5 reasons the Toronto Raptors can win the NBA Championship

5. The Raptors have the NBA’s best bench

Of every single five-man lineup that has played at least 300 minutes, the Raptors bench squad that includes C.J. Miles, Jakob Poeltl, Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright has the fifth-best net rating in the entire league and has played at least 200 minutes fewer than the four lineups above them.

When you adjust for minutes played, this same bench unit has the second-best net rating in the NBA, outscoring opponents by 19.6 points per 48 minutes.

They move the ball incredibly well, pass up good shots for bad shots and defend like their collective lives depend on it.

Miles, the lone veteran among the group sets the tone, leading by example. He’s been unfathomably unselfish all season long leaning on his backcourt mates in VanVleet and Wright and doing all of the little things to keep this unit rolling. VanVleet and Wright have both made significant jumps in shooting from the perimeter and their decision making.

In the frontcourt, Poeltl has been fantastic defending the rim and finding looks within the flow of the offense, rarely attempting anything outside of his natural skillset while Siakam has been a borderline elite defender with the length and mobility to slow down players at all five positions.

While the group isn’t perfect (they give up than seven more free throws than what they take per 48 minutes), they often extend leads created by the starting unit instead of maintaining them — the latter being what you can expect from pretty much every other decent bench unit in the league.

While most coaches will have to shorten their benches once the postseason starts, Dwane Casey will have the luxury of knowing that he could go 10-deep if necessary — and in reality, he could be hurting his team if he doesn’t keep this group intact as games become more meaningful.