5 major storylines as Raptors begin new season

After a summer that included informal team mini-camps in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, a training camp in Victoria, B.C., and five preseason games spread across five different cities (including Edmonton and Montreal), Toronto Raptors basketball is finally back. And yes, I'm talking about real basketball.

As the Raptors get set to open their season at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 19, the regular season is upon us. But in order to look forward we must first look back, parsing through the (largely meaningless) preseason in order to figure out the age old question: what actually matters here?

From Pascal Siakam appearing ready to hit the ground running, Christian Koloko and Dalano Banton looking ahead of schedule, and the Raptors having some the same issues they had last season, here are my five biggest takeaways as the Raptors prepare for the new campaign.

1. Internal improvement can only fix so much

Let’s start with the uninspiring part of the Raptors preseason, and that is the fact that the team has the same holes on their roster that they did last season. I’m talking, of course, about their half-court offense, lack of outside shooting, and poor defensive rebounding.

As it turns out, as much as the Raptors can try to scheme their way out of these issues or alleviate them through internal improvements from some of their key players — and those things could help, however marginally — the fundamental problems from last season still persist. The Raptors have shot 43.7 percent from the field and 24.4 percent from beyond the arc this preseason, giving them an offensive rating of 104.9, 20th in the league. Plus, they have rebounded just 71.8 percent of opponents' misses, good for the 19th-best defensive rebounding rate in the league. Yes, the Raptors have been without Otto Porter Jr. for the length of preseason as he deals with a hamstring injury and their other new addition, center Christian Koloko, has played just 13.8 minutes per game. But it wouldn’t be fair to expect these role players to fix the Raptors flaws by themselves.

The point here is not that the preseason is the be all, end all; it’s that these numbers are right in line with how the Raptors finished last season, and that there is no reason to expect them to dramatically improve anytime soon unless they recruit outside help. After all, they still don’t have enough elite advantage creators to consistently create good looks in the half court; enough consistent above the break three-point shooters to knock down said looks; or any elite defensive rebounders to finish defensive possessions. Internal improvements and improved chemistry should alleviate some of these issues. But it would be silly to assume they will fix them entirely.

2. Pascal Siakam is ready to hit the ground running

We spend a lot of time during training camp and the preseason worrying about things on the periphery, such as who will win the final roster spot (congratulations to Justin Champagnie. I hope he thrives. But it’s worth remembering that we spent the same amount of time worrying about the 15th spot last season when Isaac Bonga, who is now in Germany, ultimately won it). But what really matters after a summer away is how the very best players on the team look when they return. Which brings us to Pascal Siakam.

Siakam averaged 21.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists along with 2.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per 36 minutes this preseason, shooting 42.3 percent from the field (despite hitting just 18.8 percent of his threes). And while those numbers might look underwhelming at first, Siakam was letting it fly from three — as he should during preseason, but maybe not as frequently in the regular season, as we saw last year. When he chose to attack the paint instead of settling, Siakam shot 52.8 percent inside the arc, which is where we know he does the bulk of his work. Plus, Siakam got to the free-throw line 7.0 times per 36 minutes, better than his career-high 5.6 times he got there last season, when he averaged 37.9 minutes per game. Defensively, Siakam has been as disruptive as ever, looking quick and strong enough to switch onto almost anyone in the league. Simply put, he looks ready.

“I think he came in probably as sharp as anybody,” Nick Nurse said of Siakam. “Just with his skills and with his conditioning and all that stuff. And I think he's been pretty impressive at both ends as a two-way player and I’ll say that that's what he needs to be, [that’s] who he is.”

3. Christian Koloko looks further along than anticipated

Coming into the preseason, we all knew that Koloko filled a big hole on the Raptors roster, as the only player over 7-foot who was big enough to protect the rim on one end and put some pressure on it as a roll and lob threat on the other. But as a rookie big man who was selected 33rd overall and who struggled mightily at times in Summer League — especially on offense, where he failed to catch simple passes or know where to stand when he was not in the action — Koloko was expected to mostly play in the G League this season in order to help him adjust to the pace of professional hoops. However, in a few short months, the game looks to have already slowed down tremendously for Koloko, who played his role about as well as anybody could have expected in preseason, averaging 5.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in just 13.8 minutes per game and, most importantly, rarely looking out of place.

“Christian, again, has been a really solid player… He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes out there. He fits in with the first group, fits in with the second group. He’s a good team player,” Nurse said.

Plus, Koloko has been better than advertised as a switch-defender. When he was drafted, it was expected that he would primarily play drop coverage, giving the Raptors some much needed rim protection and the ability to play a drop scheme that they have shied away from in recent years. And while he is still best suited to do that, Koloko has also been able to switch onto skilled ball-handlers and contain them at the point of attack or recover if he gets beat. For someone as big as him, to be able to move so well already is a rare skill. And an important one if he is going to get big minutes with the Raptors.

Nurse has said that he expects Koloko to spend some time in the G League this season, but he also pushed back on the idea that Koloko won’t play meaningful minutes with the big club. If he keeps improving at this rate, I wouldn’t bet against him being a fixture in the Raptors rotation before the end of the season.

4. Dalano Banton has won the backup point guard role through skill and… luck

Two things can be true at the same time: the first being that Malachi Flynn has had terrible luck as he fights for the Raptors backup point guard spot, suffering ill-timed injuries again and again throughout his Raptors tenure — the most recent being a fractured cheekbone during the Raptors first preseason game, holding him out the remaining four games. And the second being that Dalano Banton has done everything possible to win the spot himself, not only staying on the floor but impressing with every chance he gets, thriving in a variety of different roles this summer and becoming one of the Raptors' most versatile players.

After all, there are not many players who can lead their teams in points, assists, and rebounds, yet Banton did it twice this summer: first for the Raptors at Summer League, and then for the Canadian senior men’s national team at the FIBA AmeriCup. Banton was the No. 1 option on both of those teams, but it was still fair to wonder how he would perform in a smaller role in the NBA, especially if he had the ball in his hands less often. But he passed that test too, averaging 11 points, 3.4 rebounds and two assists on an efficient 52.4 percent shooting in just 16.5 minutes per game this preseason, wreaking havoc on defense (1 STOCK per game) and pushing the pace in transition. Most impressively, Banton has fit into a half court offense while primarily playing off the ball despite the lack of a three-point shot (0-6 in preseason), setting impromptu flare screens, finishing plays with heady cuts, and making quick decisions when he does have the ball.

“I think the big thing is he just looks so comfortable out there, right?… He’s playing at the tempo he wants to play at,” Nurse said of Banton, crediting his experience with Team Canada for helping him come to camp in shape and more comfortable. “I think he's doing a little bit of everything, not only at the offensive end, I think he's playing in transition, he's running the team pretty good, he's executing the sets, those kinds of things.”

5. The Raptors and their fans are still unclear of what the goals for this season should be

Is this another development year for a youthful Raptors team? Or is this year about winning a playoff series or bust? Ask ten Raptors fans and you might get ten different answers.

Of course, there is a fine line between prioritizing developing and prioritizing winning, and the Raptors will tell you that winning is a big part of development. But as much as that is true, it was clear that last season erred on the development side of that line, with young players playing big minutes throughout the season, a very marginal trade deadline acquisition that was never going to significantly move the needle, and an offensive system that was more about giving players reps doing things they were developing than it was about putting guys in positions to do things that the team was confident they were already good at.

That strategy paid dividends, with players like Precious Achiuwa and Scottie Barnes taking massive leaps throughout the season — they don’t take those leaps if they are not afforded the defensive freedom to make some mistakes and the offensive freedom to try new things in-game. But if this year is truly about winning and taking the next step forward, the team might have to lean towards focusing less on long-term development and more on exploiting every competitive advantage they can, including benching players for defensive mistakes or bad shot selection.

“I want to be supportive and help everybody reach their individual goals but I think winning should always be first and we should work our way backwards from there,” Fred VanVleet said of the balance between individual development and winning, noting that the shot selection could use some tightening. Nurse, however, said he likes to give guys freedom as long as they are going as hard as possible.

But just like the team, fans are also not on the same page, with some already asking in preseason why VanVleet is driving to the rim only to get blocked or why Achiuwa is taking pull-up threes only to miss. Is this season about development or winning? Because you can’t always have it both ways.

More from Yahoo Sports