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Midseason Grades For The Toronto Raptors

By Justin Rowan

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Oct 14, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Toronto Raptors forward Bruno Caboclo (20) and San Lorenzo forward Gabriel Deck (14) battle for position during the fourth quarter at Rogers Centre. Raptors won 122-105. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 14, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Toronto Raptors forward Bruno Caboclo (20) and San Lorenzo forward Gabriel Deck (14) battle for position during the fourth quarter at Rogers Centre. Raptors won 122-105. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports /

Not Ranked

I’m going to go ahead and lump Bruno Caboclo, Fred VanVleet and Jakob Poeltl together. These three players haven’t played a large enough amount of minutes to give them a fair grade.

For Caboclo, it’s probably time to give up on the experiment. When he was drafted, it was infamously stated by ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla that he was “two years away from being two years away.” That was three years ago and he doesn’t appear any closer to becoming a rotation player.

He’s played 89 minutes in the NBA over the last three seasons. Compare that to Raptors rookie Jakob Poeltl, who has played 226 this year.

Speaking of Poeltl, he does deserve some recognition to this point. The rookie has started two games for the Raptors this season and has shown flashes of his talent. While the game still appears to be moving too quickly for him, his defensive instincts are sound.

In addition to his instincts, he also has terrific mobility for someone his size.

The lack of opportunity for Poeltl this season is more about where the Raptors are at as a team. Jonas Valanciunas still sees the lion’s share of minutes at center. In addition to him, Lucas Nogueria is having a breakout season for Toronto.

So while Poeltl’s ability would warrant more minutes in a different situation, it’s just not possible with a Raptors team looking to contend.

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