QUEBEC CITY — The lasting image from Toronto Raptors training camp at the University of Laval may well be head coach Darko Rajakovic playing a spirited game of one-on-one against Kawhi Leonard at the end of the team’s final practice here.
We’re glad to report there were no injuries, pride included.
“Both of us are still in the process of reconditioning,” joked Rajakovic. “But still, he’s in better condition than me.”
That’s good, because for all concerned, the competition is going to be getting tougher, both in the immediate future and over the course of the next seven months — or nine if the new-look Raptors can find a way to keep playing into June.
The NBA Finals? Really?
It’s a stretch goal to be sure, but one that shouldn’t be completely off the table when so many eggs are put into a basket cradled by Leonard’s massive hands that remain attached to his 35-year-old body. One that remains capable of incredible things on the basketball floor, but has been known to fail him for long stretches over the years.
This is not to say that Saturday night’s exhibition game against the Miami Heat at Centre Videotron carries any specific meaning or intrigue, at least in practical terms.
No matter who the opponent, there might not be an event on an NBA team’s calendar that means less than their first exhibition game. Or their second. And maybe even their third.
Staying healthy is the primary goal of the pre-season, especially for the Raptors, who have so much invested — financially, existentially and competitively — in Leonard, an athlete whose routine excellence through 15 seasons has only ever been interrupted by a fragility that is almost shocking given the overwhelming package of size and strength he takes the floor with, even by NBA standards.
Which is a roundabout way of saying that the chances of Leonard taking the floor in his iconic No. 2 jersey for the Raptors Saturday night lie somewhere between slim and none, with the smart money on the latter.
No cause for concern there, however. Leonard has been an active participant all week in camp, being held out only from the 'live' or 'contact' portion of the workouts as he builds up after being limited to individual workouts all summer with the Raptors trade with the Los Angeles Clippers on pause.
But there is symbolism to the Raptors starting their exhibition season against the Heat.
Miami — like Toronto — is one of several Eastern Conference teams that made fundamental changes to their roster with an eye towards jump-starting the process of making a relatively ordinary roster very good or even great.
The Raptors adding Leonard and the expectations to match haven’t happened in a vacuum.
Adding a two-time Finals MVP coming off an all-NBA season automatically makes the Raptors better, there’s no argument. But the Heat added a two-time league MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo, who at 31 remains in his prime.
Who knows if Antetokounmpo will be playing on Saturday, but with him on the roster the Heat — who finished three wins but five places behind the 46-win Raptors in the tightly-packed East last season — are justified in thinking that they will push past Toronto and a lot of other teams by season’s end.
It’s a theme across the conference.
The Philadelphia 76ers added five-time all-star and 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, along with LeBron James and some quality depth pieces. They surely think they can push past the Raptors, who finished with one more win than they did last season.
The Atlanta Hawks finished last season on a 20-6 tear, won two playoff games against the eventual NBA Champion New York Knicks and then brought in accomplished veterans Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Dorian Finney-Smith in the off-season.
The Indiana Pacers — Eastern Conference champions in 2024 — are healthy again and expect to rebound after an injury-driven gap year last season.
The Orlando Magic surely expect that if they can keep their talented core even reasonably healthy for a full season they can reach the promise so many have projected for them since they established themselves as a young team on the rise.
And those are just the teams in the East that finished below the fifth-place Raptors last season. None of the four teams that finished ahead of them — in order: Detroit, Boston, New York or Cleveland — have any reason to believe they are any worse than they were last season, when they won 60, 56, 53 and 52 games, respectively.
“That’s what you want,” said Raptors point guard Immanuel Quickley, who missed Toronto’s playoff series last season with a hamstring strain but will need to be at his best if the Raptors are going to make a leap of any kind this season. “You want to be challenged, as a player and as a team we’re looking forward to that challenge. We’ve got a great group of guys with the right head on their shoulders that are ready to compete. So I think that’s to our advantage, how hard we play every night. And I think that will give us an edge against most teams.”
Playing hard is not nothing in a league where it’s very difficult to bring maximum effort over 82 games spread across six months.
And it’s not like the East is loaded with perfect teams. The Heat should be better with the addition of Antetokounmpo — maybe a lot better. But they have questionable depth, minimal playmaking and Antetokounmpo, for all his talent, has struggled to stay healthy himself in recent years. Even the defending-champion Knicks have some question marks, as does almost every team in the conference with eyes on a top-six finish and a guaranteed playoff spot.
The Raptors, with issues around perimeter shooting and depth at centre, certainly have their flaws, but uniformly, top-to-bottom, the conference is loaded with really good teams with big plans.
“The East is going to be really, really competitive this year,” said Rajakovic. “There’s going to be a lot of teams that can compete for the playoffs and several teams in the East that can have high aspirations for winning the championship and be contenders. You know, Giannis went to Miami and I think they’re going to be really good this year. … But with all of that being said, we cannot change what other teams are doing, we gotta focus on ourselves and our preparation.”
The Raptors have had a good week in Quebec City, bonding, vibing and getting ready for a season that shows all kinds of promise, but their addition of Leonard, along with the internal improvement they believe they’ve made, guarantees nothing.
Leonard may have won his fun little game of one-on-one vs. his head coach on Friday. But things will get tougher from here.
Three-point Grange
Let it fly: Add Quickley to the list of Raptors who plan to tackle their relative lack of three-point shooting last season by way of committee. Quickley made a career-best 178 threes last season but has his eye on more.
“That’s been one important (point of) emphasis for myself. Getting a lot of paint pressure (to open up the perimeter for his teammates) and when I’m off the ball, being ready to shoot. I think it will be on all of us (to get up more threes) … because we’re going to need to. We were like 29th in the league in three-point attempts (26th, actually) so we’re definitely going to have to shoot more threes this year.”
Happy for Shead: There have been plenty of good feelings the past couple of days after third-year guard Jamal Shead signed his three-year, $24-million extension on Thursday.
Ja’Kobe Walter, Shead’s closest friend on the team, said he was especially happy, since he can now look to his fellow third-year guard to pick up some dinner tabs. And Quickley, who has often thrived playing alongside Shead in the backcourt, echoed the sentiments of everyone around the team since the deal became official.
“He’s a huge part of this team, man,” said Quickley. “Obviously everyone knows defensively he’s a leader on the team, but I gave him a big hug once I found out. I’m really proud of him because he works really hard and he deserves it."
Rajakovic racks it: The clips of the Raptors head coach playing the Raptors' highest-paid player one-on-one may have been attention-grabbing, but it’s not the first or the last time the 47-year-old has tested himself against some of his 20-something players.
“I just love the game,” he said Friday. “I love to compete and any time when I have a chance to go against these young bucks, and show them some moves, I’m there for them.”
Quickley allowed that, yes, Rajakovic has challenged him one-on-one, but was clear about the results.
“I have played him,” said Quickley. “He’s not going to keep it 100. I beat him, but he’s going to say that he won it.”
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