4 Options for the Raptors Final Starting Spot Ahead of Next Season

The Toronto Raptors have one starting spot up in the air with Gradey Dick and Bruce Brown the presumed frontrunners to land the spot

Mar 11, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Toronto Raptors forward Kelly Olynyk (41) reacts with guard Gradey Dick (1) in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors will enter next season with one major question mark in their starting lineup.

Four of the five starters appear to be set in stone with Scottie Barnes leading the first unit alongside point guard Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett on the wing, and Jakob Poeltl manning the center spot. It's a group that looks solid, having posted a +10.8 net rating across 234 minutes last season, a number that bodes well for Toronto's chances next season.

What remains unclear is what Toronto plans to do with its fifth starting spot. The Raptors have plenty of options, but nobody jumps out as the obvious choice, at least not right now.

Option 1: Gradey Dick

The most obvious option is to bump Gradey Dick into the starting lineup to give Toronto's starters a little more three-point firepower. That would give the Raptors at least two above-average shooters and potentially three if Barrett can keep up the 39.2% mark he posted with Toronto last season. Considering how important floor spacing is in the modern NBA, it's hard to put together a functional offense without at least two or three very good three-point shooters. If the goal is to add more shooting to the starting lineup, Dick is Toronto's best bet as a skilled off-ball mover who shot 39.5% from three-point range over his final 40 games of last season.

The problem with starting Dick is what it means for Toronto on the other side of the ball. Dick is a lanky 6-foot-6 shooting guard who didn't show much as a defender last season. Throwing him into the starting lineup leaves the Raptors short on strength and size with some serious defensive issues.

While Dick showed plenty of impressive moments over the second half of last season, he hasn't exactly done anything to really win a starting spot quite yet. If he gets the starting spot to begin the year, he would be more of a starter by default than anything else. There's an argument to be made that maybe it's better to give it to someone else and let Dick earn it at some point down the road.

Option 2: Bruce Brown

If the Raptors don't want to hand Dick the starting spot to begin the year, Bruce Brown looks like the next most likely option to fill that spot. He started 44 of 67 games last season and was a full-time starter for the Indiana Pacers before Toronto acquired him in the trade for Pascal Siakam.

The 28-year-old Brown is a veteran who knows how to start and can do the little things at an adequate level on both sides of the ball. He'd be a better defensive option than Dick, but at 6-foot-4 his lack of size does create the same issues for Toronto as a bit of an undersized group. Add to that the fact that Brown is a 33.7% career three-point shooter and Toronto may have some offensive issues with so many lackluster floor-spacers in the starting lineup.

The argument for starting Brown really just comes down to his veteran know-how and potential reluctance from the Raptors to give the spot to a sophomore before Dick has proven he can handle that role.

Option 3: Kelly Olynyk

If the Raptors feel Brown and Dick leave the starting unit too small or too light on three-point shooting, Kelly Olynyk appears to have an outside shot as a potential starter. At 6-foot-11, he'd slide into Toronto's starting power forward spot, allowing Barnes and Barrett to slide down the positional spectrum in a way that should help the Raptors with their size. Olynyk's three-point shooting prowess should open up the offense and create space inside for Barnes and Barrett to work.

All that said, Poeltl and Olynyk played nine total minutes together last season and while Olynyk can play the power forward spot, his lack of mobility and bad defense would leave the Raptors in a tough spot with the two big men on the floor together. Regarding rotation construction, starting Poeltl and Olynyk also leave the Raptors' bench without a reliable big man to help the second unit.

Starting Olynyk isn't a great option, but if Brown isn't the right fit and Dick isn't ready, Toronto doesn't have other options with the kind of starting experience Olynyk can bring.

Option 4: Jonathan Mogbo

Jonathan Mogbo certainly didn't show enough in Summer League to be thrust into the starting unit as a rookie and his total lack of three-point shooting would leave the Raptors with serious offensive issues if he's thrust onto the court alongside Poeltl. What Mogbo does offer, however, is the makings of a more traditional power forward as a 6-foot-6, 217-pound role player with a 7-foot-2 wingspan.

If the 22-year-old can figure out his three-point shooting, he profiles as someone who could start for Toronto down the road. It's extremely unlikely to happen to start the year, but Mogbo may be the best option for the Raptors to start at some point later on if he shows he can make an impact as a rookie next season.