Nick Nurse: Raptors Are Back to Square One Sorting Out Bench Spots

The Toronto Raptors and Nick Nurse have been searching all season for a stable rotation and he's finally ready to sick with a bench unit for the next few weeks

Aaron Rose | Mar 19, 2021

Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

Change has not been kind to the Toronto Raptors this season.

Prior to the season, Raptors coach Nick Nurse said he wanted to find a bench rotation that he could stick with throughout the year. He wanted to solidify his eighth and ninth man spots so that those players knew every night they were going to be called on for 15 to 20 minutes. In theory, it was a great plan. Matt Thomas and Terence Davis would compete for a bench guard spot and whoever won would know exactly what he was going to be asked to do every single night.

Then the season started and the plan went out the window.

Thomas' two-game audition as a rotation player gave way to a few games for Davis to show who what he could provide, which gave way to a few games for DeAndre' Bembry, and on and on down the entire Raptors roster.

So far this season the Raptors have essentially given 11 different players extended playing time to prove themselves, excluding the core of Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Norman Powell. It's been a constantly rotating bench and on any given night it's anyone's guess who will be the next player tabbed for minutes.

That needs to change, Nurse said Friday night prior to the Raptors' game against the Utah Jazz.

"I feel like I'm back at square one, I couldn't tell you who's impacting the game positively and who isn't," he said. "So the search starts again tonight is what I'm saying, about who else is gonna play. It could be any of them, it really could. All the way, I mean, even Henry [Ellenson]'s been solid. You'd categorize him, as our 17th guy and he's been OK."

Going forward, Nurse said he wants to get back to his pre-season plans. He's going to pick a player — unnamed as of pre-game — and ride with him through thick and thin.

"They need to know that they're gonna get more than a three-minute chance or a five-minute chance or a one-game chance," he said. "I think I just need to pick a couple guys here for a couple weeks, give 'em their rotation, and hopefully that'll either solidify us or give us some more answers."

That, however, is easier said than done. Even as Nurse laid out his plans pre-game he started to hedge.

"Can I just rephrase that and instead of two weeks, I say a couple or a few weeks so I'm not pinning myself down here to exactly two weeks in this experiment," he joked.

But the reality of the situation is more dire for the Raptors. It's a problem that Nurse essentially has five players he can count on night after night and after that it's rotation roulette. So what more is there to do?

Against Utah, Nurse is going to pick a player or two to roll with it for an extended stretch. Even if they falter, he's going to go back to them again and again and again for the next few games. He needs to, he said. So far change hasn't worked. Maybe stability will.

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