Questions abound as resurgent Raptors aim to build on surprising season

With the regular season a week away, plenty of questions still surround the Toronto Raptors, ranging from who will lay claim to the final roster spot, to what shape the rotation will take – beyond the starting lineup – to when a more impressive version of a team that hopes to build on its surprising 48-34 season a year ago will begin to assert itself.

Toronto is 2-2 after a preseason schedule that has taken them from Victoria to Edmonton to Boston and Houston over a couple of weeks. The Raptors' final preseason game is Friday in Montreal against the Boston Celtics before their season opener at Scotiabank Arena on Oct. 19 against Cleveland, after which the circus starts in earnest.

Here are some notes from a well-needed week of practice in the comfortable confines of the OVO Athletics Centre:

Will the new rules help the Raptors?

The Raptors had a lengthy meeting with Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s head of referee development and training, who introduced the "points of emphasis" the league will be focusing on this season. One of the points is that behaviour on team benches will be more closely monitored for activities that cross the line of fair play — standing for extending periods, getting too near the floor during play or excessively harassing opponents lining up for a three-point shot from the corner — will all be actions which, if judged excessive, will result in a warning and subsequently a technical foul.

More pertinent for the Raptors is the elimination of the "take foul," where the defensive team — often after their own turnover — tries to eliminate a potential fast-break opportunity by immediately fouling the offensive team with no intention of making a play on the ball. Plays judged as take fouls will now result in the offensive team being rewarded one free throw by a shooter of its choosing and keeping possession of the ball.

For the Raptors, who last season were second in the NBA in points off turnovers, third in fast-break points and first in opponents points off turnovers, forcing opponents to make a defensive play as they launch a fast break after a forced steal should help them offensively. “We don't use it very often as a strategy (defensively), so for us, we're not really taking any part of our transition defence away,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. “And, hopefully, we'll get a few more chances off of our turnovers (for fast breaks). … I doubt it's going to be some huge swing but a point or two here or there over the course of 82 always has an impact."

Final roster spot still up for grabs

Of the 20 players the Raptors have in camp, 13 are on guaranteed contracts and two — Jeff Dowtin Jr. and Ron Harper Jr. — are on two-way deals, which means they will split their time between Raptors 905 in the G-League with the big club, where they are eligible to play in 50 games. Dalano Banton has arguably been the Raptors' best player in the preseason and will almost certainly earn the 14th position, leaving four players fighting for the last spot: incumbent Justin Champagnie; three-point ace Gabe Brown; young big man D.J. Wilson; and Josh Jackson, the No. 4 pick in the 2017 draft who has struggled to find an NBA home. Each provides something a little different, and it really sounds like the final decision — which is expected to be announced Saturday — will come down to the wire with Nurse saying that team need and offensive pop would factor into his choice. “It’s always a tricky thing,” Nurse said of the final roster decision. “We’ll see how it all shakes out. I think there are still a lot of questions to be answered.”

Champagnie is a known quantity and well-liked at all levels of the organization after playing well on a two-way deal last season. What’s hurting his cause is that with a fractured thumb in the off-season and a more recent hip strain, he hasn’t had the volume of chances he’d likely wish for to show the strides he’s made in his game. It could come down to a strong showing on Friday night. The 6-foot-7 forward understands his role, however. “For me, it’s just going out there and making my presence be felt,” he said after practice Wednesday. “I know, in all actuality, that if I make the team and I’m playing with the older guys, it’s not going to be me getting to shoot 20 shots. (So) just go out there and play my role still, rebound, play defence, hit open shots if they come to me. Just be a little bit more aggressive.”

Boucher (and Porter) out for game in Montreal

Chris Boucher’s only game as an NBA player in his hometown of Montreal was a preseason start on the eve of the 2018-19 season while fighting for a two-way contract. The sold-out crowd at Bell Centre chanted his name and the local son nearly brought the house down with a pair of threes after he checked in late in the fourth quarter. Boucher’s career has taken off since — he’s kicking off his fifth NBA season and has the security of a three-year, $35-million contract to his name. But a strained hamstring will keep him out of action Friday. Nurse said he’s hoping both Boucher and Otto Porter Jr. — the veteran free agent signing who has been out for two weeks and counting with a hamstring strain — will be ready for Oct. 19, but that date is very much written in pencil. “I think (the season opener) was kind of always the goal with Otto,” said Nurse. “When that happened, that we would try to hold him and see if we can get him ready for the start. But I think the start is still, what, about a week away, right? Yeah, and I think we'll probably need all that time to decide.” Third-year guard Malachi Flynn remains out with a fractured cheek bone.

How to approach Friday night?

One of the messages coming out of the Raptors' preseason was that they wanted to use their bench more and take the pressure off key players with an eye toward keeping them fresh come playoff time. Last season, Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam tied for the NBA lead in minutes per game (37.9) and OG Anunoby (36 minutes) would have been fifth had he played enough games to qualify. Gary Trent Jr. (35 minutes) was 14th.

So far, through four preseason games, restraint is the theme. The Raptors starters have all averaged between 17.7 minutes (VanVleet) and 24.5 minutes (Trent Jr.). But with the regular season looming, could Friday be used to ramp up the starters’ minutes to levels they are more likely to experience in the season opener?

Siakam, who is coming off a healthy off-season and earned third-team all-NBA honours, said he’s good to go: “I think I've been trying to increase minutes as I go. To be honest, I want to play whatever, you know what I mean? If it depended on me, I’d play right now, so I don't really care about (Friday) that much because I feel like obviously the game is different, it's really different, but I just feel like, yeah, I'll be capable of playing my normal minutes.” Nurse says he’ll consider the starters' wishes regarding minutes, while also trying give those on the bottom of the roster fighting to make the team a fair shake as well.

Is Barnes ready for that next step?

Expectations are sky-high for the NBA’s reigning rookie of the year, and with good reason, given not only how steady Scottie Barnes was in his age 20 season, but how he seemed to keep improving month after month. With a season under his belt and full off-season of training to bolster it, the hopes are that Barnes’ presumed improvement will help the Raptors lift themselves past the 48 wins and first-round playoff exit they managed last season. But he hasn’t looked particularly good so far in preseason, shooting just 36.4 per cent from the floor and 9-of-18 from the line, while offsetting his 10 assists with 12 turnovers.

A season ago, it was rare for Barnes to have a bad game, but by his standards he’s had four of them so far in preseason play. One explanation? The star is behind the pace after sitting out for three weeks before training camp with a sprained ankle. “Listen, Scottie is playing a little bit of catchup here and it’s noticeable,” Nurse said this week. “I don’t think he has shown a whole lot here in the preseason. … I think he’s just behind a little bit, conditioning-wise, feel-wise, all that kind of stuff. … We just need to keep plugging away and get him feeling so he can feel like he can be out there playing really hard.”