League File | Standings | Schedule | League Leaders | Free Agents | Coaches | CSLO | D-League Standings | D-League Leaders | Player Potential Database

Toronto Raptors Season Preview - 2022/2023

Write updates about your team or the league here.
Post Reply
User avatar
blackice
Chairman of the Board
Posts: 4047
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 12:58 pm
Contact:

Toronto Raptors Season Preview - 2022/2023

Post by blackice »

....and we are off! The 2022/2023 season is about to begin and the Toronto Raptors are ready to face this challenging and potentially gruelling season head on. Pundits have the Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat and perhaps even the revamped Detriot Pistons as the favourites in the East. The Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers are poised to make a serious run at an Eastern conference berth as well. Where does that leave the Raptors? What is clear is that this is a team that will defend at an elite level and between Joseph/Waiters/Crabbe/Kawhi/RHJ the team is loaded with defense at every position. Jokic is by no means a rim protector or elite shot blocker but he will provide a steady influence at the center position and he is more then capable at defending his man and making the right rotations. We don't expect many opposing drives to leak given our perimeter defense and that will help our bigs tremendously.

Offensively the team is an interesting blend of shot making and ball movement. With the exodus of DeMarcus Cousins the team lacks a dominant low post presence but we are hoping that TJ Warren becomes a guy that can play inside and given his inside scoring potential he will have plenty of room (and minutes) to prove himself. Bell is not a guy that is going to give us double digit scoring numbers but with his 71 PAS rating he is a very intriguing offensive/passing hub who will provide elite playmaking and decision making at that PF and C spots. Given the high scoring capabilities of Joseph/Waiters/Kawhi/Jokic, we expect Bell to average between 4-6 APG, and that coming from a big is huge.

As for the rest, we will experiment with Waiters off the bench and our 3&D SG in Crabbe to start. Waiters is a nightmare for opposing 2nd units and his ability to rain 3's at an elite clip and to defend guards makes him a uniquely capable weapon for us. Obviously Kawhi is our best player and closer and with that said, he should have a good enough supporting cast to make it deep in the playoffs thsi year.

While the talk coming out of the league centers around the elite teams in the conference, we look forward to playing the dark horse and seeing the Toronto Raptors win their first championship.

Corey Joseph: Not a big name, but he's got big game. When you think about the elite two way point guards in the league you think of Kemba Walker/Eric Bledsoe/Elfrid Payton and even Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook. This is the year Joseph joins this illustrious group of point guards. He's already, statistically, right up there with any of them and he is a guy that is capable of 20/8/5 on good shooting percentages. If you took a look at his statistics last season and erased his name, you'd guess he's a two way star who impacts the game on both ends. He's a borderline elite playmaker who can do a bit of everything and we are happy we signed him to a below market value contract. He's a core piece.

Allen Crabbe: Again, not a name brand kind of guy but he is an elite 3 point shooter who can defend multiple positions with the best of them. He's not a guy that will shoot you out of games and is supremely efficient, not just from 3 but also from the floor. His low USG% fits well as a utility/glue guy for this team at the SG position.

Kawhi Leonard: Obviously he's the franchise, and at 31 he still has a few more elite seasons in the bag. This is a player who isn't going to score like Parker/Durant, but his overall two way game is up there with any star in this league. He's also a player who routinely shootings above 50 FG% and he's also an elite 3 point shooter as well. This might be the year he has a 50%/40%/90% split and we expect a career year out of him.

Jordan Bell: Maybe my favourite player on the roster, his elite rebounding, paired with his elite defense and rim protection is impressive. His passing and handles though make him, maybe, the most unique player in the league. Similar to Draymond Green, he can run the offense and find guys for easy baskets.

Nikola Jokic: Mr. Min himself, the guy who took a chance and bet on himself will be featured in our offense. His 71 SCR rating make him a dangerous offensive threat and he's been putting up 20 PPG so far in the pre-season. He's fairly efficient and has range to the 3 point line. We know he's not Cousins but if he can give us a solid 16/7 every night we will be that much harder to stop. He's also the only big we have capable of having big scoring nights.

6th Man – Dion Waiters: One of the highest 3PA guys in the league and he's a prolific scorer from every spot on the court as well. He's also quietly an elite defensive guard who will cause havoc for other teams 2nd unit guys.


Cory Joseph(30)/Dion Waiters(18)/Nigel Williams-Goss
Allen Crabbe(28)/Dion Waiters(10)/TJ Warren(10)
Kawhi Leonard(32)/TJ Warren(16)
Jordan Bell(8)/Rondae Hollis-Jefferson(30)/Travis Wear(10)/David Wear
Nikola Jokic(28)/Jordan Bell(20)/Cady Lalanne/Jordan Bachynski

Image
Ball is Life.

User avatar
ozymandias
Senior Vice President
Posts: 1295
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2018 4:14 pm
Location: Serbia
Contact:

Re: Toronto Raptors Season Preview - 2022/2023

Post by ozymandias »

Will be interesting to see how well Jokic is gonna do with that starter role

User avatar
drumr
Chairman of the Board
Posts: 3015
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2016 12:17 am
Contact:

Re: Toronto Raptors Season Preview - 2022/2023

Post by drumr »

You, Miami, and Boston might be the deepest teams in the East. I tried to increase depth this season as well and as a result I think the East is going to be one hell of a battlefield. Good luck! I'll be watching to see if Crabbe is a better fit for you than he was for me.
Cleveland Cavaliers

User avatar
emplep7
Commissioner & CSL Champ 2018
Posts: 6665
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 5:06 pm
Contact:

Re: Toronto Raptors Season Preview - 2022/2023

Post by emplep7 »

Definitely a solid team. I think its going to be a battle with the Celtics to the Atlantic crown and the East is definitely stronger this year so we will see what happens when the dust settles, but I can't see this team not in the playoffs. I do think your front court will be the thing that limits how effective you can be in the playoffs, but maybe they will compliment each other well.
Image

User avatar
blackice
Chairman of the Board
Posts: 4047
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 12:58 pm
Contact:

Re: Toronto Raptors Season Preview - 2022/2023

Post by blackice »

emplep7 wrote: Mon Feb 18, 2019 3:15 pm Definitely a solid team. I think its going to be a battle with the Celtics to the Atlantic crown and the East is definitely stronger this year so we will see what happens when the dust settles, but I can't see this team not in the playoffs. I do think your front court will be the thing that limits how effective you can be in the playoffs, but maybe they will compliment each other well.
Yeah between the top of the East (Detriot/Boston/Miami) and the next tier down (Cleveland/Chicago/Philly) the East is gonna be a war to get into the playoffs. We're off to a slow start but I'm fairly confident we'll be in the race for a top 4-6 seed when it's all said and done. We're going to experiment with Bell logging more minutes at the 5 and Kawhi logging more at the 4 to try and shore up our frontcourt. Jokic will still see major minutes off the bench.
Ball is Life.

User avatar
Myles
Gone But Not Forgotten
Posts: 3556
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2014 8:26 am
Contact:

Re: Toronto Raptors Season Preview - 2022/2023

Post by Myles »

Man, I don't know how I missed this.

I think my fear with this team now is that it's basically just a bunch of really good role players. I know I'm selling Kawhi, Waiters, and Joseph a little short, but none of them feels like they are the #1 offensive option on a great team. Jokic, Bell, Crabbe, Warren, RHJ, they all fill a role to be sure and are quality players, but I don't see any of them really stepping up and being the best player on the court on any given night, and it's far from certain that your top 3 can do that consistently. I believe in the overall talent level of this team, but to me the Raptors were at their best when they had another great player to take the pressure off Kawhi, first Drummond and then to a lesser extent DMC. I'm not sure that Waiters and Joseph can do that.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest