Toronto already boasts a championship-caliber defense, which ranked fifth overall in efficiency last season. If the agreed-upon deal for Leonard ever gets done, it’ll have one of the Association’s top forward tandems, too.
Does it have enough offensive juice to capture the suddenly stacked Eastern Conference, though? Color us skeptical. The Raptors were a forgettable 15th in offensive efficiency, and that was arguably impressive given their lack of big-time bucket-getters, capable creators and high-level shooters.
They had next to nothing in terms of something-out-of-nothing creativity, ranking 25th in efficiency on isolations. Their pick-and-roll ball-handlers didn’t fare much better (23rd). Having Leonard around should help with both, but he isn’t a one-stop solution.
Maybe Irving isn’t either, as a 34-year-old working his way back from a torn ACL. But remember, Toronto would have both upgrades working in concert. Let Barnes pick and choose his spots as an overqualified third option, and the Raptors might start overwhelming opponents with offense—while retaining all the key components of their already disruptive defense.
If Toronto needs a sales pitch to pounce, that’s the one: Adding an impact player without paying anything close to an impact-player price. Now, that’s because availability risks would be part of Irving’s carry-on baggage, but his healthy version is such an obvious and substantial need-filler that this might be bordering on no-brainer territory.
Given Irving’s legendary handle and uber-imaginative isolation game, he could be forgiven if he were a ball-pounding black hole. But he’s not. He is a willing and able passer, plus a lights-out off-ball scoring option. He’s consistently helpful, as shown by his positive net differential over nine years (plus-4.9 points per 100 possessions over that stretch).
A healthy Irving would be an immediate and immense upgrade and perhaps the addition that could seal Toronto’s spot among the East’s elite. That’s just too rich a prize to pass up at this price.