Raptors centre Jonas Valanciunas broke a bone in his non-shooting hand during Friday’s 102-91 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, leaving Toronto with a large hole to fill should he see significant time out of the lineup.
The injury occurred as Valanciunas was fouled by Lakers guard Kobe Bryant rolling to the basket late in the second quarter.
The seven-footer was putting up big numbers for the Raptors, averaging 12.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game on 55.6 per cent shooting.
This isn’t the first time Valanciunas has dealt with hand injuries as he missed 18 games in his rookie season with a broken ring finger on his shooting hand.
Using his past injury history as reference, there’s precedent to believe Valanciunas could be shelved for quite some time, although he will not undergo surgery.
So then, how exactly do the Raptors make up for his absence? Realistically, there is no real way to replace Valanciunas, but Toronto’s going to have to try.
Here are a few internal options the Raptors may consider should the big Lithuanian see extended time out of the lineup.
Increased role for Biyombo
This certainly isn’t the prettiest option, but if Raptors coach Dwane Casey wants to stick with a more traditional lineup composition, starting Bismack Biyombo and giving him more opportunity is the way to do it.
He won’t do anything for the Raptors offensively (he’s still struggling catching the ball, after all), but he is Toronto’s best interior defender and shot blocker, so he’ll bolster the team’s defence from the get-go.
And even if he isn’t made a starter there’s still a good chance of a minutes spike coming his way as he’s the only other actual centre on Toronto’s active roster.
This solution won’t solve the lost offensive production, but it would, at least, keep some of the traditional Raptors’ rotations in check.
Centre by committee
Seeing as the Raptors don’t have much centre depth, another answer may be to rotate guys who aren’t normally centres into the role, most notably Patrick Patterson and Luis Scola.
Neither player is a good fit at the position, but they might be called upon because they’re capable of playing pretty good post defence, are adept within the pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop, and are good enough rebounders to make it work in short spurts.
Small ball
Sort of an extension of rotation the centre in small spurts, the league-wide trend to go small could play a big factor if Valanciunas is out for a while.
Should the Raptors play small this would likely mean that a player like Biyombo, Scola or Patterson would play the five, while more traditional wing players like DeMarre Carroll and James Johnson would slide over to power forward and someone like a Terrence Ross or DeMar DeRozan would have to play at small forward.
Casey has experimented with lineups like this before, but it’s never been long enough to make a real judgment on how effective small ball really is for the Raptors.
Bebe time
As mentioned before, the Raptors don’t have much in the way of centre depth on their roster right now, but they have called up Lucas Nogueira from Raptors 905 to help patch up the frontcourt.
Nogueira, raw as he may be, is a legitimate seven-footer with good shot-blocking instincts and a lot more offensive versatility than you would expect.
“It’s next man up,” coach Dwane Casey told reporters after Friday’s game. “He had a good game the other night, so hopefully we’ll have some minutes or a spot for him.”
Through four games played with Raptors 905 this season, Nogueira is averaging nine points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 blocks per game on 45.2 per cent shooting, including a 13-point, nine-rebound, nine-assist, four-block effort in the 905’s home opener.
He probably isn’t fully NBA-ready yet, but a long-term injury to Valanciunas would be a nightmare scenario for the Raptors, forcing extreme measures to patch it up.
Calling up Nogueira helps prevent completely switching up the rotations already in place. Even if he plays just sparse minutes and the Raptors opt to play smaller, having extra depth up front certainly can’t hurt.
Get ready, it’s Bebe time.
