Other reasons to watch the Raptors and other NBA games this season
Bob Roberts
If 5 gifted youngsters aren’t enough of a reason for you to watch the NBA this season, let’s continue on. Locally, we here in Toronto eagerly await the return of the Raptor’s number one man, Pascal Siakam.
After lighting it up in the Finals 3 seasons ago and receiving a contract commiserate with that performance and the promise of more to come, Pascal hasn’t delivered. If you listen to the reporting faithful and members of the Raptors organization, Pascal tripped into a very unfortunate series of events which culminated in shoulder surgery in the off season. It’s not up to me to determine what happened, no, instead it’s up to me to tell you he should be back on the floor early in the season, perhaps 5-10 games in. So he will not have had training camp and he won’t have had much time in the summer to practise and prepare for the rigours of an NBA season.
It would be nice to believe that he’ll come back ready to play, but I fear nothing could be further from what I expect. He’s going to have to get up to speed and strength and endurance and after the summer he’s had, that will take a good part of the first half of the season. The greater fear is that given the likelihood of many Raptor losses, Pascal will take it too personally, push himself too hard and aggravate his injury.
Whatever happens, it’s a big storyline and should prove to be an interesting story to watch unfold with the Raptors.
There are of course many Raptors of interest this season with so many new faces and fewer familiar ones. Will OG finally demonstrate what he is capable of for an entire season? Bleacher Report have him on their list of most likely to breakout this season. How will Fred handle the pressure of being the number one PG? What about the 2 second round picks? Will they get any floor time this year or will they be mainstays for the 905? Will any of the new players distinguish themselves?
As much as we focus on the core guys – and for good reason – the Raptors success this year is also going to be strongly influenced by the young players and new additions to the team. If one or more of this group – not including Scotty Barnes, we expect him to look like he belongs in the NBA on most nights – can breakout or be tuned in by the vaunted Raptor’s player development team, this team could well be on their way to a playoff berth.
Expect Nurse to use his get out of jail this season free card from Masai and tinker with many lineups and on court schemes. If they don’t expect to make the playoffs we could be treated to many unusual and seemingly unorthodox lineups and plays.
So it’s not just all about wins and losses for the Raptors this season and that’s a good thing. Next time: Outside of the Raptors what should we care about?