Jonas Valanciunas is being outplayed by the second-stringer. I write this not simply because of JV’s deeply disappointing effort against the Cavaliers. Everybody has an off-night shooting occasionally. However, JV’s play has not made the advancements we expected of him. In the meantime, Lucas Nogueira has advanced from afterthought to contributor. Can Bebe take the final stride to the starter’s role?
I suggest that notion would have been unthinkable a month ago.
After last season, many of us thought swingman Norman Powell had pushed himself into the Raptors’ rotation.