Raptors Coach Talks Rebuild As Players Look to Compete Next Season

The Toronto Raptors are set to embark on a rebuild starting this season but none of the players want to wait around to start winning again

Nov 8, 2023; Dallas, Texas, USA; Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) celebrates with Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors are rebuilding, right?

The message from the organization hasn't exactly been clear this summer. The answer seems to depend on who you ask. Those in charge are calling it a rebuild. They've gotten comfortable with the word and understand where this team is in its competitive cycle.

"It is a clean slate. This is Year 1 of our rebuild. We're starting a rebuild now," Raptors coach Darko Rajaković told reporters Thursday in Las Vegas.

Team president Masai Ujiri has thrown around the R-word too. Nobody is talking about the forbidden T-word — tanking — but Ujiri and Rajaković are quite aware that this current Raptors roster is young and growing.

But the players see things differently.

"(You) say we’re rebuilding, but I just want to win now," Scottie Barnes said earlier this week. "I just want to go out there and win games. I don’t like to lose, and all this rebuild talk, it’s whatever, but I want to go out there and win games."

And what does Immanuel Quickley think Toronto's timeline to be competitive looks like?

"Right now," he said.

But that disconnect might not be such a bad thing. It would be alarming if Toronto's players were saying something else. Imagine the uproar if Barnes had said he was content to lose for a few more seasons or if Quickley said he wanted to compete in three or four years from now.

On the court, the Raptors are going to compete next season. It's a group that looks roughly the same as the group that went 6-13 in its 19 games between the Pascal Siakam trade and Barnes' injury on March 1. The loss of Gary Trent Jr. has left Toronto without one of its best three-point shooters from last season, but Toronto's defense should take a step forward with Davion Mitchell backing up Quickley, and development from Gradey Dick and Ja'Kobe Walter should make up for Trent's loss.

Off the court, the organization is in wait-and-see mode. Ujiri and Toronto's front office plans to be patient with its young group and will evaluate this rebuild as the season progresses. If the team isn't very good, there's no shortage of talent in the 2025 draft class that could change the future of this Raptors organization. Conversely, if Toronto plays its way out of the bottom, that means there's been progress on the court.

"I think we'll see how the year starts and plays out," Ujiri said during his season-ending media availability. "We're going to give these players and this team the opportunity to play. ...

"We understand what picking early is and we're committed to it and we're going to see where the growth of this team is and we'll go from there."

If Barnes, Quickley, and company can play the Raptors into a play-in spot and potentially a playoff berth, the organization isn't going to be upset. Toronto proved better than expected in 2021-22 and if Barnes can take another step forward, the Raptors would more than welcome that.

But nobody is going to rush into some win-now move and if the season starts slowly, this organization understands where this roster is and knows there's plenty of rebuilding still to do.