Kyle Anderson’s arrival in Toronto should give the Raptors something they’ve been looking for: a steadier, more organized second unit. But it also means the bench rotation is about to get tighter, and a few players are suddenly looking at their minutes a little differently.
The most obvious name in that conversation is Jamison Battle. Last season, his playing time fell hard, dropping from 17.7 minutes per game to roughly 8.5 after Brandon Ingram joined the Raptors. Anderson’s addition creates another logjam at small forward, and that only makes Battle’s path to steady minutes tougher.
Battle still found his way onto the floor in six of the seven playoff games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, though that came when Ingram was out with an injury. There’s reason to believe Battle can help; he has shown real growth as a shooter and has connected on more than 40 per cent of his three-point attempts across his first two NBA seasons. Even so, Anderson gives Toronto another forward option who can occupy the same spaces Battle needs.
In that sense, Anderson looks like a practical replacement for Garrett Temple. Temple was 39 and far removed from regular rotation work, while Anderson arrives with a much bigger current role in his recent résumé. He averaged nearly 20 minutes per game last season across stints with the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves.
The ripple effect doesn’t stop there. Rookie Alijah Graves is expected to compete for a role, and the Raptors want him on the floor more than Anderson if things go according to plan. But there’s no guarantee a first-year player can claim meaningful minutes right away, and Toronto will have to see how he handles the jump to the NBA before locking him into anything.
Graves is expected to spend more time at power forward or even small-ball centre, which gives him a different profile from Anderson, who fits more naturally as a wing. There’s also a path for the two to share the court.
Anderson’s offensive skill set adds another wrinkle. He can work at the top of the key and around the elbow, a spot that overlaps with the role Sandro Mamukelashvili filled for Toronto on offence this season. That makes Anderson feel like a short-term answer there, even if Graves is the longer-term fit.
The Raptors also brought Anderson in with a teaching job in mind. Part of his role is to help Graves learn how to handle playmaking responsibilities at the NBA level. Sometimes the clearest lesson comes from watching it done in real time.
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For the Raptors, the appeal is obvious enough: Jackson is the kind of low-cost, low-risk camp body who can compete for a spot and, if needed, keep developing with Raptors 905. The question hanging over the move is the same one that has followed him since Milwaukee - whether his defense can carry enough weight to offset the limitations on offense and give him a path onto a regular-season roster. [Read more 🡒]