After a busy off-season, the Toronto Raptors’ backcourt provides talent for both the future, and the more important present. To join All-Star Kyle Lowry, the Raptor’s point guard rotation now includes their 2015 first round pick, Delon Wright, and the freshly signed Canadian, Cory Joseph.
The Rotation
In Cory Joseph, the Raptors will be able to rely on his professionalism, health and skill to play as the primary backup to Lowry – potentially filling in as a starter if need be. In San Antonio, Joseph played most of his minutes as a backup to Tony Parker, proving to be a reliable playmaker, while having his shooting efficiency rise each year. He’s also played 43 total games as a starter, which is no joke considering it’s Gregg Popovich’s Spurs.
Joseph will likely man a majority of the minutes as the first point guard off the bench for the Raptors, giving rookie Delon Wright time to learn how to lead an NBA team gradualy. He isn’t an offensive stand-out compared to the hero-ball point guards that dominate the current NBA game, but he’ll be more than ready for the defensive challenge. At 6 feet 5 inches, Delon’s a long and agile defender from the University of Utah. His poise and discipline on the court from his four years in college ball have earned him the Bob Cousy Award for the nation’s best point guard, as well as placed him on both the first-team All-Pac-12 and All-Pac-12 Defensive Team.
At the 20th pick, Delon Wright is a pleasant and reasonable surprise, and someone Dwane Casey can rely on. Customarily for a team to obtain a crème de la crème offensive guard in the draft, they would need to be in the lottery. Therefore, instead of the Raptors tanking, Masai Ujiri was able to keep the franchise moving forward towards success, with a bright and financially stable future at the point guard position.
The retooling of the Raptor’s backcourt should be a sign for the future. After such a disappointing playoff performance against the Washington Wizards in last season’s Eastern Conference first round, it begs to question, how far can Kyle Lowry really take them?
In his time up North, he’s been amazing to watch on occasions. He’s tenacious style of play earned him the 2014 December Player of the Month Award last season, and he was eighth in the league in win shares during the 2013-14 season. However, his risky game continues to need work and discipline on both ends of the floor. Last season he shot only 41.2 percent from the field during his break-out year, and that percentage plummeted when the playoffs came around to an even lousier 31.6 percent. On defence, his constant pursuit to steal the ball has caused many problems, often leaving him out of position and fouling his opponents.
Being only a 6 foot point guard comes with it’s downside. It’s become quite obvious that length and height are still as valuable as ever at any position, especially at the point guard spot. The average height between Westbrook, Wall, Irving, Curry, Teague, Dragic, and Lillard is 6 feet and 3 inches. That difference in height could be as devastating as a player of DeMar DeRozan’s stature (6ft7), attempting to guard an Anthony Davis (6ft10).
It should be noted that throughout the course of NBA history, petite point guards haven’t generally found the most success. In the past decade, there’s only been one starting point guard to be Lowry’s height or shorter to appear in the NBA Finals. That being Jameer Nelson of the 2009 Orlando Magic.
If the Raptors expect to make a stronger push this season, the altered role Lowry chooses to embrace will have a strong impact on the success of the team. His scoring abilities shouldn’t be as highly needed as before with DeMar DeRozan healthy, DeMarre Caroll acquired in free agency, and Jonas Valanchuinas looking to prove his $64 million extension.
Lowry, who is still in his prime, could rely more on his ability to help his more physically gifted teammates score more points. Last season, he was 10th in the league in assists per game, a stat that could rise if he adjusts his scorer’s mentality. Instead of continuing to drive to the basket, attempting to avoid contested lay-ups amongst the 7 footers, Lowry should conserve his energy outside of the paint by orchestrating plays and launching the three-ball. After missing 12 games due to back spasms last season, it would be wise to compromise his scoring efforts in order to play more active minutes throughout the entire course of a physically exhausting 82 game season.
Of the aforementioned point guards, Kyle Lowry is also still listed as heavier and older then them all, according to NBA.com . His weight loss, that was displayed on an Instagram post in August by Kyle O’Quinn, should show that he’s serious for next season, especially to Coach Dwane Casey who highly recommended the point guard hits the weight room.
The relationship between a point guard and coach is deemed to be of the highest importance in the NBA. But after Lowry wasn’t too supportive of his coach come after their first round sweep, saying “There is a few things internally that probably need to be fixed,” it’ll be interesting to see how patient the Raptors coaching staff will be with Lowry.
After last off -season’s signing of a 4 year-$48 million contract to remain with the Raptors, Lowry still has three full seasons to be utilized in which ever way Dwane Casey finds appropriate. If Lowry’s game doesn’t adjust, he could play a role off the bench, perhaps as the Raptors new Sixth Man.
The move would seem financially resonable, considering departed Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams occupied 8% of the Raptors salary cap last season. In 2017-18, with the cap supposed to hit $108 million, Lowry’s contract will only take up 11% of the Raptors spending cash. By coming off the bench, Lowry would get the opportunity to come in as a scoring punch on the second-line, allowing him to more openly pursue his style of play. The role would also reduce his minutes, which could help him avoid injury.
As everyone knows, injuries can be detrimental to any team, especially their impact concerning team chemistry. And at the moment Lowry’s health is a gamble, playing all 82 games only once in career, which isn’t the best sign for things to come.
