30 teams, 30 days: Toronto Raptors | 2026 Season Preview

Welcome to my 30 teams in 30 days series, the most comprehensive and informative previews for every team in the NBA. Inside these posts, you’ll get up to speed with every team’s offseason additions and their roster hierarchies, learn whether they’ve addressed their biggest areas of need, ponder over 5 questions that will define their season and then decide whether you agree with my offseason grades and record predictions.

Notable Additions: Sandro Mamukelashvili

Notable Subtractions: Chris Boucher

Depth Chart:

PG: Immanuel Quickley / Jamal Shead / Chucky Hepburn

SG: RJ Barrett / Gradey Dick / Ochai Agbaji / Alijah Martin / Garrett Temple

SF: Brandon Ingram / Jakobe Walter / AJ Lawson / Jamsion Battle

PF: Scottie Barnes / Sandro Mamukelashvili / Jonathan Mogbo

C: Jakob Poeltl / Collin Murray-Boyles/ Ulrich Chomche

Roster Hierarchy:

Franchise: Scottie Barnes

Core: Brandon Ingram, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl

Key Rotation: Ja’Kobe Walter, Collin Murray-Boyles, Jamal Shead, Gradey Dick

Rotation: Ochai Agbaji, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Jonathan Mogbo

Development: Jamison Battle, AJ Lawson, Colin Castleton, Ulrich Chomche, Alijah Martin

Offseason Overview:

After a litany of injuries caused Toronto to start 7-26, the rest of the league likely expected them to put Scottie on ice and try again next year. Instead, the Raptors were BUYERS at the deadline, acquiring Brandon Ingram and finishing 22-21 over the last half of the season, without BI playing a single minute due to an ankle injury. TOR is running it back this year, having fully retooled around Scottie.

Toronto has converted Anunoby, Siakam, Achiuwa, Flynn, Porter, Birch and picks into Poeltl, Quickley, Barrett, Ingram, Agbaji, Walter, and Mogbo. Of these returns, it’s their most recent acquisition that will determine whether Toronto has built yet another competitive roster that is firmly not a contender.

Pre-Draft Areas of Need:

🥇 Connectivity: 30th in On-Ball Action Frequency and PPP

🥈 HC Initiation & Organization

🥉 FT Generation: 27th in FT Rate, 30th in OPP Ft Rate

TOR’s needs will need to be addressed by the integration of CMB and BI into Darko’s egalitarian offense.

Season Outlook:

1. How can Darko maximize Barnes and Ingram as a duo?

Teams that stack multiple creators at the same positon, whether it’s 2 wings, 2 guards or 2 bigs, often struggle to create advantages involving both players because it’s harder to generate mismatches when the players involved in the action are being guarded by similar defenders. However, the Raptors might have paired together 2 wings with just enough stylistic differences for it to work.

Scottie’s already played with another wing creator of course, sharing the floor with Siakam for ~4300 minutes during Pascal’s time in TOR, posting a +1.1 net rating. That’s a helpful proof of concept for the BI + Scottie pairing, as Pascal upped his midrange volume (.41 middy freq% in 2021 -> .55 middy freq% in 2022) to create more space for the more rim-reliant Scottie. BI is comfortable operating at the elbows and facing up, running PNRs or hunting mismatches in the short corner, which should be conducive to Scottie’s elite putback/dunkers spot scoring.

BI’s pace and craft creates a really interesting dichotomy with Barnes’ open-court athleticism, motor and strength based creation, which could allow the Raptors to run the transition offense through Scottie and shade the half-court offense towards BI.

2. Can Quickley thrive in more of a combo-guard role?

In the ~ 6000 minutes Quickley played in New York, he played PG 46.3% of the time and SG in 54.7% of those minutes. NY beat teams by an incredible 9.5 PTS per 100 with IQ at the 2 and just 2.2 PTS per 100 with him at the 1, yet Toronto has played him as the lead guard for 83% of his minutes in the 6.

I think part of this is the Raptors miscasting him as a point guard, but to be fair to the organization, they haven’t really had had other options to run the offense through. I’m anticipating IQ will benefit massively with the offense flowing through Ingram, which will allow him to attack defenses out of swing passes instead of having to orchestrate everything.

3. Will CMB play backup 5?

Masai no longer runs the Raptors, but his legacy of length + reach > height still lives on. Collin Murray-Boyles was the premier defensive prospect in the 2025 NBA draft, boasting elite hands, strength, length (his wingspan is 6.25 inches LONGER than his height), lateral movement and dexterity, evidenced by his 2.8 stocks (STLs+BLKs) per game, 1.10 personal foul efficiency (95th%) and his ridiculous +16.9 on/off DRTG swing. I talked extensively about CMB’s skillset in the first ~ 4 minutes of the video below.

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This team has just 1 traditional center on the roster, a gap I believe CMB can fill when Poeltl is off the floor as a much more effective version of what Mogbo did at the 5 last season. Offensively, his strength creation, abnormally tight and functional handle for his position, special touch at the rim and passing ability will give the Raptors optionality a traditional center can’t offer, enabling Darko to continue to run a motion and DHO heavy offense. On defense, TOR can field lineups that may be able to switch 1-5, leaning on their other guys with length to help defend the vertical space CMB can’t access.

4. How much longer will RJ Barrett wear a Raptors uniform?

It may seem cruel to ask such a question after RJ made real strides as a self-creator and passer, recording his personal best efficiency on 7.4 creation shot attempts (+0.1 rTS%, 72nd%) while also setting a career high in potential assists per 100 possessions (13.5).

The problem really comes down to his contract and the fact that despite improving as a passer and creator, he still throws the ball away far too frequently (16.6 Pass TOV%, 27th%). Toronto had a ton of usage just waiting to be soaked up in the wake of FVV, Siakam and OG leaving, but BI is healthy, and RJ is both redundant and still not efficient enough (-3 rTS%, 32nd%) to justify the shot usage his playstyle demands. Barrett’s 19.7% of the cap is pushing TOR dangerously close to the tax in the next 2 seasons, so I expect them to try and move him before this season ends.

5. Can they carry over their defensive improvement at the end of the season?

The Raptors jumped from 26th in defense before the All-Star Break to 2nd after the All-Star Break, and as we’ve discussed in the previous previews, these end of season samples have to come with some context. In those 27 games, the Raptors had just TWO games against Top-10 offenses!

Every other team in the NBA had at LEAST 6 games vs the best offenses, so the Raptors very clearly benefitted massively from an extremely weak post-ASB schedule. So they’re definitely not one of the best defenses in the NBA, but it did feel as if the Raptors got more connected on that end as the season went on. Darko extended the pick-up points for his guards as Toronto leaned further into maximum ball pressure to try and rattle opponents. More Mogbo minutes certainly helped as well, and even the weaker defenders in the rotation (RJ, Gradey, etc.) appeared more comfortable in their roles and rotations.

Record Prediction

Total Wins Over/Under: 37.5 via BetMGM

Floor: 38–44 (+8 wins)

I think the Raptors will be the Blazers of the East, a super scrappy young team that will claw their way to wins off the strength of their defense. Playing in the East + BI’s offensive boost puts their floor slightly higher than POR.

Ceiling: 43–39 (+13 wins)

If RJ is traded, IQ adjusts to a more BI/Scottie-centric offense and Poeltl remains relatively healthy, the Raptors will host a Play-In game.

One of my other biggest beliefs is that teams that are this tilted defensively will have their ceiling limited by the offensive tradeoffs, and I view this Blazers roster as maybe the most fun bottom 10 offense to watch in the league.

Let me know if you agree with my predictions! What are your expectations for the Raptors this season?

Overall Grade: B-

Up Next: Charlotte Hornets