The Raptors made a couple of significant rotation changes this week against the Cavaliers and it came down to this: One was strategic in nature. The other was to send a message.
Shifting Gary Trent Jr. to a bench role just makes sense. He can energize a second unit offensively, he can shoot with impunity and, privately in conversations, his teammates and coaches understand both the necessity of the move and the logic behind it.
Going to Thad Young as a starter may put the Raptors at a size disadvantage some nights but that’s not a crippling problem and he’s shown to be savvy enough to keep the offence churning with his passing and infrequent shot taking.