Toronto Raptors upbeat about 2025-26 season after just one rebuilding year

Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) speaks to the media at the season-ending press conference in Toronto on Monday, April 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey

TORONTO — Scottie Barnes leaned back in his chair, ran his hands through his hair, looked around the room and grinned when asked about the 2025-26 Toronto Raptors.

“My expectations for the team? I expect us to be really good,” said Barnes. ”For sure getting into the playoffs and making a great run. With the team that we have, there are no excuses.

“We should be in the playoffs and make a good run.”

A carousel of Raptors players rotated through the podium at the media centre of OVO Athletic Centre on Monday as they cleaned out their lockers, had exit interviews with head coach Darko Rajakovic, and started to form their off-season development plans.

It was the formal end of a season that team president Masai Ujiri had called the first of a three-to-five year rebuilding project. But Toronto had a productive 2024 NBA Draft with four rookies playing significant minutes this past season and Rajakovic put an emphasis on building the skill sets of one of the youngest teams in the league.

“Being with these guys every single day this season, seeing the progress that we made each and every single game, seeing people get better day in day out, seeing how close we are, it just makes me super excited,” said Barnes, who averaged 19.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists over 65 games this season. “I’m pretty excited for what this team holds and what we’re going to grow into.”

Nineteenth-overall pick Ja’Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo (31st), Jamal Shead (45th) and Jamison Battle (undrafted) all impressed in their first year in the NBA, playing significant minutes as starters and off the bench. With 29-year-old starting centre Jakob Poeltl the oldest player Toronto has signed for next season, all the players were optimistic about 2025-26.

“Having rookies that go out there and are producing at the level that they’re at, it’s not normal,” said RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., who led the team with 21.1 points per game and averaged 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists. “We have so much, I think that’s a good problem to have. We have so much.

“We have the attitude for it. We have the hungriness, we care for one another, cheering for each other, the coaching staff, the discipline. We have everything that we need.”

The Raptors will be adding two significant pieces next season: a high draft pick and a healthy Brandon Ingram.

Toronto (30-52) finished seven games out of the final play-in spot but reaching the post-season was never really the goal. Instead, they have the seventh-worst record in the NBA, with a 31.9 per cent chance of getting a top-four pick and a 7.5 per cent shot at the first-overall selection when the NBA Draft Lottery is held on May 12.

Ingram has not played for the Raptors since being acquired from New Orleans on Feb. 6 due to a sprained ankle. He signed a three-year, US$120-million contract extension with Toronto on Feb. 11.

The Raptors announced on April 9 that Ingram received a plasma-rich platelet injection to help his recovery. A team spokesperson confirmed on Monday that Ingram’s ankle is responding well to the treatment and that it would be checked again in May.

“When I’m playing basketball, I feel like I’m in my groove,” said Ingram, who averaged 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists for New Orleans before his injury. “That’s the thing that I love to do the most.

“I’ve had to develop some patience, just looking at the floor and not trying to be anxious, just trying to figure out where I could be best. Still cheer on my teammates and see where I can help them, but I’ve been pretty anxious to get on the floor.”

Ingram wasn’t the only Raptor who was banged up by the end of the season.

Barnes (metacarpal joint contusion), Poeltl (metacarpal joint contusion), Gradey Dick (right knee bone bruise), Walter (hip flexor tightness), Mogbo (played with a mask to protect a broken nose), Ulrich Chomche (partial proximal MCL tear in right knee) and A.J. Lawson of Brampton, Ont., (hip flexor) all missed time or had their minutes limited to end the season.

Veteran forward Garrett Temple (left knee MCL sprain), who is on an expiring contract, hurt himself in the final game of the season.

“I don’t want to set a limit or anything on us. I expect us to win more,” said Shead, who averaged 7.1 points, 4.2 assists and 1.5 rebounds. ”And (when) we’re blessed and fortunate to have guys healthy. I think we will. We’ll go as far as Scottie, BI, RJ and (Immanuel Quickley) take us.

“All the other guys, all of us, will be right there attacking along with them, trying to do everything we can to help win. I think the sky’s the limit for us this next year. I’m excited for it.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2025.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press