Before I get into my primer for the 2026-27 Toronto Raptors season, we might as well get a Kawhi Leonard update out of the way:
With training camp less than three weeks away, Leonard is still officially a member of the Los Angeles Clippers.
But the concern level is … not that high, is what I’m hearing. Is Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer likely deeply vexed that his franchise has been docked five draft picks, fined $30 million, and he and his top two executives are facing lengthy suspensions in the fallout from the NBA’s salary cap circumvention investigation?
Undoubtedly.
Is it that much harder to take that Leonard gets to move on with his career and likely walk into a lucrative contract extension with the Raptors while getting hit with just a $700,000 fine — just a fraction of the money he gained through a series of phony endorsement deals the Clippers set up on his behalf?
How could it not be?
But those close to the situation remain confident that the deal to bring Leonard to Toronto (and send Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick to Los Angeles) will go through sooner rather than later. Procedurally, the Clippers still need to appoint a team governor and top basketball executive to sign off on things, so that's considered to be the main reason the deal — first agreed to back on June 30 — remains in limbo.
But the facts remain that the Clippers are a team badly in need of draft picks and the Raptors have agreed to send two unprotected firsts, a first-round pick swap and two seconds to Los Angeles, something no other team was willing to do. And because Leonard has signalled loudly that the team he wants to sign an extension with is the Raptors, it’s unlikely any other team would match that offer for what would likely be a one-year rental.
It helps, too, that Clippers general manager Trent Redden — presumed to be the one to take over as lead basketball decision-maker with Los Angeles, with president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank suspended for six months — was the executive who led the Raptors-Leonard trade talks in the first place.
In sum: the deal is still expected to happen; the timing remains TBD.
OK, where were we when the Raptors season ended back in early May?
Right, right. Cleveland. And the Raptors had just lost Game 7 in their first-round series over the Cavaliers. It was a disappointment, naturally, but also a leaping-off point, as the Raptors came back from down 0-2 against the heavily favoured Cavs and pushed the eventual Eastern Conference finalists to the limit, despite missing point guard Immanuel Quickley (hamstring) and having leading scorer Brandon Ingram badly compromised due to a combination of an ankle injury that eventually required surgery and a rugged brand of defence he couldn’t cope with.
It seemed to suggest the Raptors were closer to turning the corner to competitive relevance than anyone had previously thought.
And, wow, did the Raptors ever take a leap from there, apparently seeing enough in their 46-win regular season and promising playoff showing to go virtually all-in on Leonard to keep up with, and maybe pull ahead of, the competition in the increasingly formidable Eastern Conference.
We are still a couple of weeks away from training camp opening on Sept. 29 in Quebec City, where the Raptors will play their first pre-season game against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Miami Heat on Oct. 3. But it’s never a bad time to look back, look ahead and lock in.
Let's get going with our 10-point, 2026-27 Raptors primer:
Will the Raptors win the NBA title again now that Leonard is back?
Fair question, given trading for and extending a 35-year-old with a lengthy injury history (Leonard has played just 56 per cent of his team’s games, going back to the 2017-18 season) screams WIN NOW. But while the Raptors will be adding Leonard, the Eastern Conference as a whole took significant steps forward. The New York Knicks were dominant in winning the NBA championship and are favourites again. The Philadelphia 76ers somehow added LeBron James in free agency, added Jaylen Brown by trade and significantly bolstered their depth to vault themselves into contending status. The Miami Heat added Antetokounmpo. Boston and Cleveland remain formidable, while the 2025 Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers will have all-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton back from injury and expect to be competitive again. The Detroit Pistons are coming off a 60-win season, while Atlanta, Orlando and Charlotte, and maybe even the new-look Washington Wizards, will be gunning for a playoff spot. The Raptors made their jump last season by feasting on weaker opponents, but there won’t be as many opportunities this season in a more competitive Eastern Conference. An NBA title or even Finals appearance may be setting the bar too high, even if Leonard performs at peak levels. A top-four spot in the East would be a worthy accomplishment.
Who is the best player on the team?
Another good question. The "think fast" answer is Leonard, who is coming off one of his best seasons as he put up a career-high 27.9 points per game for the Clippers and earned all-NBA honours for the seventh time. But incumbent Raptors star Scottie Barnes earned first-team all-defence recognition for the first time last season and then played eye-popping basketball in the first round against Cleveland, averaging 24.1 points, 8.6 assists, 6.1 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.1 steals over seven games, playing with a level of all-around ferocity that signalled very loudly that he could work his way into all-NBA and even MVP consideration if he can maintain that level over a full season. Put it this way, if Leonard repeats his production from last season and Barnes still challenges him as the Raptors' best player, the Raptors will be a force to be reckoned with.
What were the high points from last season?
For the first time in a while, there were several: A nine-game winning streak and stretch of 13 wins in 14 games in November that essentially set the tone for the Raptors season; a run to the NBA Cup quarterfinals; winning on the road against defending NBA champion Oklahoma City in January; convincingly sweeping a two-game baseball-style series at home against the Miami Heat in April to help secure a top-five seed in the East; and a spot in the playoffs for the first time since the 2021-22 season rank high on the list. But perhaps the peak moment came in Game 6 of their first-round series against Cleveland when — while facing elimination — Mississauga, Ont.’s RJ Barrett etched himself into franchise lore when his game-winning three in overtime hit the back rim and bounced about 12 feet into the air before dropping straight down and in with 1.2 seconds left on the clock to win the game, save the season and send the Scotiabank Arena crowd into a frenzy not seen since Leonard’s game-winner bounced four times before falling to secure the Raptors' win in Game 7 of their second-round series against the Sixers in 2019.
What will the low points be?
They were few and far between, honestly. A 1-4 start with some blowout losses thrown in put the team on edge early, but the red-hot November fixed that. The Raptors inspired their share of questions due to their season-long struggles against the NBA’s best teams: they finished 1-12 against the top four teams in the East and 1-11 against the top six teams in the West, but their strong playoff showing soothed some of those concerns, and adding Leonard should solve some of those issues going forward. Perhaps the biggest issue all season was a poor showing from Jakob Poeltl, the veteran centre who started having back problems in training camp and ended up playing just 46 games, and most of those well below his normal level of production. He followed that up with a lacklustre post-season performance that saw him pushed to the fringes of the rotation at times. That Poeltl turns 31 next month and whose three-year, $84-million contract extension doesn’t even kick in until next season made his level of play even more concerning.
Who are the new faces?
Apart from Leonard, the Raptors roster should look pretty familiar next season, and even Leonard is well-known to Raptors fans. The coaching staff remains largely intact as Darko Rajakovic heads into his fourth season, with only well-regarded assistant and former head coach Stephen Silas new to that group, taking the place of the departed James Wade. The Raptors will have 13 guaranteed contracts on their books when the Leonard deal is finalized. Given how close they are to the $209-million first apron, they will be hard-capped after the trade, so it is unlikely they will carry more than the league-minimum 14 players. Rookie Allen Graves impressed with his all-around play at Summer League in Las Vegas, and veteran Kyle Anderson will take on some of the leadership duties that Garrett Temple (now an assistant coach in Dallas) carried out so ably, with the added benefit that Anderson — who turns 33 this month — is still a capable player.
Who left?
Well, once the Leonard deal goes through, Ingram and Dick will no longer be Raptors. Presuming Leonard can play 60 or 65 games and — most importantly — be healthy for the playoffs, it’s unlikely they will be missed all that much on the floor. Ingram was an all-star last season and led the Raptors in scoring, but Leonard is significantly better in almost all aspects of the game, and it wasn’t like Ingram didn’t have injury concerns either, even though he set a career high for minutes played while in Toronto. Dick struggled to follow up on a promising second season and ended up being vaulted in the rotation by the likes of Ja’Kobe Walter, Jamison Battle and even two-way guard AJ Lawson during the playoffs. The well-liked 22-year-old was eager for a fresh start and should get some opportunities with the rebuilding Clippers. Temple has become an actual coach, rather than acting as one in his mentor role in Toronto, while big-man specialist Mike Batiste has headed back to his old EuroLeague team in Greece as an assistant coach. Lawson has taken a job in Europe after spending four years trying to crack a regular NBA roster.
Who are the Raptors' breakout candidates for 2026-27?
Can Walter break out again? If the third-year wing can build on his post-all-star performance — he averaged nearly 10 points a night and snagged 42 steals in 27 games while shooting a scorching 47.6 per cent from three coming off the bench — he has a chance to play a significant role in what should be a deep, competitive rotation. His defence is coming, and if the shooting is real, Walter could easily raise the Raptors' floor. Otherwise? Second-year big man Collin Murray-Boyles was arguably the Raptors' second-best player in the playoffs and was an impact defender all season while battling multiple thumb injuries. Another year of experience and a healthy set of fingers, and Murray-Boyles could raise the Raptors' ceiling.
The pressure is on … who?
Rajakovic will certainly be scrutinized more closely than he ever was over his first three seasons, as the Raptors were either stripping down their roster, building it up or playing the part of the plucky upstart. With Leonard on board, Barnes in his sixth season and a projected starting lineup earning $173 million, the expectations will be high from the opening of training camp. Or how about Quickley? The sharp-shooting point guard was the centrepiece in the trade that sent OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks. Barrett — who was also in the deal — has played his best basketball as a Raptor, but Quickley has been relatively ordinary and often injured. Anunoby already has a ring, and if the Raptors are going to make any noise this season and beyond, Quickley will have to show he can properly run a team with big-time aspirations.
Games to watch
It’s hard to think of a regular-season game in the first month of the season that will have more intrigue than the Raptors' visit to the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, with Leonard facing his old team on Nov. 2. Think there is a chance he gets booed after a Clippers tenure that cost the franchise 10 first-round picks, the services of two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (traded to OKC as part of the deal that brought in Paul George back in 2019, a condition of Leonard signing with the Clippers back then) and resulted in only one weak Western Conference Finals appearance? Bank on it; but then again, the Raptors will be playing the Clippers on the second night of a back-to-back, so maybe he load-manages? Regardless, November offers plenty of tests for the Raptors, including a pair of consecutive home games vs. the defending-champion New York Knicks (Nov. 15 and 17) and a game in Detroit on Nov. 20 that will likely decide if they advance to the knockout stage of the NBA Cup. Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs come to town on Dec. 16, and Toronto hosts LeBron James and the Sixers on Jan. 10, and SGA and the Thunder are in town on March 10.
No more No. 7
Kyle Lowry — the "GROAT" — will be the second Raptor to have his jersey retired when his No. 7 goes up in the rafters alongside Vince Carter’s No. 15 in a pre-game ceremony scheduled ahead of the game on Jan. 10 with Lowry’s hometown Sixers in the building. It will cap off a Lowry Festivus, which includes a slate of events planned for the weekend of Sept. 18 and 19, including a celebrity golf tournament on Sept. 18, a Block Party at Jurassic Park and a fundraising gala on Sept. 19. It’s all to honour Lowry, who retired as the Raptors' all-time leader in assists, steals, three-pointers, wins and playoff wins.
