NBA: Toronto Raptors Taking a Chance on Youngsters

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The Toronto Raptors are four games into the NBA regular season and despite posting a 1-3 win-loss record so far, there are a lot of bright points to pick out from what has been a sometimes disjointed play.

While some of the richer NBA franchises have been building superstar teams of established NBA stars with mixed results so far this season, the Toronto Raptors decided to head in the opposite direction.

New Players such as Precious Achiuwa, brought from the Miami Heat at the beginning of the season and Scott Barnes are still unknown in the NBA World and have it all to prove.

The team has been buoyed by a relatively young, inexperienced team which make up for their lack of polish and experience with raw energy on display such as an unmatched athleticism and drive to make it in the big league.

Betting on Potential

This young team, led by 2021 No4 Pick Scottie Barnes has sold on us some solid potential for the future. Players are getting extended minutes and freedom to show what they are made of, and their positionless play system also means there is a greater freedom of expression allowed compared to similar teams in the league.

Strange as it might be, it is not very often you see an NBA club choosing to rebuild its team around rookies and inexperienced youngsters, especially when considering the Raptors were NBA champions in 2019.

They are not expected to be title contenders this season, but the choice of building a team around potential is a bargain for the future. If this experiment can work accordingly and the team manages to gel this season, as early as next season we could be watching an entirely different Raptors team with an entirely different set of expectations.

Although in other to do this, these youngsters must improve to the point that they justify their starting positions on the Raptors line-up. Players like Precious Achiuwa and Scottie Barnes have it all to play for this season, not just for their team but as defining moments in their careers which might either put them on the path to stardom or derail them for a while.

It would be interesting to see how they perform this season, and players like O.G Anunoby who, despite being relative youngsters have already established themselves as veteran NBA players will have to lead the team and its Rookies to provide a general direction both on and off the court. Of course regardless of the results this season, we can simply assume it as a learning curve.

Conclusion

We all love a good underdog story and I am hoping the team exceeds expectations this year. Even if they do not however, there can be a lot of positives taken from a determined performance by the young players who are sure to spring a surprise or two during the course of the season this year.



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2 comments
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Josh Giddey (19 years )seems to be doing pretty well at Oklahoma at the moment, putting in some serious points for his first few games in the NBA.

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There's going to be some pretty stiff competition for the Rookie of the year award with the way these first year youngsters are playing

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