The Toronto Raptors‘ 2017-18 regular-season debut is finally upon us. The Raps have promised a more modernized offence this season, with a mandate to create more three-point opportunities and move the ball more in an effort to improve on their league-worst assist rate last year. And while Toronto will rely as heavily as ever on their all-star backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, the team’s young players — like Norman Powell, Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl — will be thrust into important roles that will put their development to the test throughout the season.
But facing a depleted Chicago Bulls roster in the first year of what will be a major rebuilding effort, don’t expect to walk away from Thursday’s home opener with a clear idea of how it could pan out this season for the Raptors, in a game that should play out more like a glorified pre-season contest.
The Bulls are just flat-out bad this season. They traded away Jimmy Butler for guards Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn, both of whom are hurt (LaVine is out long-term with an ACL injury), and the first-round pick that became Lauri Markkanen, a seven-footer who shoots from distance with ease but has question marks surrounding every other aspect of his game. To make matters worse they lost their two best power forwards in Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic when the former punched the latter in the face during a fight in practice and got suspended by the team for eight games as a result (are the Bulls jockeying for lottery positioning already!?). Mirotic is out indefinitely, which at least gives Markkanen a clear role out of the gates at the four.
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The Raptors have their sights set on winning the East — a doable feat especially given the devastating Gordon Hayward injury that’s left the Celtics looking quite mortal — and by my guess will only have Cleveland and Washington to legitimately worry about in that pursuit.
So, needless to say these are two teams at the opposite end of the East’s spectrum. One is playing for first in the standings, the other for first in the draft.
Still, while you should expect a decisive Raptors victory Thursday night, that doesn’t mean it will necessarily be a total cakewalk for the home team. The Bulls may be depleted in talent (in their pre-game introductions at home during the pre-season the last player announced was Justin Holiday, so…) but their group plays with a ton of effort and they’re expected to really push the ball this season.
Projected Starting Fives
Raptors:
Kyle Lowry
Norman Powell
DeMar DeRozan
Serge Ibaka
Jonas Valanciunas
Bulls:
Jerian Grant
Justin Holiday
Paul Zipser
Lauri Markkanen
Robin Lopez
Raptors player to watch
While I’m personally quite excited to see what Poeltl can accomplish with consistent minutes off the bench, and what kind of reliable two-way punch both Powell and newcomer C.J. Miles will offer on the wings, tonight will be a good chance for Jonas Valanciunas to showcase his game.
He was as assertive as ever in the pre-season, averaging nearly 12 points and nine boards in just 20 minutes per game. Matching up with another traditional centre in Robin Lopez — who just might be Chicago’s best player (read that sentence again) — Valanciunas should have no problem staying on the floor and getting a chance to make an impact. The days of expecting (or, for some fans, begging for) a bigger role and more touches for the 25 year-old are over — he is what he is, which is to say, pretty solid. And while Casey will have a good opportunity to give Poeltl some extended burn if the game gets out of hand in the second half, this is one of the few teams the Raptors will match up with that aren’t really equipped to roll out a true small-ball lineup, meaning Valanciunas isn’t a threat to be exposed like he can be against other clubs.
Bulls player to watch
As mentioned, Holiday is Chicago’s de facto star this season, at least until LaVine returns, and if the pre-season is any indication the 28 year-old is ready for his close-up. He averaged just shy of 17 points per game in exhibition action, and scored exactly that amount versus the Raptors, sinking four of his five three-point attempts.
Markkanen, too, is coming off a pretty good exhibition season and was a flat-out star at EuroBasket this summer, so he should get a green light to let it fly. Also keep an eye out for point guard Jerian Grant (particularly if you play fantasy basketball), as he’ll have the ball in his hands often and can fill up the stat sheet in a hurry.
The Stat
41.4. That’s the number of three-pointers the Raptors attempted per game in the pre-season, second only to the Houston Rockets. The Raps never hit that number in any single game last season (their highest was 35), and while you shouldn’t expect that kind of a three-point barrage, it’s a clear sign that Casey and Co. aren’t kidding when they talk about prioritizing the long bomb. One worrying related stat? The Raps hit only 30 per cent of those pre-season threes, the fourth-worst mark in the NBA.
Intriguing sub-plot
Remember what happened the last time Serge Ibaka and the Raptors played the Bulls? Chicago may only have four players remaining from that squad, but for fans of NBA feuds thankfully Lopez is one of them.
Raptors-Bulls tips-off at 7:30 PM ET, with live radio coverage on Sportsnet 590 The FAN.
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