The Raptors’ half-court offense was not great last season. Brandon Ingram was able to make some tough shots, but they still lacked a star-level go-to scorer. They have that now in Kawhi Leonard. But Leonard does more than just address the Raptors’ biggest offensive weakness by adding 3-point shooting and elite shot creation.
Leonard should also be able to amplify one of the Raptors’ biggest strengths. Due to their struggles in the half-court, the Raptors leaned heavily on their defense to create scoring opportunities. They forced the fourth-most turnovers with 16.1 per game in the regular season and led the NBA in fast-break points.
The Clippers weren’t nearly as imposing defensively, but Leonard individually thrived in transition. He finished the regular season fourth in fast-break points per game and recorded an effective field-goal percentage of 72% in transition, according to ESPN.
With Leonard, the Raptors got a defensive upgrade over Brandon Ingram, which should allow them to force even more turnovers, and they added one of the most efficient fast-break scorers in the NBA to a rotation that already scored a lot of points out of transition opportunities. They are ready to embrace it.
“Pace should not change at all,” Darko Rajakovic said in a media availability on Tuesday. “We are a team that, we like to run in transition, score in transition, and Kawhi, last season he was one of the best players in field-goal percentage in transition. So we gotta take advantage of that for sure.”
The Raptors could become really scary with a healthy Kawhi Leonard
Trading for Kawhi Leonard comes with a ton of risks. They may ultimately have given up first-round picks and two players for a veteran superstar who is never healthy enough to really move the needle.
But it’s obvious why the Raptors would take the risk.
Kawhi Leonard plays into their strengths and addresses their weaknesses in a way not many stars could have. If he is healthy enough to play the majority of regular-season games and heavy minutes in the playoffs, he makes the Raptors a truly scary team to face.
Their scrappy, physical defensive identity is still very much alive—they can roll out lineups in which Leonard is perhaps the least terrifying defender on the floor—and he makes them much better offensively. There are still questions about 3-point shooting outside of Leonard, Immanuel Quickley, and Ja’Kobe Walter, and about the center rotation, but the Raptors should be a much better two-way team than last season.
If that vision comes to fruition, the Raptors could be one of the most dangerous teams in the Eastern Conference in the regular season and playoffs alike. They should be a top-five defense for the second year in a row and a solid offensive team whenever Leonard plays.
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