WOLSTAT: After last year’s nightmare, Raptors are living the dream

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After a season where just about everything went wrong, it’s nice to see things looking up for the Toronto Raptors and their fanbase.

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The news that Pascal Siakam is a week or two ahead of schedule and will play, at least a few minutes on Sunday against Brooklyn was the latest ray of sunshine for a franchise that misses only the weather in Tampa Bay. The quick return to action of rookie star Scottie Barnes after his thumb scare was also most welcome.

They can figure out what to do about the starting lineup once Siakam is in true game shape, which could take weeks. It sounded Saturday that Nick Nurse plans to be creative, like usual, and will throw out different first fives on a regular basis, depending on matchups. They’ll need a Khem Birch when facing a true behemoth (Precious Achiuwa has looked undersized against the biggest opponents, while Birch has a long history of being able to compete against them), but could get away with just starting their best five players many nights (Siakam, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Barnes and the surging Gary Trent Jr.).

Trent has thrived as a starter this season, but over his career, his shooting has only been a bit better when he doesn’t come off the bench. He’d power up a bench that could use his scoring (and now, defence!) too, but how do you play all of Birch, Achiuwa and Chris Boucher as reserves? And do you really want Siakam, Barnes or Anunoby, who can all deal with centres at least a bit, to have to bang with the biggest opponents often? The answer to both those questions is not so much. But while Barnes was a star reserve at Florida State, how could you not start him when he’s been either Toronto’s best player, or 1B or 1C with VanVleet and Anunoby (with Trent not far behind)?

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You’ll likely see the best five closing games.

My suggestion to start games: Go with those five, but take Trent out pretty quickly for Birch (when playing a bigger centre) and bring Trent back in when Anunoby, Siakam or Barnes needs a rest. In the early going at least, Siakam will likely need short stints, so that’s an idea that makes some sense.

Cutting a player before the bulk of his contract was guaranteed, in this case, Sam Dekker, always seemed like the move the Raptors would have to make. The team wasn’t using him anyway and now goes from potentially paying the luxury tax, to getting a sizeable cheque from the NBA for being under that line. Sure, they might have gotten there anyway down the line by buying out Goran Dragic (or by making a trade involving the out of favour point guard that brought back less salary, getting them under the tax line that way), but easier to go for certainty and make the decision now.

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Finally, what Kevin Durant is doing is preposterous. He’s one of the 10 best players ever (and five best scorers), but he’s not supposed to still be playing at an MVP level after his injuries. It’s outstanding to have him back and finally playing a game in Toronto for the first time since that horrific moment during the NBA Finals.

I hope the fans give him a standing ovation when he’s introduced after what happened the last time he was here (which to be fair I think has been way overblown in terms of what actually happened in the stands).

THREE STARS

1- Darius Garland

2- Gary Trent Jr.

3- OG Anunoby

THREE STAR TOTALS FROM OCTOBER (three points for first star, two for second, one for third):

Scottie Barnes — 10 points

Fred VanVleet — 8

OG Anunoby — 7

Gary Trent Jr. — 3

Dalano Banton — 2