The Toronto Raptors have been a playoff team in the Eastern Conference every season since 2014. Going into the 2021 season they were expected to make it back to the postseason with ease, but 15 games into the season they sit at 11th in the conference with a 6-9 record. Though the season is relatively young, the glaring issues that Toronto is facing early may be problems that they have to deal with in order to make the playoffs. 

Last season the Toronto Raptors finished with the second best record in the NBA. The squad thrived off of being an elite defensive team, despite being average offensively. Toronto finished as the second ranked defensive team and the 14th ranked offensive team, according to offensive and defensive rating. This season however, the team has fallen from the second ranked defense to the eighth, and although that isn’t a bad placement, they need to be better defensively as they have the fifteenth ranked offense in the NBA. 

The offseason was not very nice to the Toronto Raptors, as the departure of Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol left them very thin at the center position. The front office managed to bring in Aron Baynes, but as a center he doesn’t bring nearly enough to the table in order to fill the void of Serge Ibaka. Fortunately for Toronto, young center Chris Boucher has emerged as a potential Sixth Man of the Year award candidate as he has been very promising in their first 15 games. However, unfortunately for Toronto, head coach Nick Nurse has been inconsistent with playing Boucher. If Boucher can see the floor more and consistently produce good numbers, he could be a key contributor to bringing the Toronto Raptors back to the postseason for the eighth consecutive season.

The 2020 season saw the emergence of Toronto’s young star, Pascal Siakam. Coming off of the 2019 season in which he won the Most Improved Player award, Siakam posted averages of 22.9 points and 7.3 rebounds on solid shooting splits in 2020. His impressive numbers were enough to earn him his first nomination to an All-NBA team, and despite his underwhelming performance in the postseason, the expectations for the 2021 season were higher than ever. Fifteen games into the season Siakam has been nothing short of a disappointment, as his scoring and efficiency have taken a significant hit. His points per game average has dipped from almost 23 points last season down to almost 19 points this season, and his three-point percentage has dropped drastically from last season’s 36% to his current 25%. Siakam is a very talented player with a bright future, so there is no reason to believe that he won’t get back on track, however the Raptors need their star player to step up soon if they hope to see the postseason again. 

In the end, the Toronto Raptors are a very talented team with a gifted head coach, so fans should expect the Raptors to turn things around. In order for that to happen though, the players have to step up. Both the offense and defense need to improve, Pascal Siakam needs to take that next step, and Nick Nurse needs to play Chris Boucher more. The Raptors are only two years removed from their dream championship run, and although the roster looks significantly different from 2019, it has all the talent it needs in order to contend in the Eastern Conference.