The good, bad, and ugly of Toronto Raptors pre-season so far

Rookies have intrigued, stars have been missed, team has fouled too much

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Published Oct 14, 2024  •  3 minute read

Jamal Shead of the Toronto Raptors dribbles the ball against JD Davison of the Boston Celtics during a pre-season game at TD Garden on October 13, 2024 in Boston. Photo by China Wong /Getty Images

Having gone down by 34 points to a Boston Celtics team missing its top six players and seven of eight rotation stalwarts, it’s possible things could go even worse for the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.

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That’s because the Raptors likely still will be missing RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Kelly Olynyk, Bruce Brown, Ja’Kobe Walter and Garrett Temple, but Boston should have at least some of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Al Horford back for Toronto’s lone pre-season game at home. That’s good for the paying fans, these are the reigning NBA champions after all, perhaps not so good for a Raptors group that has looked pretty lost without most of its top scorers and play-makers.

Boston has gone up by at least 30 points in three pre-season games already and has shown no signs of a championship hangover. No team is close to the Celtics in net rating, Boston leads all in offensive efficiency and through four exhibition games is assisting on 73% of its baskets. The team’s enviable depth has been on display nightly and it’s clear why this is the favourite to once again come out of the Eastern Conference.

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Meanwhile, Darko Rajakovic’s squad greatly misses the two former New York Knicks (Quickley and Barrett), in particular and is losing valuable chances to get the presumed starters used to playing with each other. The hope is Quickley will be ready for the pre-season finale on Friday in Brooklyn ahead of the season opener against Cleveland on Oct. 23.

Here are some examples of good, bad and ugly things we’ve seen through three Raptors tuneups:

GOOD: Rookie Jamal Shead’s intensity, defending and ability to get into the paint. He’s brought it every night and doesn’t give opponents an inch. He goes right at them at both ends of the floor.

BAD: Shead’s outside shooting. He finally made his first of 10 three-point attempts over the three games in the fourth quarter on Sunday during Toronto’s much better latter effort. Nobody expects him to be an elite three-point shooter, but if he can get to 35% or so, the many positives to his game would make Shead an extremely valuable backup point guard. You never know what can happen. Jose Calderon missed 36 of 43 attempts as an NBA rookie and then 50 of 75 the next year before becoming one of the best gunners in franchise history and 41% for his career. Shead has hit 11 of 12 free throw attempts so far, and his shot doesn’t look broken.

GOOD: Jonathan Mogbo progressing/his court vision. Another Toronto rookie looked pretty overwhelmed by the speed and talent of the competition both in Toronto’s open practice in Montreal and the first game against Washington. He threw up airballs, didn’t look confident or ready. But each night out, he has appeared better, culminating in a rock solid game against Boston. His passing has been as advertised, especially when Mogbo gets out and runs. He has 11 assists and only two turnovers so far and brings good rebounding to the table.

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BAD: The outside shooting of most Raptors. Take away Barrett (3-for-4), Gradey Dick (7-for-19) and Chris Boucher (7-for-13) and Toronto has gone 15-for-59 (25%) from three.

UGLY: The start in Boston. They didn’t look ready to play at all, even against weak (on paper) competition. Jakob Poeltl was the exception, but Scottie Barnes might not have looked as bad all last season (granted he’s just two games back from being off since March), Dick got annihilated by any Boston player with the ball.

GOOD: Offensive rebounding has been a plus. Toronto has been better than any team on the offensive glass so far. Rebounding was a major weakness last season (though it was more defensive rebounding) and this team will struggle to score, so easy buckets will be useful any way they can be found.

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UGLY: The conga line has to stop. Yes, Boston is good, even going way into its bench. But Washington, the opponent in the two other games, is going to be awful. Yet, Toronto is committing way too many fouls on attacking players. The goal is to do a 180 from last year’s awful defensive ways, but Toronto is sending opponents to the free throw line so far at easily the highest rate in the NBA (again, small sample size, exhibitions, etc., but we’re nit-picking until the real games start). In fact, four teams are giving up about half the opponent’s free throw rate as the Raptors. Opponents are only shooting 43% against the Raptors, which is good work by Rajakovic’s squad (11th overall), but they have to stop fouling.

@WolstatSun

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