If you were to survey fans, GMs, and media personalities around the NBA about the Raptors' biggest weakness, I guarantee the overwhelming result would be the center position. While some would point the finger at Jakob Poeltl for this issue, he’s really not that bad, and if he can get his body right, he’ll be a good enough starting center for this team to compete. The real issue with the center spot is that Toronto doesn’t have a backup to help lessen Poeltl’s workload.
Outside of Poeltl, the only other true center on the Raptors depth chart is Trayce Jackson-Davis, who proved last season in Toronto that he isn’t good enough to be a No. 2 center. This is incredibly problematic for Collin Murray-Boyles.
Given the way Toronto’s depth chart looks at this moment, pending the Kawhi Leonard trade, CMB will likely play a ton of backup center minutes. In the short term, having him in that role can be beneficial for the Raptors, as we saw during the 2026 playoffs, but in the long term, it could ruin what makes him so special.
Raptors playing a risky game of running CMB into the ground
The thing that stands out most about CMB is how elite he is defensively, and while his skills play a large factor in that, it’s his effort that makes him a great defender, as opposed to a good one.
He has that dog-like mentality where he plays every single possession like it’s his last, which is part of the reason he was a seamless fit for a Raptors team that prides itself on being elite defensively. The issue is that players with a mentality like that aren’t easy to reel in and tell to relax or not play as hard at times. That’s also something you wouldn’t want to do.
But for CMB, if he’s truly playing the backup five as a 6-foot-7 forward going up against 7-footers nightly and playing as hard as he does, his body is bound to take a beating. With CMB being just 21 years old, the last thing the Raptors want to do is risk him getting injured and banged up in the early stages of his career.
CMB is supposed to be someone who grows and continues to improve alongside Scottie Barnes over the next decade of Raptors basketball. By not addressing the backup center spot, the front office is risking never seeing how special Barnes and CMB can be together long-term. If the backup center spot remains unaddressed, the front office is forcing the coaching staff to play a special young talent in a role that is incredibly taxing on his body and could damage his NBA future.
Come the playoffs, playing CMB as your primary backup center is completely fine and should be the path Toronto takes. Having him, Leonard, and Barnes close games in the postseason sounds like a dream. But they risk not seeing that closeout lineup come playoff time if CMB is forced to play the backup five for most of the regular season.
I’m not saying that because of how hard CMB plays, he’s never someone the Raptors can rely on as a heavy-minute guy in the regular season. What I am saying is that they should pump the brakes on asking him to be that in his second NBA season. If they want to see him be healthy through his prime or even in the 2027 postseason, they need to bring in a serviceable backup center.
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