The NBA is Sleeping on the Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors a couple years ago were recognized as being NBA champions, but over the past couple seasons, they’ve either been a mediocre playoff team or as more of recently, they’ve been outside the playoffs and just kind of rebuilding. But I think coming into this season, the Toronto Raptors are probably going to be one of the best teams in the NBA. And people don’t even realize that. And I’ll explain why. But before I get into the video, I ask that y’all go down and drop a subscription. I’ve been seeing the channel growth a lot and you know, I just want to continue keep growing it and I’d really appreciate it. Anyway, let’s get into the video. So, the Raptors last season basically were 25th in offense and they were pretty mediocre defensive team. Now, over the years, the Raptors generally have been a pretty all right defensive team. I think over the past couple seasons they’re around, you know, top 10ish, 15ish. 15 is pretty mid. But, uh, for majority of the past couple seasons, the Toronto Raptors finish as one of the higher, more elite defensive teams in the NBA. The problem that I’ve seen a lot with the Toronto Raptors over the last couple years is the offensive side of the ball. Not really having a designated first option. For those first couple years as more of recently, it’s been Scotty Barnes. And even in even this year, I would argue that there wasn’t really that much of a go-to offensive guy for the Toronto Raptors. Their lead scorer was RJ Barrett, but when you just watch him play and look at the game, do you really think RJ Barrett’s a number one go-to guy? I mean, his counting stats aren’t really necessarily that bad. He averaged 21 a game. uh he had a fair share of rebounding and assists, but the problem with RJ Barrett is that he’s just a jack of all trades and he’s very elite at playing the game of basketball. But the type of player that he is, there’s not really anything he’s good at and there’s not necessarily anything he’s bad at. And it kind of caps him out as a player because can we see him make an all-star leap? I mean, potentially. When the season started, I think R.J. was averaging like 26 and 8 for the first like miniature stretch of the season, but eventually just came back down to earth and, you know, finish the season off with his counting averages. And he has games here and there where, you know, you see the flashes of this slashing six foot seven combo guard that could get to wherever he wants, could get to the free throw line, knock down his free throws, and, you know, be consistent from three. I’d say one factor of RJ Barrett’s game that really hasn’t changed is the three ball. It’s pretty inconsistent. Shot around 34% this season. And yeah, I think RJ, the player that he is right now, that’s kind of the player that he is. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But when you’re looking to him to, you know, potentially be your first option or your second option, you know, you’re not really going to find that with RJ Barrett. And that kind of goes into my next topic, the Brandon Ingram trade. I do think this trade’s pretty beneficial. I know a lot of people, you know, they seen Brandon Ingram go to Toronto, they’re like, well, it’s just Brandon Ingram. But I think it’s pretty deeper than that. I’m really interested in seeing what Brandon Ingram can do because as like I said, there’s not really a first option on this team right now. You could say it’s Scotty Barnes, but when you look at his counting stats this year, they’re not really, you know, that eyepopping to you. I mean, his all-star season last the season before he averaged uh 19 like 20 points per game. He shot the ball way better. He shot 48%. This season he only shot 45%. And I get that he was injured, you know, for a part of the season, but this season’s really going to define Scotty Barnes. Is he really like a go-to guy for the Toronto Raptors, or is he just better suited just like this designated second option rule? But Brandon Ingram starts to year out, you know, being the main guy on offense, taking like 20 shots a game, averaging like 25, 27 points per game. I I think Brandon Ingram has the capabilities to do that. And I think his ability to just shoot the three, catch and shoot threes, um take it off the dribble in the mid-range area. He’s one of the best mid-range scorers in the NBA. I think his game just adds a different level of variety for the Raptors offense. And not to mention Emanuel Quickley. He’s just going to have the green light to shoot all the pull-up threes he wants. And in a sense, he kind of reminds me of Tyrese Maxi just on like a lesser volume. He doesn’t get as much shots as Tyrese Maxi gets. But Emanuel Quickley could go out and get you like 30 points a night if he really wanted to. He probably wouldn’t be the most efficient, but you know, he’s he’s that kind of guy. He’s like a very hot, streaky spark plug dude. But just looking at the Raptors team in a in general, I mean, you have Emanuel Quickley, Scotty Barnes, Brandon Ingram, Yaka Purle, uh Jacobe Walter, Grady Dick. His uh his sophomore season was pretty interesting. He averaged around 15 a game, I believe. Sharp shooter. I mean, he’s pretty nice. Not to mention drafting Colin Murray Boils. Like, this Raptors team’s pretty nice. And looking at the picture of the Easter Conference next year, I mean, there’s not really anything holding them back from being one of the best teams in the East. Now, I’m not saying they’re going to compete for a championship possibly. I mean, I am a Raptors fan, but you know, even I’m not that delusional, but I would not be surprised if the Toronto Raptors were maybe a top five seed in the East next season. I’m looking around and I don’t really see teams that can really compete with them. And you know, just pairing two forwards together like what the Magic are doing with Fron and Paulo, that always seems to, you know, get yield good results in the NBA. Now, it could just be another year of, you know, just being mediocre, maybe still potentially making the playoffs at like a lower seed, but I think Toronto, it’s time for them to take that jump again, get back into serious playoff contention, and just be one of the more recognized teams around the league because for the past couple years, they kind of just been chilling on the back burner. People haven’t really been talking about them like that. But anyways, that’s the end of my video. Uh, let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
The Toronto Raptors have been one of the more lowkey teams in the NBA for the past couple seasons, with the moves they made going into next season, are they prepared to rise to the top of the league once again?
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