The Raptors’ boat has a lot of holes right now.
The atmosphere surrounding the Toronto Raptors has completely changed in recent weeks. What was once a daring team attempting to defy the odds and slay Goliaths has devolved into a team with no identity that is now losing games it should have easily won.
The Raptors are one of the toughest and most inconsistent teams to watch on a nightly basis, having lost to the Miami Heat without Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo just a few days before being defeated by a Charlotte Hornets team without LaMelo Ball.
It doesn’t take a brilliant basketball mind to see that this team is in trouble. After all, how come a big three like Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, and OG Anunoby can’t seem to gel and start winning games? This team is clearly constrained by some deep-seated issues.
While Darko Rajakovic deserves some of the blame for the Raptors’ general inability to adapt and some perplexing decisions made in the heat of the moment, Masai Ujiri and the rest of the front office should also be chastised. This Raptors team has more issues than it did at the start of the season.
3 biggest problems with the Toronto Raptors in 2023.
3. Inadequate shooting
This has been an issue for years, and Masai Ujiri did little to address it this offseason. Dennis Schroder is an average shooter in terms of efficiency, Gary Trent Jr. has regressed significantly this season, and both frontcourt starters, Siakam and Jakob Poeltl, are complete non-factors from deep.
The worst part about this team’s lack of shooting is that Ujiri attempted to address it in the offseason by keeping Otto Porter Jr. despite trade speculation, drafting Gradey Dick, and signing Jalen McDaniels. Porter is injured again after 22 games, McDaniels is out of the rotation, and Dick is down in the G League with Raptors 905.
The Toronto Raptors still have few solid shooters.
While Barnes has made some notable positive strides in this area, it’s also fair to say that his admittedly impressive improvement is nowhere near large enough to compensate for half of his teammates regressing or flatlining in this area.
Banking on internal development isn’t a bad idea, but Ujiri seemed to believe that adding Rajakovic and hoping for his developmental magic would somehow fix everything is perplexing. The Raptors are once again suffering as a result of Ujiri’s optimism.
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