The Raptors’ presumptive Big 3 features Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett.
A group consisting of a player in Barnes, whom the club drafted fourth overall following the Tampa Tank, and two players in IQ and RJ that were acquired in a trade with the New York Knicks.
As a unit, the body of work is small, making any definitive conclusions incomplete.
There was a time earlier this season when an argument could be made that Barnes was turning into an injury-prone franchise face, even though both setbacks could be chalked up to bad luck or simply the perils of the trade.
Barrett began the season with a shoulder injury he sustained in the team’s pre-season opener.
Outside of a few games when Barrett was felled by an illness, he has been durable and effective when he’s able to showcase his playmaking skills.
As for Quickley, the Raptors think they know what they have and have invested quite a bit in a point guard who is in his fifth season.
If anyone knows precisely how Quickley can function playing alongside Barnes and Barrett, they’d be lying.
Certainly, a glimpse was provided when Quickley returned from an extended injury absence and produced an eye-popping 15-assist game in a New Year’s Day win over the visiting Brooklyn Nets that snapped Toronto’s 11-game losing streak.
Injured in the season opener, Quickley would be sidelined for the next eight games before he returned to the lineup and started two games. Then came an injury to his elbow that prevented Quickley from playing for the next 22 contests. He then managed to play six games before injuring his hip/groin.
The Raptors beat the visiting Orlando Magic on Tuesday night as Quickley missed his fourth game in a row.
When Quickley was most recently seen on the court in uniform, he launched 20 shots in a loss to the host Detroit Pistons, recording two assists and emerging with a minus-24 rating.
Without Quickley, the Raptors have won three of their past four games, all at home, as they head to Dixie for a two-game set against the host Atlanta Hawks.
In his absence, the Raptors have relied on a revised Big 3 consisting of veterans Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk and Chris Boucher.
As the NBA’s trade deadline on Feb. 6 looms, there already has been chatter of rumoured deals that may or may not happen, which is par for the course during this time of the season.
Boucher, who wasn’t expected to play against the Magic because of an illness but did, turned 32 two weeks ago. Olynyk, who has regained his form following a back injury that kept him out of the lineup for the opening 23 games of the season, turns 34 in April while Brown turns 29 in August.
Toronto’s starting group, which included Barnes and Barrett, was awful Tuesday night in allowing the Magic to score the game’s first 10 points en route to establishing a 32-11 lead.
When energy was required, the Raptors’ bench came to the rescue. For the first time this season, Toronto won a game when trailing at the break after going 0-23.
By his standards, Boucher did not have that explosive night when every shot he heaved found net. He did put together a string of games when he looked like an all-star, though.
Boucher remains the last link to the Raptors’ 2019 title team and a player many had pegged to be moved in the coming days until a report surfaced Tuesday indicating there’s a feeling an extension might be in the works for the pending free agent.
Olynyk’s career began with a trade. After Dallas used the 13th overall in the 2013 draft to select the Canadian, the Mavs dealt the floor-spacing big to Boston. It marked the first of four times Olynyk would be moved and a fifth may play out.
Brown, a seven-year veteran and NBA champion with the Denver Nuggets, has been playing his best basketball with the Raptors.
A year ago, his first with the Indiana Pacers, Brown was traded to Toronto. There was all kinds of talk Brown would be dealt by the Raptors, but no trade was engineered.
This time around, Brown says he’s not worried.
“It was super tough just (not) knowing if I was going to be here or not,” Brown said when reflecting on last season when he joined the Raptors. “I would say I didn’t care about it, but I did.
“But this year, it’s just part of the business. And through the summer, I knew that at some point I was going to face this again, just being on an expiring deal and being on a young team. But if it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, I’m happy to be here.”
His game, professionalism and preparation clearly fits the Raptors or any other team for that matter. The same could be said for Olynyk and Boucher.
Every team is desperate for low-maintenance veterans who understand their roles and fully embrace them.
All one needs to do is look to Detroit and how the acquisition of a few key veteran pieces have helped lift the Pistons.
The Raptors are in a rebuild and are hopeful the Big 3 core will eventually flourish. The fact is the franchise is banking on it.
Certainly, when two of the core pieces that are part of a group responsible for allowing 35 points to be scored in the opening nine minutes, it’s never good.
The Raptors were able to rebound because of their bench and the simple fact that Orlando is not good, mainly due to the roster being marred by injuries.
Tuesday’s defeat was the fourth in a row for the Magic, which has been held to fewer than 100 points in all four losses.
The Raptors would trail by as many as 21 points, lead by as many as 22 and eventually prevail 109-93.
Atlanta figures to present a much more challenging threat. When the Raptors were in the midst of a three-game stretch of futility, the Hawks came to town and lit up the home side for 136 points in a 29-point win.
Once the Raptors stay in Atlanta wraps up, they return home to play host to the New Orleans Pelicans, the lone team the Raptors have been able to beat on the road, which came on Nov. 27 in a 119-93 victory.
On Monday, the Pels staged the largest comeback in franchise history by overcoming a 25-point deficit against the Utah Jazz.
New Orleans has won four in a row — the longest current streak in the NBA — and seven of its past 10.