Title: Delon Wright’s return will give the Raptors a better idea of rotations
Date: October 24, 2018
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic, I wrote about Delon Wright’s return from injury and how it can help Raptors bench units that have struggled so far.
There has not been a great deal to complain about in a 4-0 start for the Toronto Raptors. Kawhi Leonard looks very much like Kawhi Leonard, their defensive intensity and attention to detail are far beyond where most NBA teams find themselves four games into the season and the Raptors already have a handful of quality victories against solid Eastern Conference opponents. Owners of the No. 3 offence and No.5 defence in the league, the Raptors couldn’t have started much better in terms of results.
From a process perspective, there’s plenty still to clean up. For the Raptors, that should be pretty exciting — not only have they been great early, there’s also some low-hanging fruit to get even better. Some of this has to do with familiarity, like miscommunications on defensive switches leading to easy baskets or new pick-and-roll combinations learning each others tendencies, the type of things that come with time and repetition.
One stands out as an entirely solvable issue, and help is coming on Wednesday.