The Toronto Raptors dropped their second straight game Sunday night, falling 131-125 to the Los Angeles Lakers. This loss came at the hands of a massive 45-point night from Luka Doncic, including a 24-point first half that had the Raptors searching for stops any time he was on the court. The main person searching for answers was head coach Darko Rajakovic, who may not coach a more important stretch of the season than this one.
Coming into the season, to me at least, it felt like Rajakovic had everything needed in front of him to build a compelling Coach of the Year case.
Between the arrival of Kawhi Leonard and the uncertainty his addition brought, the roster around Barnes and Leonard not being super complementary, and this team being just a year removed from a surprise playoff appearance in the East, Rajakovic had plenty of challenges to overcome. It felt like if he figured out all those puzzles and had this team comfortably at the top of the Eastern Conference, he could become the fourth coach in team history to win the award.
Even with Toronto now sporting a 3-3 record, that dream is still very possible. But instead of the points I made above being the backbone of his case, this next stretch of games with no Leonard could be.
Leonard's absence could make or break Rajakovic’s COTY case
As a head coach, especially one with a roster that made a massive splash like the Raptors did by adding Leonard into the mix this offseason, the start of the season is very much a feel-it-out process. It's about seeing what works and what doesn't so that, by midseason, your team knows exactly who they are heading into the playoffs. Toronto didn’t get that. With Leonard being injured after four total games between the regular season and preseason, this group was thrown a massive curveball to figure out while starting a road trip.
The struggles of readjusting to an offense without Leonard have been evident, with Toronto sporting a 1-3 record and having lost two straight games, particularly because their half-court offense has been awful. It was probably my biggest takeaway from their loss to the Lakers, as all game Toronto couldn’t score consistently unless it was coming off points in the open floor.
With no clear timetable for his return and an update expected Tuesday, this next stretch could really define who this Raptors team is and play a big role in the case for Rajakovic to be COTY at the end of the season. Over their next 10 games, they'll face the Clippers, Nuggets, Bucks, Grizzlies, Celtics, 76ers, Knicks twice, Wizards, and Pistons. Sure, maybe Leonard is back by the fifth game of that stretch, but on the flip side maybe he’s not, and this team is going to be left trying to survive without him.
If the Raptors can get back to winning games and figure out their problems in the half-court, Rajakovic is going to get a ton of attention from the national media, who feel like they have already written this team off with Leonard out. How he motivates his players and puts guys in roles that maximize their skills will be crucial to getting more production from this group in Klaw's absence.
We have already seen that on Sunday night: these guys play under him, and they fought in that fourth quarter against the Lakers to try to get back in the game. The next step is all about X’s and O’s and finding a way to maximize this group specifically as a half-court offense. When a coach wins Coach of the Year or is in the mix for the award, it often feels like there’s a point in the season when their team faces major adversity, and their coach pulls them out of the fire. This stretch of games coming up could be that moment for coach Darko Rajakovic.
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