{"id":137731,"date":"2025-05-05T06:00:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T10:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=137731"},"modified":"2025-05-04T19:41:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T23:41:24","slug":"toronto-raptors-learn-2024-25-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/05\/toronto-raptors-learn-2024-25-playoffs\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Toronto Raptors Can Learn From the 2024-25 Playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Raptors<\/a> finished the season 30-52, good enough for the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference. Going into 2024-25, fans and the front office expected this kind of year, labeling it a “rapid rebuild.” Unlike some of the teams in the lottery, the hope for Toronto next season is a jump into the NBA playoffs. The front office will likely consider this year’s playoffs as a guide for what works and what doesn’t. Here are three things the Raptors should learn from the playoffs.<\/span><\/p>\n

What the Toronto Raptors Can Learn From the 2024-25 Playoffs<\/h2>\n

You Need A Good Center<\/h3>\n

Other than the Golden State Warriors, it has repeatedly been proven that you won’t be a great team without a good big man. The small part of <\/span>the Raptors fan base that wants to ship Jakob Poeltl<\/a> out should reconsider. Just look at the Los Angeles Lakers’ center woes. They went into the playoffs with Jaxson Hayes<\/a>, whose career high points average is 9.3. <\/span><\/p>\n

In Game 1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>, Hayes recorded a horrid -11 plus-minus, which made him virtually unplayable. This led to the Lakers shortening their bench and playing a center-less rotation. As the series progressed, it became evident that a center was a must. In Game 5, the Lakers were heavily outrebounded and are the second-worst rebounding team<\/a> in the playoffs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Raptors Lesson #1<\/h4>\n

This means the Raptors should feel comfortable and confident that they have Poeltl. He is an established, quality center who is more than good enough to be a supporting piece for a contender. The Austrian big man averaged nearly 15 points, 10 rebounds, and one block. He is also one of the best interior defenders in the league. Poeltl can quarterback the defence when Scottie Barnes<\/a> isn’t in the game and impact nearly any shot inside. <\/span><\/p>\n

While they need to adjust their lineup and play style, Poeltl is certainly not a change they need to make. He will be one of the driving factors behind Toronto if they make a run.<\/span><\/p>\n

You Can Play With Two Big Men<\/h3>\n

What’s better than one good big man in a lineup? Two. Multiple teams in these playoffs have proved that having a center who can shoot and another big on the court is an advantage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The perfect example of this is the New York Knicks.<\/a> They’re using two centers, Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> and Mitchell Robinson<\/a>, to get more size. The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Timberwolves have also done well with two big men.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a long time, teams thought playing with multiple bigs on the floor was a bad idea. But that was before we had centers like Towns, who shoots 42% from deep. The league has evolved and continues to develop to the point where most centers can shoot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Raptors Lesson #2<\/h4>\n

When drafting this year, the Raptors could select centers Khaman Maluach<\/a> or Derik Queen<\/a>. But because neither shoots the ball very well, they will likely have to start their careers on the bench. Another option Toronto has is drafting a big man and letting them develop. If they develop into a quality player, they could trade an older Poeltl for a younger big who can shoot the ball. <\/span><\/p>\n

These first two lessons give the Raptors much to think about at the center position. For now, they could stick with what they know works in Poeltl. But if a shooting big becomes available, don’t be afraid to pick him up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You Need 4-5 Good Shooters<\/h3>\n

The league is filled with players who can shoot the ball at a rate unheard of years ago. In today’s NBA, if a team doesn’t have at least four players who can hit a shot when you need one, you are behind the 8-ball. Every team that is successful in these playoffs has and will have shooters in the starting lineup and off the bench. An example of a team that didn’t have this was the Orlando Magic. They lost 4-1 to the Boston Celtics<\/a> and only averaged 93.6 points per game in that series. They lacked scoring options behind Franz Wagner<\/a> and Paolo Banchero<\/a>, which won’t get a team far in the postseason. <\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, a top team like OKC can score 130 points with their MVP only contributing 15. The Thunder have several players who can score the ball, which is a testament to their depth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Raptors Lesson #3<\/h4>\n

The Raptors only have a few players who can shoot the ball. Adding Brandon Ingram<\/a> was an important step for Toronto, as they know what kind of players they need to win championships. <\/span><\/p>\n

Watching these playoffs and noticing these trends with good teams may raise the stock of a player like Tre Johnson<\/a>, who can score the ball at will. If Toronto moves up in the draft, he would be an option to improve the team’s scoring immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a9 Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Raptors finished the season 30-52, good enough for the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference. Going into 2024-25, fans and the front office expected this kind of year, labeling it a “rapid rebuild.” Unlike some of the teams in the lottery, the hope for Toronto next season is a jump into the NBA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5528,"featured_media":137750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,14],"tags":[308,968,3852],"class_list":["post-137731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-raptors","tag-brandon-ingram","tag-jakob-poeltl","tag-scottie-barnes"],"modified_by":"Kayla Fonte","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5528"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137731"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137751,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137731\/revisions\/137751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}