Gameday: Nuggets @ Raptors, October 6th
After 176 days (79 days if you count Summer League), Toronto Raptors basketball is back!
Canada’s team begins the 2025-2026 preseason in Vancouver as part of the 2025 NBA Canada Series, as the Denver Nuggets and Raptors alike will travel to Rogers Arena.
Monday marks the seventh time the Raptors have played in Vancouver, as they aim to maintain a perfect 6-0 record in the province of British Columbia.
This year’s crop features a starting lineup that’s heading into the season having never played together, as Brandon Ingram makes his in-game debut with the Dinos.
The 28-year-old adds another element to the Raptors’ starters, who were already still trying to fully gel. The other four in the presumed starting group, Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl, have only played 374 minutes together ever.
The foursome posted a 10.8 NET rating in 234 minutes in 2024, before putting up a -11.2 NET in 140 minutes last season.
With a shiny new toy and everyone healthy, Monday offers a sneak peek at this unit with expectations on it.
Moving on from the starting lineup, the bench also features a new addition in the form of Collin Murray-Boyles. The ninth overall pick is looking to figure into Toronto’s rotation right from the jump, as he heads into the pre-season following an excellent showing in the Raptors’ annual intramural scrimmage to end training camp at the University of Calgary.
The 20-year-old averaged 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 58.6 per cent from the field, 26.5 per cent from three, and 70.7 per cent from the free throw line last season with South Carolina.
Toronto is not the only team with some new elements, as Denver heads into the fresh campaign with a new weapon itself, added veteran firepower, one of the best current Canadian hoopers, and, of course, a perennial MVP candidate.
Nikola Jokic leads a Nuggets team that will be looking to make the conference finals for the third time since 2009 and for the first time since Denver’s 2023 championship win.
The three-time Most Valuable Player’s partner in crime is Kitchener, Ont. native Jamal Murray, whose 67 games played last season were the most he’s competed in a single year since 2019.
The pair are now complemented by Cameron Johnson, who was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets in a trade involving Michael Porter Jr. this offseason. While still providing the three-point shooting, Johnson’s on-ball juice adds another element to the starting unit, while maybe even having the rock in his hands more in some bench units.
The Nuggets also feature some added depth, including wing Tim Hardaway Jr., who joined via free agency, second-year big DaRon Holmes, who is healthy after an achilles tear snatched away his rookie season, and a pair of former Raptors in Jonas Valanciunas and Bruce Brown Jr.
The 33-year-old Valanciunas offers a steady backup to Jokic, which is something that could not have been said over the past couple of seasons, providing instant offence when he’s on the floor.
Brown returns to the team in which he won a championship in 2023, when he played a major role in the team’s success.
“I’m just happy to be back in Denver, man,” Brown told reporters at Nuggets media day. “It was a long two years. A lot of losing basketball. I’m trying to win again.”
We’ll see who wins this one in Vancouver.
Game Info
Tip-Off: 10:00 p.m. ET
Television: TSN
Venue: Rogers Arena
Starting Lineups (Projected)
Denver Nuggets
PG: Jamal Murray
SG: Cameron Johnson
SF: Christian Braun
PF: Aaron Gordon
C: Nikola Jokic
Toronto Raptors
PG: Immanuel Quickley
SG: RJ Barrett
SF: Brandon Ingram
PF: Scottie Barnes
C: Jakob Poeltl
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