience in this role, and he was really good at it.
If Darko Rajaković takes this suggestion, it would not eliminate Quickley and Shead's flaws. Quickley would still take questionable shots, and Shead would still frustrate fans with his inability to consistently score. However, I think this arrangement would best maximize both players' strengths and minimize their flaws.
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