9. Toronto Raptors 2010s all-decade starting lineup
- Kyle Lowry
- DeMar DeRozan
- Kawhi Leonard
- Pascal Siakam
Three of these players, as you know, comprise the championship-winning core of 2019 for the Toronto Raptors. Part of what got this team to the title was the outside shooting of Danny Green, which makes the presence of DeMar DeRozan a bit questionable
DeRozan made his name up north, blossoming into a perennial All-Star and consistent 20-point scorer. He accomplished so much as Toronto’s leading scorer, but the presence of Kawhi Leonard relieves him of those duties.
It’s hard to imagine a player whose career-high in 3-point percentage is just 33.8 morph himself into a respectable off-ball presence.
Perhaps Pascal Siakam and Chris Bosh can make up the difference, although the latter was never one for outside shooting during his time in Toronto. Bosh, however, brings an elite offensive package from the elbow that makes for potentially interesting pick-and-roll combos with whoever’s handling the ball.
DeRozan’s lack of spacing is an issue, but not enough to sink the Raptors, especially given his tremendous scoring abilities that can come in handy when the shot clock ticks down.
Kyle Lowry was always a good player, but avenging past playoff demons took his reputation up a notch as someone who can perform at the highest level.
As we saw in the 2019 playoffs, the presence of Kawhi Leonard alone can get a team quite far. He’s that good at both ends and proved it en route to the title. Sometimes, a player his caliber is all you need.