The Toronto Raptors tip off tonight in their first game of a season full of intrigue and high expectations. No franchise outside of the Los Angeles Lakers has undergone a bigger overhaul during the off-season to change their perception and prospective chance at competing for an NBA title.
Last season ended with a loss to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs for the third consecutive season. But LeBron has gone West, Kawhi Leonard has come North, and optimism has returned to the renamed Scotiabank Arena.
In case you’ve been in a content coma over the summer and need a crash course on Canada’s team, here’s the Coles Notes version of what you need to know to follow the Raptors in 2018-19.
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Major Off-season Transactions
May 11: Raptors fire franchise wins leader and coach of the year award winner Dwane Casey.
June 12: Raptors promote assistant Nick Nurse to head coach.
July 1: Raptors re-sign Fred VanVleet to two-year, $18 million deal.
July 18: Raptors trade DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.
Aug. 6: Raptors sign Greg Monroe to a one-year deal.
Raptors win projections
BetOnline – 55.5
Westgate – 56
Only the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics are projected to win more games than the Raptors this season. The Raptors have put up three straight 50-win seasons and a season ago were second in the NBA with a franchise best 59 wins. The Raptors have also won over 55 games in two of the last three seasons, and their 297 wins in the last six seasons is the most in the East during that span. In fact, the Raptors have outpaced their win projection for seven straight seasons.
With an increase in talent and a decrease in conference competition, 60 wins should be in play. The Atlanta Hawks of 2014-15 season are the last team in the East to win 60 games.
Raptors Depth Chart
STARTER, 2ND, 3RD, 4TH
PG – Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Delon Wright, Lorenzo Brown
SG – Danny Green, Norman Powell, Malachi Richardson, Jordan Loyd
SF – Kawhi Leonard, C.J. Miles
PF – OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam
C – Serge Ibaka, Jonas Valanciunas, Greg Monroe
There isn’t much use at looking at a Raptors depth chart because Nick Nurse has been open about playing players at multiple spots while tinkering with who starts and, more importantly, who finishes games. To start the 10 halves in the five pre-season games, Nurse used nine different starting lineup combinations. Miles will get heavy minutes playing the four. Ibaka will often start at the five but also play the four. VanVleet will get the majority of his minutes on the floor with another point guard in Kyle Lowry or Delon Wright.
The good news is that like Casey before him, Nurse is committed to playing lots of players and fully utilizing his deep bench. The bad news, the loveable Bench Mob is broken up as rigid roles and five man line up combinations will not be emphasized or strictly adhered to.
Global Team
The Raptors once again represent the diversity of the country and the city they play in as they have four international players on their roster. Pascal Siakam (Cameroon), Jonas Valanciunas (Lithuania), Serge Ibaka (Republic of the Congo), and OG Anunoby (United Kingdom) will suit up for the NBA’s only franchise outside of the United States.
Additionally, Canada is the most-represented country in the league for the fifth consecutive year with 11 Canadians on opening night rosters and two Canadians on two-way contracts. This is also the fifth consecutive year the NBA has had at least 100 international players and all 30 teams have at least one player not born in the U.S.
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Can Kyle Lowry become the greatest Raptor ever?
Lowry’s Per-Game Stats as Raptor: 17.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.3 blocks
Lowry’s Advanced Metrics as a Raptor: 20.3 PER, 57.4 TS%, 56.3 WS, 0.181 WS/48, 5.5 BPM, 1,599.64 TPA
With DeMar DeRozan gone, the unquestioned leader and face of the franchise is now Kyle Lowry. Fans were upset that the Raptors traded the best player in franchise history but by the end of this season that should not be the case.
Leonard by almost every metric is a better player on both ends of the floor than DeRozan. Peak Leonard is even more dominant than the best years Vince Carter had in Toronto. But the player who has had the most distinguished career as a Raptor you could argue is not DeRozan or Carter. It’s Lowry, assuming he has another season of all-star production.
Lowry trails only Chris Bosh in career win shares as a Raptor and on the team’s all-time lists he’s fourth in scoring, sixth in rebounds, second in assists and second in steals. If Lowry leads the Raptors to the Finals and has another big year in Nurse’s offence, he’ll be known alone as Mr. Raptor.
Is Kawhi Leonard the best player in the East?
Yes, he only played nine games and his exit with the San Antonio Spurs was messy at best but Kawhi Leonard, if healthy and engaged, is the best player the Raptors have ever had. He’s looked healthy and engaged in limited action in the pre-season which is the first glimpses we’ve seen Leonard play five on five since January.
Upon returning to and sustaining full health, Leonard most likely will be the best two-way player in the East now that LeBron James has switched conferences and joined the Lakers. Leonard averaged 16.2 points in his brief season last year but his numbers the two previous seasons when he was healthy were dominant. In 2016-17 Leonard averaged 25.5 points, had the third best player efficiency rating (PER) in the NBA and was third in MVP voting. The year before that he averaged 21.2 points, ranked sixth in PER and was second in MVP voting. Leonard has also been named a first team all-NBA player and to the all-defence team. Nobody else in the East can boast such a résumé.
More importantly, Leonard’s play leads to wins. He has the best win percentage in NBA history at .764, ahead of Magic Johnson (.740) and Larry Bird (.736). One thing Leonard and his long-time sidekick Danny Green will be counted on for is playoff experience, which they have more of than the entire Raptors franchise. Green and Leonard have a combined 36 series played, 24 series wins, and two NBA titles between them.
Fred VanVleet’s value as a sixth man
Aside from Leonard, the Raptors’ best chance at a major award candidate is Fred VanVleet. He was a finalist for sixth man of the year last season and this year he’ll be featured in closing line ups from the start of the season. Last year VanVleet put up 8.6 points per game on a 42.6 field goal percentage and a team-high 41.4 three-point percentage. But VanVleet’s value is much bigger than his stature or the counting stats would demonstrate as he initiates the pick and roll flawlessly but also allows Lowry and Leonard time and space to operate with the ball. VanVleet’s ability as a catch and shoot three-point threat will be utilized on the weak side to punish recovering defenders that dare double team Leonard or Lowry once they put the ball on the floor.
OG Anunoby’s improvement in new role
Another candidate for the sixth man award might be OG Anunoby. Anunoby started 62 games as a rookie but that might not be the case in his sophomore campaign. He is expected to improve on his 5.9 points, 47.1 field goal percentage and 37 per cent three-point shooting as his role expands this season. But that role might not be from the beginning of the game with the acquisitions of Green and Leonard crowding the Raptors’ wing depth. Most improved and/or sixth man recognition could be in play if Anunoby makes the leap the Raptors are counting on him making.
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What is Nick Nurse about?
Nick Nurse was a coveted but largely unknown assistant coach before taking the head job this summer. But after an exhaustive search during which fired coach of the year Dwane Casey was actually hired in Detroit before the Raptors made up their mind, Nurse is now the top dog.
Nurse was already known as the guru of the Raptors’ offensive revolution last year and we’ve learned a great deal more about him this pre-season.
For one, he is a big proponent of soliciting opinions from veteran players. Lowry, Leonard and Green specifically are players who he has leaned on for input. Chemistry is also key for Nurse. He kicked off each training camp practice by playing September by Earth Wind & Fire to lift the mood. He doesn’t have the team huddle at the end of practice, instead he has his players stand in circle to promote democratic values and eye contact. He’s taken it upon himself to organizes team dinners and excursions. To break up the monotony of camp, he had players play one-on-one instead of solely doing fundamental drills. And he rewards the top two performers each day with a championship belt.
Schematically, he doesn’t want to burden the team with overwhelming sets but rather wants to have triggers to get into the offence and initiate free flowing basketball based on feel from there. Nurse came in with a reputation as a brilliant X’s and O’s mind and it seems he wants to connect with his players to cultivate the intangibles needed for a winning culture.