Grading the Toronto Raptors tanking effort now that the season is over

The Raptors HQ Staff comes together to reflect on this past NBA season.

The Toronto Raptors have finished their season, missing out on the Play-In Tournament and the Playoffs. Attention now shifts to the 2025 NBA Draft, where the team has the 7th-best odds heading into the lottery next month.

Despite this losing record and lack of postseason, the Toronto Raptors players, coaches, and front office seem pleased with the progress the team is making. The rebuild seems to be coming along, and everyone involved is hopeful to be ready to contend for a playoff spot as early as next season.

As the season ends, the Raptors HQ staff held a roundtable to discuss their thoughts and feelings after the 2024-2025 season.

What are your thoughts on this team’s future based on the season?

Chelsea: It finally feels like the team is making progress instead of trending backwards. It almost feels like we are over the hump of this rebuild. It’s not over yet, of course, but the hardest part seems to be over. I think, given injuries, the record, and the state of the team, progress was made overall. The rookies developed more than expected, Brandon Ingram was brought in, Barnes and Barrett had great seasons. There is no reason to doubt next year will continue to trend upward.

JD: The team is definitely ending their season in a much better situation than how the team entered the season. There’s plenty to be optimistic about this team’s future, especially how this coming draft and summer free agency can further shape this team to be even better. There are still questions that need to be addressed, but at least, the team’s in a much better direction now than how the last two seasons went down.

Rebecca: They’re headed in the right direction. There’s a lot of good chemistry, and it was fun to watch everyone get solid minutes. So many of the guys on the roster showed flashes of what they’re capable of, and it gave me a lot of hope for the future. I look forward to seeing what the team looks like once everyone is healthy.

Joe: I feel more optimistic than I did heading into the season — there’s a definite path to making the play-in next year (which is partially a commentary on the state of the Eastern Conference). I suppose this is breaking the rules of the question, since this isn’t “based on the season” per se, but I don’t think I can make a call here until the draft lottery. After the Tampa season I would’ve told you things were bleak, but moving up from 7 to 4 in the draft changed that. Will this year be similar?

Jay: Masai Ujiri has done it again! Ujiri’s tenure with the Raptors has been characterized by meticulously toeing the line between building for the future while staying competitive. That formula was a win for Raptors fans, who were treated to a competitive team year after year, and a win for the front office as they stacked the roster with talent and, ultimately, cashed in their chips at the right time for a run at the title!

Masai used a similar approach in this first (and only?) rebuilding season. The front office drafted very well, re-stocked the bench with young talent, and introduced a new term into the basketball lexicon: pre-agency. The post-championship Raptors felt like there was a ceiling on the potential (not a very high one recently). But next season’s Raptors appear headed in the right direction towards the ultimate goal!

The Toronto Raptors have added three rotation-level rookies: Walter, Shead, and Mogbo, as well as a developmental project, Chomche. They have traded away Davion Mitchell, Bruce Brown Jr., and Kelly Olynyk, while acquiring Brandon Ingram. Chris Boucher, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl have remained with the team. Has the Raptors’ front office made sufficient moves to improve the team?

Chelsea: It’s hard to judge until we see all the pieces in action together, yet on paper, it looks pretty good all things considered. Ingram should be a great addition to this team, it’s just a matter of getting him on the court next season. I am excited to see how the draft and free agency play into the roster going into next season. Yet, from a surface level, looking at the roster last season to now, the moves have improved this team’s prospects.

JD: Damn if you do, damn if you don’t. The Front office has gotten it’s share of criticism for the lack of trade deadline moves (“the price is too damn high”), but this year, they’ve done a great job at the draft, struck out during free agency, and was able to manoeuvre around the trade deadline to change the team’s timeline, for better or worse. If this is a book, these moves feel like a “prequel,” and there might be bigger moves coming up this summer. Have they done enough? I’m not fully bought in, but they’ve done enough to position themselves this summer to make some significant moves where we can say, “Oh, the Raptors are back.”

Rebecca: “Sufficient” is the key word here. They were the right moves to make for the long term (for the most part). Bruce Brown Jr. was always a trade piece, Kelly didn’t fit the timeline of the rebuild, and Davion was good but would’ve just taken minutes from Shead. Jak and RJ have both been great this season, and the rookies have all shown the ability to be contributors to the team. Ingram was a bit of a surprise to me personally, but I’m looking forward to watching him play. All of that said, I don’t think it’s enough. One more all-star calibre player (at least) and a bit more development are standing between them and competing.

Joe: Have they made sufficient moves to improve the team? Yes. How significant an improvement? Let’s see how Ingram meshes with the core (and if he stays on the court), and if Barnes can elevate his game. My hunch is that more moves need to be made for this team to make any real noise. But they’re more talented than they were last off-season.

Jay: The Raptors’ front office has done as well as you could hope for, considering the circumstances. I stand by my initial thinking that Fred VanVleet’s departure was unlucky (Houston struck out on all their free agent targets, had a LOT of money to spend, and was under the salary floor) and inadvertently kick-started this rebuild. Masai and Bobby turned OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam into Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, Ochai Agbaji, and Ja’Kobe Walter (the trade exception from the Siakam deal also helped facilitate the Jalen McDaniels trade that ultimately landed Jamal Shead). So, YES, the Raptors have done a remarkable job of improving the team!

What was your Raptors highlight of the season?

Chelsea: Ja’Kobe’s game winner for sure. It was just so wild and unexpected and such a funny statement at the end of a weird game. Also, the shot itself looks like a stunt haha

JD: For me, it’s a toss-up between Jak’s corner three and Ja’Kobe Walter’s game winner.

Rebecca: Any of Ochai’s statement dunks. He’s just a fun player who throws it down with authority, especially in transition.

Joe: The Ja’Kobe Walter game winner was just so absurd. But also, Vince Carter’s jersey retirement was a true milestone for the franchise, and will probably be what I remember most from this season.

Jay: I’d normally answer this question the same way all of my colleagues did (and add Jamal Shead’s putback slam), but this season was all about Pooping for Coop. So, my ‘highlights’ were all the nail-biting losses! From RJ Barrett’s failed buzzer-beating threes in BOTH games against Denver, to Immanuel Quickley’s foul on Coby White, to Jaden Ivey’s buzzer-beater in Detroit. This is the rare season where losing was acceptable, and Toronto made the losses highly entertaining!

What was your Raptors lowlight of the season?

Chelsea: The injuries for sure. It’s hard to judge a team’s compatibility when IQ barely plays the first half of the season, Scottie’s hand is injured for the last half, and the player you trade for doesn’t even play. I think we would have a much better idea of where this team is if the injuries had not been so deafening.

JD: I want to say it’s the multiple blowout losses where the team got ran out of the court early, and next thing you know, it’s a 40+-point lead. That game at Boston was one of them, where we lost by 50+ points. But overall, I didn’t expect this team to win a lot — it’s the lack of fight, heart, effort that the team showed during the first three months of the season. I would’ve been fine to see a “moral victory loss” than see the team quit several times.

Rebecca: I think for me the hardest part to watch some of the “unexpected” lineups. There would be 4 or 5 minute scoring droughts and it felt like there wasn’t many options of offence that took the wind out of the sails of whoever was on the floor. I also missed seeing Chris Boucher more.

Joe: Between the injuries and half-hearted tank, I would say the lowlight was seeing core players constantly in street clothes.

Jay: The 54-point loss to Boston was a gut punch, mainly because of the opponent and the venue. They could have lost by 30 points to Washington at Scotiabank Arena or by 80 points in Oklahoma City, but not by 54 points....to the division rival.....in their annoyingly loud arena.....just hours before celebrating the new year!

Has Coach Rajakovic secured his position for next season?

Chelsea: Look, I am biased because I LOVE Coach as a guy. Yet, I also think he has done everything in his power to shift the tide for this team. He entered a franchise with a SERIOUS culture problem and has not only fixed it in two seasons but made it exponentially better. He is a great coach for these young developing players, not just as players but as people. He’s thoughtful and he cares about them as players but also as people. The real test for him begins next season, in my opinion. Can he uphold this culture while also coaching the team to a winning season? All I know from being around the team is that the players adore him, and Masai is happy with his work. So, to me, that seems like he is secure for the moment.

JD: The season began poorly for Coach Rajakovic, and it was so bad that it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he was let go within the first 15-20 games of the season. However, he gradually improved the team’s performance and secured “buy in” from his players, resulting in more competitive gameplay. As the latter half of the season presented a favourable schedule, we witnessed improved performances by the Raptors against teams that offered less resistance.

Looking ahead, had we not acquired Brandon Ingram, I would have been inclined to acknowledge that Coach Rajakovic has earned the opportunity to continue coaching at the start of the season, as the expectations would be lower. However, Ingram’s acquisition shifted the timeline and the expectations for both the players, coaching staff, and the front office. The critical question remains whether Rajakovic can competently lead a team expected to be competitive within the Eastern Conference next season. I have my reservations.

Rebecca: I have a really tough time with this one because I genuinely like him as a person. He seems to care a lot about the team and his players, and it’s undeniable that he made a lot of good changes. The defence improved throughout the season, and the ball movement and offence was, at times, really fun. I think that the injuries, roster changes, and overhaul of the system has made it really difficult to judge his capabilities yet. I’d like to see him have a year where he’s able to run the team at full strength and with consistency. I’m going to hold any judgement until then.

Joe: Look, Michael Malone and Taylor Jenkins were both fired 70+ games into the season, so I’m scared to say that any coach has secured their position for next season. That being said, I think Rajakovic, toward the end of the season, got results out of a not-great roster (against, yes, a soft schedule) and deserves a season with a more competitive (and hopefully available) roster. But it’ll be year three for him, and with the Ingram trade raising expectations for next season, I think the front office’s patience will be more tied to wins and losses.

Jay: Darko is good for at least one more season, which says a lot in today’s volatile environment! Let me give myself an out: Darko is good until the end of 2025, as long as the Raptors are in the playoff picture. If Toronto is scraping by in a play-in position, regardless of injuries, expect the seat to get hotter in January.

Next season, Brandon Ingram will ______:

• improve the team
• be the new Rudy Gay
• cause more issues
• invest more on street clothes for Canadian winter
• [other]_______________

Chelsea: [other] Bring this team back to a .500 level and above team. Look, let’s be honest here and say the Eastern Conference is in rough shape. If Ingram is healthy and the other pieces of this team are healthy and things are operating as they should, this team could be in a playoff position. I might not say that if they were in the Western Conference, but in the East? Things are rough all around. A good Ingram and an improved Raptors team can compete in this conference.

JD: Be the new Rudy Gay. He will show the things that he’s good at, and mix it with the things that he gets criticized for on the floor. However, much like Rudy, the coach will have a hard time finding the right pieces to complement him, and it’ll be a struggle against teams with a good defensive game plan.

Rebecca: Improve the team. It’s hard to go down from a tanking season, and BI has a lot of talent on the offensive end that will make things easier for everyone else. My only question is fit, and I have a hard time seeing a situation where Scottie, RJ, Quickley, and BI are all getting the offensive load they want.

Joe: Something in between improving the team and being the new Rudy Gay. He’s going to bring their floor up by adding a lot of scoring juice, and he’s improved a lot as a playmaker. But I think his limitations are enough to stop him from being a real needle-mover.

Jay: [other] ....be a crowd favourite! There’s nothing more endearing to a starving fan base than a player who can get a bucket. Quickley will rain from deep, Poeltl and Barrett will score in the paint, Barnes will orchestrate from all over the court, and Ingram will own the mid-range. Brandon’s already got a great rapport with his teammates (did you see him rocking the Shead jersey after losing the Duke/Houston bet?). At some point in November, he’ll hit a clutch bucket in front of the home crowd and cement his status as fan favourite!

Scottie Barnes _____:

• took a step forward as the team’s franchise player
• plateaued this season
• was consistently inconsistent
• other:_____________

Chelsea: [other] He improved his off-court skills. Look, it’s not exactly what you want to hear, but as the franchise’s leader, it’s important to have leadership skills. Scottie took a leap in that aspect, and it was the perfect season to do so. The culture is changing, he needed to change too. Now that he has those skills and is hopefully healthy next season, he can take the on-court leap he needs to take.

JD: At first, I thought he was revving up the gas to accelerate and take a big jump, but his usual knick-knack of injuries and performance inconsistencies plagued his season. So yeah, in a way, it felt like he plateaued this season.

Rebecca: He was consistently inconsistent. I hate to say it, too, because I’ve always been (and still am) high on his potential. The issue is that in some games, it feels like he’s not trying. There will be moments throughout the season where he is giving 110% effort and manages to chase down a block someone in transition and then turn around and drain a three. Then 10 minutes later, he’s letting someone dunk over him or running laps of the court and complaining to the refs. I’m not sure what he needs to change to be his best self all the time, but I’d like to see that happen.

Joe: Consistently inconsistent. Like Rebecca said, he spans the gamut from appearing disengaged to displaying All-Defence level chops. At 23 years old, Barnes can very well grow his game and take a step up. But to me, this past season did not feel like a step up from his All-Star season in 2023-24.

Jay: I’m the only one who thought Barnes took a step forward? If you remember the 2023-2024 season, Barnes was occasionally seen arguing with teammates. This season, Scottie took ownership of his role as the team’s leader, on and off the court. Yes, he was consistently inconsistent, but so were the tank-driven lineups he was constantly playing in. I honestly expected a rougher transition for Scottie, considering some of the immaturity he displayed in previous seasons. Barnes has shown enough to be Toronto’s leader for the present and future.

Did the Raptors effectively pursue a strategy to secure a higher draft pick?

Chelsea: If they were trying to tank, they failed. If they were trying to develop the rookies they drafted last season, they succeeded. In terms of a draft pick, I mean they didn’t exactly secure Cooper Flagg odds but it’s not impossible. Tanking is weird and hard.

JD: This is the draft to be picking at the top, and having a top 4 pick at worst would be ideal. A top 3 selection can reshape the team’s future while keeping up with the front office’s decision to expedite their timeline. The team should have decided whether to pursue the best lottery odds or believe on the development of their existing young talent and aim for play-in contention. The last 20 games have disappointed fans with a poor product with half-hearted tanking and key players sitting out. The team needs to either make tanking worthwhile or provide entertaining games; there’s no middle ground.

Rebecca: Not even close. They were out-tanked by teams like the Jazz, Wizards, and Brooklyn, the result of which will now probably be a middle-of-the-lottery pick. It’s a deep draft and the Raptors seem to always find what they’re looking for regardless of the number, but they probably could’ve done more to drop some of the games this season. That said, I’m kind of glad they didn’t. It’s hard as a fan to watch a 15-game season and with the way teams can rise and fall in the draft, it might not have made a difference anyways.

Joe: No. But in fairness to them this was a very competitive tanking season, defined by juggernauts like the Wizards, Jazz and Hornets.

Jay: Sigh. Yes. Surprise, surprise. Mr. Glass Half-Full is drinking the tea again. Think of the alternative, folks. If the Raptors successfully secured a bottom-3 record, that would mean the rookies AND the core would have underperformed. Cooper Flagg (or the chance of landing the pick for Cooper Flagg) is going to save a team with no bench and no young talent? Toronto’s in a better position now, with a more complete roster, than it would have been had they finished with 10+ more losses.