The Raptors' problem no one is talking about

Imman Adan discusses a particular issue that has plagued the Raptors in the early parts of the season.

Video Transcript

IMMAN ADAN: The Toronto Raptors are an elite defense. They're tied with the Philadelphia 76ers for the fifth-best defensive rating in the league. Where they've struggled, unsurprisingly, has been on the offensive end. And while it's going to take some time to get used to implementing a new offensive system, there's one stat affecting their low offensive rating that's completely unrelated to that new system. What's that, you may ask?

- Um.

IMMAN ADAN: Well, let me respond to that with a question of my own. What do Malachi Flynn, Otto Porter, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, and Dennis Schroder all have in common? It's that they're all shooting better from three than Gary Trent, Jr is from the free-throw line. Now I don't mean to just single out Gary Trent, Jr.

Missed free throws is actually a team-wide epidemic. The Raptors are currently dead last in the NBA in free throw percentage at 70.1%. They already don't get to the free-throw line enough. They're ranked 25 in free-throw attempts. And when they get there, they're just leaving points out on the floor. Three Raptors currently have free throw percentages in the 40s. That's Gary Trent Jr at 40%, OG Anunoby at 44%. And that's nearly identical to his three-point percentage.

- I don't know. I don't know.

IMMAN ADAN: And then Jakob Poeltl who's never been a particularly good free throw shooter but is also shooting 46% from the free-throw line. Needless to say, that's the worst mark for all three of them at any point in their career.

- Say it again.

IMMAN ADAN: And it doesn't stop there Dennis Schroder is shooting a worse percentage from the free-throw line than at any point in his career since his rookie season. And, Pascal Siakam, who's shooting a respectable 80% from the free-throw line, is only getting there 2.9 times per game. That's a significant drop off from the 6.7 he was getting just a season ago. In fact, this would be the least attempts he's ever had as a Raptor starter.

As I said, a new coach and a new system is going to take some time to get used to. But one thing never changes. You can't just leave points out on the floor. It's cost them a game already. Just a week ago, the Raptors lost to the Chicago Bulls by a single point in overtime. And in that game they had six missed free throws in just the fourth quarter and overtime alone.

Now I'm not sure if it's long-lasting nightmares from [? DR ?] screams or what but this has got to be something we all hope and expect normalizes at some point.