Raptors start to the season just got a little bit easier

For good teams, the start to the season is like any other stretch of the year; they expect to perform well, but if they have a rough start they can make up ground later on. For bad teams, they are merely looking not to be completely embarrassed to start the year; they want to get to 2-12, not 0-14.

For a team like the Toronto Raptors, however, the start to the season is critical for mapping out how they will approach the rest of the season. The front office has said they are rebuilding but also hasn't traded any of a number of veterans on the team; that communicates that the franchise has not yet committed to one path or another for this season.

If they get out to a hot start, that could give this team confidence in making a run at the Play-In Tournament. If they struggle out of the gates, the front office may be ready to officially pull the plug and begin a game of Capture the Flagg.

The challenge of starting well looked to be all the more difficult now that it appears the Raptors will be missing multiple key players due to injury when the regular season tips off on Wednesday. RJ Barrett is progressing but not expected to play with a shoulder injury, while Bruce Brown Jr. is still on the shelf after knee surgery last month.

What has changed, however, is that now the Raptors' opponents will be short-handed as well.

The Raptors will avoid full-strength foes

The Toronto Raptors open the season on Wednesday night in Toronto, hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers. The two teams played each other to start the season two seasons ago, with the Raptors pulling out a close 108-105 victory. Now the Cavaliers return as a much stronger team to try and exact revenge.

It was recently reported, however, that the Cavaliers will be missing a member of their starting lineup when they face the Raptors. Swingman Max Strus, the "glue guy" who connects the Cavs' two small guards with their two centers in the starting lineup, will be out for six weeks due to an ankle sprain. He's not a deadeye shooter, but Strus is willing to shoot at a high volume and his off-ball movement has been critical for a Cavaliers team that doesn't have many 3-and-D options.

Two days later the Raptors hit the road to take on the Philadelphia 76ers, who are a contender to push the Boston Celtics this season for the Eastern Conference crown after loading up this offseason. The Raptors obviously have history with the 76ers as well, including one of the most memorable series in franchise history in 2019 that went to a Game 7 and required a Kawhi Leonard quadruple-bouncing buzzer-beater to pull out a Toronto victory.

Paul George was a massive addition for the 76ers this summer, but he hyperextended his knee in a preseason game and is expected to miss a few games to start the season as the bone bruise heals. Thankfully for George, the 76ers and basketball fans he did not suffer any ligament damage and shouldn't be out for long, but it's more likely than not he will miss the Raptors game, giving them a significant advantage as they try to punch up to a higher weight class.

There is further injury uncertainty regarding the 76ers, as Joel Embiid sat out the entire preseason as an injury precaution and Tyrese Maxey exited Philly's preseason finale with a thumb injury. Neither has officially been declared good to go for the start of the regular season, although the expectation is that both will play.

The good times end there, however, as the Raptors then have to play the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets, both of whom appear to be at full strength heading into the year. That's a positively brutal first week, but at least it's a little less scary now.