What Toronto's Small Sample Says About the Organization's Core Moving Forward

The Toronto Raptors should have a lot to be excited about with its core of Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl already in place

Feb 4, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl (19) talks to forward Scottie Barnes / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors weren’t disappointed in the losing.

Sure, a 2-19 end to the year with some historically bad losses was frustrating to see. But given the circumstances, it wasn’t all that surprising. Toronto was dealing with a slew of injuries and personal tragedies that left the roster bereft of the kind of talent needed to compete. The biggest letdown, though, was the fact that Toronto couldn’t see its core play together.

Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl played just 501 total possessions together this season. Of those possessions 119 came with Pascal Siakam and another 22 came with Dennis Schröder, rendering those possessions generally meaningless.

That leaves 360 possessions — mostly with Gary Trent Jr. — from which the Raptors have to try to draw some conclusions.

Here’s what we know: Toronto was awesome when that group played together. They posted a net rating of 13.8, a number roughly on par with the Denver Nuggets starting lineup this season. They also scored 121.9 points per 100 possessions while surrendering just 108.1 points per 100 possessions. For context, those numbers are roughly on par with Boston’s starting lineup.

But it may be a little early to start planning the parade.

“My eye test tells me that there is a lot of potential there and a lot of opportunity for growth,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said of that group. “But at the same time I don't want to look at a small sample and say that's it and then tend to take it for granted. I think there's definitely things that we can do better, offensively and defensively, with that group there.”

Depending on who joins that group, it’s still either a little light on three-point shooting or a little short on size.

Barnes and Barrett have both generally been below-average three-point shooters for their careers, despite their impressive steps forward this season. Poeltl remains a total non-shooter and it’s tough to be an efficient offense in the modern NBA without at least three or four floor-spacing shooters.

Trent gave Toronto a little more offensive firepower in that lineup, but he left the Raptors a little small and short on defensive stoppers. Ideally, Barrett and Barnes can slide down a position with another 6-foot-9 or taller wing sliding in at the power forward spot, but finding a player who fits that description and can shoot threes isn't so easy. It's why high-end 3-and-D wings like OG Anunoby have become so coveted over the past few years.

What’s clear is there are reasons for optimism in Toronto. The Raptors aren’t starting from scratch in this rebuild and should have a group in place that’s ready to take a step forward next season. Figuring out who can join that starting group is going to be the key for Toronto this summer.