Flip-flop the power forwards – Patrick Patterson’s been fantastic as a reserve and Luis Scola had a great start to the season, but it’s become clear that the Scola-Jonas Valanciunas combination is a defensive trainwreck. They need to be separated and Scola’s scoring touch would be well-suited with the second unit where he’d be the primary scoring threat. Patterson would provide more spacing and mobility and improve the defence considerably.
Cut into the minutes – Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan rank fourth and fifth in total minutes played so far and though both are in great shape, that might catch up to them down the line. Finding a way to put a foot down on opponents earlier and give the starters more rest would be a big help. Giving them the odd game off, the way the Spurs do, might also help. When DeMarre Carroll returns, he won’t be able to play 32 minutes a night the way he did before his injury.
Give Delon Wright a longer look – If anything happens to Lowry or Cory Joseph, the Raptors will be in some trouble. Giving Lowry the odd break to get Wright some action would be a good long-term decision, but it’s hard to convince Lowry to take a break and Dwane Casey isn’t the type to give healthy players a rest.
Keep getting to the line – Only three teams get to the free throw line more often than Toronto and it is a beneficial habit for any squad.
If opponents are in foul trouble, they will play fewer minutes. The other benefit is shooting so many free throws allows Toronto to set up its defence more often, which leads to more success on that end than when the defending is done following a missed or made basket.
Find a way to guard the three better – Only four teams surrender a higher three-point field goal percentage against than the Raptors (37.1%). The team has prioritized protecting the paint, which has led to more open three-pointers. While the overall strategy seems to be paying off, with the team ranking in the top 10 overall defensively, in the playoffs, teams work to create outside looks, so the Raptors will have to be ready to defend them better.