Raptors Hit New Low With Worst Loss in Franchise History

The Toronto Raptors made history Wednesday night with the worst loss in franchise history, falling by 48 points to the Minnesota Timberwolves

Apr 3, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) / Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

The fans deserve better.

It’s one thing to be bad. Even tanking makes sense in some scenarios. But what the Toronto Raptors are doing right now is just disappointing.

Toronto took the court Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves with Malik Williams starting at center. Who is Malik Williams, you ask? A 6-foot-11 big man who has spent the entire season in the G League and has suddenly managed to find his way into Toronto’s starting lineup thanks to a 10-day contract he signed just hours before tipoff.

He was joined by eight available players and flanked in the starting lineup by Jalen McDaniels and Garrett Temple, both of whom were making their first starts of the season.

It went about as you’d expect: Toronto fell 133-85 to the Timberwolves in what is now the worst loss in franchise history.

What’s sad is this wasn’t some crucial game to lose against another bottom-dweller like the Washington Wizards. It wasn’t like Kelly Olynyk was going to radically change Toronto’s fortunes. But still, the Raptors opted to “rest” Olynyk while holding out RJ Barrett for injury management and Gary Trent Jr. for back spasms, just a night after he was sidelined for “rest.”

How did it get this bad?

The injuries are just bad luck and the mismanagement of Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby have been poured over ad nauseam. But the lack of production from Toronto’s two free-agent signings this past summer has only further put the organization behind the eight ball.

Dennis Schröder, the theoretical replacement for Fred VanVleet, was salary dumped on the Brooklyn Nets at the trade deadline in a trade that quite literally brought back nothing for Toronto.

McDaniels has provided Toronto even less. He came into Wednesday night shooting 35.3% from the floor, 16.9% from three-point range and has essentially been out of the rotation for the Raptors in all but the disastrous situations. That’s to say nothing of his contract that’ll pay him $4.7 million next season.

It’s hard to say who Toronto could have signed in those spots but looking at what other players made it’s conceivable Canadian Nickeil Alexander-Walker would have signed up to make McDaniels’ contract with the Raptors.

The 25-year-old Toronto native has been a rotation player on a very good Timberwolves team all season, is shooting 38.4% from three-point range, dropped 14 points Wednesday night, and is somehow making less money than McDaniels.

There’s also Kelly Oubre, who signed a minimum contract with the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason and is somehow averaging 21.3 points per game in his four outings against the Raptors this year.

That’s not to say they would have signed with the Raptors. But looking at what has transpired this season, it’s hard to not look back at last summer’s mistakes and see how a Toronto ended up in the situation it’s in today.

Losing without star players is understandable but Toronto’s lack of depth these days has left the organization unable to even field a competitive team.

Up Next: Milwaukee Bucks

Toronto will have the day off Thursday before heading to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks at 8 p.m. ET Friday.