If you asked any NBA fan, and probably most Toronto Raptors fans, when the team compiled its best regular-season record, most would guess the 2018-19 championship season.
They would all be wrong. The best
record was actually compiled the season before Kawhi Leonard joined the club. In the 2017-18 season, the Raptors trotted out a starting lineup led by an MVP candidate (DeMar DeRozan finished 8th in MVP voting), another All-Star (Kyle Lowry made his 4th consecutive All-Star appearance), a bruising frontcourt duo in Serge Ibaka & Jonas Valanciunas, and a promising, two-way rookie named OG Anunoby. In any given game, the starters could hold up against any other group in the league.
Alright, I’ll stop burying the lede and get to the point. A large reason the Raptors were so successful during the 2017-18 regular season was the Bench Mob!
Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, Jakob Poeltl, Norman Powell, Delon Wright, and CJ Miles provided depth and versatility unmatched in the league. Siakam and VanVleet led the Raptors 905 to a G-League championship while also providing excellent minutes on both ends of the floor for the Raptors. VanVleet and Poeltl would both receive Sixth Man of the Year votes that season, with Fred finishing 3rd. Future Sixth Man of the Year staple, Powell, did not receive any votes, but was already showing flashes of his microwave scoring ability. Wright was a steadying force, as seen by the fact that he played the most minutes of the entire bench. Miles led the NBA in 3-point field goals made, per 36 minutes AND per 100 possessions. The Bench Mob was solid enough to be a starting unit!
Can the current group of plucky, young stars emulate the success of the Bench Mob? Is there a future All-Star (or two) ready to break out? Can Darko Rajakovic maximize the skills and abilities of his reserves and surprise all the naysayers? Will the fanbase come up with a better nickname than Bench Mob 2.0?
For this post, I’m going to exclude the Two-Way players (separate post coming), non-guaranteed contracts (AJ Lawson, Jared Rhoden, David Roddy, and Olivier Sarr), and a coach masquerading as a player (Garrett Temple).
Since training camp kicked off last week, Coach Rajakovic has been quite vocal about how he expects this team to play, especially on the defensive end. The theme for this season is conditioning! All 8 players making up the bench core — I’m tentatively naming them the ‘Reserve Corps’, but this is still open for debate — will get playing time in Darko’s system. Fresh legs will be key, so expect the Raptors to run 12-13 players deep in each game. The Vegas Summer League Toronto Raptors are not too different from what the Toronto Raptors will be this season. The young group sitting on the bench (only 1 of the players discussed below was born in the 90s. Damn, I feel old.) has already shown they’re capable of applying ball pressure for 94 feet.
Similar to the 2017-18 reserves, success and leadership start with the Point Guard. Jamal Shead has been a vocal leader in the locker room, an example setter on the court, and the glue that binds this whole team together. His outspoken nature is an immeasurable intangible that this roster has sorely needed since the departures of Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet. Last season, Shead ranked in the 90th percentile in defensive turnover percentage. Whether he was inciting backcourt violations, drawing charges, or causing turnovers with his active hands, Shead is a natural tone setter whose infectious energy fuels the rest of the team.
Gradey Dick is in an interesting situation. On one hand, he’s entering his third season and, as far as lottery picks go, should be expected to make some sort of leap. On the other hand, the injection of talent from the last two drafts has shifted the spotlight away from Dick. With last season’s shift towards rebuilding, a.k.a. tanking, Gradey saw an increase in usage (from 15.5 to 19.3). The bad news is that his shooting accuracy took a dip, especially in corner threes where he plummeted from 48% (92nd percentile) in his rookie season to 32% (19th percentile) last year. The good news is that less will be expected from him, which, hopefully, leads to a more efficient season. Dick will be playing with more shooters and playmakers than in either of his first two seasons, so a successful season is in the cards.
I love it when I’m right about a player, but probably not as much as I love being proven wrong by the Raptors front office. Collin Murray-Boyles should have his name added to the Pascal Siakam All-Stars as Raptors draft picks that confused us on Draft Night but ultimately became gems. The Draymond Green comparison drew a chuckle from me in June, a single eyebrow raise during Summer League, and now a wide-eyed expression as I hear teammates fawning over him. CMB has the passing acumen to orchestrate an offense and the defensive excellence to be in the closing lineup. I don’t envy the cognitive work it will take Darko and his staff to find minutes for all of these players.
How have we gone this far into the Reserve Corps without talking about the difference maker, Ja’Kobe Walter? After cutting his hair and adding some bulk, Walter built to overcome the Sophomore Slump. In College, Ja’Kobe was excellent at getting to the free-throw line and that has carried over to the NBA. Walter ranked in the 78th percentile in shots at the rim and was slightly above average (59th percentile) in generating fouls on shot attempts. With the additional play-making and passing from CMB and Ingram, Walter should continue getting good looks around the basket. The extra weight he’s put on should help when guarding bigger wings.
With all of 201 games under his belt, Ochai Agbaji is somehow the 2nd-most experienced player off the bench. Agbaji was one of the biggest surprises last season. His 3-point FG% rose from 34% to 40%, his effective FG% jumped to 59.1%, which is 86th percentile among all wings, and he compiled an above-average turnover percentage (9.8%, 68th percentile). Agbaji produced all of those impressive numbers while increasing his minutes to a career-high 27.2 per game. Ochai’s $6.4 million salary is the largest expiring contract on the books, and while that isn’t a lot of money, remember that the Raptors have over $163 million committed to the starting lineup next season! It’s hard to envision him leaving, especially with all his progress since being acquired at the 2024 Trade Deadline, but Agbaji is essentially auditioning for his next team.
Sandro Mamukelashvili a.k.a. Mamu a.k.a. The Aron Baynes That Was Promised, will very likely earn the coveted “Fan Favourite” moniker this season. Mamu’s 3-point attempt averages over his four seasons have been 1.3, 2.3, 1.4, and 2.6. If you added those averages (7.6), you may end up with the number of threes he’ll attempt this season! (I wrote that previous sentence as a joke, but after watching him drain 3-of-5 from deep in 22 productive minutes during last night’s preseason opener against Denver, I’m bookmarking this for reference when it comes true.) Sandro adds an important facet to this team that has been sorely lacking for years: depth at Center. His shot diet (56% of his shots last season were from three), shooting accuracy (58.7% eFG), and defensive quickness (1.5% steal percentage, 92nd percentile among bigs) will all mesh perfectly in Darko’s system. Selfishly, I couldn’t be happier that Toronto’s two biggest additions this summer (along with CMB) were lefties!
Speaking of lefties, Jamison Battle’s role may have gotten simpler. The injection of shooters in Ingram and Mamu, along with the added play-making of CMB and Ingram, Battle just needs to do what he’s already really good at doing: knock down threes. Almost three-quarters (74% actually) of his shots come from behind the arc, and I expect the number to go up this year. Battle was a surprise addition to the team last season. He played so well in pre-season and in training camp that the front office abandoned Center depth (Branden Carlson) and signed Jamison to a Two-Way contract. Battle continued to impress during the season, so the front office converted his Two-Way contract to a regular contract in February. For someone who (ahem) battled his way onto the roster, it wouldn’t surprise me if he carved out a bigger role.
Last but not least (or maybe least?), there’s Jonathan Mogbo. Scottie’s good friend is teetering on Thanasis Antetokounmpo territory. Is he on the team as a glorified cheerleader to appease the face of the franchise? Or is Mogbo another Raptors draft gem, whose triple-double last season is a sign of great things ahead? The addition of Mamu and CMB should be a motivator for Mogbo to continue developing his game because he’s likely been passed on the depth chart. That’s not to say he’ll necessarily lose playing time, but Mogbo will need to improve his scoring efficiency to stay on the court. He was horrendous in his rookie season in all 3 areas on the court: 12th percentile in rim accuracy, 8th percentile in mid-range shots, and 8th percentile in three-point accuracy. Mogbo more than made up for it with a stellar Assist-to-Usage ratio (1.07, or 92nd percentile) and Assist percentage 16.3%, or 81st percentile). Keep a close eye on Mogbo’s usage early in the season (Rajakovic opted for Mogbo over Mamu with Jakob Poeltl out for last night’s game). He’ll have an opportunity to earn more playing time.
If I asked you to name the first two Raptors to enter the game from the bench, who would they be? Gradey and Sandro could replace the Barrett/Poeltl duo. Shead and Agbaji could give Quickley and Ingram the first break. If the offense is struggling, Walter and Battle could inject some offensive juice. What about CMB? If he’s the next Draymond, shouldn’t he get on the floor as early as possible? What’s so great about this bench unit is that there’s so much depth and versatility at Darko’s disposal. The franchise hasn’t had this embarrassment of riches for years. As you already saw in Summer League and in the preseason opener, the Reserve Corps is always ready to follow Darko’s plan, play suffocating defense, and wreak all kinds of havoc. If they perform to their potential, individually and collectively, this group of young, feisty prospects could really make a name for themselves and bring the Raptors back to the top of the East!
