Raptors Mailbag: Starting Guards, Scottie Barnes' Upside, & Toronto's Rebrand

The Toronto Raptors have a lot of unanswered questions heading into the season but if Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley become stars, everything else will slide into place

Feb 22, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) slaps hands with forward RJ Barrett (9) after scoring against the Brooklyn Nets in the first half at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports / Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

With a brief pause in Summer League for the Toronto Raptors, I figured it would be a good time to catch up on some mailbag questions. As always, if you have a question feel free to direct message me on Instagram (@aaronbenrose) or respond to my Instagram story when I post a callout for questions.

Without further ado:

Rebrand? - scv13

My knowledge about Toronto's rebrand for next season comes mostly from Esfandiar Baraheni who seems to have most of the rebrand info already reported. It sounds like the Raptors will have tribute jerseys throughout the season to honor the team's 30th season. I suspect they'll be more purple than we're used to seeing ever since Toronto learned into the red and white look.

Who's going to be the starting shooting guard this season? - duncanracher

To me, there are a few people in the conversation for the spot. Gradey Dick is probably the favorite, although I don't love the idea of giving it to a player who might eventually lose it to someone else. I feel like it's hard to take a starting spot from someone. Ask Dennis Schroder, for example.

If it's not Dick, maybe Toronto goes with Bruce Brown. His lack of a three-point shot makes the spacing pretty weird in the starting lineup, but that would buy the Raptors some time to figure out who really deserves it.

I don't think Toronto can give it to Ochai Agbaji and Ja'Kobe Walter needs to see NBA playing time before he's thrown into the starting lineup. There's an outside chance the Raptors start both Kelly Olynyk and Jakob Poeltl and bump everyone down a spot, but that leaves Toronto in a weird spot when it comes to bench bigs.

What do the Raptors have to do in order to tank properly? - matthewnbarker

Trading Poeltl would be a good start. Without him, Toronto doesn't really have a center who can play defense and we saw how bad the Raptors looked without Poeltl last season. There's not much else Toronto can do without shutting down Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, and RJ Barrett, and it's probably in everyone's best interest to see that trio play together.

How do you think the Raptors will utilize Davion Mitchell? - Connerbegg

He'll be Toronto's backup point guard and I wouldn't be surprised if he sees some playing time alongside Quickley in a two-point guard set. That would ease Quickley's defensive workload, but it only works if Mitchell can play off the ball and hit his catch-and-shoot threes at a high level. He did that last season, especially late in the year, but he hasn't proven to be a high-level shooter over the course of his career.

I've liked what I've seen from Jamal Shead in Summer League, but I expect Mitchell will start the year as Toronto's No. 2 point guard.

Thoughts on these extensions and how it may impact the ability to build a contender? - dvon9

The Barnes extension was exactly what everyone expected it to be. It's a lot of money, but Toronto is banking on him being a franchise player and that's what franchise players get paid.

Quickley's contract was more expensive than expected, but the fact that it's a flat rate across the contract should make it look better as the salary cap goes up over the next few seasons.

The Raptors need Barnes and Quickley to be high-end players. Barnes has to be at worst at No. 2 type of player on a contender and Toronto needs Quickley to consistently be an above-average starting point guard. If those things don't happen, the Raptors won't be contending anytime soon.

Where do you see the Raptors heading in the near future? (2-8 years) - cameronsholdice9

I'll give you the answer Raptors president Masai Ujiri gave me when I essentially asked him this same question: "We'll see."

Next season is a rebuilding year and we should learn a lot about this group. If Toronto isn't very good around the trade deadline, it would be a good idea to get worse. If the Raptors exceed expectations, the organization will be happy to see how this group fares in the play-in tournament.

After that, the hope is this team takes the normal developmental steps. Toronto will have a few hiccups in the post-season, as young teams tend to do. If all goes well, the Raptors will learn from those experiences, tweak their roster, and come back better for it as they build toward a contending team.

The other possibility is Barnes, Quickley, and Barrett all stagnate in their development, Toronto makes bad trades and the Raptors end up on the treadmill of mediocrity. Nobody is expecting that to happen, but it's possible.

Is Nwora gone? - davis_leblanc_art

Yup. Toronto has a full roster right now and even if the organization parts ways with Sasha Vezenkov, I don't see Jordan Nwora being the player the Raptors opt to sign. Put simply, he wasn't good last year.

Do you think Scottie can be a No. 1 on a championship team? - tyson.c6

Can he be? Sure.

He doesn't really look like a traditional No. 1 type of player because he's not really a go-to scorer right now, but there's nothing stopping him from getting there. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic don't really profile as traditional No. 1 types but have certainly been that. Barnes will need to really improve his shooting, but it's possible he does that.

That said, recent history suggests you need to have a top-five player or so to win an NBA championship, and generally speaking, it's always safe to bet against any one player doing that. Barnes could be a Hall of Fame type of player and never be a No. 1 player on a championship team.