If you can believe this, the Toronto Raptors, reigning NBA champions, are set to play some competitive 5-on-5 basketball this week. As we documented over here in the return of the Rap-Up, the team’s scrimmages are set and their title defense is about to restart. This is wild news, considering everything that’s been happening (or not) over the past few months. Yet here we are.
In that spirit, we’re here to assess the Raptors’ relative strengths and weaknesses heading into this new 8-game mini-season and eventual playoffs. As you’ll no doubt recall, Toronto was sitting pretty in second place in the East, with a 46-18 record and one of the finest defenses in the league.