Preseason Record: 3-2
The Toronto Raptors accidentally tanked last season, and this year they are looking like a team who is planning to fight their way back up the standings. If they can rebound as the team that almost made the Conference Finals two seasons ago, they will quickly move up these rankings.
For now, the reality of the changeover that has happened around their core holds them in a tension of uncertainty. How does Scottie Barnes look as a rookie, and is he a point guard offensively or a playmaking big? Is Malachi Flynn capable of becoming a starting point guard? Does Goran Dragic have anything left in the tank?
Nick Nurse is still an elite head coach, and he will have this team ready to play every night with some sort of opponent-specific wrinkle. Lineups combining Barnes, OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam are tantalizing, even more so if you add Chris Boucher to give maximum shot-blocking, rim running impact.
Bold Prediction: OG Anunoby leads the team in scoring. Siakam is out for at least a few more weeks to start the season, and for all of his offensive ability, VanVleet is best cast as a secondary scorer. Enter Anunoby, who has grown in leaps and bounds every season since entering the league. He is already a premier perimeter defender, but last year he increased his scoring by over five points per game. If he does something similar this year he will lead the team in scoring.
He did just that this preseason, averaging 19.3 points per game in just 25.1 minutes, hitting 54.2 percent of his 3-pointers. It’s very reasonable to think he can carry that over into the regular season. Anunoby could become this franchise’s fifth different All-Star in the last five years.