Morning Coffee - Apr. 9, 2025

Scottie Barnes sees the light at the end of the tunnel after another losing Raptors season - Toronto Star
“These guys are amazing, and they’re going to be integral to our (future),” Barnes said, on the eve of Toronto’s final home game of the season Wednesday against Charlotte.

The sense of optimism is palpable despite a lost season in which Barnes’ individual stats have regressed amid a litany of injuries. He has averaged 18.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 33 minutes in 62 games, but his right hand has been bothering him for weeks.

Toronto has won 29 games, four more than a year ago but still not enough to extend the season beyond Sunday in San Antonio.

“It’s been a solid season,” Barnes said. “I’ve really enjoyed it (and) I feel like we just keep progressing. Of course we wish we were in a better spot but I’m just so happy to be able to keep building with these guys every single day. Next year we’re going to come back strong. So I’m super excited to see the bigger picture of what’s going to happen.”

Teammate RJ Barrett is equally optimistic.

“This year we made a step forward in what we’re building here,” said Barrett, who has averaged 21.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists. “We’ve got some good pieces with these younger guys coming in … the team morale, everything is on a high right now for us. We know what we’re building toward, so everybody feels good right now.”

Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said he likes the energy and the focus he’s seeing among his players.

“That’s what you want to see. You want to see guys invested and working hard … almost like focusing on next season,” he said.

It helps that most of the players on the roster are in the same age bracket and their off-court interests are intertwined.

“These guys are very coachable and they keep each other accountable,” Rajakovic said. “And when you have that, then you have very good team chemistry.”

Raptors Discuss How Final Few Games Remain Significant For Young Core - Sports Illustrated
Over the past month, Walter has seen his touches per game and time of possession per touch have both increased over the past few weeks, according to NBA tracking data. It reflects a deliberate effort by the Raptors to get him more involved as a creator and decision-maker.

This late-season stretch is also providing opportunities for Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead, Jamison Battle, and Jared Rhoden who are all under contract for next season. The hope is to learn something from a month of inconsequential basketball that might actually matter when next season begins.

Mogbo’s role has shifted slightly too. Earlier in the year, the Raptors tried to shape him into more of a wing. Recently, they have leaned into using him as a small-ball center to address a short-term need while also testing how far his game can stretch.

“For him, learning is when to take that shot when he’s wide open and when actually to take the ball and attack and go downhill,” Rajaković said of Mogbo. “Really working with him to improve his finishing at the rim and lately he’s been doing a good job with that.”

The Raptors know this stretch can be tough to evaluate when it comes to long-term impact. But given where Toronto is in its developmental cycle, even these games carry meaning for the organization’s youth.

“For each player, can you see individual improvement? Is that offensively? Is that defensively," Rajaković said. "You can see that guys are going in the right direction, and it gives us confidence going into the summer.”

Ja'Kobe Walter a bright spot for Raptors, Gradey Dick not so much - Toronto Sun
“Now, to expect from a second-year guy, from a 20-year-old player to maintain that same level over the course of 82 games, I did not have those illusions. I believe that he’s going to be putting in another great summer this year and be able to go for a longer stretch in the next season,” Rajakovic said. “So, I’m a big believer that his next year is going to be even better than this accumulation of the work he had this year.”

It will be interesting to see how Dick slots in when Brandon Ingram, Toronto’s most talented player, finally debuts in the Fall.

Dick played better when the Raptors were without key players like Immanuel Quickley or RJ Barrett, and it could make sense then to let Dick be an offensive driver of a second group, perhaps with Scottie Barnes and Jamal Shead helping make up for some of the defensive limitations.

But there will be a long summer to speculate over things like that.

In the present, on the other hand, the team’s other top wing prospect, Ja’Kobe Walter, who is 10 months younger than Dick, had an extremely encouraging year. Many rookies would not have provided much if they got hurt multiple times and Walter went down in training camp, setting him back and then re-injured his shoulder nearly immediately upon returning, banged it up again not long after that and suffered a different injury last month that cost him some games.

Through it all, Walter showed flashes at both ends of the floor, and he’s been a bright light down the stretch, hitting 41.8% of his three-point attempts over his last 16 games (including half of his last 36 attempts) while also creating his own shots and playing stout defence (12 steals over his last six games while putting a lot of pressure on opponents). He’s also shown an ability to get to the free throw line (something he excelled at as a freshman at Baylor) and has hit 31-of-33 from the stripe over those 16 games.

Getting Dick with the 13th pick in 2023 seemed like decent work, but it’s looking like nabbing Walter 19th a year later in a draft pegged to be a lot worse quality-wise might have been a steal (as was getting Shead 45th).

Given Ingram’s long injury history and the fact both Barnes and Barrett have struggled to get to 60 games played each of the last two years, it’s possible both Walter and Dick could be called on a lot next season. Walter’s significant defensive edge and more advanced offensive repertoire could make him Rajakovic’s first choice unless Dick makes a significant jump.

“A lot of work that he’s putting in. Very coachable player, he picks up on a lot of details, a lot of stuff that we’re teaching him offensively, defensively,” Rajakovic said when asked why Walter was starting to surge.

Raptors star Brandon Ingram still not practicing - Raptors Republic
Raptors star trade deadline acquisition Brandon Ingram still remains out of practice with the end of the season looming. Toronto had their final home practice of the season earlier this morning and Ingram was still held out per Josh Lewenberg. With there only being three games left in the season, the hope that Ingram will suit up for Toronto is becoming slimmer and slimmer. Toronto will likely officially shut him down for the season soon.

Ingram inked a 3-year $120 million contract with Toronto back in February. This signifies a substantial level of belief in the value that Ingram can bring to Toronto in the next few seasons. In 18 games this season, Ingram posted averages of 22.2 points per game, 5.2 assists per game and 5.6 rebounds per game. Ingram’s skillset will be of immense value to Toronto as they try to return to the playoffs next season with a healthier roster hopefully.

Ingram has been sidelined with an ankle sprain since December, as he has reportedly not been recovering from his ankle sprain well. In light of Toronto’s recent strategy of sitting certain starters every other game, one can ascertain that Toronto may not want Ingram to play as they try to get a better position in the lottery. Toronto seems to be positioning themselves to have next season be much more successful than their previous two seasons, with their new acquisitions being at the forefront. Ingram will likely rehab over the summer and be ready for the start of next season.

NBA Power Rankings: Knicks, Clippers move up while other teams search for answers - The Athletic
This week: 24
Last week: 24
In the last week: L at CHI, L vs. POR, L vs. DET, W at BRK
Offensive rating: 109.5 (26th)
Defensive rating: 113.7 (16th)

The Week 1 Question: How will they build around Scottie Barnes?

Barnes actually played in more games this season than last season. But the Raptors started the season 8-31 while going 2-9 when Barnes was out with an orbital fracture. We got a hint about what the Raptors want to do next season when they traded for Brandon Ingram, but Toronto decided the world didn’t need to see Ingram suit up at all this season. Despite missing 17 games, the only Raptor who played in more games than Barnes was second-round rookie Jamal Shead. Immanuel Quickley missed more than half of the season, which leads to the biggest challenge of a Barnes-led squad going forward: Is there enough shooting considering the need for so many ballhandlers between Barnes, Ingram and RJ Barrett? Barnes’ 3-point percentage plummeted to 26.3 percent this season.

Potential Jordi Fernández replacements for team Canada - Raptors Republic
Gordon Herbert
The first mentioned candidate, Gordon Herbert, is a familiar name to those who follow Canadian basketball closely. He represented Canada as a player at the 1984 Olympics, where they finished just outside of the podium with a fourth-place finish. He served as an assistant coach for Canada in two stints (2001-02 and 2018-2021). He also finished as the runner-up twice as the head coach for Canada in 2015 when Leo Rautins was selected, and in 2019, he was the next man up for Nick Nurse. He has good experience in FIBA and EuroLeague, has multiple accolades, and is reportedly the top candidate at this point.

Jama Mahlalela
Another familiar name, this time for all Raptors fans, as Mahlalela has served in three stints with the Toronto Raptors (2013-18, 2020-21 and 2023-present)and one stint as the head coach of the Raptors 905 (2018-20). He also served as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors from 2021 to 2023, and he was a part of the championship during the 2021/22 season.

Nathaniel Mitchell
Mitchell is another name that was thrown out there, as he has been an assistant coach for Canada since 2016. He’s served as an assistant in the NBA for the Charlotte Hornets, Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks. Currently, he’s the head coach of the Guangzhou Loong Lions Dralions, who are a part of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Roy Rana
A relatively inexperienced candidate at the senior level who served as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings from 2019 to 2022. He has, however, led Canada to a gold medal at the 2017 FIBA U19 World Cup, becoming the first coach to win gold for Canada at a world championship.

Scott Morrison
A candidate who has been rising in the ranks of coaching. Morrison has been a part of the Boston Celtics (2017-2021) and Utah Jazz (2023-present) coaching staff. He also has a lot of experience in the G-League and was even the Coach of the Year in 2015 with the Maine Red Claws (affiliated with Boston Celtics) back when the name of the development league was the D-League.

Igor Kokoškov
The last name mentioned, and he was the only non-Canadian mentioned. Kokoškov has been a part of a ton of NBA coaching staffs from 2000 all the way to now, with a few gap years in between. He even served as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns in the 2018/19 season and became the first head coach that was born outside of North America in the NBA. He was a part of the 2004 Detroit Pistons coaching staff that won the NBA championship and even had success in international play with Turkey when he led them to a gold medal in the 2017 EuroBasket.