Defense, Haircuts and six more storylines from Raptors Media Day

The Toronto Raptors, along with most of the league, conducted their annual Media Day on Monday from Montreal, Canada. Training Camp now begins for the team, but not before we process all that was shared and discussed by the front office, coaching staff and players.

What were the top storylines from Media Day this year? Let's take a closer look.

Storyline No. 1: "Rebuild"

We discussed this further in a separate post, but one of the more surprising developments from Media Day was how focused the organization is on...not winning. Masai Ujiri used the word "rebuilding" when asked to describe the season, speaking to the need for patience and for building through the draft. That message even trickled down to the players, as center Jakob Poeltl was tempering expectations and letting everyone know the Raptors weren't prioritizing winning.

In a grand sense that's an excellent approach; the Raptors shouldn't be making win-now moves and mortgaging their future to try and maximize their team this season, but rather when Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley are at the height of their powers in a few seasons. At the same time, it's somewhat questionable for the Raptors to say "we are rebuilding" when they have done very little to maximize their ability to do so; they will likely not have top lottery odds, they didn't add additional draft picks for this year, and they have thus far hung onto veterans like Poeltl, Bruce Brown and Kelly Olynyk.

Storyline No. 2: The Draft

Masai Ujiri also spoke about the strength of building through the draft, which is true for all teams but especially true for a team like Toronto that struggles to sign marquee free agents. Their best players over the years have come through the draft, with a handful of exceptions coming via trade. If Toronto believes it needs a second star to pair with Scottie Barnes, then the draft is their best shot at landing such a player.

On the one hand, the 2025 NBA Draft appears to be a deep one, with plenty of star power at the top. At the same time, however, the Raptors are too good to outright tank this season, especially with so many other teams pointed toward the bottom of the standings. The flattened lottery odds mean that even with the ninth or tenth-best lottery odds they can still leap into the top four, but that also means the most likely outcome is the ninth or tenth pick, hardly a franchise-changer. If the Raptors wanted to build through the draft they should have positioned themselves to actually do that.

Storyline No. 3: Remembering Dikembe Mutombo

Masai Ujiri came back to the podium after his scheduled time to discuss his friend, Dikembe Mutombo, who passed away Monday at the age of 58. We went into detail how Ujiri's heartfelt response speaks to his ability to build real friendships around the league.

Storyline No. 4: Masai and Rogers

When Rogers Communications bought out Bell Canada, it put chairman Edward Rogers into an extremely prominent role in the organization. Given the tensions between Masai Ujiri and Rogers over the years, it was logical to wonder if Ujiri's job was safe, especially given that his track record over the past few seasons is a mixed bag.

Ujiri addressed the situation by saying that he and Edward Rogers "have a great relationship" and that there is "zero going on" in terms of relationship issues with Rogers. That may certainly be the case right now, but the potential for a vote of no confidence in Ujiri coming sooner rather than later is certainly present.

Storyline No. 5: Perimeter Defence

Last season the Toronto Raptors ranked 25th in defensive rating among 30 teams in the league, and this despite having two All-Defense candidates in Jakob Poeltl and Scottie Barnes protecting the paint. The reason? Their perimeter defense amounted to a cheerful wave as opponents blew past them.

Head coach Darko Rajakovic emphasized multiple times during his availability that the team was going to focus on defense in general, and point-of-attack defense specifically. He said that "we're going to start to build our foundation now" and gave a long answer about how to think about perimeter defense. Ujiri also spoke to defense being one of the measuring sticks for their young team, and how rookies like Jamal Shead and Jonathan Mogbo will be a part of that growth.

Storyline No. 6: Darko's 2nd Year

Anyone who has ever started a new job can understand exactly what head coach Darko Rajakovic meant when he made the following statement:

Last season was a bump one for everyone involved, and in particular Rajakovic didn't cover himself in glory. Yet the players seem to absolutely love him, and multiple times at Media Day they praised him without much prompting. In his second season he should be better equipped to succeed, and he will have a set team to work with instead of a sinking ship about to be broken up.

Storyline No. 7: Scottie the Leader

The theme of Scottie Barnes' time speaking to the media was leadership. He discussed how he wants to take a step up as the leader of the team - something that makes a lot of logical sense. Not only is he the best player on the team, but there is a leadership vacuum after the departures of so many veteran players from last year's team.

Specifically, Barnes stated that he is working on his communication skills, and spoke with Garrett Temple about growing in assertiveness. He worked to bring teammates together over the summer and to build chemistry. How he puts on and wears that mantle will speak a lot to how the team performs together now and in the future.

Storyline No. 8: Hairstyles

Finally we come to the most meaningful topic of the day: the hairstyles.

Scottie Barnes showed up with an extremely different hairstyle, going from tight braids to an afro that he will presumably maintain into the season. Not many players around the league are committed to such a look, and he will probably look incredible skying for blocks with his profile blocking out the lights.

Not to be outdone, hair came up again later in the day. The topic of Gradey Dick's hair came up...when RJ Barrett was speaking. Barrett razzed his young teammate in sharing "Gradey likes to do this thing where he doesn't get a haircut for a while" and revealed that Rajakovic asked him to find Gradey a local barber. He did it all with a smile on his face, and added "that's my guy."

Darko's not wrong, so we'll see how Dick maintains those flowing golden locks this year. It was a light moment in a day of serious discussions and heartfelt remembrance, and it kicks off the start of Training Camp with the regular season quickly approaching.