Nick Nurse is running his players into the ground
Only three NBA players are averaging more than 37 minutes per game. They’re all on the Toronto Raptors.
Pascal Siakam is playing 37.3 minutes per game. OG Anunoby is playing 37.2. And Fred VanVleet is averaging 37.1 minutes. The Raptors also have by far the most games where their players log 40+ minutes.
It feels like the 16-23 Raptors are in pure desperation mode, less than halfway through the 82-game season. They’ve lost 14 of their last 19 games and dropped to 12th place in the Eastern Conference.
Coach Nick Nurse has responded by playing his starters heavy minutes - VanVleet missed two games with a back injury, and came back to average 41 minutes in his first three games back. Siakam hasn’t played less than 36:58 in a month.
Siakam and VanVleet were 1-2 in minutes last year as well. And while Anunoby and Siakam are big, weighing in at 230+ pounds, VanVleet is generously listed at 6’1” and 197 pounds.
Josh Lewenberg wrote that VanVleet’s high usage may hurt him in the long season, like last year when “he pushed his body too far, leading to the knee injury that cost him several games late in the season and the hip issue that ended his postseason early.”
VanVleet can opt out of his contract this summer, and turned down a $114 million extension - the most Toronto could offer him - before the season. Lewenberg suggests the 2022 All-Star is looking for a deal closer to Tyler Hero’s four years and $130 million. FVV wants to play well and help Toronto win - but he also doesn’t want to get injured ahead of his last chance at a free-agent contract.
And VanVleet’s shooting numbers suffer when he’s exhausted.
While Nick Nurse doesn’t have good bench options behind his stars, he’s going to have to start playing his reserves some more minutes. Or VanVleet and the starters will wear down under the heavy workload, and Nurse will have to give his reserves all the minutes.
More must-reads: