The red light around the backboard was already lit up, and Cory Joseph’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left corner still hadn’t decided if it was going to drop. Like Joseph’s jumper in general, this particular attempt remained in a state of wait-and-see. After a few rattles, the ball found the bottom of the net for Joseph’s first triple of the season.



Despite a middling start to his 2016-17 campaign, the Toronto Raptors are hopeful that this particular shot— completed at the halftime buzzer against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night—was a bellwether as to whether Joseph’s finally taken the next big step towards being a knock-down threat from midrange and beyond. It’s something Joseph’s teased in small samples in the past, but by nature of his team-first approach, he hasn’t really shot it enough for definitive answers about the progress of his jumper.



There are encouraging signs beyond Joseph’s...