Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Raptors are Good but Not 'Great' and Decision Time Isn't Too Far Away
The Toronto Raptors are a good basketball team and at times they can look really good. But in a league as talented as the NBA these days, good just isn't good enough.
The Eastern Conference hasn't been as loaded as it is this season in a very long time. The Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks look poised to duke it out for conference supremacy again. The Cleveland Cavaliers look much improved. The Atlanta Hawks are working through their kinks at 13-10. The Philadelphia 76ers will eventually get healthy and return their star-studded lineup to the court. And, of course, there's the Brooklyn Nets with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving who can always cause problems.
Where does Toronto sit in that mix at 11-11 having just been blown out in back-to-back games despite having a nearly completely healthy roster?
"We're a pretty good team, just not great," Fred VanVleet told reporters Friday night in Brooklyn. "That gap is really big and it's hard to close. So we're working through that."
That's about what the stats say too. The Raptors rank 13th in net rating this season, 16th in offense, and seventh in defense. That's fine, but far from great, and on some nights it shows.
"I think we['ve] got to learn how to be a team," VanVleet added. "We have to learn to play together a little bit more. Be professional, be a little bit more ready to go. You can find excuses in this league every night. There are a million of them, or you can show up and play the game the way it is supposed to be played."
Too often this season showing up has been a problem for the Raptors. They rank 26th in the NBA in first quarter net rating and have constantly found themselves trying to claw out of massive first half holes. In their 22 games this year, they've led just eight times after the first quarter.
For a team with the offensive issues that Toronto has, that's a problem. It means constantly trying to pull off come-from-behind victories while wearing out the tread on the tires of the Raptors' most valuable players.
How do you fix that?
"It's about each individual just looking in the mirror, seeing how they can be better," VanVleet said. "We got some pretty good individual performances, but we've got to find a way to put it together as a team."
It's not time to panic right now for the Raptors, but decision time is coming. Dec. 15 is the unofficial start of the NBA's trade season when players signed in the offseason become eligible to be traded. After that, anything is possible for a team with so many pieces set to hit free agency over the next two years.
If they somehow become great or almost great, there's little doubt the Raptors will make a move to get better. They have all their future first-round picks and enough young and valuable players to go out and make a big splash. If, however, things start to go the other way, the trade ideas will too.
Further Reading
Raptors disappoint as 2nd Quarter of Season Begins With Loss to Nets
Gary Trent Jr. has thrived in 6th man role: 'He's a good weapon for us'
Gary Trent Jr. heats up off the bench but Raptors blown out by Pelicans
