What can the Raptors expect from Dominic McGuire? Tough to predict, I’m inclined to say defense of the Antoine Wright variety except with more fouls and not as many missed threes. Sound about right? Not sure? Here’s his scouting report:
+ Defensive-minded wing with great size. Outstanding rebounder.
+ Awful offensive player. Can’t shoot or handle ball. Shoots anyway.
+ Best position may be smallball 4. Good dunker and shot-blocker.
McGuire is a wing player, but you wouldn’t know it from his stats. His rebounding and shot-blocking numbers look like a power forward or even a center; he was first among small forwards in all three rebounding metrics and second in blocks. He was also third in fouls, third from last in steals, and second-to-last in points per minute. You’ll be forgiven for assuming he’s 7-2.
He’s a wing, though, and at some point he got the idea that because he’s a wing he should shoot jumpers. Somebody really, really needs to tell him to stop. McGuire can’t shoot at all, but nearly half his shots last season from were beyond 10 feet. He shot 28-of-101 from that distance, an impossibly bad 27.7 percent conversion rate; in a related story, he shot a ghastly 39.6 percent overall and had the fifth-worst True Shooting Percentage in the league last season.
When McGuire wasn’t forcing baseline spectators to take cover, he was playing solid defense. This is what keeps him in the league. McGuire is big for a wing and athletic, and although his mobility is average he’s very good against most 3s. I suspect he’d be even better as a smallball 4 and surprised it hasn’t been tried more extensively, as he’s so awful offensively on the perimeter that it’s difficult to justify keeping him on the court.
A decent enough singing by Colangelo which shows the general trend of the roster: acquire defensive minded players instead of fluffy offensive ones.
Things starting to get going. Training camp is October 1-6 in Halifax with a game on October 6 at the Halifax Metro Centre.
Here’s the rookie photoshoot.
