One of the biggest concerns about this Toronto Raptors roster coming into this season was shooting.
The Raptors lost arguably their best shooter in Fred VanVleet in free agency to the Houston Rockets and replaced him with a subpar shooting Dennis Schroder.
Toronto didn’t really address their shooting issues in the offseason, other than drafting rookie Gradey Dick in the 2023 NBA Draft. However, Dick has struggled mightily with his shot so far in his NBA career and as a result he was sent down to Raptors 905.
To make matters worse, a Raptors team that is already thin on shooting is seeing their All-Star Pascal Siakam have a terrible season from three.
Siakam is shooting it 19.8 percent from downtown. That’s not a typo. Siakam has made just five three-pointers in his last 15 games.
Siakam is shooting it 47.7 percent from the field and has done most of his damage in the paint this season. However, his lack of three-point shooting has really stalled the Raptors offense.
Toronto’s starting lineup already lacks three-point shooting and spacing to begin with. O.G. Anunoby has been Toronto’s best three-point shooter and luckily Scottie Barnes’ three has come along nicely.
But Siakam was supposed to be the guy who could space the floor as well and hit timely threes but right now he is a liability from outside.
Despite his poor three-point shooting, Siakam has still managed to have three 30-point games in 15 contests. But if he can’t get the three ball to fall, teams will begin to recognize this and clog the paint where he has done most of his damage.
If the Raptors want to get into a rhythm and start being consistent, they need Siakam to get it going from deep.
Raptors have a few days off
The Raptors will have a couple of days off to try and get things right. So far it’s been a very up and down season for Toronto. They are 9-11 and have struggled to build any kind of momentum.
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