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The Toronto Raptors need someone to step up at small forward in 2011-12

Blogged under Bloglockers, Front Page, General, Positional Previews by alleyoop on Friday 25 November 2011 at 12:28 pm

The Raptors have three decent players at small forward (James Johnson, Leandro Barbosa and Linas Kleiza) but they need one of them to really step up in 2011-12. 24-year James Johnson will likely be the starter when the season begins. Johnson played in 38 games (25 starts) for the Bulls & Raptors last year and he averaged 21.6 minutes, 7.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. He has now played in 103 games (36 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 15.3 minutes, 5.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. 28-year old Leandro Barbosa will get minutes at both small forward and shooting guard this year. He played in 58 games (0 starts) for the Raptors last year and he averaged 24.1 minutes, 13.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Barbosa has now played in 524 games (109 starts) in his NBA career so far and he is averaging 25.0 minutes, 12.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. 26-year old Linas Kleiza is coming off of microfracture surgery on his knee last February, so he might not be ready for big minutes right away. He played in 39 games (23 starts) for the Raptors last year and he averaged 26.5 minutes, 11.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Kleiza has now played in 340 games (59 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 19.9 minutes, 8.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.

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