The Toronto Raptors aren’t a serious basketball team. My optimistic side says maybe, with a trade or some growth over the season, they can be, but right now they aren’t. Toronto dropped their Wednesday night matchup with the Denver Nuggets 128-109, after being outscored 41-15 in the third quarter. Things looked good to start this one. Immanuel Quickley was off to his best start of the season, the offense was flowing, they were scoring easy baskets in transition, and Collin Murray-Boyles was bringing a ton of energy on both ends for this Raptors squad.
Then halftime ended, and so did the Raptors' chances of winning this game. Toronto came out with no energy. Their half-court offense was nonexistent, and Darko Rajakovic needs to figure that out ASAP. IQ immediately came back down to earth and showed that his hot start was simply just that. RJ Barrett was 0-for-6, and Scottie Barnes had no offensive punch to his game. The bench was brutal, and Ja’Kobe Walter had his second straight rough all-around outing.
Sure, having no answer for Nikola Jokic’s incredible 15-point third quarter also played a factor in Toronto’s meltdown coming out of the half. But the lack of energy, offensive connectivity, and the Raptors' depth just not being good enough had an even bigger impact than simply writing this game off as a Jokic takeover.
We may have overestimated how good this Toronto Raptors team is
Coming into this stretch of games without Kawhi Leonard, my optimism was so high. It felt like this group had a chance to really prove they can be a winning team without him and build their case as a title contender when everyone is healthy. This road trip and the final home game before it against Orlando have done the opposite.
Quickley has had countless chances to silence his doubters and show he can step into a bigger offensive role without Leonard in the lineup, and he’s failed every time. It’s so disappointing because he’ll have stretches where he looks amazing, makes the right reads, and gets the ball moving. But it never lasts. His inconsistency has always been his issue, and it’s holding this group back immensely. You can’t consistently win games against good playoff-level teams when your starting point guard can’t string together a consistent or efficient 30-plus minutes.
It’s a similar story for Barrett too. He’s had his moments where he’s pressuring the rim and being the lone driving force of the Raptors offense. But the moments where he is being that dude offensively typically last, what, eight minutes? Then the rest of the game he’s an eyesore.
Maybe that’s not all on Barrett, though, because it’s also super unfair to say there should even be moments when a player of his caliber is asked to carry the offense on a team with championship aspirations. That might be the issue right there, and what I’m getting more and more concerned about with this group, which is that they don’t have enough talent.
This goes back to something I recently wrote about, suggesting the Atlanta Hawks are a potential nightmare in the playoffs for the Raptors, partially because of their depth. This Raptors team has no elite depth pieces, and every game without Kawhi Leonard reinforces that.
The center spot: forget about it. Jamal Shead is becoming someone I’m starting to kind of get lower on because he hasn’t figured out his efficiency struggles. For as much as I love Jamison Battle, him being maybe the third-most important bench player with Leonard out is far from ideal. Counting Allen Graves as a day-one contributor is nuts. Kyle Anderson being a free-agent signing this team made to essentially act as a babysitter who rarely plays sucks.
Defensively, this group has also looked super off during this trip. I understand facing Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic is no joke, but Tyus Jones and Marvin Bagley III were frying the Raptors in this one. Bryce Hopkins, a second-round rookie, shouldn't be hanging 18 points off the bench against a team labeled an elite defense.
It’s still super early, and I’m going to try to remain positive. But right now it is so hard not to feel like I, and many people within the Raptors community, strongly overestimated how good this team could be.
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