How 5 Raptors Lead the League

 Slow sports day! I thought today would be fun to just poke around on some stat sites and filter until I find some Raptors who are leading the league in certain stats. Obviously these are going to be akin to that Thaddeus Young graphic that had him up next to LeBron, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, but that's the fun of it! If I'm being 100% honest, I've got nothing to do at work today so an excuse to play around on these stat sites is all I needed. 

RJ Barrett - FGA Inside 5 Feet for a Player <25 Years Old

This one will probably be the least cherry picked on my list. If you've read this blog or watched Raptors games at all, you know RJ gets to the rim with regularity. There were two ways I could have gone with this stat: RJ Barrett does lead all <25 year olds in attempts inside 5 feet, but RJ also leads all players under 6'11 in attempts at the rim. To be doing what he's doing as a guard who rarely goes to his right hand, is straight up remarkable. Not only that, RJ is converting 58.5% of his attempts from this area proving it's an efficient and effective look for him. Everyone in the building knows RJ is going left, everyone in the building knows he's going downhill, but he still does it all game every game and nobody can stop it. 

Ochai Agbaji - Corner 3 Point Percentage Minimum 2 Attempts Per Game

What do you know, another not very cherry picked one. Ochai has been a revelation from the corners still shooting 52.4% on 2.5 attempts per game to lead the league in efficiency from that spot on the floor. The growth in Ochai's game has been a topic on this blog in many posts but the most notable difference is his confidence and ability to shoot the 3 ball. In tight games, you can count on Ochai to let that thing fly and more often than not make it. A solidly built 6'4 player with great catch and shoot stats especially in the corner, remind you of anyone? I've been crowning Ochai as the next PJ Tucker all season and the Raptors are very lucky to have him.

Jakob Poeltl - Offensive Rebounds

I was really stretching when I thought all of these would be crazy cherry picked, turns out we have some guys who are good at some stuff! Jakob Poeltl leads the league straight up in offensive rebounds narrowly beating out MVP candidate Nikola Jokic with 4.1 per game. Every game Jak is in the right position on offense ready to capitalize on Raptors misses. I feel like a lot of RJ or Davion Mitchell drives are facilitated by knowing Jak is there to clean up a miss, which he does at an elite level. Being a big with a soft touch like Jakob, offensive rebounds tend to lead to a lot of second chance points. The numbers match this as well where Jakob is 3rd in the league in second chance points. We all saw what happens when Jak doesn't play in that game against OKC. Raptors fans should be grateful for his steadying presence every night. 

Gradey Dick - Mid Range FG% for Player 21 or Younger

Ok this one was massively cherry picked but I wanted Gradey Dick on here. If you expand this to players 22 or younger he's 3rd and 23 or younger he's 6th, but still Gradey is shooting 47% from the mid range on nearly 3 attempts per game. On a team without a lot of perimeter creation, Gradey has stepped up as the team's best tough shot maker. At only 21 years of age, there are definitely some things Gradey can improve upon on both ends of the floor, but to see him feasting in the mid range so far is a good sign. You can go back through my posts where I comp Gradey to other NBA All-Stars, all who get it done in the mid range. I am watching this season to see if Gradey can continue this growth and potentially become the all around scorer the Raptors so desperately need. 

Jamison Battle - 3 Point Percentage For a Rookie with Minimum 30 Attempts

For the record, this one isn't actually that cherry picked, Jamison Battle has 73 attempts where all other rookies shooting 40% or higher from deep have 31 or fewer. Jamison Battle is shooting 42.5% from 3 on 3.2 attempts per game coming off the bench for the Raptors. The undrafted rookie has been a revelation in his first NBA season quickly emerging as the Raptors best shooter in a long time. What's more is Battle has gotten his shot off in tough situations with defenders now bearing down on him. He has a slightly slower release than Gradey Dick, but his height and release point allow him to get his shot off in a lot of situations. It's been a while since the Raptors had an undrafted win. Jamison Battle looks to be a big one. 

That's it! A little bit of positivity on a day we found out that Scottie Barnes is set to miss weeks with an ankle injury. From an injury perspective, it's been a season from hell. But out of this, in a development season we've gotten to see a lot of young players expand their roles and discover their games. I think in the long run this is really going to pay off for this Raptors team. In the meantime, us fans can enjoy the fact that we have 5 Raptors that lead the league in something, however silly that thing may be! Go Raptors.