The Toronto Raptors are closing in on the start of the regular season, and the biggest lineup questions are already coming into focus.
Kawhi Leonard is expected to be in the starting five when the season opens, but Toronto can’t assume he’ll be available for all 82 games. That makes his spot one of the first things the team has to sort out, both in camp and early in the year.
Leonard was out for the Raptors’ preseason opener against the Miami Heat in Quebec City, and Jakob Poeltl got the nod in his place. Poeltl made the most of it, finishing with 8 points and knocking down two 3-pointers. Still, that doesn’t lock him into the role whenever Leonard sits.
Collin Murray-Boyles is another option. The second-year forward gives Toronto a bigger look to start games, and after what he showed last season - especially in the playoffs - he has a real case to be part of that conversation. The Raptors will likely bounce between Murray-Boyles and Poeltl depending on what they want out of that fifth starting spot.
The bigger issue is size across the roster. Outside of Poeltl, nobody on the 15-man roster stands taller than 6-9. That makes the backup center picture tricky, and it was a problem last season that figures to linger.
Rookie Allen Graves and fourth-year veteran Trayce Jackson-Davis are the tallest players who could fill that role. Graves brings some versatility after playing all five positions at Santa Clara, which could make Toronto comfortable using him there. But at 225 lbs., he may need more bulk before he can handle some of the league’s stronger big men.
Murray-Boyles also got time as a small-ball center last season. He’s listed at 6-7, and after losing 20 lbs. over the offseason, he now comes in closer to Graves in weight. That could matter if the Raptors need him to play the five again.
Toronto could also lean on two-way player Trey Jemison, who arrives after spending last season with the NBA champion New York Knicks.
Even with all of that, the real question may not be who starts. It may be who closes. The Raptors know that finishers can change from night to night depending on performance and foul trouble, and they’ll want their best five on the floor when the game is on the line.
That group could simply mirror the expected starters - Immanuel, RJ Barrett, Leonard, Scottie Barnes and Poeltl - but Toronto may mix in Murray-Boyles, third-year pro Jamal Shead or Walter as needed. Darko Rajakovic will have to read the game, judge the matchups and settle on the combination that fits best in the moment.
There’s no room for casual nights or soft planning. With the Eastern Conference expected to be as competitive as it’s ever been since Michael Jordan was in the league, every win matters, and the Raptors need to collect as many of them as they can.
In Other News...
Clippers Just Lost More Control In The Kawhi Leonard Saga
Kawhi Leonards path back to Toronto is becoming a bigger reminder of just how complicated his departure from the Clippers really was. The Raptors officially completed the trade only after the league took time to sort through the Clippers salary-cap situation, and the deal has already reopened interest in one of the more unusual star exits in recent NBA memory.
Leonard, for his part, has started talking more about the basketball side of the move, saying his focus is on learning the team and settling back into a veteran role. For Toronto, it is a familiar and welcome storyline, but it also leaves plenty of the larger Clippers questions hanging in the background, especially with the leagues investigation still shaping how this chapter gets remembered. [Read more 🡒]
Kawhis Raptors Return Creates One Big Question For Darkos Offense
Kawhi Leonards return gives Toronto a very different kind of offensive anchor, and Darko Rajakovic is already sorting through how that changes the Raptors flow. The head coach has pointed to Leonards offensive gravity as the obvious draw, the kind of presence that can bend defenses and open cleaner looks for everyone else, while still allowing the group to keep its pace and transition identity when he is not on the floor.
Rajakovic also made clear this is not an instant plug-and-play situation, even with Leonard back in familiar territory. He is still working his way into the roster and into the environment around him, and the early task for Toronto is figuring out how to blend a superstars shot-making with the rhythm the team has been building, all while keeping enough flexibility in the rotation to let the fit settle in naturally. [Read more 🡒]
Collin Murray-Boyles Could Decide How Far The Raptors Really Go
Collin Murray-Boyles has already given the Raptors a useful glimpse of why they were intrigued by him in the first place. As a rookie, he showed the kind of defensive versatility Toronto has long valued, while also flashing enough offensive promise to suggest there is more to come. The bigger question now is how quickly that two-way profile can grow into something the Raptors can count on when the games start to matter most.
This summer, the early signs around his development have been encouraging, and Darko Rajakovic has pointed to both Murray-Boyles work ethic and the importance of letting his game expand at a measured pace. Toronto does not need him to be finished today, but it does need progress in the right places if he is going to become the sort of contributor who changes the ceiling of the roster. For a team trying to climb in the East, his next step may end up telling the story of how far this group can really go. [Read more 🡒]