I’m currently working on a video about the Raptors first 20 games (Spoilers: They have been as expected which is to say not very good but not very bad) and wanted to throw out some of my observations for how things have gone so far.

On Dennis Schroder:

• I was not a fan of the Dennis signing in the offseason due to his lack of shooting
• Schroder had a hot start and is in contention for the best free agent signing in Raptors history
  • This is not a compliment despite Dennis playing quite well
• That said, Schroder’s hot shooting has come down to earth and he’s now shooting 35.5% from 3
  • Currently, Dennis is averaging 15.9 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 assists on less than 2 turnovers (1.) per game - Still good but not the otherworldly hooping that Dennis opened up the season with
• Schroder was a good signing in a vacuum - the problem is that these decisions don’t exist in one and this team is going to have a gaping hole at the PG position in a few years when - and this is assuming Dennis isn’t traded or leaves next year - Schroder inevitably declines unless the plan is for Scottie Barnes to eventually shift to the PG position
  • This is yet another issue with the roster construction: Veteran talent is certainly important to cultivating a certain culture but while the team overall isn’t “old”, there’s a fair amount of key players who will likely have declined by the time Scottie Barnes reaches his prime
    • Yes the FO can make moves to retool around Barnes between then and now but the clock is ticking as Scottie’s extension talks will be coming this summer
• An aside: I get that he’s the lead PG but Schroder’s touches have skyrocketed and he should not be 1st or 2nd on a given night

On Darko:

• Evaluating if a coach is doing their job is really hard
  • There’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes we’re not privy to and there’s only so much criticism one can get for a rookie coach - especially with the talent he has on hand
• The 0.5 offense at the very least seems to be a system that the players have bought in to though the results of that…we’ll get in to it later
• There are some weird concerns that are starting to crop up, namely some odd comments (and no i’m not talking about him saying he likes hands) and poor rotations
  • The “4 bench, 1 starter” lineups generally don’t work, mostly because of the overlapping skills of the bench forwards and the starting forwards, and the lack of ballhandling in those lineups
  • Darko saying to “have fun” when the team is down by double digits to the Spurs is…not encouraging when trying to build a winning culture
• Darko is doing the best with the roster/talent he has…which is to say…

On the bench:

• It’s still bad; for scoring alone, the Raptors are 2.2 PPG separate from the worst bench
  • At the time of their 20th game’s conclusion they were the 8th worst bench in scoring
  • This is actually worse than last year’s bench since they’re getting more minutes and roughly the same level of productivity
    • The bench is shooting a paltry 32.7% from 3
• It looks better when you get in to the individual players…but not by much
  • Precious has picked up the intensity on defense of late but he’s still chaotic and inconsistent on offense
  • Gary Trent Jr. is having the worst shooting season of his career, notably being sub-60 percent from the free throw line and 36.4% from 3
    • Sidenote: This team is dead last in free throw percentages and everyone aside from Scottie Barnes & Dennis Schroder is on a down year shooting
  • Chris Boucher has quietly been a sniper…on the less than 2 3s he’s been taking though he’s one of the few bench players who’ve gotten less minutes but he’s still making some of the same silly mistakes on defense you’ve come to know and love Boucher for i.e. biting on the pumpfake deal of the day
  • Jalen McDaniels has been so bad I almost forgot he was on the roster until Darko squeaked him back in to the roster and then I remembered it took him 5 games to score a single field goal
  • Thad Young’s corpse is still on the team

On Malachi Flynn:

• Malachi looks more confident, his shooting is…still not amazing but it’s at least there in theory and he isn’t shying away from letting the ball fly
• The defensive intensity has been notable from Flynn and he’s been playable on that end
• Flynn has definitely improved as a backup PG…but you’d still take someone like Nembhard or Mitchell (the PG one) off the bench over him

On Gradey Dick:

• He’s played 13 games
• …And he hasn’t looked great in those games?
  • He does a lot of the little things you like to see, his passing has shined in quite a few moments under the 0.5 system
  • But the shooting has been bad and Dick is amongst the lowest in field goal percentage and it looks like it’s affecting his confidence i.e. afraid to shoot
• Did I mention it’s only been 13 games he’s been fielded?
  • He’s played more games than Jarace Walker who was taken earlier and hasn’t even cracked double digits in games played
  • Like Walker he’s spent several games in the G League of late and he looked great in the most recent game
• It’s way too early to call Dick a bust but considering the impact other rookies in his range have had on their teams (Keyonte George, Jordan Hawkins), one can’t help wish his impact was as immediate at those two

On Siakam:

• Look…we all know the front office wants to trade him
• They tried to trade him (The Pacers and Hawk had packages which ultimately fell through due to the lack of commitment to an extension from Siakam) in the offseason
• They are likely going to be making calls to trade him closer to the deadline
  • Sidenote: It’s not Siakam’s job to get a good return for Siakam in a trade and Bobby Webster is at fault for not being decisive at last year’s deadline/on draft night
• It almost feels pointless to talk about a player like Pascal who I don’t even expect to be on the roster but his 3-point shooting being a career worst 19.8% when factoring in how many more 3 point attempts he has compared to his rookie season at a touch over 4 per game
• Other than that, Pascal is doing Pascal things and he’s gotten better as the season has gone by, mostly by way of his touches going way up

On Scottie Barnes:

• Similar to Siakam, it feels almost pointless to talk about Scottie Barnes because we all know and have seen his improvements on offense and defense
  • His shot looks more smooth and he’s far more comfortable taking 3s, and it’s resulted in a career-high 38.2%, and at around 5 attempts per game, that’s pretty impressive
• He’s still not perfect on defense i.e. faster guards still get by him but in general his help and 1-on-1 D are stellar
• His playmaking is just as poignant as always, which is what makes it a shame no one seems to be able to convert the good looks he’s generating them
• His aggression is still a bit of an issue but when he’s on (or it’s the 4th quarter), he is playing some beautiful bully ball in the paint

On the record:

• 9-11 is not as bad when factoring in opponents and there have been impressive wins in there such as the recent win against the Suns
  • That said, against 0.500 teams, the Raptors are a paltry 5-9
• Ugly losses to the Bulls and Blazers would probably give a more positive outlook on this team and its future
  • The problem is they lost those games and we’re 9-11 instead of 11-9
• This team has a bad habit of digging themselves into a major hole in the first half for them to dig out of in the 2nd
• A similar record to last year or slightly better (42-45 wins) seems like it’s possible…
  • But since Siakam is most likely gone (and with the recent rumors about the Raptors being worried about O.G. it’s possible he’s traded too), the team is unlikely to achieve that level of success, which wasn’t particularly high of a bar to accomplish in the first place