The Raptors need to be good next season. Good thing they’re ready.
When Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes, and Jakob Poeltl left the court on March 20 (it was really March 21, early in the morning) against the Golden State Warriors, the Toronto Raptors were down just two points. The Warriors are championship hopefuls, 41-30 and sixth in the West (and rising), while the Raptors are doing their best to lose games. It was a fierce contest between — you would have been forgiven for thinking as a viewer — relative equals, not lessened by Steph Curry’s departure in the second half due to injury.
The trio’s leaving the floor with eight minutes remaining would usually indicate Toronto’s waving the white flag, happily waving their opponents down the aisle towards victory.
But that wasn’t the plan, at least on this night. All three returned to the floor just four minutes later, now with Toronto down five points. Quickley immediately threw a hang dribble at Jonathan Kuminga to jet past him before tossing a one-hand gather with his left off the glass, whispering the ball over the hands of the help defender at the rim. Poeltl collected a chasedown block in transition. Barnes bashed into the post against Jimmy Butler as a read out of Spain pick and roll, tossing in a left-handed hook while turning into Butler’s body to freeze him. Barnes took a pass in the middle of the lane, turned, and punched a dunk over the help. They didn’t win, but they won their final minutes, cutting the deficit to just three points before falling.
Barnes finished with 29 points on 16 shots, 10 rebounds, and six assists. Quickley with 21 points on 17 shots, eight assists, and three steals. Poeltl with 18 points on nine shots, eight rebounds, and two blocks. All three were at their best. Quickley was initiating, using in-and-out dribbles, crossovers, splits, and other creationary moves to beat his primary defenders with ease (like guards should!), touch the paint, and create for himself or his teammates. Barnes and Poeltl finished what others created for them and made terrific additive reads on the catch. All three defended quite well.
Barnes and Quickley working together has been the priority for Toronto. Against Golden State, it was practically perfect. Their pick and rolls were unstoppable, with Toronto creating at worst easy mid-range looks for Barnes or juicy drives for Quickley. Such synergistic success has not been a common thing this season. The two clicking, at least for one night, is a win. For my money, it was the best moment for the duo since the two starred against the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 1, combining for 54 points and 20 assists.
It was the best of all worlds for Toronto. The Raptors lost, and they also saw great games from their best players. The trio played 24 minutes together, winning their minutes with an impressive net rating of plus-4.1 against the fearsome Warriors. Yes, Toronto has been losing consistently. But on the season, Toronto’s three best players (arguably, though RJ Barrett certainly has a claim there) have a net rating of plus-2.5 together. It’s rare for teams this terrible to win minutes with the best players on the floor. There is a framework for success here, even for a 24-46 team looking to plummet even further into the basement this season.
The thing is: It better work next season.
Next year Barnes will begin his max contract. Quickley, Poeltl, and Barrett are already on huge deals, and newcomer Brandon Ingram will begin his close-to-max contract. This is the team. Those leaders, plus the youngsters, as well as whichever future star rookie Toronto can add in the draft this year. Outside of the midlevel exception, and the chance of shuffling the deck, there is no money for anyone else.
And if Toronto is bad next year — when the team is almost certainly going to be trying to win — that would be a problem. It would be year three of losing. That stuff seeps into the bloodstream, into the bones. Most of the players on the roster (almost all) will have known nothing else in their professional career. That would be a setback of extremely large proportions.
But what Toronto already has (and will be getting at the draft) ought to be enough. As previously stated, Barnes, Quickley, and Poeltl have won their minutes together on the season. That’s pretty meaningful for a team 22 games below .500.
Ingram should be able to join this group immediately and add what has largely been missing. He will likely slot into the starting lineup alongside Quickley, Barnes, and Poeltl. That gives the Raptors a ton of size on both ends, and adds shooting and isolation scoring that are desperately needed. If Barrett stays as the final starter (and is a Raptor next season), that is an enormous lineup with plenty of offensive punch and the juice on defence to slide Barrett to the weakest offensive wing. If he moves to the bench he would immediately be one of the best bench players in the league. His churning drives would flat-out dominate on offence against bench defenders.
It’s very possible though that the Raptors would start _____ [insert exciting rookie name, obviously Cooper Flagg]. There should be real talent coming to the Raptors this offseason. It’s up to the fates, and to the next decade of work, to determine just how real that talent will be. In fact, whether that rookie ends up being Flagg (or another future star) or more of a future starter will go a long way towards deciding whether the Raptors are on the path to real contention or not. Regardless, that’s not the point of next season. It’s just being competitive again.
Meanwhile, the youngsters should be able to handle much of the bench rotation. Jamal Shead and Jonathan Mogbo are works in progress, but Mogbo’s defence has been impactful and Shead’s ability to blow past opponents and reach the paint is a real offensive weapon. Both won their minutes against the Warriors. If Shead cleans up his defence, and Mogbo finds ways to add to an offence, they can be real contributors. Gradey Dick has been up and down this season, with his defence really not NBA level yet, but his shooting and ability to boogie to the rim attacking closeouts are real weapons. They’d be meaningful as the offensive spine of a bench group. Ja’Kobe Walter’s defence is a real add, and his jumper and finishing have been trending upwards. Ochai Agbaji has cooled off, but he started the season on fire, and he’s still at 40 percent from deep on the year. Jamison Battle is one of the best standstill shooters in the league.
None of those players are guaranteed a rotation spot next year. It’s likely there will be virulent competition. That’s not a bad thing. Bad teams can afford to funnel minutes to players regardless of performance. Next year, when Toronto wants to be good, it will be time for players to earn minutes. But there should be enough youth and talent on the roster for a meaningful bench rotation to form.
Toronto still needs a backup center. Orlando Robinson and Colin Castleton have had their moments, but they are likely not 20-minutes-a-game players on a team that is shooting for 50 wins. It’s arguable whether Shead will be ready to run backup point (though I think he’s much closer than Robinson is). Even with Ingram, there’s still not enough creation or size or shooting on the roster.
That can all be solved in the offseason, at least to an extent. But the foundation of the house is already in the ground. If Toronto hadn’t been handing games to their opponents on a platter, it could easily have won nine of its last 10 games. This team isn’t far from being good. Add in (much) more talent, a fresh slate, an offseason for the kids: It could be very fun.
Though Darko Rajakovic has had some real missteps in late-game situations, and has thrown a few games recently, his coaching system has proven very impressive this season. Even though the Raptors lack any real creators, the team ranks third in rate of shots at the rim and fourth in expected efficiency from the field based on the location of shots. The defence has been trending upwards throughout the season. Given more talent combined with an assigned task of winning, I have every expectation that Rajakovic can coach winning basketball.
There is a lot of pressure on the 2025-26 Raptors. Too much more of this, and losing can rot the organization from the inside out. The Oklahoma City Thunder — gold standard of tanking success — only had two consecutive seasons with fewer than 40 wins. The Raptors are just finishing their second such year. Prolonged pestilence like that of the Process Philadelphia 76ers has … what … to show for it? The 76ers are back in the lottery this year, just like the Raptors.
Yes, there is pressure, but the 2025-26 Raptors should be ready to face it. It will finally be time to be good again. That’s good news for everyone involved.
The post The Raptors need to be good next season. Good thing they’re ready. first appeared on Raptors Republic.