What's stopping the Raptors from being a top-tier team in the East?

Imman Adan and Asad Alvi discuss what has the change for the Raptors to solidify themselves in the class of the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics. Full episode looking at the roles of Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam and more is available on the 'Raptors Over Everything' podcast feed.

Video Transcript

IMMAN ADAN: Because my next question for you is-- you know, we kind of talked about what sort of tier the Raptors are in, and sort of knocking at the top tier. But they're still in the second tier with those Cavs, with those Hawks, even if they feel like they're on the higher end of that. What do you think it needs to be to catapult the Raptors into that first tier with the Bostons, and the Milwaukees, and the Philadelphias? Like, what needs to happen from the Raptors' perspective to get themselves into there? And can it happen this season?

ASAD ALVI: It 100% could happen this season. I think if their defense locks in and they play like a top-- not a top 10 defense, but top five defense in the league-- like, what catapulted Boston last season? They became the best defense in basketball for the second half of the year.

And you can say, oh, they have Jayson Tatum, and they have Jaylen Brown. They have these incredible offensive nights. Nothing that those guys are doing on any given night are things that you haven't seen Raptor players also do.

Like, Pascal Siakam's also had incredible offensive nights. Fred VanVleet's reached incredible offensive heights. Scottie Barnes has done amazing stuff. OG Anunoby's done-- had 36 points at the Garden, right?

Like, these are guys that, like, they can have their nights. And maybe it's level of consistency. But the key for this Raptors team at the end is going to be, they have so much [AUDIO OUT] talent, they really don't have an excuse not to figure it out this season.

And the sooner they figure out that they can be a top three defense in the league-- like, top tier defense in the league, then suddenly, everything clicks into place. Because once you have the defense of a championship team, there is enough offensive talent to cobble together an offense that can get them there. And that's when you start knocking on the door.

IMMAN ADAN: That's the prayer.

ASAD ALVI: Are they-- are they a true, true contender? Like, are they going to win the NBA Finals?

IMMAN ADAN: Yeah.

ASAD ALVI: That's tricky. Again, when you get to the NBA Finals, all bets are off. The healthiest team and the team that can execute best is going to win. And when you have a lot of youth executing every single play to perfection, that's where it's difficult.

That's why you saw a team like Boston, everyone sees them as a contender. They got to the Finals. Why did they lose?

It wasn't just that their offense kind of fell apart. They were just turning the ball over. Like, every other possession, just not executing even the simplest of plays. And it's just that's where inexperience shows, right?

IMMAN ADAN: Yeah.

ASAD ALVI: So the Raptors are definitely going to show inexperience. You're always going to see that. But what you want to see is, can they bring their defense to the level of a championship team? They have no reason not to be able to. They have everything they need to be a defensively top tier team.

And then offensively, it's how good can they get at executing their offense? Can they execute at-- with a professional mindset? Or are they going to execute with a mindset that doesn't really take the game as seriously?

And that's kind of like-- again, championship quality teams, that's what they have. And that's kind of what you want to build towards to the end of the season. It's like how much do they value each possession of a game?

IMMAN ADAN: I think that's a really good point. And I just-- I'm looking this up here. So last season, until January 1, so for the first 32 games of the season for the Raptors, they were the 21st-ranked defense in the league. 21st-ranked defense. Do you want to wager a-- do you want to wager a guess for what they were from January 1 until the end of the season? So 50 games-- so we're talking about 32, bottom 10 defense. But for the final 50 games of the season, do you want to wager a guess with where their defensive rating was?

ASAD ALVI: I would imagine, like, at least top 10 at the minimum, right? Like, top five, maybe.

IMMAN ADAN: They were the sixth best defense, a smidge--

ASAD ALVI: Of course.

IMMAN ADAN: --tiny smidge behind Miami. And Miami played, like, five less games at this point. So it could have been the difference there, [LAUGHS] especially because the Raptors were so injured in that March. But I think that kind of goes to your point exactly-- the Raptors do have the ability to catapult themselves into the top five, top three defense if they manage to stay healthy for the entirety of the season. They were just so so, so bad at the start of last year. And we know the reasons for that. We're not going to rehash that anymore.

ASAD ALVI: And one thing to remember is, this is the Eastern Conference. This isn't the Western Conference, where they don't play defense. This is the Eastern Conference.

Every single Eastern Conference finalist since LeBron James, like, the team that has represented the Eastern Conference in the Finals, has been a defensive juggernaut, right, whether it's been the Raptors, whether it's been the Bucks, whether it's been the Celtics, whether it's been the Heat. All four of those teams, exact same base characteristics, as they were based off of just, like, a highly switchable, highly adaptable defense that was just tops in the league, where they were shutting you down from scoring. And then the offense, they could figure it out, right?

And that's where I think to win the Eastern Conference-- and if you look around right now, like, the teams that do the best in the East right now, if you look at that top tier, they're all, at least the ones that actually did well last season, were all defensive juggernauts. The teams that--

IMMAN ADAN: Yeah.

ASAD ALVI: --you think are going to do well and then did poorly-- like, the Brooklyn Nets, they're a great offensive team. And of course, they had their completely different issues there. But again, like, if you can't guard, at some point, you're going to run into a playoff matchup where you're asking a lot of Kevin Durant. You're asking a lot of Kyrie Irving to create every single night.

And then on the other end, they're just getting battered defensively because they just don't have the personnel. So teams are getting easy buckets on them, which shouldn't be. And on the other end, they have some of the best offensive talent in the NBA. But they're having to face set defenses, which are just like the Celtics of the world, the Bucks of the world. Like, these are really good defensive teams, right? You're asking a lot-- that tires you out for seven games.

So I think in the Eastern Conference, the path to contention is definitely first, have your defense. You need to have a very, very, very competent defense that can switch and adapt to any style. And then go get your offensive superstar. Go get, like, an offense, get enough players that could get you enough points.

Miami was literally, like, one-- a 3-pointer away-- like, a Max Strus heel on the line away--

IMMAN ADAN: Thank you.

ASAD ALVI: --from the NBA Finals. That's how close they were.

IMMAN ADAN: Thank you.

ASAD ALVI: And that team could not score on any possession to save their life. They were that good of a defensive team. So again, that's what we're talking about, right? How to compete in the East-- there is clearly a way to do it.

There is a very common structure that all these contenders are using in the East. And if you look at the Raptors, the Hawks, the Cavs--

IMMAN ADAN: --Boston's offense failed them constantly in the playoffs, right?

ASAD ALVI: And when you look at the Raptors, Hawks, and Cavs, if those are the three teams that you're kind of comparing, which of those teams defensively sounds the most sound to you? Like, the Cavs have this giant--

IMMAN ADAN: Cavs and the Raptors.

ASAD ALVI: --the Cavs are just-- completely don't have any wings to guard with, right? They have these two tiny guards. And then they're basically like, hey, our defense is entirely built on these two giant dudes at the rim. And we're just going to pray that everything else works out.

IMMAN ADAN: That's a great defense.

ASAD ALVI: Which is a great idea, but again, like, how adaptable--

IMMAN ADAN: Until you go up against the Boston Celtics. Until-- it's a great defense until you see Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in front of you. And you're like, oh-- but I think it all works because of the unicorn that is Evan Mobley, who can guard out on the perimeter.

But it'll really be interesting to see how that Cavs team works out. But the Raptors, as you mentioned, have big wings. And that's what you kind of need, especially in the Eastern Conference, where you have-- you've got James Harden, you've got Kevin Durant, you've got Jayson Tatum, you've got Jaylen Brown. Just up and down the list, you've got a bunch of perimeter guys--

ASAD ALVI: And then you need, like, 30 fouls for Giannis Antetokounmpo. So like, you need to have-- you can't just have one-- you don't need to have just one dude that size to guard Giannis. You need, like, four of them because you know at least three of them are fouling out in the game, right?

So like, that's kind of what you need to survive the Eastern Conference. And the Raptors have it. That's what the roster is. So I'm very high on the Raptors.