The Toronto Raptors are a young team that feels a lot like an old one. It feels that way because the team’s been to the playoffs five straight seasons and its core has remained unchanged throughout, with DeMar DeRozan (nine seasons), Jonas Valanciunas (six seasons), and Kyle Lowry (six seasons) each in the midst of extended runs in Toronto. Add veterans Serge Ibaka and CJ Miles to that mix and the roster certainly doesn’t feel youthful.
But the Raptors actually had the NBA’s seventh-youngest roster this season, and the third-youngest of any playoff team, with an average age just over 25. Many key rotation pieces — OG Anunoby, Jakob Poeltl, Fred VanVleet, and Pascal Siakam — were even under the age of 25, and five of the eight Raptors who averaged 20 minutes per game or more were 25 or younger.
And, for many of those young players, the last three weeks represented their first significant NBA playoff experience. Four key members of Toronto’s roster — Anunoby, Poeltl, VanVleet, and Siakam — had combined for only 15 games and 65 minutes of playoff basketball coming into this post-season.
As a point of comparison, the 25-year-old Valanciunas came into the playoffs with 33 games and 853 minutes alone. Even Norman Powell, a 24-year-old who struggled to maintain a role in Toronto’s rotation this season and was completely out of it come the playoffs, entered this year’s post-season with 18 games and 133 minutes of experience.
This is all to say, a lot of Raptors were thrown into the playoff fire recently, some faring better than others. Let’s take a look at how the Raptors youngsters responded to their first big test, and what we learned about them over Toronto’s 10-game playoff run.
OG Anunoby
Let’s start with the good. Like, the really, really good. The rookie Anunoby, still two months shy of his 21st birthday, had an exceptionally strong post-season, playing more than 24 minutes per night and drawing some of Toronto’s toughest defensive assignments. He spent most of his time guarding two guys you may have heard of: John Wall and LeBron James.
Meanwhile, on the offensive end, Anunoby showed zero fear in taking and hitting big shots, averaging eight attempts per game while shooting 56 per cent from the field and 45 per cent from three-point range.
The gutsy three-pointer he hit to tie Game 3 of Toronto’s semifinal versus the Cleveland Cavaliers will be long forgotten due to the iconic shot James hit after it — but it shouldn’t be. Even James was singing Anunoby’s praises after the series.
“I think he has a bright future,” James said. “His future is now, actually.”
Guarding James one-on-one is an imposing challenge for any NBA player, let alone a rookie who was giving up 20-30 lbs in the matchup. But Anunoby more than held his own, and there’s a strong argument to be made that he was one of Toronto’s most consistent, and impressive, players in the playoffs.
“I thought OG did a heck of a job, as well as you can do against a player like LeBron who’s playing at a very high level,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said after Game 3 against the Cavaliers. “I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen Jordan, I’ve seen Kobe, I’ve seen Bird. And [James] is playing at that level right now. And I thought OG laid it on the line and made him work for every point.
“And the young man came down and made some big shots in some big situations. This season is going to be so productive for him, for his growth. For us to win the conference in the regular season, and him to be a big part of it, is just going to pay huge dividends for him.”
Jakob Poeltl
While Anunoby was Toronto’s best young player in these playoffs, Poeltl was its worst.
He began the post-season with a series of shaky performances, going a combined minus-23 in Toronto’s first three games of its first-round series with the Washington Wizards. He bounced back somewhat in Game 4 of that series, scoring 10 points and putting up a plus-3. But then he was back to a minus-9 in Game 5.
And after the Raptors dropped their first two games against Cleveland, Poeltl was removed from the team’s rotation entirely, not seeing the floor in Game 3 of that series, and playing only the fourth quarter in a Game 4 blowout. He was a minus-7 in that quarter, missing all three of his attempts.
It’s difficult to place just what happened to Poeltl in the playoffs. During the regular season, he was a big part of the success of Toronto’s bench, putting up a 7.6 net rating while playing in all 82 games. But Toronto’s second unit struggled mightily in the playoffs, and Poeltl’s minus-9.5 net rating was the worst among Raptors who played regularly.
It could just be that he ran into a slump at the worst possible time. But it could also be that he wasn’t fully prepared for the heightened pace and intensity of the playoffs. Considering how reliable he was in the regular season, it won’t be a surprise to see Poeltl return next year and continue to play well. But he’ll need to evaluate what went wrong for him over these 10 games, and do what he can to prevent it from happening again the next time he reaches the playoffs.
Fred VanVleet
If we learned anything about VanVleet this post-season it’s just how valuable he was to Toronto’s second unit. The Raptors bench struggled mightily without the injured VanVleet in the first round against the Wizards, but the moment he returned in Game 6 of that series, the unit instantly looked like itself again.
“We just added Freddy to the group — that’s the difference,” Casey admitted after that game when asked what caused the bench’s turnaround. “I was trying not to make a big deal out of it while he was out to keep our other guys motivated. But he was the difference.”
Beyond his impact on the players around him, it’s tricky to evaluate VanVleet’s individual performance in the playoffs. He was playing through a badly sprained right shoulder, and it clearly affected his shooting. While he shot 43 per cent from the field in the regular season, and was Toronto’s best three-point shooter at a 41 per cent clip, he went just 33 per cent from the field and 29 per cent from distance during the playoffs.
After the Raptors were eliminated, VanVleet admitted he’d been lying even to himself about how bad the injury was.
“It was something I just got accustomed to. It was pain but it wasn’t enough to keep me from playing,” he said. “It was just something that I was able to fight through and just try to go out there and battle. Obviously, I wish I would have been full strength for this team and this organization. But that’s the cards that I was dealt. I just tried to make the most of what I could do.”
VanVleet certainly could have been better. But his performance in the Cavaliers series has likely been underrated. He shot 4-of-7 from deep and scored 14 points in Game 2, and he was a plus-14 in Game 3. And the fact he was contributing at all in spite of his injury says a lot about his mettle.
Pascal Siakam
The playoffs were a quiet time for Siakam, who didn’t stand out much for good reasons or bad. That’s partly due to the fact he was limited to 18 minutes per game, surrendering a good amount of his usual playing time to Anunoby, who was having a stormer of a post-season.
Siakam was mostly called upon for his defensive prowess throughout the playoffs, spending the majority of his time guarding James in the Cavaliers series. But it’s worth noting he made the most of his offensive opportunities, shooting 61 per cent (25-for-41) from the field over the 10 playoff games, and hitting three of the four three-pointers he attempted.
Siakam is still very much a developing player, having only picked up the game of basketball eight years ago. This playoff experience can only help further his growth. Asked after Game 4 against Cleveland what he wants to do this summer, Siakam offered a simple response.
“I want to get better,” he said. “At everything.”
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