The Toronto Raptors begin the second half of their season Thursday evening after a tumultuous first half.
From a dreadful 2-8 start, to a long climb to make it to the .500 level and, finally, dealing with the realities of playing in the middle of a pandemic to close the first half of the season, the Raptors have had a roller-coaster of a season thus far.
Despite the up-and-down nature of the first half of the season, Toronto finds itself entering the second half in the playoff hunt, currently in the No. 8 seed of the Eastern Conference, and just two games back of the fourth-place Boston Celtics.
The Raptors own a 17-19 record after 36 games and have another 36 to play before the regular season is done. So, looking ahead to the second half, Sportsnet assembled a group of its basketball experts to answer six big questions about the team with its second half about to begin.
Looking back on the first half of the season, how much do you think playing in Tampa has affected the team? Will that become more of an issue in the second half?
Craig Battle, senior editor: There’s only so much “new normal” anyone can get used to in a year, and I would be shocked if it didn’t contribute to the team’s slow start. But the players and coaches have universally downplayed the effect of the displacement, and -- from the outside looking in -- I imagine having had time to settle into their temporary environs will make the second half a little easier than at first, not harder.
Donnovan Bennett, staff writer and digital host: They started the season 2-8. That says it all.
Anyone who has moved knows how taxing it can be. Now imagine moving an entire organization to a new city and country in the midst of a pandemic. Players split up from families, finding new homes, etc.
And on top of that you went from one of the best home-court advantages to a none at all. It would be disingenuous to argue that playing in Tampa hasn’t had an effect on the players and staff.
Brad Fay, host of Sportsnet's Raptors television broadcasts: I think the biggest issue was the unsettled feeling of finding places to live and getting their families all set. It should not be an issue in the second half. Coming back to Toronto at the midway point might have even proved to be a distraction, as many players would have had to go through the whole process again.
Michael Grange, senior basketball insider: I think how quickly everything had to come together to relocate -- the scramble for housing and the rest, coupled with a shortened off-season -- did put the Raptors a step behind, some more than others (Pascal Siakam springs to mind).
But I really feel that’s levelled out and shouldn’t be a factor from here on, with the caveat that if crowds are back in other buildings, the lack of a home floor could be an issue in the playoffs.
Steven Loung, NBA editor: Though the team tried to downplay it, I think the transition to Tampa in the early parts of the season played a huge role in the club’s 2-8 start to the season.
Players and coaching staff were scrambling around looking for living situations and the “home” games they played still felt like they were a team on the road with fans in the building very vocally cheering for the Raptors’ opponents.
Coming into the second half, some of these issues have been resolved and the impact won’t be quite as great, but the fact remains that the Raptors are basically homeless for the 2020-21 season.
Eric Smith, Raptors play-by-play announcer on Sportsnet 590 The FAN: I think it has been huge. Tampa isn't home. The Raptors had a stretch in February where they played nine out of 10 games on the road with one lone game in Tampa. That, to me, epitomized the hand dealt to the them. Every game is a road game.
Maybe in the second half, with longer stretches at “home” they'll plant their roots more, but this season is a major challenge to say the least.
Who has been the team's MVP so far?
Battle: Fred VanVleet. More than anything, he’s stayed healthy and avoided duds, scoring in double digits in all but five games. He’s averaging a career-high 20.1 points per game, chipping in across the board beyond that, and getting all-defensive team buzz. The next step for his offensive game will be hitting on a higher percentage of two-pointers, as he’s hitting on just 40 per cent of his shots from the field.
Bennett: VanVleet. He’s been the most consistently impactful player on both ends and his effort didn’t slump when the team went in a funk.
His continued ascension after getting paid is one of the few bright spots this season.
Fay: VanVleet, followed closely by Kyle Lowry, who is always in that conversation.
Grange: VanVleet.
Loung: The answer to this is obviously VanVleet, but I want to give some love to the defensive wing trio of Stanley Johnson, Yuta Watanabe and DeAndre’ Bembry. If not for their emergence, the Raptors wouldn’t have been able to turn their season around the way they did, getting back to some of their old defensive principles.
Smith: VanVleet. And he was robbed of an all-star nod as well.
What was the biggest highlight and lowlight of the first half of the Raptors' season?
Battle: The biggest highlight was VanVleet’s 54-pointer.
The lowlight was Siakam’s shaky start to the season and the overwhelming feeling that something was way off. It didn’t help that Toronto’s first win came with Siakam benched for leaving the court early in the Raptors’ loss to the 76ers.
Bennett: VanVleet going for 54 is the highlight. He could have had even more if he started hunting for shots but that would have been out of his character.
He’s been a star for a while, but that statement game put the league on notice and allowed him to get his flowers from the international media even though his value has been clear to Canadian basketball observers for a while.
As for the lowlight, the contingent of players and coaches being ruled out due to COVID protocols has to be it.
It ended up impacting play with a postponed game and then eventually shorthanded losses, but the more important aspect is COVID-19 and its implications are serious and scary.
First and foremost, you want everyone involved to be as healthy as possible and keep their families safe. Which is why, given what we know about contact tracing, the Raptors likely shouldn’t have played after Siakam was initially ruled out due to the protocol. As much as the league wants to stay on schedule and get as many games in as possible, risk mitigation and spread prevention should be priority No. 1.
Fay: VanVleet’s 54 was one for the ages. You could make a case that an undrafted player scoring 54 in his career would have been beating the odds. It was incredible.
The lowlight was within that 2-8 start when they kept finding ways to lose.
Grange: VanVleet’s 54-point game was the highlight. Just amazing.
The lowlight was Siakam getting suspended by the team after walking off the floor vs. the Sixers. The Raptors won against the Knicks but then dropped the next two games and it really felt like the team’s foundation was cracking.
Loung: VanVleet’s franchise-record 54-point game is the highlight and there can be no other. What a remarkable performance.
As for the lowlight, there’s a few options to choose from but I’m going to go with a moment that, to most people, was probably the biggest highlight of the year: Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Anthony Edwards’ massive dunk over Watanabe.
For as feel-good a season Watanabe has been enjoying, he’ll now only be remembered around the league as the guy who Edwards went up and damn-well nearly ended his life with a spectacular jam.
Smith: VanVleet’s 54-point performance was the highlight. As for the lowlight, perhaps not being able to play in Toronto? If not that then I'll go with the 2-8 start.
We’re two weeks out from the trade deadline. Who is the biggest name on the Raptors that will be dealt, if any?
Battle: To say Lowry here assumes a lot (that Lowry wants out; that the Raptors are not interested in making a run this season; that there’s a deal out there that returns an asset; etc.), so I won’t say Lowry. If I’m guessing, I say the Raptors do something around the margins, potentially with Matt Thomas, Stanley Johnson or Patrick McCaw going the other way for a back-end rotation big or a pick.
Bennett: Lowry is the biggest name, but I don’t think he’s going to be traded. Thus, Norman Powell is the answer.
Fay: Powell would be an attractive piece but the return would have to be significant. He has made himself so valuable.
Grange: Stand pat Raps, I say.
Loung: Lowry isn’t going anywhere, and Powell is far too valuable to the team’s success this season to trade, so I think the Raptors just end up doing the boring, responsible thing and stand pat at the deadline.
Smith: I'm not convinced that anyone big will be traded.
And I've avoided fantasy trades for 25 years so you're not going to pull me down this wormhole with you guys about any of the key players on the roster.
No Raptor made the All-Star Game. Will any Raptor be in the mix at end-of-season awards time?
Bennett: If Chris Boucher doesn’t win Most Improved Player they should abolish the award. His toughest competition might be teammate VanVleet.
Fay: Boucher for Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of Year and VanVleet for one of the All-Defensive teams.
Grange: Boucher should get some love as a Most Improved and Sixth Man candidate and VanVleet should get All-Defensive team consideration. Anunoby should, too, but will likely have missed too many games.
Loung: VanVleet should be on one of the All-Defensive teams and Boucher might get some Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year consideration, but whether or not he wins any of those awards might come down to how well the Raptors as a team performs in the second half of the season.
Smith: If All-NBA counts, maybe. Otherwise, in spite of how well some of the guys are playing, I don't know that there's an MVP, Sixth Man or Defensive Player of the Year (et al) in the mix.
Boucher, currently, probably has the best shot -- battling many around the league for Most Improved honours.
Last year, the Raptors finished their 72-game season with 19 losses. This year, they hit 19 defeats in 36 games. Will we look back on this season as a momentary blip, or is this the beginning of a longer transition period for the team?
Battle: The latter. While I won’t put money on Lowry getting traded at the deadline, I don’t expect to see him in a Raptors uniform on opening night next year. That means you’re fully transitioning to a team built around VanVleet, Siakam and Anunoby, which is a solid foundation, especially defensively, but still at least a couple of foundational pieces away from contention. It will take time for the team to acquire or -- more likely -- develop those pieces, especially since the once star-studded 2021 free agent class has thinned out considerably.
Bennett: We’ll look at this season as the last year of a graceful aging process. After all, a year ago, Miami went from a borderline playoff team to an NBA Finalist.
The transition from contender to pretender and vice versa happens fast in the modern-day NBA. What we’re seeing now is the Raptors’ floor. They have too much institutional knowledge and are too competitive a culture to fall off too hard. The question, however, is in an ever-competitive Eastern Confernce, how long it will take to transition back to championship level?
Now, if in a year from now they have lost Lowry and Masai Ujiri all for nothing, after losing Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka (also for nothing) then that’s a different story.
Fay: Definitely a blip -- and in a weird East, this “off year” could still prove fruitful. Their core is locked up and they’re one player away from battling for the top of the conference for the next 3-5 years.
Grange: I think the core they have can keep them in the playoff mix for a while, but it’s hard to see this group being Finals contenders as constructed unless someone like Anunoby -- no, Anunoby exactly -- really pops in the next 12 months or so and transitions from elite role player (the neighbourhood he’s in now) to become a two-way wrecking ball -- which is an optimistic reading of his ceiling, but not completely out of the realm.
Loung: The future is now for the Raptors. The core trio of Siakam, VanVleet and Anunoby must continue to grow if they’re going to have any shot in the future.
So while the team may stumble this season, just view it as important baby steps for a club that’s doing its best to transition between eras without much drop-off.
Smith: I guess that depends on how we’re defining this so-called transition period.
Heck, a 50-win season still adds up to 32 losses! Point being, I'm not sure I'm judging this team by regular-season losses, I'm judging them by playoff berths and, ultimately, post-season success (or failure).
