Toronto Raptors: 2018-19 NBA season preview
Predictions
The Raptors might not make the NBA Finals this year. This team has a completely revamped core from last year, so things might not be as smooth as many fans expect them to be.
Danny Green will break out this year in a complementary role. Despite the fact that he is in his early 30s, he’s never had the chance to be a team’s third option in their offense. With the Spurs, for years he had Tim Duncan, Leonard and Tony Parker in front of him as their go-to guys on offense, never really having a fair shot to shoot the ball very often. We’ve seen him explode at times as he is prolific from 3-point land, and this year, he’ll most definitely be the third option behind Leonard and Lowry, which indeed leads to another prediction.
Jonas Valanciunas will take a step back in scoring, but will make serious strides as a playmaking big. After all, head coach Nick Nurse is expecting him to have a bigger role in the team’s overall passing, per the Toronto Sun:
"“We are expanding his offensive responsibilities a little bit,” Nurse said. “I am hoping to give him more chances to defend different people. He’s got to be able to guard more than just the 5 in today’s NBA game. You guys know we have a one-on-one tournament every day. That isn’t just for the offensive guys. “That’s for guys like JV to have continual reps of playing against Kyle [Lowry] and Fred [Van-Vleet] and Norm [Powell] and guys he could end up on. More involvement in the offense, not necessarily scoring or shooting, but handling and passing. He needs to be a really good screen setter and he has got to be a more than solid defensive player.”"
How Nurse will craft this offense to go through the hands of Valanciunas (with Lowry as the primary ball-handler, of course) is yet to be seen, but it’ll be an interesting sight to see if he develops into a Lithuanian John Stockton, for sure.
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Per Odds Shark, Las Vegas has the Toronto Raptors winning approximately 55.5 games, and to be honest, it’s possible that they’ll go over that total. In fact, winning 60 for the first time in franchise history is not out of the question. It’ll all come down to whether the Raptors can reel off a series of impressive wins like they did last year, as they won 11 straight late in the year, finishing a game away from the 60-bomb. For now, Toronto fans have a lot to look forward to.