What is going well for the Raptors?

We’re almost a quarter of the way through the NBA season, and the Raptors have been trying to stay afloat through all of the injuries that have plagued the roster. There was a massive event thrown for both Scottie Barnes & Immanuel Quickley when they signed their deals last summer — largely, to celebrate the Raptors having retained two of their pillars for years to come — and they’ve hardly combined for 10 games played this season. At 4-14, they are tied with tonight’s opponent, the Pelicans, for the 3rd worst record in the NBA.

The Raptors are in the bottom third of the NBA on both sides of the court. They send teams to the free throw line more than anyone. They have trouble cleaning the defensive glass. They shoot the least amount of threes in the NBA, and the only place on the court where they aren’t below average hitting shots is the long mid-range – where they are 14th, and Gradey Dick is responsible for 43-percent of their makes from there on the season.

So, what has gone well for these Raptors?

A big one to get out of the way early? The sheer amount of losing. For some fans it’s exactly what they want. It’s not just the Raptors fans either, but NBA fans who have caught games echo the sentiment of: “most ethical tank in history”. Largely because of the amount of close games the Raptors play in, but also because the Raptors are team that hustles all over the court and moves the ball on offense. Enjoyable, losing basketball. Now, if you don’t like tanking and you have concerns about how it taints culture or a million other things, that’s just as well. So, this can swing heavily one way or another, depending on who is perceiving it.

If you ignore the losing, there are some fun and maybe even good markers that lead to the Raptors being a fairly good watch. The buy-in that Darko Rajakovic has been able to get from his guys to send them sprinting out into every hustle stat has been pretty great. NBA stats has the Raptors at 4th in deflections, 10th in charges drawn, they have run the 2nd most miles in the whole league and they run that heavy dose of mileage at the third fastest average speed. The Raptors also pressure the ball higher up in the court (and the backcourt) than most teams in the NBA. And while the Raptors lack of shot-making has not been good, no team has been better at corralling their own misses than them.

Gumption, hustle, and effort are great building blocks and especially when they’re paired with high level NBA talent. This season, maybe most importantly, is about finding out which players are able to pair those things together – of course, basically all the coverage of the Raptors revolves around this premise.

To harp on the rebounding a little bit more, the Raptors are trying some unique things now, just as they were over Nick Nurse’s tenure. With Nurse, the Raptors abandoned some conventional spacing in how they aligned their offense in order to pursue ORBS more aggressively. Rajakovic’s Raptors also choose the dunker spot instead of the corner on occasion, but more importantly they participate in the en vogue offensive rebounding/transition defending approach – tagging up, on occasion.

With the increased volume from 3-point land across the NBA we’ve seen an organic rise in long rebounds. Long rebounds create more opportunities for preparation and quickness to grab boards instead of sheer size, and tagging up is just that – using your opponents attempt at a box out as an opportunity to pin them low if the rebound pops off long; and it also acts as an easy way to pick up your check early to help avoid transition and cross-matches. This helps the Raptors a lot, as they’re one of the five best teams in the NBA at both limiting transition and defending transition possessions once they happen – and no one in the NBA is better at defending transition off of live rebounds.

Top 1 in ORBS, top 5 in transition allowed, top 5 in transition defended. A lot of effort.

Also, a small thing, and mostly a Gradey Dick thing: the Raptors are still one of the best BLOB teams in the NBA.

Now, there are individual success stories happening during the Raptors season, of course, but those are covered elsewhere. RJ Barrett has struggled lately with his efficiency, but overall has a had a strong run of creating for others. Dick has shown a willingness to run himself ragged and take difficult shots to open up easier ones for others. Ochai Agbaji has been much, much better this season than last. Davion Mitchell is making his case for a second contract. Jakob Poeltl has one of the best statistical stretches of his career.

What we’re waiting for now, mostly, is for Scottie Barnes to help the Raptors succeed at more than the effort – and for Immanuel Quickley to elevate that further once he’s back. Until then, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for new developments. So far, despite the results, pretty fun.

Have a blessed day.

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