The Toronto Raptors didn’t just place one defender near the top of Bleacher Report’s 2026-27 rankings - they put three in the top 20, a pretty loud signal about what’s waiting for opposing offenses in Toronto.
Scottie Barnes led the way at No. 6, ahead of names like Amen Thompson, Chet Holmgren, Rudy Gobert, Ausar Thompson and Victor Wembanyama. Kawhi Leonard landed at No. 16, while Collin Murray-Boyles checked in at No. 12, an eye-opening spot for a 21-year-old who has only logged 57 regular-season games and seven playoff games so far.
The only other team with three players in the top 20 was the Oklahoma City Thunder, with Alex Caruso at No. 11, Cason Wallace at No. 9 and Holmgren at No.
- OKC, which has been the top defensive team over the last two seasons, was also the only club to place more players on the overall list than Toronto.
The Thunder had five total, with Jalen Williams at No. 24 and Isaiah Hartenstein at No. 21.
The Portland Trail Blazers were the only other team to match Toronto’s three top-30 selections, thanks to Donovan Clingan at No. 18, Toumani Camara at No. 15 and Robert Williams III at No.
For the Raptors, the takeaway is simple: the defensive upside is real, and it’s showing up on lists like this for a reason. Toronto now has three top-20 defenders in the league, including one who could push into Defensive Player of the Year territory, and that’s before even getting to the other stoppers on the roster who didn’t crack the rankings. Jamal Shead and Ja’Kobe Walter only deepen the problem for opponents, especially if they’re sharing the floor with Leonard, Barnes and Murray-Boyles at the same time.
That kind of group gives Toronto a chance to be more than just good on defense. The Raptors could easily be a top-three unit this season.
Barnes, meanwhile, has another shot at history. Toronto has never had a player make the All-NBA Defensive First Team, and that includes Leonard, who made the second team in 2018-19 and became the first Raptor to earn that recognition. OG Anunoby followed in 2022-23, and Barnes did the same in 2025-26, a nod that satisfied very few people in Toronto.
This year, Barnes gets another run at the first team. With the Raptors expected to be even stronger defensively, there’s no real chance his work stays hidden.
In , Barnes finished third in the “most versatile defender” category and second in the “most versatile player” category. He was behind only Victor Wembanyama in the latter race, and in the first he trailed Wembanyama and Amen Thompson.
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Raptors Just Made Their Center Problem Even Harder To Ignore
The Raptors frontcourt picture got a little thinner Wednesday, when the team waived Trey Jemison III after he had been on a two-way contract and appeared in one preseason game. The move leaves Toronto with two open two-way roster spots, and it adds another layer to a center group that has already been under the microscope as training camp and roster building continue.
Nate Bittle, Jamarion Sharp and Nimari Burnett are among the names that could be in the mix for those openings, while former Raptors draft pick Christian Koloko is also being mentioned as a possibility. No signings have been reported yet, so the next move will say plenty about how the Raptors want to address a position that is suddenly impossible to ignore. [Read more 🡒]