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Do the Raptors make sense in the modern NBA?

Amit Mann

Imman Adan and Oren Weisfeld discuss whether or not the Raptors have strayed too far from how most teams are creating their rosters. The full episode on modern NBA offences can be found on the 'Raptors Over Everything' podcast feed.

Video Transcript

IMMAN ADAN: I think the overall biggest thing is does this team make sense in a modern NBA, considering a couple-- like a year ago, I would have said this is the modern NBA, this is what you want. You want big wings who can do absolutely everything and now we're starting to see the limitations. Do you think that my assessment a year ago is correct or do you think we've learned maybe that this is not what a modern MBA looks like and that you actually just-- positions exist for a reason, and players exist for a reason, and shooting is necessary, and maybe this idea that you have just a bunch of Giannis Antetokounmpo-sized players on the court won't actually work.

OREN WEISFELD: Yeah, it's interesting. Like a year ago, I would have said the same thing.

IMMAN ADAN: Yeah.

OREN WEISFELD: And we touched on this at the beginning too is that a year ago, we didn't know that the NBA was going to trend this far--

IMMAN ADAN: Yeah.

OREN WEISFELD: --in the direction of offense and in the direction of every touch is a call--

IMMAN ADAN: Yeah.

OREN WEISFELD: --and where physicality isn't rewarded. Now, like, there's a real possibility that the NBA does adjust and doesn't want it to just be an offensive league and creates rules that favor the defense. And if that's the case, which I think it very well could be in the next few years, because--

IMMAN ADAN: Yeah.

OREN WEISFELD: --I don't think they're just going to let it run away, like, with this offensive explosion.

IMMAN ADAN: 175 to 176 in a game.

OREN WEISFELD: That game was thrilling, honestly. It was thrilling.

IMMAN ADAN: It was fun. It was fun.

OREN WEISFELD: It is. That's the weird thing, like, offense is thrilling. But what isn't thrilling is, like, touch fouls--

IMMAN ADAN: Yeah.

OREN WEISFELD: --on-- or sweep throughs, or, like, these foul bait shots, like, that is really tough to watch. So I think the NBA has to take some of that stuff away. I think that will favor teams like the Raptors if they do incentivize defense. But as currently constructed, just to give you an answer, I don't think this team is very modern. And the biggest reason is they're shooting.

IMMAN ADAN: Yeah.

OREN WEISFELD: Like they just don't have enough shooting. And every time you ask Nick about it-- the lack of spacing-- he says, well, I believe in Barnes, I believe that Siakam, these guys got to take shots. Maybe one day Barnes will be a shooter--

IMMAN ADAN: Yeah.

OREN WEISFELD: --but like as of right now, that's just not the solution, no matter how many times Nick Nurse says it. I think they need a more creative offense, in the sense that you have these three really good playmakers in the front court. All of them are above average playmakers, but they're not good shooters. So how do you unlock that? I think it has to be a little bit more creative. But, ultimately, they just need to bring in more shooting and then, like-- it's like what you said about, like-- you can't say much about this [INAUDIBLE] until they get a center. OK, my next thing is they need to get more shooting before you can really say--

IMMAN ADAN: It's fair.

OREN WEISFELD: --is this team, like, going to succeed?

IMMAN ADAN: That's fair.

OREN WEISFELD: Yeah, so I don't have a good answer, like I said. Like, we'll have to see--

IMMAN ADAN: Honestly, I spring that on you-- I don't think I have a good answer to that either, but it's a fun thought exercise or experiment to just think about what makes sense in a modern NBA--