The Toronto Raptors have dealt with numerous struggles this season and not all have been their fault. they’ve had to play their home games in Tampa Bay, almost 1,400 miles from their home in Toronto. They have dealt with multiple stints of COVID absences for almost the whole season. Some of their stars have struggled and they haven’t fielded a great team much this season. The Raptors can only do so much if COVID will continue to hurt their availability, but there are still some things Toronto can do.

The Raptors are currently 20-32, 11th in the Eastern Conference. They are three games behind the Chicago Bulls for 10th and a spot in the play-in. There are some who think that the Raptors don’t want to win and that they prefer their season continue to trend downward for a better pick. There is certainly validity to that stance, but operating under the assumption that the Raptors want to win, here are four things they can do to change their season around.

1) The Return of All-NBA Siakam

Pascal Siakam had a rough start to the season this year. He was thrust into a position as the main playmaker on the team. He was being very inefficient and he was really struggling to create for others. Over time, he has improved again and he is getting close to returning to his pre-COVID form.

Siakam at his best is one of the best rim finishers in the league, excellent at generating rim pressure, and a versatile player on both ends. He is a game changer when he is playing at his highest level. He was an All-NBA performer and returning to that level fundamentally changes the Raptors as a team.

2) Utilize the Newfound Bench

The Raptors struggled with bench depth early in the year, but they made some savvy moves at the deadline to change this. Gary Trent Jr has already made an impact. Some of their other players have begun to step-up too. Rookie Malachi Flynn is proving to be a very steady back-up point guard. Paul Watson and Yuta Watanabe are both solid wing/forwards. The Raptors’ newfound bench could be very helpful.

Malachi Flynn is an impressive pick and roll point guard and Gary Trent Jr is an electric scorer. They are also both very young and their development is paramount to the future success of the Raptors. The Raptors can simultaneously develop young talent and have a strong bench presence at the same time.

3) Experiment With the Wings

The Raptors are full of talent at the wing, including the previously mentioned Paul Watson and Gary Trent Jr, and also O.G. Anunoby, DeAndre’ Bembry, Jalen Harris, Rodney Hood, and Stanley Johnson. Wings are the most valuable type of players in the NBA because of the versatility they grant a team. The Raptors should 100% be exploring that versatility.

The mechanism for exploring the studio space with these wings is as varied as the outcomes. Bembry has some point guard skills, so maybe experimenting with him there could be something. The Raptors could capitalize on on all wing line-ups or experiment with positions and they could potentially find something that really works.

4) Use O.G. More

Anunoby is an elite wing athlete with some ability as a shooter and slasher. However, despite his mix of tools, he only has an 18.3% usage rate. That is a pretty low number and he could probably handle a lot more.

O.G. is not an amazing pick and roll player, but he could really thrive with some reps in that set. Wings like him have proven to develop latent scoring skills late in their career and the Raptors could desperately use that ability this season. Anunoby could be a legitimate downhill threat and a potential pull-up shooter.

The Raptors will need to experiment and take risks if they want to turn their season around. Experimenting with the wings, trying out the bench, and empowering Anunoby and  Siakam are the necessary changes the Raptors need to make to turn their season around.