The Toronto Raptors are coming off their best season in franchise history. They won 56 games when the previous high was 49 wins. They made it to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in franchise history and took two games off the eventual NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers. This offseason, they lost a couple of key rotation big men in Bismack Biyombo (signed with Orlando) and Luis Scola (signed with Brooklyn). They drafted Jakob Poeltl and signed Jared Sullinger to replenish that big man depth.
It looks like Sullinger isn't just a guy to fill into the rotation, but coach Dwane Casey believes that the starting power forward is Sully's to lose. He told reporters that he'd like to see how things go defensively with both options, but Sullinger is likely to start over Patrick Patterson at power forward. From The Star:
With the Toronto Raptors about to start training camp, Casey has a starting five in mind but isn't about to fully commit.
Three are no-brainers -- Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas are locks -- and if DeMarre Carroll remains healthy, he's the fourth sure thing.
But when it comes to the fifth, things are a bit cloudy between Jared Sullinger and Patrick Patterson.
"I would say Sullinger is the guy now that it would be his to lose, but I reserve the right to change my mind," Casey said, citing the need to see how that group reacts defensively.
The interesting part about this is most people wouldn't deny that Patterson is a much better option for the Raptors than Sullinger at power forward. Patterson can actually stretch the floor as opposed to Sullinger's horrendous 3-point shooting. Patterson is a better defender than Sullinger. And Patterson was a part of the Raptors' three most used and effective lineups last season.
When Patterson was on the floor with Bismack Biyombo, Terrence Ross, Kyle Lowry, and Cory Joseph, the Raptors outscored their opponents by 16.4 points per 100 possessions. Swap out Lowry for DeMar DeRozan in that lineup and the Raptors outscored their opponents by 13.7 points per 100 possessions. With Biyombo, DeRozan, Lowry, and Joseph out there with Patterson last season, Toronto was 18.3 points per 100 possessions better. Patterson was a huge cog in the machine for them.
But it also makes sense to have him as a weapon off the bench, especially with the loss of Biyombo. If Lucas Nogueira or Poeltl can't be a good option as the backup center, Patterson's presence with the second unit and the staggered units will be a must have for Casey. Throwing Sullinger out there to help with the rebounding in the first unit and allowing Patterson to be used as this wildcard weapon for Casey makes sense, but the Raptors don't seem to be putting out their best players to start games, unless Sullinger ends up finally being able to hit 3-pointers.
