The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We break down the biggest questions, best and worst case scenarios and fantasy prospects for all 30 teams. Enjoy!
TORONTO RAPTORS
2023-24 end
Offseason moves
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Additions: Ja’Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead, Ulrich Chomche, Davion Mitchell, Branden Carlson
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Subtractions: Gary Trent Jr., Jalen McDaniels, Javon Freeman-Liberty, Jordan Nwora, Malik Williams, Mouhamed Gueye, Jontay Porter
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Complete roster
The Big Question: Does Toronto already have a core to build around?
The Raptors clearly feel pretty good about the answer to that question. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sprinted to give All-Star Scottie Barnes a full-boat five-year maximum the second they had the chance, and they wouldn’t have followed it up by passing on Immanuel Quickley, the prize they picked up from New. York in the OG Anunoby deal, up to $175 million for the same five-year term.
There is reason for optimism. When the Raptors had Barnes, Quickley and RJ Barrett on the court with center Jakob Poeltl, they outscored opponents with 65 points in 234 minutes – very healthy 10.8 points per 100 possessions. Your standard small sample caveats apply, but the broad strokes do make any sense.
Barnes is a jack-of-all-trades who can score inside, rebound, facilitate, guard multiple positions and generate steals, deflections and blocked shots, and who has flirted with league-average 3-point accuracy on nearly five attempts per game. (Only five players averaged 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists per game last season: Nikola Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić, Domantas Sabonis … and Barnes. Pretty good company!) If he can function as a true #1, compromise the defense enough to create clean looks for teammates, he becomes one of the most fascinating players in the league.
Barrett didn’t quite live up to his “Maple Mamba” future star billing, but he is a solid two-way player who delivered perhaps the best basketball of his career after the trade, slice his way to 21.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game on .615 true shooting. Both he and Barnes have the size and strength to bully smaller defenders into the paint for quick looks; the Raptors took 38.5% of their shots at the rim in Barnes/Barrett/Quickley/Poeltl minutes, equal to that of Orlando league-leading full-season share.
Quickley can pair up with either in the two-man game, including as a screen-maker in reverse pick-and-rolls, while taking good care of the ball (a top-10 assist-to-turnover ratio among moderate-use players following the trade) and stretch the floor (39.5% from 3-point land on 7.1 attempts per game). Poeltl gives the playmakers a steady pick-and-roll partner, finishing top 20 in screen assists per game and shooting 68% as a rollerwhile also serving as the internal deterrent for defense that got stops at a league-average clip with him on the back line.
There’s just one problem with a solid top four, though: You need five guys to play and more than that to win.
A Raptors squad that said goodbye to all of Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Nick Nurse, Fred VanVleet, Trent and Precious Achiuwa in the past 18 months – leaving Chris Boucher as the final on-court tether to the team that won the 2019 NBA championship — still have to figure out what players fit best around the core four. That’s a recipe for head coach Darko Rajaković making a few experimenting … and, with the Raptors owning their own first-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, that could present several game-breakers, perhaps a recipe for some player-development-focused pain.
The Raptors need to see if Gradey Dick can cement a starting spot by replicating the 39.5% 3-point shooting he did over the. final three months of his debut season while also growing his game on both ends of the floor. They need a longer look at whether Ochai Agbaji can make enough jumpers (just 21.7% after coming from Utah) to become. actual 3-and-D role player. They need to see if newcomers like Mitchell, Walter and Shead can establish themselves as building blocks.
To the extent that the Raptors’ veterans can help create the context in which Toronto’s brass can learn those things, they will stick around. If the likes of Boucher, Bruce Brown Jr. or Kelly Olynyk is attracting trade interest, however, expect them to be jettisoned for more suitable young talent or more capital.
“I would use the word ‘reconstruction’. That’s the right word,” Ujiri told reporters on media day. “I think we have a clear path forward now.”
And here’s the rub: Will this path lead to the Raptors resuming annual deep postseason runs? Or, half a decade removed from the top of the mountain, is Toronto stuck on a road to nowhere?
Best case scenario
I see two possible answers here:
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Barnes makes another leap to All-NBA status. Quickley and Barrett are flirting with All-Star spots while Dick is becoming a consummate high-volume shooter, giving Toronto the bones of an above-average offense. That, combined with an improvement on the other end behind what Rajković insists there will be more aggression at the point of attackvaults the Raps from play-in fodder to top-six contention, meaningful spring basketball and reason to get excited about what comes next.
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Barnes, Quickley and Barrett all look really good at times … while also missing enough games and being left with insufficient backup play to fall out of the play-in picture and into the lottery, where the Raptors get another high-end prospect to develop. along with Barnes and – again – give the fans a reason to get excited about what’s coming next.
If everything falls apart
BBQ is going out, with a full season together offering evidence that Barnes, Barrett and Quickley are all better suited to living as complementary pieces than serving as top picks. None of the youngsters appear in a way that projects to future stardom. Even so, the disgusting nature of the bottom of the East ensures that the Raps again finish in the play-in tournament, with a low-lottery pick that profiles more as tepid than transformative … and with the list of reasons to get excited getting shorter by the second.
A fancy spin
The Raptors have some emerging talent on the horizon that will make some noise in fantasy. Starting with a statistician in Barnes, he’s an easy pick in the second round if you’re looking for a player who can contribute in every category. He is a very well-rounded fantasist.
Then there’s Quickley. Since coming to the Raptors last season, Quickley has averaged 19 points with five rebounds and seven assists per game. He only saw a 2% drop (22% to 20%) in usage while sharing the court with Barnes and Barrett, which is encouraging to see how much the Raptors’ system relies on sharing the ball. A fifth-round draft pick might feel rich, but it’s worth buying Quickley because he’s on the verge of a breakout campaign.
Barrett is the most important points league player, although his performance has been night and day since he played for his hometown Raptors. It’s hard to tell if Barrett has played above expectations or if he’s figured out his game, but going from a 42% shooter to a 55% shooter says some regression is imminent. His recent shoulder injury won’t help either. — Dan Tito
schedule 2024-25
With all due respect to Mitchell and the rookies, I’m not sure the Raptors added “five more wins” worth of talent this summer; with all disrespect to the Pistons, Wizards and Nets, though, I’m not sure that will matter. The rundown state of the bottom of the conference, combined with full and hopefully mostly healthy seasons for Barnes, Barrett and Quickley, should be enough to get Toronto to 30, at least.
