The Toronto Raptors have tried to play small and finesse their way to championship basketball. That didn’t work out, lucky for them they didn’t have to tank to change their identity. It took them one offseason to go from finesse to feisty.
The Raptors wanted to become bruisers, and it looks like they’ve succeeded. One particular acquisition was Bismack Biyombo who has shown signs of defensive beast but hasn’t got to that consistent level that DeAndre Jordan and Andre Drummond are at. But Raps GM Masai Ujiri can see the elite defender that the NBA just quite hasn’t caught yet.
Ujiri wants energy and for Biyombo to come in and be physical inside.
“He’s trying to figure it out in many ways, what his niche and his specialty can be in the NBA,” Ujiri said on the same conference call. “But what he does well now is offensive rebounding. He’s elite, blocking shots, offensive rebounding he’s elite.
“Defensive rebounding I think he’s going to get better and then as a defensive player, he’s really a solid defender. We needed more physicality with our team, a screen-setter, a roller, somebody that will always challenge, put a body on guys and that’s what Biyombo does.”
He wants Biyombo to be the counterbalance to the offensive-minded Valanciunas.
Ujiri is proving to be a very good general manager, he’s making small moves that make the team substantially better. You can tell he’s more about substance and that’s something you see with championship winning GM’s. Lets see if the team can provide.
