The Toronto Raptors Are BETTER Than You Think

The Toronto Raptors Are BETTER Than You Think

After having won their first and only championship in franchise history in the 2019 season, this Toronto Raptors team has struggled to get back to their consistent winning ways. This team is under a brand new regime leadership and they are in a completely different phase of their organization, trying to get back to their winning ways. And I actually really love the way that this Toronto Raptors team is coming together. They have new leadership in this organization from top to bottom. They’re now going into year three with Darko Rayakovic as their head coach. And I do think that they have some very solid foundational pieces in this organization that they can continue to build around. And although I don’t see a ton of people in the NBA community talking about this Raptors team, I actually think that not enough people are talking about them because this is a weak Eastern Conference. They actually have a very solid team with some veterans with some great young ascending talent. And I really like the way that this Raptors team is set up, not just for this season, but for the future of this organization moving forward. And that’s what I want to talk about with you guys here today. Some of the things that I like about this Toronto team, some of the pieces that they have, and just some of the offseason moves that they’ve done in the last couple of seasons to kind of get them to where they’re at today. So, let’s go ahead and talk about this Toronto team. Now, now when you talk about this Toronto Raptors team, there are a bunch of great young talented pieces on this team. But let’s take it back to 2 years ago and work our way slowly back up to the present day. If you go back to December of 20123, the Toronto Raptors made a trade with the New York Knicks in exchange for guys like OG Anobi, Price Sachua, and some other pieces for Emmanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett. This was a big trade at the moment. It kind of came overnight and out of left field. And funny enough, I actually was there in attendance covering the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks games. So, I actually got to see Emanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett played their last games for Tom Thibido and the New York Knicks. But this was a move that showed that the Toronto Raptors were not only going to be moving in a more youthful direction, but they wanted some young, promising pieces that were kind of already established. Emanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett were two guys that were an integral part to the success of those New York teams that had gotten to multiple postseasons and I thought that they have tremendous upside. Now, I’m a little bit iffy on them, but that’s something that we’ll talk about a little bit later on. Then you go back to last year’s off season and then you talk about Emanuel quickly receiving that 5-year, $175 million contract extension. Scotty Barnes then later received a five-year $225 million contract extension. And that Scotty Barnes deal could be up to $270 million with specific incentives. If he hits that supermax eligibility with things like making AllNBA defensive teams or making an AllNBA team, then he might be eligible to make up to more money. Now, that kind of takes you into how this Raptors team really performed and looked last year. This was an organization that went 30 and 52. They were the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference and about eight, nine games back of that number 10 seed. So, they were still on the outside looking in of the NBA playing tournament. They had suffered a litany of injuries from guys like Emanuel Quickley, who I believe had like a pelvis injury. He only played in about 33 games. RJ Barrett missed a little bit of time. You know, they had sustained a decent amount of injuries, but this was a team in an organization that clearly towards the end of the season was not trying to win games, which you can understand why. when every team was trying to capture the flag and I honestly would have loved to have seen Cooper flag playing in Toronto. And then you go back to last year’s deadline in February and this is where I really started to get excited about what this Raptors team could look like for the foreseeable future when they had made that trade with the New Orleans Pelicans sending away Kelly Oolen, Bruce Brown, a first round pick and a second round pick for Brandon Ingram who I believe only played in 18 games last year. had suffered that ankle injury, didn’t play a single minute for the Raptors last year, but he ended up signing a three-year, $120 million contract extension with the Toronto Raptors, and he is still a consistent 20 plus point per game scorer in the NBA at just 27 years of age. He obviously has an incredible arsenal, a great bag, and I just believe that Brandon Ingram and Scotty Barnes are going to be a terrific scoring punch and just offensive duo in Toronto for the foreseeable future in that front court because Scotty Barnes has all NBA potential. He obviously can be a multi-time all-star. Brandon Ingram, I still think has all-star potential in him and is still a very productive player when he’s healthy. I really love that pairing. Just want to take a moment to say if you are appreciating this type of work and coverage from me, the best and easiest way to support me is by liking, commenting, and subscribing down below. It’s free and it helps me and the channel out tremendously. My goal is to get this channel up to 10,000 subscribers by the end of the calendar year. And if you guys want more exclusive content from me outside of just here on YouTube, you guys can go ahead and follow me on my socials. The links to all of them will be in the description down below. But thank you guys again and let’s go ahead and get back to today’s video. And then that really goes into talking about what the Raptors did this off seasonason. And probably the biggest move that they made this off seasonason was when they let go and they parted ways with former vice chairman and president Messiahi after 13 seasons with the organization. They now have different leadership and a kind of brand new regime and feel in that front office with general manager Bobby Webster kind of now running the show there in Toronto. And although I don’t know Messiah Jerry personally, I’ve heard a ton of great things about him just from some people that work inside the NBA are in these circles and people that you hear consistently that I know and have spoken to within the Raptors 905 G-League organization, also within the Toronto Raptors organization within themselves. A lot of people say he’s just a great man. So for the Raptors and Messiah, I think that this move made a ton of sense. But this is an organization that is trying to move in a different direction, have new faces, establish a new culture, and I can’t fault them for that. So, now when you talk about the rest of the moves that they’ve made this off season, you had Yak Purle opt into his $19 million player option before signing a 4-year, $14 million contract extension with the Toronto Raptors. You also had Garrett Temple come back in free agency. And then in the 2025 NBA draft, you saw them select Colin Murray Biles with the ninth overall selection. and he’s that forward from South Carolina. And then in the second round, they actually stuck in the SEC as they selected Elijah Martin, former Florida Atlantic and University of Florida guard. And I got to say for Colin Murray Biles, I don’t think he’s a terrible player. I just don’t see the hype. I remember watching a decent amount of him in the SEC just because for you guys that don’t know, um I live here on the East Coast. I’m a lifelong diehard Gator fan, so of course I was watching a ton of SEC basketball. And I don’t think he’s a bad player. I think he has some athleticism to him. He did perform decently well in the summer league, but I’m not really sure where he’s going to fit longterm with this Raptors team. I think his development is going to have to say a lot about his long-term future in the NBA. I hope he pans out well for Raptors fans. But to say he was a top 10 pick, I don’t really think so. I think they should have gone more in the direction of Carter Bryant, the forward from Arizona, who obviously ended up with the San Antonio Spurs. I think defensively he gives you a little bit more versatility and I think he’s just a better player overall. But like I said, time will tell. I don’t want to just trash on Colin Murray Biles this whole time. But with Elijah Martin, this is a guy that Raptors fans should absolutely be excited about. I know he signed that two-way contract with both the 905 Raptors and the Toronto Raptors, but Elijah Martin, if he can develop into the player that we watched him be at Florida Atlantic University at the University of Florida, where he was an integral part to the success of that championship run alongside Walter Clayton Jr., he absolutely could carve himself out a very nice role with the Toronto Raptors. And eventually, I do think that he could be a very solid bench scorer and find himself a solid rotational spot in the league somewhere at some point in time. And then the Raptors two biggest losses this off seasonason, I know I mentioned Messiah Jiri, is probably with losing Colin Castleton, the guy that they had signed on multiple 10-day contracts that center from the University of Florida and Colin Castleton had kind of bounced around between Oyola where I got to cover him for a little bit and then obviously with the Toronto Raptors and then also they lost Chris Buchche who just recently signed with the Boston Celtics. And that’s a guy that you definitely would have loved to have seen resigned with the Toronto Raptors, but I don’t think that they have enough minutes and opportunities in the front court with guys like Brandon Ingram, Scotty Barnes, now Colin Murray Biles if they would have kept Chris Buchet. So it honestly made a ton of sense to move off of him. So now when you look at this Raptors team really top to bottom and you look at their starting five and their bench players, you’re going to have guys like Emanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Yak Purle, Scotty Barnes, and Brandon Ingram in that starting five, which to be fair in the Eastern Conference, that is absolutely a team that can make the play in. Something I’ll talk about here momentarily. And then off the bench, you’re still going to have some solid, productive players with guys like Jonathan Mogo. You’ve got Grady Dick, Jamal Shed, Oiagi, which hopefully they can resign him. I believe he’s on the last year of his deal. Colin Murray Biles, the rookie I talked about, like there is absolutely some pieces here that can make some noise in the Eastern Conference. If you expect Brandon Ingram to get back into form the way that we saw him perform in New Orleans, he’s absolutely going to continue to be productive. You’ve still got really good pieces around him. And I do think that Darko Ryakovic can really have these guys continuing to play better and play together because he is a very, you know, player first type of coach. I think that’s the best way I can describe him. Every time I’ve seen him, been around him, and just the way that I hear other people in the organization speak about him, Darko was a great guy. Super friendly guy. He gets guys energized and really wants guys to run through a brick wall for him. And that’s the kind of, you know, energy and aura that I get around Darko. It reminds me a ton of Jordy Fernandez. These guys are players, coaches first. And that’s just the experience that I’ve had with him. I’m not a Raptors reporter, but just from that experience of covering the NBA and being around him, I can definitely say that about a guy like Darko. And now to kind of give my final thoughts about this Raptors team, I do think absolutely this team is making the playin tournament and they have a very real possibility of making this year’s NBA playoffs. I do think that they’re going to end up in the playin first and they’re going to have to work their way into the playoffs because I think undoubtedly this team is better than four teams easily in the Eastern Conference and that they’re going to find a way to get themselves into the playin tournament. They are absolutely better than the Washington Wizards, the Brooklyn Nets, the Chicago Bulls, and the Charlotte Hornets. That’s four teams automatically I can say. Now, we’re going to have to see how everyone else stays healthy. And I think that Toronto, if they can get most of their core guys playing at least 60 games this year, I think that they’re going to be absolutely right there in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference. And in a weak Eastern Conference that doesn’t feature Jason Tatum, Tyrese Hallebert, Damen Lillard this year, they should absolutely be able to go out there and make some noise. And this is just a final thought that I want to throw out there for Raptors fans and any other NBA fans because I don’t believe that Emanuel Quickley is the point guard of the future, right? You would have to hope that a guy like Elijah Martin or Jamal Shed could end up turning into one of those guys, but even then I still doubt it. I think guys like Shed, Martin, and Quickley are all guys who could really thrive in a role as a six-man type of player, even though you’re paying IQ $175 million. if the Toronto Raptors can go out there and potentially trade for a Trey Young, who we all know is two years left on his contract, a player option in that last year, or a John Morant, who’s in the middle of a three-year, $5 million deal. I think that those deals would make a ton of sense. They desperately need a point guard of the future around Scotty Barnes, around Brandon Ingram to really help elevate not just the floor of this team, but really all the players around their core pieces. Scotty Barnes is a guy in the front court who can obviously initiate the offense and do a lot. RJ Barrett can do that. Brandon Ingram likes to work out of the mid-range and the low post. They have guys with, you know, different skill sets that can operate differently, which I think is great. But I think if they really want to be able to take this team to that next level, they really need a bonafide elite point guard that’s going to help open up the spacing and the floor and just really get everybody around them easier buckets. And I think that Trey Young or John would be the perfect addition to this team. You can get a package centered around a guy like RJ Barrett and maybe Grady Dick and some future picks for them. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but I would love to see that. And I just want to know your thoughts briefly in the comments if you would like to see Trey Young or a John type of player in Toronto. But overall, I do think that this Toronto Raptors team is doing this thing organically. They’re working it from the ground up. They’re continuing to establish a culture and I really do believe in Darko. I think he’s a great individual. He’s a very good coach and he’s got a lot to prove this year with the young ascending pieces that they have. They do have some cap issues to work out maybe later down the road. I’m not sure if Yak Purle is eventually going to be the guy that’s going to be their consistent, you know, five at the center position that’s going to win them a championship. But nonetheless, there’s a ton to be excited about about this Raptors team if you’re a Toronto fan. And I do think that there is a lot to look forward to with the future of this organization. But Raptors fans and NBA fans, thank you guys so much for watching today’s video and all of your guys’ continuous support. Please let me know your guys’s thoughts in the comments down below. What you make about this Raptors team, what you like about the future, and if you want to see them go out there and make one more big time move this off season. But thank you guys again for all of your continuous support. It doesn’t go unnoticed. And as always, I’ll catch you on the next one. [Music]

The Toronto Raptors have been overlooked all offseason, and in a weak Eastern Conference, this team could surprise many people.

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