The Toronto Raptors’ recent skid has been messy in plenty of ways, but the clearest path out of it starts on the defensive end.
Over their last four games, Toronto has gone 1-3, with losses to the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, and Denver Nuggets. The lone win came via a late comeback against the LA Clippers. The half-court offense has sputtered without Kawhi Leonard, Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett haven’t delivered the kind of lift many expected, and the depth has been shaky.
Still, the biggest problem has been what’s happening on the other side of the ball. In this four-game stretch, the Raptors own the third-worst defensive rating in the league and have given up 124.5 points per game.
Yes, two of those opponents featured Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic, two of the greatest offensive players ever, but that doesn’t fully explain away what Toronto has looked like. This was supposed to be a team that could defend at a high level with or without Leonard, and lately it has looked nowhere close.
The energy has been off, too. There was a clear lack of engagement, aggression, and intensity in their last home game before the road trip, and that has followed them away from home. If Toronto is going to steady itself, the fix has to begin with defense.
What makes this stretch so strange is that the usual suspects haven’t been the main issue. Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles have had some uneven moments - Barnes has drifted at times, and CMB’s discipline has slipped - but for the most part, both have given the Raptors what they were supposed to on that end.
The trouble is coming from everyone else.
Ja’Kobe Walter has taken the biggest individual hit. He opened the season looking like a fringe All-Defensive Team candidate, but that early momentum has been checked hard.
Since moving into the starting five, he has looked overwhelmed on both ends. He isn’t getting into his stance, he isn’t staying disciplined, and the result has been more bad fouls and more trouble staying in front of the ball.
The hope is that this is just the adjustment period of replacing Leonard in the starting group.
At a team level, the bigger concern is the Raptors’ inability to find the right balance between pressure and control. Darko Rajakovic’s system is designed to create steals, so some foul trouble is baked into the approach.
But that doesn’t excuse the lack of awareness that has shown up again and again. Too often, with the shot clock winding down, someone reaches and gives away a needless foul.
Those mistakes have spilled over into the offense. Toronto’s defense has not only stopped possessions, it has also slowed the transition game that fuels so much of what the Raptors do well.
When this stretch began, Toronto ranked second in the league in points off turnovers and first in fastbreak points per game. During the skid, those numbers have slipped to 13th in fast-break points and ninth in points off turnovers.
For a team that struggles in the half court, that drop matters. The Raptors are a defense-to-offense group, and when the defense loses its edge, the whole operation gets bogged down. Getting back to their usual level on that end is the quickest way for them to get back on track.
In Other News...
Raptors May Have Found An Unexpected Answer During This Ugly Stretch
During an ugly stretch that has tested Torontos rotation, Collin Murray-Boyles has started to look like more than a promising young piece. His defensive activity has stood out, and so has the kind of versatility that lets the Raptors use him in different spots without losing energy or edge. He has also chipped in offensively enough to make the case that his impact is not limited to one end of the floor.
With Jakob Poeltl struggling and Leonard unavailable, the idea is simple enough: Murray-Boyles might be Torontos best temporary answer at center. It is still an opinion more than a confirmed change, but the logic is hard to ignore when the team needs steadiness, effort and some lineup flexibility. For a Raptors group searching for anything that can stabilize the present, he has at least given them a real option to consider. [Read more 🡒]
Former Knicks Guard Just Landed In An Uncomfortable Spot For New York
The Raptors filled their open two-way spot by bringing in Kevin McCullar Jr., a guard who had been on two-way deals with the Knicks and has spent most of his pro time developing in the G League. For Toronto, it is a low-risk move that adds another young backcourt option to a roster that has been willing to keep churning the edges of its depth chart.
McCullar can appear in up to 45 regular-season games for the Raptors, but his path to the postseason is a little more complicated. If Toronto wants him available once the games matter most, he would need to be moved onto the standard roster first, which gives this signing a practical upside beyond just filling a vacancy. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors Keep Running Into A Problem That Could Derail Their Start
The Raptors have spent the first stretch of the 2026-27 season trying to hold the line without Kawhi Leonard, and the results have been mixed at 4-4 through eight games. Leonard has appeared in only two games because of injury, leaving Toronto to sort through a rotation that has shown flashes but also some troubling stretches when the games tighten up.
The biggest concern has been what keeps happening after halftime. Toronto has repeatedly let third quarters slip away, none more glaring than the collapse against Denver, when the Nuggets buried them 41-15 in the period and held them to 21.7 percent shooting. Getting Leonard back should help, and so could some lineup tweaks, but until the Raptors solve that recurring problem, the early-season footing still feels shaky. [Read more 🡒]