Originally posted on RealGM | By Micah Wimmer | Last updated 3/17/21
It’s been a rough season for the Toronto Raptors. Though they failed to defend their 2019 title last year, they made a valiant attempt, pushing the Celtics to seven games in the Conference Semifinals before bowing out. It made sense to assume Toronto would again be one of the East’s best teams this season, but things have not worked out that way. The team having to play in Tampa rather than Toronto has led to a general sense of things being off as has the number of games missed by players due to either nagging injuries or health and safety concerns. The Raptors have too many talented players to be truly bad, but so far this year, they’ve been about as thoroughly average as possible; they’re 14th in offense, 16th in defense, 12th in net rating and 16th in SRS. It all adds up.