Raptors Notes: Webster, Offseason, Barrett, Rajakovic

Speaking to the media at his end-of-season press conference on Wednesday, Raptors general manager Bobby Webster didn’t give a ton of clues about what the offseason might look like for Toronto, per Eric Koreen of The Athletic.

While Webster is “far more measured in tone” than his predecessor and longtime former boss Masai Ujiri, they seem to value many of the same things from a team-building perspective, Koreen writes, with patience, opportunism and incremental growth among the overlapping talking points.

Webster made it clear he wasn’t going to overreact to Toronto’s seven-game first-round series vs. Cleveland, and pointed out that progress isn’t guaranteed to be linear in 2026/27 after the Raptors increased their win total by 16 games and made the playoffs for the first time since 2022.

“I think it was a step in the right direction,” Webster said. “It doesn’t mean the next step or the next steps aren’t going to be even harder.”

Pulling off a major trade this summer might be difficult since it would essentially have to include at least one of Toronto’s starters, and some of the players in that group don’t have positive value. On the other hand, Webster pointed out that the Raptors control all of their future first-round picks, including No. 19 overall in the 2026 draft, and hasn’t been afraid to take big swings in the past.

“Clearly, the defensive ability of (Scottie Barnes and rookie Collin Murray-Boyles) is special, whether it’s switching or them being disruptive and guarding multiple positions,” Webster said. “What do you surround them with? You could surround them with more defense. You could put more elite defenders with them and figure out the offensive end. But I think we’re going to focus on the strength of those two, which is a defensive pairing, and maybe making the top-five defense an even better defense.”

Here’s more on the Raptors:

• Within his Raptors offseason preview, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca observes that big man Sandro Mamukelashvili is the team’s biggest free agent this summer, and Webster suggested the team would like to re-sign him. “He fit in really well here,” Webster said. “We’ll talk to his reps, we’ll talk to Mamu. I think he obviously wants to be here. There are financial realities of the NBA, but we’ll do everything we can to retain him.”
• Reports of the Raptors lacking a degree of flexibility due to their starters’ contracts are somewhat overstated, according to Lewenberg, who says including Murray-Boyles in a possible trade package would entice any team who has a star available. The future of RJ Barrett might be the most interesting subplot of the offseason, Lewenberg adds. Barrett is entering the final year of his contract and will be extension-eligible this summer, and his expiring contract and strong playoff play could make him an unexpectedly valuable trade chip.
• Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca shares some of the noteworthy quotes from head coach Darko Rajakovic‘s end-of-season presser.
• In case you missed it, both Webster and Rajakovic are expected to receive extensions this offseason.