So what’s next for Raptors after rotten season?
Rarely has a rebrand and a restart been more welcomed and needed than what’s on the way for the Toronto Raptors.
One of the worst seasons in franchise history ended Sunday in Miami with — what else — another loss, the 57th of the season.
Only four collections of Raptors have lost more games and nobody has done worse since 2010-11.
Plus, there were an almost laughable amount of injuries to key players, two major trades sending away popular homegrown Raptors, a gambling scandal surrounding one of the club’s players and tragic deaths of people close to a pair of players and head coach Darko Rajakovic.
It was a lot, to put it mildly.
That’s why it’s best to turn the page as quickly as possible and get on to happier times.
That’s not to say the 202425 Raptors will be a contender.
Even making the play-in and/or finishing with a .500 record could be a stretch, but there are plenty of celebrations and marketing activations planned around Season No. 30.
Regardless, it says here the Raptors should not continue tanking next season. Play it out honestly and see what happens, especially if the first-round draft pick owed to the San Antonio Spurs doesn’t convey this year (more on that later).
Think about how much had to go wrong this year just for Toronto to finish with the NBA’S sixth-worst record.
Will that happen again? Unlikely.
Plus, the team won’t have the distractions of all kinds of key players about to hit free agency (like with Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby this season and Fred Vanvleet last year). The core will be locked in once Immanuel Quickley gets his new deal.
There’s no point in souring Scottie Barnes with another down year. You don’t want to end up lost in the lottery forever like Charlotte, Detroit and other franchises have been for so long.
The goal is to win and players need to get used to games meaning something. Barnes is a winner. So is Quickley and so is RJ Barrett. Kelly Olynyk has been deep in the playoffs twice. Even young Gradey Dick needs to learn about playing competitive NBA basketball.
Plus, the team is raising prices substantially ahead of Year 30 and has already given its loyal fan base two down years, plus the COVID Tampa Bay debacle not too long ago.
Year 30 should be a celebration, not a season-long “Sag for Cooper Flagg” (the outstanding incoming Duke freshman, who leads a highly touted rookie class for 2025).
Toronto already has a pair of Top 4 recent picks on the roster (franchise player Barnes, who went fourth, and Barrett, a former high school player of the year who went No. 3 in his draft).
Another pivotal piece could be added via the draft this summer, though finishing sixth-worst in the NBA only assured Toronto of 45.8 per cent odds of not losing the pick to San Antonio this summer.
All it will take is one team behind Toronto to jump up in the lottery for the pick to vanish, and history says that happens quite often.
An optimist would say the sixth-worst team is due for some good luck, since seven of the last 10 teams in that spot heading into the lottery actually fell to seventh or worse, including in four of the five years since the NBA tweaked the lottery process.
A pessimist would repeat that teams in Toronto’s spot have stayed at six or jumped up only 30 per cent of the time during the last decade and remind that maybe the Raptors used up years of good fortune by leaping from seventh-best odds to the No. 4 pick the year they ended up with Barnes.
Yes, if the Spurs do get the pick this summer, there’s a better case for Toronto not trying too hard next season, but, again, the odds (be they lottery or injury-wise) of getting in range for Flagg or the other top 2025 prospects aren’t great. Plus, the team gets Indiana’s first-round pick this year and in 2026, along with the 31st pick this year via Detroit.
At some point you’ve got enough prospects and young talent on the roster (another late pick was already dealt away to land former lottery pick Ochai Agbaji and Olynyk).
Toronto could also retain Gary Trent Jr., who has his faults but is a proven shooter and scorer and a good team player. And then there’s Bruce Brown, who could be retained or dealt for other assets.
The team could look to improve at guard with a free agent like Markelle Fultz or De’anthony Melton, but it is most in need of help up front. A forward who is an excellent outside shooter and rebounder is direly needed.
That’s off-season talk, but happily, the off-season is upon us.