Raptors film room: the one thing holding them back

The Raptors lost to another good team. I broke it down:

Here is something that might work moving forward for the Raptors, according to Louis Zatzman:

Some numbers: Since joining the Raptors, Quickley’s shot 42.0 percent from deep with Poeltl on the floor and 36.3 percent with Poeltl off. He has shot 52.4 percent on 2s with Poeltl on and 46.6 percent with Poeltl off. 

It’s important not to get carried away. Quickley doesn’t become Steph Curry when he’s alongside Poeltl. He becomes far better, but still not among the league’s elite point guards. He still doesn’t take many shots at the rim even with Poeltl playing alongside him, for example. And Poeltl doesn’t become Nikola Jokic or even Rudy Gobert. He doesn’t necessarily improve as much as his skills find purchase with Quickley around to leverage them. And the team’s net rating with the two on the court is good, but not contender-level good. Significantly: that roughly plus-4 net rating with the two on the court has been identical this season, with Toronto trying to win, as it was over the last two, with Toronto trying to lose. 

Quickley and Poeltl may set Toronto’s floor, but they don’t lift its ceiling into the sky. Regardless, they do represent an answer to some questions. The Raptors know from where they can find drives and 3-pointers. 

Are the Raptors able to beat good teams with the duo on the floor together? That’s unclear. They came pretty darn close against the New York Knicks in a game that saw the Raptors collapse in a crunch time that decidedly did not feature Quickley and Poeltl together. 

But there are answers on the roster. Ball-park estimates, Quickley might be somewhere in the range of top 25-35 point guard in the league, and Poeltl (when healthy) may be somewhere in a comparable range for centers, or perhaps slightly lower. Again, don’t quote me on those numbers. But together, they perform far better than a top-25 point guard-center combo. The point is that they are more than the sum of their parts. And they do so on a team that desperately needs the exact skills they create seemingly out of thin air when they work their magic together. 

Poeltl and Quickley represent a salve for the Raptors. One that has been too rarely applied this season, both due to injury but also due to deprioritization even with the two on the court. It would behoove Darko Rajakovic to shift some offensive burden to Quickley-Poeltl pick and rolls with both available. But a salve is no long-term solution. The Raptors likely want to upgrade at the point guard and center spots in the long term. With best players on the court, a net rating closer to plus-10 is the mark of a contender. Toronto’s not there. 

But in the short term, the Raptors have solutions to the questions staring right in their faces. Quickley and Poeltl individually may pose questions. But together, they have been answers.

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