Raptors Discuss Value of the Play-In Tournament for Toronto & the NBA

The Toronto Raptors say they're different from the rest of the play-in teams but history suggests play-in teams never fair well in the postseason

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Fred VanVleet is a realist when it comes to the play-in tournament.

If the Toronto Raptors weren’t sitting in ninth in the Eastern Conference, needing a play-in game just to make the playoffs, he’d be against the whole idea of expanding the playoffs. To him, a self-proclaimed basketball purist, it’s a ratings gimmick meant to expand the playoff pool for teams that almost always have no real playoff hope anyways.

The fact of the matter is no play-in team has ever made it out of the first round. Only three of the nine teams to earn playoff berths from the play-in pool have even forced a Game 6. The overwhelming majority of play-in teams end up bowing out in five games, a gentleman’s sweep, if you will.

“I think it just stretches the realm of reality of what the team is,” VanVleet said speaking generally about teams in the play-in picture. “It can create unrealistic situations for a lot of teams.”

The Raptors think they’re an exception to the rule, at least when talking publicly about the topic. It’s true, they’ve been better since the trade deadline, 11-8 since adding Jakob Poeltl with a Net Rating of 1.9, good for seventh-best in the Eastern Conference over the last month and a half, but some of that has been inflated by wins against actively tanking teams. It also doesn’t exactly put them close to the upper echelon of the conference alongside the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, or Philadelphia 76ers.

“I think for us – a team that’s been talented and kind of underperformed for the majority of the year, I think we feel really good about getting in and getting to our spot and making some noise,” VanVleet added.

At this point, that’s the goal for Toronto: See how high the team can climb, ideally out of the ninth seed and into the much-easier eighth seed and needing to win just one of at worst two play-in games. The Raptors currently sit tied with the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth spot, slotted in ninth for now because of the tiebreaker in Atlanta’s favor.

After that, it’s about being a tough out for Milwaukee, Boston, or potentially Philadelphia. A four or five-game series is going to be seen as a step back from last year in which the Raptors took the 76ers to Game 6, a relatively impressive feat after falling behind 3-0 in the series.

“We are not afraid of anybody,” said Raptors coach Nick Nurse. “I think that we’ll put some defensive issues in front of people and things like that.”

At the very least, the play-in tournament has made this part of the season a little more interesting for Toronto, Chicago, and what seems like half the Western Conference. There are just 3.5 games separating the fourth-placed Phoenix Suns and the 11th-placed Dallas Mavericks in the West all of whom are fighting to avoid missing the playoffs.

In that sense, the play-in tournament is a success. If the goal, as VanVleet suggests, was to add drama to this part of the year, the NBA has done that. Without the play-in tournament, the Raptors may have pivoted at the trade deadline. Ultimately, though, VanVleet has proven to be correct in the past. Generally speaking, the play-in tournament is just false hope for teams that probably should have a more realistic sense of what’s to come.

Further Reading

Jeff Dowtin Jr. continues to receive praise as contract decision looms

Scottie Barnes says 360 dunk was a response to his teammates

Raptors hold off Wizards all but clinching spot in play-in tournament