Raptors Schedule Will Have Organization Facing Early Season Realities

The Toronto Raptors start the season with the most difficult stretch of the year and are likely heading toward another season of tanking

Feb 10, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) controls the ball as Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) tries to defend during the first quarter at Scotiabank Arena . Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images / Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

The Toronto Raptors don’t want to look ahead.

It’s day-by-day, game-by-game, they say, as the organization prepares for opening night later this week when the Cleveland Cavaliers come to town. They claim they haven’t looked past that game and, frankly, don’t even want to.

That might not be a bad idea too.

For those who want to look ahead past Oct. 23, it’s pretty scary.

The Raptors start the season with Cleveland, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Denver. They’ll be pretty significant underdogs in all four of those games. Then comes one of the few games Toronto should be favored in on the road against the Charlotte Hornets, a potentially sneaky difficult game.

Then comes the gauntlet.

Toronto has a five-game West Coast road trip in early November and plays just five teams that failed to qualify for the playoffs last season in its first 25 games. That’s including two games against the Sacramento Kings, who expect to be in the mix this season in a loaded Western Conference.

“I really want to focus on our on our team and how we go day-by-day and improve,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said. “We’re not thinking Game 2, 3, 4, 7. (The) schedule is (the) schedule. Nobody has control over the schedule.”

Although if Toronto had its choice, this schedule might not be such a bad one.

These tough games to start the year allow the Raptors to figure out how good they are. Maybe Toronto comes out of the gate, surprises people, and competes with the league’s best. Maybe Scottie Barnes has taken another step in his development, Toronto’s new depth pieces look better than expected, and the Raptors prove to be a feisty team with play-in or playoff hopes.

Or there’s the more likely scenario.

There’s a pretty good chance Toronto starts the year with a whole lot of losing. Maybe they look competitive in some of the games, but it’s fair to say the Raptors aren’t in a tier with the league’s best. It’s entirely realistic Toronto begins the season 5-20 or something thereabouts.

If that’s where the Raptors sit through the first third of the season, this organization isn’t going to be going all out for a play-in spot. As Raptors president Masai Ujiri acknowledged on Media Day, this organization understands the importance of a top draft pick in a market like Toronto.

The flip side of a tough start to the schedule is how easy it looks for Toronto in the final 25 or so games of the year. Sixteen of Toronto’s final 19 games are against teams who failed to qualify for the playoffs last year, most of whom will be once again expected to be among the league’s worst teams in the league this year.

That’ll be the make-or-break stretch for the Raptors this year. Either Toronto makes up ground in its playoff push and sneaks into that middle tier in the conference with a ton of late-season wins or the Raptors finish the season with one of the most intense tank jobs you will ever see.

Had the schedule been flipped, an easy start to the year could have papered over some issues for this organization. Toronto would have been able to come out strong and would have been left in a difficult position when the trade deadline rolled around. With this schedule, though, there’s no hiding.

“Playing against some really good teams early in the season, I think it can only help us,” Rajaković said when he was informed of how difficult Toronto's schedule looks to start the year. “I think it can help us to understand what it takes to compete and win against all those high-end teams. It can only help us speed up our process.”

If that’s what Toronto wants, it’s certainly what the organization is about to get.