Immanuel Quickley might've earned himself the label of most talked about Raptors player in the offseason.
It would certainly make sense, as Quickley garnered more question marks than answers for Raptors Nation in the recent 2024-25 campaign. We all know he's making big-time money, but discourse still seems to suggest that Quickley hasn't done enough to be considered a major player.
And so I circle back to insights made by NBA analyst and writer Zach Lowe, who seems to be quite fond of discussing Immanuel Quickley.
On the July 28 edition of The Zach Lowe Show, titled "Most Intriguing Players Next Season with Howard Beck, and All Things Mavericks With Tim Cato," Lowe somewhat comically brings up the 26-year-old guard in this regard:
Immanuel Quickley filling hot seat should be worrisome to Raptors fans
"Immanuel Quickley, welcome back to the most intriguing players analysis. You should have graduated from this by now. However, you have played in the last two seasons, 38 and 33 total games. I'm sorry, no, 68 and 33 total games. 71 games total for the Raptors over the last two seasons ... I still think Immanuel Quickley is the linchpin in any of this working out for the Raptors in the next two or three years ... He just hasn't played enough in Toronto. He hasn't played enough with Toronto's core guys to quell my curiosity. I am still curious about how this fits."Zach Lowe
"... It's got to work to make that contract palatable to the rest of the league if they ever want to pivot. And I just think if this is going to amount to anything, I think Immanuel Quickley might be is the swing piece and the most important piece in all of it sort of clicking into place. Please stay healthy. Please find the right balance in your game because I think it's in there, and at least that piece of it could work... But I just I want to see it. I still want to see it. So, I'm intrigued."Zach Lowe
There's a bit to unpack there, and without a doubt, it's that label of being Toronto's 'linchpin' that warrants the most concern. Lowe doesn't just raise this point without the right motivation behind it; as he states, the Raptors' ability to work things out in the interim largely depends on a Quickley turnaround.
I wholeheartedly agree with Lowe that if Quickley continues to come up short, Toronto will be stuck with a damning contract for the next five years as a result. The Raptors did not position themselves to come out of this looking strong, as Lowe tries to articulate; rather, they might have inadvertently closed the doors on themselves even tighter without realizing.
I'm still holding out optimism that the Raptors will prove to be a decently built team, but there are just way too many 'what ifs' and potentially problematic narratives that could eventually run the franchise into the mud. I'd say that Masai Ujiri parting ways certainly didn't help things either.
The Raptors will, for sure, be paying close attention to Scottie Barnes' continued development, the return on investment with Brandon Ingram, and figuring out what their somewhat uncertain roster guys (like Gradey Dick and RJ Barrett) can actually offer long-term. And just to add to an already clouded mindset, a lot Raptors fans will look to Immanuel Quickley as either the tether that will help put it all together or the factor that causes the foundations to slowly crumble.