Raptors by the numbers: Examining the power forward position

With a 37-18 record on the season and a 17-5 mark since the start of 2016, the Raptors are firmly in the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference standings and rank in the top-10 in both offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency.

These accomplishments so far are absolutely worthy of praise. The Raptors aren't perfect, though, and the most pressing area of improvement right now is pretty obvious after looking at the team's individual plus-minus total over since Jan. 1.

The Raptors have just one player that's a minus during that span, and it's not particularly close. There's a reason general manager Masai Ujiri was reportedly interested in acquiring a power forward, before deciding there wasn't an option out there that was worthy of shaking up the current roster and standing pat as the trade deadline passed last Thursday.

Toronto has been consistently outscored with Luis Scola on the court over the last six weeks as the regular season has started to take its toll on the 35-year-old veteran after a strong start to the campaign.

Specifically, the issues are on the defensive end of the floor. The Raptors are allowing 115.6 points per 100 possessions when Scola plays and 100.4 points per 100 possessions when he doesn't. That's a startling difference.

It's not all on Scola, though. Scola and Valanciunas are simply not a good match defensively. When they're Toronto's frontcourt pair, the Raptors are being outscored by 10.5 points per 100 possessions since Jan. 1.

So what's the quick fix? Swapping Patterson into the starting lineup is the conventional move, but the Raptors have had great success with the Lowry-Joseph-Ross-Patterson-Biyombo lineup at the start of the second and fourth quarters.

However, Patterson and Valanciunas are a much better combination than Scola and Valanciunas. It's also worthwhile to see how Scola plays next to Biyombo for an extended period of time. Biyombo can help Scola defensively, while Scola is more of a faciliator and offensive conduit than Patterson.

So should the Raptors inquire about Jason Thompson, a power forward who was recently released by the Golden State Warriors? Sure. They would need to cut a player off the current roster, most likely Anthony Bennett, but Thompson could provide some added frontcourt depth.

When DeMarre Carroll returns from injury, which is expected to be sometime in the next month, he can take some power forward minutes, too. This is far from a fatal flaw for the Raptors, they're playing great despite Scola's big minus number, but it's in their best interest to see if this an opportunity to get even better.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Yahoo Canada Sports. Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr