Injuries Have Raptors Facing Tough Realities as Season Nears

The Toronto Raptors are already battling a slew of injuries with a daunting start to the season on the horizon

Jan 17, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors RJ Barrett (9) and forward Scottie Barnes (4) head up court against the Miami Heat during the second half at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Another lost year is starting to feel inevitable.

Nobody around the Toronto Raptors wants to talk too openly about tanking. It's too early in the year to turn the ship around already and Toronto wants to get a look at what its young roster looks like. Within the organization, there's newfound optimism for the future, the chemistry of this group, and what a Scottie Barnes-led team can develop into.

But as the injuries continue to pile up ahead of a daunting start to the season, the Raptors already feel like they're teetering.

RJ Barrett is the latest to go down due to a right shoulder injury and the team is planning to take it "week by week," Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said following Tuesday's team practice. The Canadian forward will miss the rest of the preseason and will be reevaluated for a timeline at a later date.

Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes are both at practice getting back up to speed after missing training camp and continue to work on their conditioning. Ja'Kobe Walter and Bruce Brown Jr. both remain sidelined with the latter expected to miss time into the start of the regular season.

"You gotta look on what are the silver linings," Rajaković said. "What are some things that players can do meanwhile to address that otherwise they will not be able to address? Is that strength-wise? Is that conditioning? Is that watching more film? Is that adding another skill, you know? So I always try to look at it from the positive side."

The other positive might be the result of these absences — at least when it comes to the draft lottery next spring.

Toronto isn't going to start the year with a directive to lose games, but it's hard to look at the first 20 or so games of the season and not think the losses are going to pile up. The Raptors have a five-game West Coast road trip in early November and likely won't be the favorites in more than two or three games until late December. If Barrett misses time and Walter, Barnes, or Quickely are slow to start the year, it wouldn't be surprising if things begin to snowball out of the gate for the Raptors.

The Raptors are well aware of the value of high lottery picks. It's how the organization landed its current face-of-the-franchise star in 2021 and likely the best bet for how Toronto plans to land Barnes' running mate for the future. As Raptors president Masai Ujiri acknowledged on media day, the realities of a top pick are particularly important in a market like Toronto.

So maybe this isn't all such a bad thing.

Sure, Toronto would prefer to be at full strength and be competing with the league's best when the season starts. But if the organization has to give these extra opportunities to younger players looking to take the next step in their development, maybe that's OK too.

"Practice is extremely important for us as a young team and it really makes the difference," Rajaković said. "It's just an opportunity for great growth. So I'm just trying to look at it from a positive side and from a learning side and that's my approach."

In a rebuilding year, that's what this season should be about. Give the youngest players opportunities to grow and focus on adding another highly-touted prospect to the group for next season. If that means one more lost season, so be it.