In what position in the comments section of some of my off-season works Raptors Needs improvement in the off-season. In this team, I think it’s missing a point.
Pascal Siakam When Scottie Barnes It was essentially a backup point guard Fred VanVleet Last year, the Raptors were aggressively trying to get into it, but they never left. In the perfect world, they want VanVleet to play off the ball. Similarly, Chem birchIn fact, no single player was much more likely to play or defend as a big rather than a wing.
What we really need to focus on is skill, not position. Traditionally, the center protects the post player and sets the screen, while the point guard sets the attack and acts as a point of attack defender. These links are still largely strong, but are becoming more and more dilute, and their dilutity is even more pronounced in the Raptors.
Therefore, focus on the skills that the Raptors need to add this offseason and the players who can target their roster with free agencies and drafts. Keep in mind that the second round pick is unlikely to be immediately useful.
Other Raptors Off-Season Content: Primer | Free agent target | Draft target | John Holinger Q & A | Mail bag, parts 1 When 2 | Trade layer
1. Secondary playmaking
Between VanVleet, Siakam and Barnes, the Raptors have three players. All of these players have enough time to play and can be reasonably well created for other players. In fact, the hope is that at least two veterans will play less than last year. But the biggest reason they played so much was because the nurse didn’t believe he could continue the attack if everyone outside the group was sitting.
The Raptors had the lowest assist rate in the league between 2021 and 22. That approach is not the exact opposite of an efficient breach, but the Raptors do not have a single scorer that is efficient enough to avoid the movement of the ball. The half-court attack was terrible during the regular season. Playmaking is naturally associated with this problem, but more creators are essential to unbalance defenses.
Internal candidates for improvement: Almost everyone, especially Burns, OG Anunoby When Malachi Flynn
Free Agency Targets: Malik Monk, Tyus Jones, Victor Oladipo, Delon Wright, Kyle Anderson
Draft target: Darren Terry, Wendell Moore Jr., Andrew Nembhard, Jean Montero
2. Shooting
As mentioned above, team playmaking tends to look much better when players can hit semi-contest shots. The Raptors were ranked 19th in Catch and Shoot 3 and 15th in Makeup, which were tried per game. It was also ranked 24th with a pull-up 3 accuracy. Without VanVleet in the latter realm, they weren’t essentially a threat.
If Siakam and Burns are the two main playmakers, more spacing will be needed. Both can improve handling, but these are long wingspan players and can only hold the dribble firmly to the body. If all driving lanes are obscured by help waiting for the defender to reach out, the solution is to kick the pass. If those guys can’t make sure they hit the shot, they have more frustrating possessions, which inevitably leads to more disputed two-point shots.
Internal candidates for improvement: Most people, especially Burns, Siakam, Chris Boucher (If he returns) and Justin Champany (ibid.)
Free Agency Targets: Monk, Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton, Mobamba, Otto Porter Jr., Bryn Forbes
Draft target: Moore, Christian Brown, Jaylen Williams
3. Rim protection
The conversation about whether the Raptors should make such an aggressive and pressured defense was certainly tired as last season progressed. Given that it requires a lot of energy and the best players in the Raptors recorded more time than any other group in the league, it’s natural to wonder if it asked them too much. is.
But in reality, the Raptors didn’t have an elite trim protector that allowed them to provide more conservative defenses. Of the 200 players who defended at least 200 shots within 6 feet of the rim last year Precious Achiuwa Ranked 18th, it enabled a success rate of 54.7%. after that? 39th place Fred VanVleet. In honor of VanVleet’s vertical defense, we need a player with a slightly larger size quoted in this metric. (Siakam was right behind him with a much larger sample for fairness.)
The Raptors are still devoted to aggressive planning, so they have to spend a great deal of resources on this issue. But last year, Burns defended 499 shots within 6 feet, making the team the most comfortable shot. Opponents shot nearly 60% in these attempts. He can improve, but it would be useful if the Raptors could abandon the pace change option.
Internal candidates for improvement: Burns, Anunoby, Darano Banton
Free Agency Targets: Isaiah Hartenstein, JaVale McGee, Mitchell RobinsonBamba, Portis
Draft target: Christian Koloko, Walker Kessler, Ismael Kamagate
4. Boundary defense — especially small guards
A longer, multi-positioned defender that the Raptors can throw to the floor will make Nick Nurse happier. It makes sense because it looks like a league trend.
However, there are still many crimes that rely on the glow of smaller, faster guards, and the Raptors often struggled to protect their players well, especially after VanVleet was endangered by a knee injury. .. Tyrese MaxeyThe excellence in the playoffs only confirmed that. Length is a characteristic that can confuse those players, but so is lateral agility, and the Raptors felt lacking it as of last season.
Internal candidates for improvement: Burns, Flynn, Banton, Gary Trent Jr.
Free Agency Targets: Gary Payton II, Jevon CarterWright, Oladipo, Cody Martin, Bruce Brown, Austin Rivers
Draft target: Marjon Bochamp, Brown, Moore
(Photo of Nick Nurse and Raptors: Cole Burston / Getty Images)
