The NBA preseason is in full swing and the regular season is just around the corner. The Philadelphia 76ers are one of 30 teams that are preparing for the long grind of the regular season. While they will face each team at least twice, but there are four teams they will face four times this upcoming year.
The Atlantic Division is arguably going to be the toughest division in the Eastern Conference. There’s an argument that all five teams could be in the playoffs or at least the play-in tournament. Before the start of the regular season, it seems appropriate to rank each team in the division. The idea for this article was inspired by Xaiver Aguiar of Pelicans Debrief.
Power ranking the Atlantic Division: Toronto Raptors
Just because the Toronto Raptors are at the bottom of the list, doesn’t mean they won’t be a competitive team. Having Nick Nurse as a head coach alone will keep them from completely bottoming out.
That being written, the Raptors are clearly at a crossroads entering this season. They have several players nearing or in their primes like Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent Jr, and OG Anunoby. Siakam and VanVleet are All-Star level talents with Anunoby on his way to becoming one but their ceiling as a core isn’t getting past the first round of a playoff series.
Then there’s the fact that the rest of the supporting cast is either young prospects, like Malachi Flynn and Scottie Barnes, or veterans like Khem Birch and Goran Dragic don’t help the situation. However, the roster is more on the younger side than the older one.
The Raptors are one of the biggest wild cards in the East. The could be a bottom-three club or a top-eight team in the conference. A certain level of uncertainty due to youth on the roster is the reason why they are fifth.