As Raptors end home schedule, who is to blame for miserable season?

TORONTO — Smart move, getting the kid out front.

Playing the role of human shield on Tuesday night was Toronto Raptors rookie Gradey Dick, who was trotted out to centre court to do the traditional 'thank you' to fans before the final home game of a mostly miserable season.

No one can be mad at Dick, the 20-year-old rookie who has been a significant bright spot. He rebounded from a dismal start to his professional career to average nearly 11 points a game on 39 per cent three-point shooting since Jan. 1, and flashed other signs that there is a solid NBA rotation player somewhere.

Plus he’s a nice kid and was wearing a cream-coloured, matching pants and sweater combo, his chosen 'fit' for spending the night on the bench with a sore groin. 

So no boos for him. 

Who should the crowd boo after a season that began with the ceiling goal being a playoff spot and a spot in the play-in tournament was the floor, but instead ended up with the Raptors in 12th place in the conference and on the verge of posting their worst record in 12 seasons? It could also be their fifth worst in their 29-year history which — you may recall — had some rough moments in the early days of expansion. 

Amazingly, they’ve booed no one all year, even though the Raptors have — in the past month alone — twice set a record for their worst home loss in franchise history as well as a new mark for the worst loss of any kind, while churning out the second longest losing streak in franchise history. 

Yet the Raptors rank a very respectable seventh in home attendance this season, averaging just a few hundred seats shy of a sellout.

“So we have the best fans in the league,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “The amount of support and love we receive night in and night out is unmatched. We played against several teams in this league that don’t have a great record and the stands are half empty and there’s not a lot of support that we feel every single night that we are here, and that means a lot to all of us.”

The Raptors have been especially bad at Scotiabank Arena. Their 140-123  loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night dropped their home record to 14-27, or a .341 winning percentage.

In contrast, the last time the Raptors tanked away the end of a losing season was when they played the season in Tampa. A lot of oxygen was devoted to how difficult it was for the team to play in the mostly empty Amalie Arena, the few fans in the building more likely there to support the opponent. The Raptors won 44.4 per cent of their 'home' games that year.

Tuesday was a nice night for Javon Freeman-Liberty, who scored a career-best 23 points to go along with four assists. He had 14 points as the Raptors jumped out to a 35-25 first-quarter lead, but couldn’t celebrate his big night as the Raptors were outscored in each of the next three quarters, and by 25 in the second and third quarters alone. 

Par for the course this season. 

Who should be booed if the Raptors fans were of the mind? Who is to blame for 25-54 record with three road games left to play?

Not Rajakovic, who has had to navigate a season of absurdities, injuries and tragedies in his first season as an NBA head coach. Neither Dwane Casey, Nick Nurse, Butch Carter or a magician could have waved a wand to fix the mess the Raptors spiralled into.

Scottie Barnes? The third-year star played 60 straight games to start the season and led the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocks when he broke his hand at the start of March.

Jakob Poeltl? The big centre’s arrival at last season's trade deadline may have given the Raptors false hope heading into this one as he helped Toronto to a 15-9 finish in 2022-23 that was likely some fool’s gold. 

Injuries have spoiled his season as he missed 11 games before the all-star break and will miss the last 21 games of the year. The Raptors are 4-25 without him in the lineup after their loss to the Pacers, which stopped Toronto’s very modest two-game winning streak. 

So no blame there. 

RJ Barrett? He finished with 23 points, four rebounds and four assists on Tuesday — his seventh straight game with at least 20 points scored, a career-best for him. In his 30 games as a Raptor Barrett is averaging 21 points, six rebounds and four assists on career-best shooting efficiency. Not his fault. 

Immanuel Quickley? The point guard who came over with Barrett from the New York Knicks has played some of his best basketball as a Raptor. He was rested Tuesday night, but he averaged 29 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds in the Raptors' first two wins after their 15-game losing streak. 

One crew that hasn’t got a lot of criticism has been the Raptors front office. Tuesday night was Pascal Siakam’s second game in Toronto since he was traded on Jan. 16, ending nearly 12 months of constant trade speculation. 

He’s been his usual self with the Pacers. He was quiet against his old team, putting up just 16 points, nine assists and three assists, but since joining Indiana he’s averaging 21.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting 54.5 per cent from the floor, just off his career best. He’s been playing some of his best basketball down the stretch as Indiana improved to 8-3 in their past 11 and remain in control of the sixth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. 

“I missed it. It’s fun. It’s what it’s about,” he said. “It’s what you play for. Having the opportunity to play the highest basketball, to be in the playoffs, to play meaningful basketball, that means everything to me. That’s the reason I play.”

What the Raptors will be playing for in the years to come will in some ways depend on the return they get from the Siakam trade, the particulars of which won’t be known for some time. The Raptors received Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and Kira Lewis, Indiana’s first-round pick this season — which projects to be somewhere in the middle of the first round and Indiana’s first-round pick in 2026 which is top-four protected. The Raptors received another first-round pick but that was transferred to Utah in the deal that brought Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji to Toronto.

Given how the 2024 draft is widely considered to be the weakest in years and Brown’s uncertain long-term fit in Toronto, it’s not exactly a haul. 

You don’t even have to have the benefit of hindsight to argue that if a rebuild was in the Raptors' future they should have started last season. Had they traded away their core of Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and Siakam at last year's deadline, and ended up sliding down the standings with a 15-game losing streak, people would have cheered.

A better chance at Victor Wembanyama? Bring it on. Brandon Miller (taken second overall by Charlotte) looks like he’s going to be an excellent player. Scoot Henderson (third overall by Portland) has had a rough rookie season, but no one is punting on his potential. Amen Thompson (fourth to Houston) is a jump shot away from being a superstar.

Instead — to the surprise of almost everyone — the Raptors kept their core, added Poeltl, lost control of one of their first-round picks this season and have wasted an all-star season from Barnes, their new franchise cornerstone as they’ve stumbled into a rebuild anyway.

While the Raptors had their rookie thanking the crowd on the floor before the game, it was Rajakovic pledging better days ahead.

“I know one thing: everybody in the organization is working really, really hard to turn this around,” the coach said. “They're all excited by the summer and the opportunities that we have ahead of us and we’re really focusing on us getting better and winning much more games in the future. We are at the start of a new process. It takes some time. I appreciate the love and support that we’re getting from the fans, and we promise we're gonna be better and we’re going to get this right.”

Let’s hope.