Toronto’s plans at the starting center spot have been in focus for some time now. The conversation picked up last season amid all the adversity surrounding Jakob Poeltl, then kicked into another gear after the aging big man was largely outplayed by rising youngster Collin Murray-Boyles.
Earlier this morning at Media Day, Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković took the podium to discuss Toronto’s resident “lean, mean, fighting machine,” as Bobby Webster put it a few days ago. Asked how he envisions expanding CMB’s offensive role this season, Rajaković pointed to the great glimpse the team got of his capabilities during his standout playoff run. He also noted that, while the team didn’t get to see a healthy Murray-Boyles at Summer League, there’s a plan in place for him moving forward.
“[…] we already have a plan for him that he’s going to be playing position four, position five. We need to use him in some lineups with Jak [Jakob Poeltl] on the court. He [Collin Murray-Boyles] worked so hard this summer. He put outstanding work. […] I think he's ready to make the next step in his career, offensively and defensively,” said Darko Rajakovic.
Murray-Boyles’ standing as a pillar of the Raptors’ future and the high regard he’s held in has been quietly taking shape, even this early in his career. So hearing the youngster praised for his work and potential on both ends of the floor should come as no surprise. What does sound a little juicier to me, though, are Coach Darko’s passing comments about using CMB alongside Jakob Poeltl. As I said at the beginning of this piece, a lot of the discussion has focused on choosing one over the other as a starter — I’m not sure many people were considering the possibility of playing both at the same time.
It’s not impossible, but with two non-spacing bigs in Murray-Boyles and Poeltl, you risk clogging the paint. That frontcourt duo certainly fits the Raptors’ traditional defense-first mold, and in certain situations (especially against teams with a similar look), the pairing could work well. Against more athletic, dynamic opponents, though, I can trust CMB to hold his own with his burst and active hands. Poeltl, on the other hand, worries me quite a bit when it comes to moving his feet and defending in space.
Making Collin Murray-Boyles and Jakob Poeltl work means fixing key gaps
I’m open to seeing the vision in small spurts, but the Raptors’ coaching staff will need reliable shooters around them to make this clunky interior fit work. That brings me to the players in Toronto’s arsenal who could help make CMB-and-Poeltl lineups work.
A hopefully rejuvenated Immanuel Quickley could do his thing as one of the Raptors’ most willing and highest-volume shooters. Ja’Kobe Walter, another promising pillar of the team’s future, could thrive in this kind of lineup, too. The other spot would likely go to Scottie Barnes and/or Kawhi Leonard, since I’m not sure this is a lineup you’d want to roll out every night. If it gets some run deeper into games, when the starters need a breather, a sneaky sniper like Jamison Battle could fit perfectly in the lineup too.
Perhaps we even see Point Scottie running the show, or Jamal Shead stepping in at the point. The mega dream, though? CMB making a real leap as a three-point shooter and taking this type of lineup to another level — or, at the very least, steadily building his reps and confidence from beyond the arc as the season goes on.
It’s a bold strategy worth testing, especially since we haven’t really seen the two play together, because of their respective injuries last season and their different roles. That said, there’s another concern for CMB lingering in the background: if he’s logging minutes at both the four and the five, brushing against tough competition for extended periods — there’s a risk of playing him into the ground. Given the injury adversity he already faced last year, the Raptors will need to be mindful of fatigue and wear and tear.
But we’ll have to wait for the eye test and a decent sample of metrics to come to a more definitive conclusion. In fact, we may get an early read on whether this strategy can work when Raptors preseason action begins this Saturday against the Miami Heat, so I’m looking forward to see what reveals itself there.
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