This is an element that is obvious on the Raptors’ stats sheets for several meetings: Nick Nurse has reduced his rotation and only calls on seven players. There’s the usual major five, consisting of Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam, along with Precious Achiuwa and Chris Boucher off the bench. The five holders all exceed the average of 34 minutes of play, while the duo of interior substitutes exceed 20 minutes.
The rest of the substitutes must therefore be satisfied with the crumbs, and young people like Dalano Banton, Justin Champagnie or Malachi Flynn see very little of the floor. A surprising choice within a franchise that is rightly renowned for its internal development and for its willingness to empower young people.
The “trade deadline” to fine-tune the rotation?
But nothing is ever taken for granted for youngsters in the NBA, and this season Nick Nurse has found a combination that, for now, is working. The Raptors have indeed won six of their last ten meetings, Gary Trent Jr. is in the best shape of his career, Fred VanVleet is having a season worthy of an All-Star when Pascal Siakam always finds a way to have a positive contribution for his team.
A balanced has therefore settled in Toronto, and the results have recently been telling. Follower of “you do not change a winning team”, Nick Nurse does not intend to change his plans for the moment. His team wins matches, his players fight, and that’s all that matters to the tactician right now.
” I think they do a pretty good job of not thinking about all those minutes” he advanced after the Raptors win over the Heat tonight. ” Although they are constantly being asked about it, they remain focused on the matches. They are focused and giving it their all, none of these guys asked me out. I haven’t heard any of these guys say to me, ‘I can’t, I’m too tired. It satisfies me. They’re playing very hard, and I’m glad they’re getting results to reward their hard work.“
But such a short rotation is not viable over an 82-game season, with potentially the playoffs thereafter. The Raptors will therefore have to find a solution to relieve this septet.
With the “trade deadline” scheduled for next Thursday, February 10, the rumors and calls between GM will intensify and Masai Ujiri could be a buyer. We know with almost certainty that Goran Dragic will leave the ship, but can the Slovenian alone really provide an interesting counterpart? Unlikely, and the franchise will definitely have to factor draft picks into the equation to up the quality of the deals.
Mortgage the future to ensure the present, or keep this group and judge at the end of the season of its ceiling? Only Masai Ujiri has the answer.
Where to find the solution internally?
The other choice that presents itself for the GM and his coach is to simply turn to the young guard of Toronto. In addition to Banton, Champagnie and Flynn already mentioned, other young people are in the waiting room in Ontario. We think of Svi Mykhailiuk, Isaac Bonga or even the rookie from Louisville University, David Johnson.
Not enough to raise the ceiling of this team, at least not as much as a transfer for an assertive player could allow, but at least enough to give the executives a breather from time to time, in order to keep them fresh for the spring and the last straight line in the fight for the playoffs / “play-in”.
One thing is certain: the Raptors will certainly be present in the rumors of transfer in the coming days, as the “trade deadline” approaches. If the club is running at the moment, there are still around thirty matches remaining on the calendar and Masai Ujiri must certainly have a desire for the playoffs after last year’s disappointment. And to achieve that goal, the Raptors are going to have to expand their rotation, one way or another.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Fred Vanvleet | 44 | 38.6 | 41.6 | 39.1 | 86.6 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 7.0 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 21.5 |
| Pascal Siakam | 36 | 37.5 | 47.4 | 33.6 | 73.4 | 2.1 | 6.4 | 8.5 | 5.1 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 21.0 |
| Ogugua Anunoby | 34 | 37.1 | 44.3 | 34.7 | 75.2 | 1.6 | 4.0 | 5.6 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 3.0 | 18.7 |
| Gary Trent, Jr. | 40 | 34.7 | 42.9 | 39.7 | 80.5 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 18.2 |
| Scottie Barnes | 41 | 36.2 | 46.9 | 30.6 | 72.5 | 2.7 | 5.1 | 7.8 | 3.4 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 14.6 |
| chris butcher | 47 | 20.2 | 44.8 | 27.9 | 75.2 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 5.8 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 8.9 |
| Goran Dragic | 5 | 17.9 | 38.2 | 28.6 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 8.0 |
| Dj Wilson | 3 | 15.9 | 72.7 | 0.0 | 80.0 | 0.3 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 8.0 |
| Precious Achiuwa | 40 | 24.4 | 42.7 | 28.0 | 53.8 | 2.3 | 5.0 | 7.2 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 7.8 |
| Svi Mykhailiuk | 39 | 16.5 | 40.4 | 31.0 | 84.4 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 5.8 |
| Khem Birsh | 23 | 21.0 | 49.5 | 0.0 | 73.8 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 5.2 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 5.8 |
| Yuta Watanabe | 21 | 16.7 | 38.6 | 35.1 | 53.8 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 5.3 |
| Juwan Morgan | 1 | 27.4 | 66.7 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 |
| Tremont Waters | 2 | 20.9 | 25.0 | 22.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Dalano Banton | 39 | 11.8 | 41.1 | 31.4 | 69.2 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 3.7 |
| Malachi Flynn | 29 | 9.1 | 37.2 | 29.2 | 66.7 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 3.1 |
| Daniel Oturu | 3 | 9.1 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 60.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 3.0 |
| Justin Champagnie | 30 | 8.4 | 48.3 | 40.9 | 100.0 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 2.5 |
| isaac bonga | 13 | 5.1 | 23.1 | 25.0 | 66.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Sam Dekker | 1 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| david johnson | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
