Toronto Raptors: Finding The Balance With Their Big Men

By Jordan Treske | Jan 21, 2016

Jan 6, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) controls the ball against Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) during the third quarter at Barclays Center. The Raptors defeated the Nets 91-74. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

With more than a few question marks surrounding them heading into the year, the Toronto Raptors are making it work when it comes to getting the best out of their promising big men.

One of the more intriguing questions heading into this season for the Toronto Raptors was their big man conundrum.

Yes, the team signed the young, but unproven Bismack Biyombo as well as re-signed their own promising big man Jonas Valanciunas to a contract extension over the summer, but the bigger story was trying to replace a player like Amir Johnson, the veteran who’s now playing for the Boston Celtics.

After all, Johnson blossomed into a very reliable big man (along with being a big fan favorite) over the course of his six years with the team and Raptors head coach Dwane Casey regularly rolled with him over Valanciunas with the game on the line over the last couple of seasons.

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That meant putting a good amount of trust in both Valanciunas and Biyombo in hopes they could each contribute in filling the void collectively that Johnson left behind and so far, that experiment has worked for the Raptors.

Both players balance each other out completely with Valanciunas being the more offensive-oriented big and Biyombo being the more defensive-minded big and that gives the Raptors plenty to work with, whatever the situation may be.

However, both Biyombo and Valanciunas are experiencing career years, or close to career years, in areas where they’ve historically struggled.

With Valanciunas, he’s delivered his usual consistent and efficient offensive production this season by averaging 12.2 points per game on 56 percent shooting from the field (per Basketball-Reference.com).

But where he’s shown the most improvement so far has been on the defensive end as he’s currently posting the lowest defensive rating (102) throughout his four-year career, along with swatting 1.3 shots per game.

Obviously that’s the impact of Casey and his coaching staff overhauling the team’s defensive scheme over the offseason, but it’s good to see that it’s been benefiting Valanciunas thus far.

As for Biyombo, he’s been as advertised.

In 22.8 minutes per game, Biyombo’s leading the team in blocks per game (1.5), defensive rebounds per game (6.0) and defensive rating (100) of the regular rotation players. His contributions defensively have been a big reason why the Raptors have made a resurgence on that end this year.

While his numbers offensively are still very pedestrian (5.5 points per game on 51 percent shooting from the field), Biyombo has shown signs of improvement in that department over the course of the year.

However, arguably Biyombo’s biggest contribution to the Raptors so far was when he started in place for Valanciunas, after he suffered a fractured left hand which forced him to miss a little over a month of action.

During that stretch, Biyombo averaged 6.7 points per game, hauled in 11.7 rebounds per game and swatted 1.9 shots per game as the Raptors went 11-6.

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The pairing of Valanciunas and Biyombo has worked out well for the Raptors, especially when you consider the doubt surrounding both of them before the season began.

With that said, they both still have plenty of room to grow with both of them still at the young age of 23.

Additionally, the question of whether either of them can prove they can be long-term starters/leading big men will be something the front office will have to watch over the next 18 months or so (when Biyombo’s current contract expires).

But that’s getting ahead of ourselves.

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There’s plenty to credit for the Raptors’ success this season as the team is starting to sit more comfortably near the top of the East and it’s hard to reason that the team solving their big man question by pairing Biyombo with Valanciunas isn’t near the top of that list.

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