The Toronto Raptors finally embraced a rebuild this season after they traded OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam and focused on building their franchise around Scottie Barnes. The Anunoby trade netted the Raptors a terrific two-man return of hometown kid RJ Barrett and speedy youngster Immanuel Quickley. They also acquired NBA champion Bruce Brown in the Pascal Siakam deal. At the trade deadline, they traded for Canadian big man Kelly Olynyk and 2022 lottery pick Ochai Agbaji.
Currently at 11th in the Eastern Conference standings with a 22-36 record, the Raptors are likely on their way to a lottery finish. With a third of the season remaining, Toronto will likely use the remainder of the campaign to build and develop the chemistry of this young core that Masai Ujiri has established.
While this season may look like a wash, the Raptors still have a lot of basketball to play this season. The Raptors still boast an exciting young team with tons of talent and upside. And with the bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff picture looking a bit shaky, Toronto could make some noise the rest of the campaign. They have so far done that with three straight wins coming out of the All-Star break, including one over former franchise star Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers on the road on Monday night.
With that being said, here are our Raptors' bold predictions for the second half of the season.
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Raptors make the play-in tournament
The backend of the Eastern Conference playoff picture does not look as formidable as that of the top. Currently, the seven through 10 seeds consist of the reigning East champs Miami Heat, the Orlando Magic, the Chicago Bulls, and the Atlanta Hawks. The Heat and Magic have put together strong enough campaigns and should be locks to make the play-in tournament. Meanwhile, the Bulls (27-30) and Hawks (25-32) are two franchises who are trending in the wrong direction. Those two spots are likely still up for grabs and the Raptors could sneakily swoop in to take one of them.
Atlanta, in particular, could be in a ton of trouble after franchise star Trae Young underwent left hand surgery and will miss at least four weeks. The Hawks are going to be very vulnerable and could experience a massive drop off with Young on the sidelines. With the Hawks missing a vital piece, this could open the door for the Raptors to make the play-in tournament.
The Raptors just inched closer to Atlanta with a big win on Monday. They just took over the Brooklyn Nets for the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference standings and are now just 3.5 games behind the Hawks.
Toronto will likely still not make the playoffs, with the Heat and Magic likely to advance. But getting Barnes, Barrett, and company the chance to experience a high-stakes game could go a long way in their development ahead of next season.
RJ Barrett finishes as the Raptors' leading scorer
The Raptors certainly loved to see Mississauga native RJ Barrett come home and live his dream playing for Toronto. And so far, the former No. 3 overall pick hasn't disappointed. In fact, he has been terrific for the Raptors so far. In 20 games for Toronto, Barrett is averaging career numbers across the board — 20.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 54.2 percent field goal shooting, 37.3 percent from three.
Barrett is currently Toronto's leading scorer over All-Star Scottie Barnes by a slight margin. With another strong 24-point performance against the Pacers tonight, his lead over Barnes on the scoring column should only widen. Barnes should be more than happy letting Barrett be the No. 1 scoring option as he focuses on being the main facilitator and playmaker for the Raptors. With that, Barrett should be able to finish the season as the Raptors' leading scorer.
Gradey Dick averages double-digit points on 50-40-90 splits after the All-Star break
Raptors rookie Gradey Dick had a really rough start to his debut campaign. He saw sporadic minutes early in the season and was sent down to the Raptors 905, Toronto's G-League team, for quite some time. But over the last couple of months, Dick has begun to find his stride in the NBA and is netting consistent minutes from head coach Darko Rajakovic.
He has been especially better through February. In 10 games this month, Dick is averaging 10.7 points on 53.2 percent field goal shooting and an elite 45.2 percent three-point shooting. With the way he is trending now, we predict Gradey Dick to continue his strong play and finish the campaign averaging double-digit points on 50-40-90 splits after the All-Star break.
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