Toronto Raptors: Biggest strengths and weaknesses for 2017-18

Weakness No. 2: 3-point shooting

It’s no secret that the Toronto Raptors aren’t an elite 3-point shooting team. Last year, Toronto finished 21st in 3-point makes per game, 22nd in 3-point attempts and 13th in 3-point percentage.

However, they did address their long distance shooting woes in the offseason. Toronto traded Cory Joseph to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for sharpshooter C.J. Miles. Miles, who turned pro straight out of high school in 2005, made 2.2 3-pointers a game on 41.3 percent shooting last year.

Another factor that could improve Toronto’s 3-point shooting is increasing DeMar DeRozan’s ball-handing duties. Dwane Casey told SportsNet that he would give DeRozan more time at the point guard position.

"“We got to have a better mentality of ball movement, man movement and spacing. DeMar DeRozan, have him handle the ball a bit more as a point guard, a facilitator, a passer. Kyle Lowry moving the ball a bit more, spacing up. We don’t want to give our whole ‘what we’re going to try to do next year’ away, but again it comes down to passing the basketball and better spacing more so, than we know, one-on-one play.”"

This makes a lot of sense. Lowry, Miles and Serge Ibaka are more capable 3-point shooters than DeRozan, so the ball should be in his hands while his teammates space the floor.

The Houston Rockets, Cavaliers, Celtics and Warriors made the most threes in the NBA last season, and each team also finished with a top five record. It’s not a coincidence — in order to win in the modern NBA, teams have to convert from downtown.