The Toronto Raptors have made changes this offseason, but one issue still hangs over the roster: size.
Right now, Toronto still looks light in the frontcourt. The team has not added anyone this summer who stands taller than 6-9, and that leaves a real question about how it will hold up against bigger opponents over the course of the season.
NBA.com contributor John Schuhmann has already flagged that concern, noting the Raptors do not have much size to match up with the rest of the league. Toronto can try to drag teams into smaller lineups, but that only works if the other side doesn’t decide to lean on a dominant big man and make the Raptors pay.
That problem showed up in the playoffs, where Toronto had a rough time on the boards. So far, there hasn’t been a clear offseason move that fixes it.
The draft gave Toronto a chance to address the issue directly at No. 19, but the Raptors went another direction and picked Allen Graves, a 6-9 forward who could spend some time as a small-ball five in his rookie season. With Sandro Mamukelashvili now gone after signing a four-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency, Graves is expected to step into the backup big role behind Poeltl.
There were still center options available when Toronto was on the clock. Jayden Quaintance, a 6-10 big man from Kentucky, went with the next pick to the San Antonio Spurs.
Six picks later, UConn center Tarris Reed Jr. also landed with the Spurs. Chris Cenac Jr., a 6-11 big man from Houston, came off the board at No. 27 to the Boston Celtics.
Toronto had all of those players on its radar at some point, but ultimately chose Graves.
The fit is easy to see. Graves shares a similar build with Collin Murray-Boyles, Scottie Barnes and Kawhi Leonard, giving the Raptors more switchability on defense and plenty of lineup flexibility. The downside is just as obvious: against teams with strong centers who can control the glass, Toronto could still get pushed around, the way the Cleveland Cavaliers did with Jarrett Allen in their playoff series.
The Raptors are close. They have enough pieces to look like a playoff team, but the gap between being a first-round exit and becoming a real contender may come down to one more move. A big man could be that piece.
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