Raptors Ex-Files: Members of championship team excelling in playoffs

The Toronto Raptors may not have played a playoff game in three years, but for fans seeking a hit of nostalgia, there are five prominent members of the 2019 championship team making waves in this season’s NBA Playoffs.

Two beloved homegrown stars — Pascal Siakam (Indiana Pacers) and OG Anunoby (New York Knicks) — have already punched their tickets to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, respectively.  

And, depending on the results of Saturday and Sunday’s Game 7 matchups, there could be an ex-Raptor in every conference semifinal.  

California natives Kawhi Leonard, Norman Powell and their hometown Los Angeles Clippers are set to tip off against perennial MVP Candidate Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in a win-or-go-home game Saturday. Watch that game on Sportsnet One at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT.

Meanwhile, Fred VanVleet (Houston Rockets) turned in a pair of spectacular shooting performances against the Golden State Warriors reminiscent of his 2019 run to force a Sunday finale.  

Here is a look at how notable former Raptors are faring in the post-season.

Kawhi Leonard 

Leonard may be a self-proclaimed “fun guy,” but when it comes time to compete on the court, he’s all business. 

After getting off to a slow start upon return from a lingering knee injury in January, the 33-year-old eventually found his stride in the final month of the regular season.  

His averages jumped from 17.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in the months of January and February to 25.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists in March and April. And so far in the playoffs, the two-time Finals MVP has lived up to his track record, finding another gear and posting a 25.5-point, 8-rebound and 5.2-assist stat line on improved efficiency.  

Over the past nine seasons, isolation frequency has increased by an average of 2.2 possessions per game from the regular season to the playoffs. While Leonard’s efficiency as an isolation scorer is down from past seasons, he has been consistently among the league’s highest volume and most effective scorers when creating his own shot.  

His defence isn’t at the same level as when he was the world-beating offence-ruining machine that shut down prime LeBron James on the way to the 2014 championship before winning back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards, or even during the 2019 Playoffs, but it’s still quite good.  

Leonard still has the instincts, length and hands to be plenty disruptive when working as a help-side defender, averaging 4.2 deflections, good for fifth in playoffs, to go along with 1.3 steals. He also still occasionally takes the point-of-attack assignment and is allowing a 37.7 per cent defensive field goal percentage, second among all wings. Teams are averaging 3.2 fewer points per 100 possessions with Leonard on the floor (per Cleaning the Glass) and he still rebounds the ball. After all, board man gets paid.  

Leonard can also still take over games, as he displayed with a laser-precise 39-point performance in Game 2 where he went 15-of-19 from the field. His efficiency is up both overall (from 58.9 per cent true shooting during the regular season to 62.8 per cent in the playoffs) and from the mid-range (from 47 per cent to 51 per cent). The Clippers will need both his automatic scoring and penchant for making big shots if they’re going to dispatch the Nuggets in Game 7 Saturday.  

Norman Powell 

Fellow California native Norman Powell had a career year this season, and those who are familiar with his journey will understand that it’s been a grind.

Powell averaged a career-high 21.8 points by ratcheting up his volume while also maintaining similar efficiency to recent seasons and even making shots at a higher clip than his career averages. A rare and spectacular feat.  

How the 31-year-old ex-Raptor did it is perhaps even more exceptional, taking a massive leap as a pull-up three-point shooter by doubling his volume and increasing his percentage to among the best in the league. His 37.8 per cent clip ranked just ahead of Stephen Curry and just behind Anthony Edwards.  

Also, the majority of Powell’s threes were of the more valuable above the break variety. This territory is more available to shooters as defences work to take away easier corner shots, and he was a 92nd percentile shooter on non-corner shots at 43 per cent.  

During Leonard’s 34-game absence to start the season, Powell was instrumental in keeping the Clippers offence afloat. He’s also put up three 20-plus point performances in last four games. Powell’s shot-making will be essential to the Clippers’ Game 7 chances. Maybe he even has another heroic playoff dunk left in him.  

Fred VanVleet  

During his time in Toronto he earned the nickname Steady Freddy, but Fred VanVleet’s shooting in the first-round has been anything but.  

The ninth-year point guard started off the Rockets-Warriors series averaging 11.3 points on 13.7 shots and going 6-of-29 from three (20.7 per cent). This included an atrocious Game 1 that saw him go 4-of-19 from the field and 2-of-13 from three.

Since Game 4 his shooting has turned on its head and he’s been lights out, going 18-of-27 on threes (66.7 per cent) and firing the Rockets back into the series after they faced a 3-1 deficit.  

VanVleet will always be an analytics darling due to his tendency to win the possession game through low turnover rates and lots of steals. But for the Rockets to successfully become the 14th team in NBA history to come back from 3-1, VanVleet will have to come through with some big shots. 

It wouldn’t be the first time he recovered from an early playoff shooting slump to sink the Warriors.  

Pascal Siakam 

Spicy P earned his first two All-NBA honours as a Raptor, and he may be set for a third selection after putting together an exceptional season with the Round 2-bound Pacers.  

After starting 10-15, Indiana eventually figured out its issues and finished the season 40-17, good for the fourth-best record in the league over that stretch.  

Amid a slow, injury-affected start to the season by lead guard Tyrese Haliburton, Siakam was the Pacers’ most reliable scorer and creator. His ability to comport himself into a variety of roles based on the team’s needs has been essential to their success.  

Siakam is leading all players in points per possession on isolations (1.31) in the playoffs. The Pacers often hunt out a mismatch for him in the pick and roll and the rangy forward is elite at either taking advantage or making the right passing read when drawing a double.  

Siakam has also enjoyed a career-best three-point shooting season, providing punch as a spot up scorer while Haliburton runs the show. He cashed 38.9 per cent on a shot diet comprised of mostly catch-and-shoot above-the-break triples. And it was on his highest volume since the 2020-21 season, when he shot under 30 per cent. The shooting has gone cold so far in a small playoff sample, but opponents even having to respect the jumper will create additional space for Indiana’s offence.  

Defensively, Siakam has been sublime. The Pacers’ defence has been 11 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor, per Cleaning the Glass, a league-best mark.  

While taking down the dominant Cavaliers is a tall task for any team, the ascending Pacers have a punchers chance, and Siakam is a big reason why.  

OG Anunoby  

Anunoby may not be much of an artist, and he may fear every animal known to man (and cottage cheese), but he is in a class of his own as an elite 3-and-D wing. 

While the former all-defensive team member is more known for his contributions on that end of the floor, Anunoby averaged a career-high 18 points per game this season for the Knicks.  

His offensive game is all killer, no filler; he takes a high volume of the highest value shots — at the rim and corner threes — and converts both at an above-average clip.  

Anunoby’s season included a career-high 40 points against the Nuggets in November and a particularly torrid final quarter of the season where he averaged 22.9 points on improved shooting splits. 

In the first round, the 27-year-old has scored over 20 points three times and is second with 2.5 steals per game. Plus, he’s made a couple spectacular shots. We certainly know he doesn’t shoot trying to miss.

Gary Trent Jr.  

Trent Jr. is the lone non-championship team member included here, and while his Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated by Siakam’ Pacers, his first-round performance bears mentioning.  

In Game 3, he scored 37 points on 9-of-12 three-point shooting, leading the Milwaukee to its lone first-round victory alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo. Then, in Game 5, he recovered from an 0-for-9 start to make eight straight threes and help send the game to overtime.  

Trent Jr. is also the playoff leader in steals per game at 2.6.  

The 26-year-old will hit free agency for a second consecutive summer after netting a one-year veteran minimum contract from the Bucks last off-season. It will be interesting to see if he’s able to cascade this exceptional playoff showing into a more lucrative deal.  

More from Sportsnet

The kids are alright: Impressive Raptors rookies speeding up rebuild

Raptors’ Rajakovic ready to lead next phase with pressure set to rise