5 reasons the Toronto Raptors may actually be better without Kawhi Leonard

1. Defense

Believe it or not, the TorontoRaptors defense is actually better without Kawhi Leonard. While Kawhi is one of the greatest defenders of all time, there is something to say about this discrepancy. The Raptors last season had a defensive rating of 106.8 (5th in the league) whereas this year they are boasting an incredible 104.5 (2nd in the league), according to NBA.com.

Although their offense is slightly worse (down to 111.6 from 112.6), the Raptors defense has been so good this year is has actually resulted in a better overall net rating (up from 5.8 to 7.1) for the Raptors.

This is honestly something that really surprised me about this Raptors team. Just by watching the games their offense appears more cohesive and their defense seems awesome but I certainly didn’t expect such a significant defensive increase without Kawhi.

While Kawhi is obviously an incredible individual perimeter defender, does it translate to the team defense as a whole? The LA Clippers this season have a defensive rating of 106.5, according to NBA.com, this is quite similar to the defensive rating of the Raptors last season.

Of course, the defensive numbers aren’t all on Kawhi Leonard, I would be interested to see if his individual defensive talents have a ceiling on what they provide to team defense.