The Toronto Raptors have done enough this offseason to look more complete, even with the Kawhi Leonard trade still not processed. But for all the added pieces and improved flexibility, their season may still hinge on one thing: what happens in the paint.
Jakob Poeltl gives Toronto a steady option at centre, and the Raptors still have enough tradeable pieces to chase another big man no matter how the Leonard situation plays out. That matters because this roster has the talent to hang with almost anyone. The harder question is whether it can survive a seven-game series against elite frontcourts.
Last year offered a blunt answer. When the Raptors’ season was on the line, they gave up 22 points and 19 rebounds to Jarrett Allen in Game 7, including eight offensive boards.
Over the full seven-game series, Allen shot 65.7 per cent from the field. He was never the loudest problem on the floor, but Cleveland made the weakness impossible to ignore.
That same issue could loom even larger in the East this year. The Philadelphia 76ers stand out as the biggest threat, and after acquiring LeBron James, they became the most dangerous starting five in the league, with Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, and one of the best centres in basketball in Joel Embiid.
Embiid is a different kind of problem. One defender usually isn’t enough, because he can draw doubles and live at the free-throw line. Collin Murray-Boyles should keep growing on the defensive end, but Toronto would be in much better shape if it could pair another big man with Poeltl.
The Raptors deserve credit for trying to fix what held them back a year ago. Kyle Anderson and the pursuit of Kawhi Leonard point to a team that wants cleaner ball movement and more lineup options.
Still, none of that matters if the rebounding battle and interior defense keep tilting the wrong way. In the playoffs, mismatches get hunted. If opponents can keep pounding the glass or forcing Toronto into constant rotations behind a dominant centre, the Raptors’ upgrades on both ends become a lot harder to cash in.
That doesn’t mean Toronto can’t beat teams like the Cavaliers or the 76ers with what it has now. It does mean the frontcourt has to deliver at its highest level when the pressure rises.
If the Raptors can hold up against the East’s elite centres, a deep run starts to feel realistic. If they can’t, the same problem could end their season early again.
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Warriors Fans Suddenly Have A Stephen Curry Scenario To Fear
The idea sounds far-fetched on its face, but it is the kind of speculative swing that always follows a team with a superstar on the move radar. Stephen Curry has long been tied to Golden State, yet the conversation around his future has picked up a different flavor lately, with Toronto emerging as a natural place for outsiders to imagine a bold landing spot.
There is at least a little connective tissue there, too. Curry has personal ties to Toronto through his fathers time with the Raptors, and he spent part of his childhood in the city, which only adds to the intrigue whenever his name comes up in a hypothetical. He has also signaled a willingness to think creatively about what the Warriors need, even as injuries have changed the picture around him, so the idea lingers just enough to keep fans wondering what might be possible. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors May Have Found More Than Just Another Veteran Voice
Garrett Temples move from Torontos veteran voice to an assistant coach role with the Dallas Mavericks leaves the Raptors with a familiar kind of hole to fill. Temple was never asked to carry a heavy on-court load, but his value came in the day-to-day stuff that matters on a young team, and Toronto answered by bringing in Kyle Anderson in free agency to add the same sort of steadiness along with actual rotation minutes.
Anderson looks positioned to slot in behind the projected starters and the main young bench pieces, which means the Raptors are not just chasing another locker-room presence. They are betting on a player with real playoff mileage who can help stabilize second-unit minutes and show younger teammates what a long NBA career looks like. For a roster still sorting out its depth chart, that makes him more than a placeholder while the team figures out how the rotation will settle. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors Revenge Path Just Got A Lot More Real
Cleveland already showed in the spring that Toronto is not far off, pushing the Raptors to seven games even while missing key players. Since then, the Cavaliers have kept Donovan Mitchell in place and are lining up more roster movement, but they have also seen some of the supporting cast that helped them survive that series head elsewhere.
For Toronto, the bigger question is whether the gap can close fast enough to turn that near-miss into something more dangerous. If Kawhi Leonard ends up in the mix and stays on the floor, the Raptors suddenly look like a much tougher matchup for a Cleveland group that no longer looks quite as intact as it did during that playoff grind. [Read more 🡒]