Raptors Notes: Barnes, Walter, Quickley, CMB, Barrett
The Raptors picked up an important victory over New Orleans on Friday as they look to claim a guaranteed playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.
Jamal Shead had started two games in a row with Immanuel Quickley sidelined, but head coach Darko Rajakovic replaced Shead with Ja’Kobe Walter on Friday. That left Scottie Barnes as the team’s primary offensive initiator, and he had an excellent all-around game, finishing with 23 points (on 10-of-14 shooting), 12 assists, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals in 36 minutes.
“First of all, he’s a pass-first player,” Rajakovic said of Barnes. “He likes to move, to pass, he likes to find his teammates in transition. He’s scanning the floor and it really allows him with his size and his athletic ability to play over the top of the defense.”
Second-year wing Walter also had a strong showing, recording 18 points and four assists in 34 minutes.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- It’s unclear when the plantar fascitiis in Quickley’s right foot began to really bother him, according to Grange, but he’s out for the fourth straight game on Sunday vs. Orlando. “It is at the point now that it needs to be managed. The best and the only way to get it completely healed is to not do anything for two, three, four weeks. Obviously that’s not going to be the case with IQ. He’s going to get better through this,” said Rajakovic. “This is going to help him recover. He’s going to be available to play. We’ve just got to get him off his feet right now. It was there. It was kind of nagging. He was able to play through it through recovery and therapy and everything. It just flared up quite a bit and put him in a situation where he has to sit out a couple games.”
- Collin Murray-Boyles was a late scratch for Sunday’s contest due to lower back spasms, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. The rookie big man was previously listed as questionable and had been expected to play before he was ruled out.
- RJ Barrett sustained a left shoulder injury in Friday’s win and is a game-time decision for Sunday’s matchup with the Magic, according to Murphy (Twitter link). Barrett was able to play through the shoulder issue, which is being referred to as tightness, on Friday. His former Duke teammate Zion Williamson was the cause of the injury, Grange notes. “I was just trying to box him out,” said Barrett, demonstrating how he put his forearm on Williamson’s shoulder. “And when he jumped, he took my arm up with him. He didn’t even know he did it. He’s a force, man.”
Atlantic Notes: Tatum, Quickley, Walter, Clarkson
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum played a season-high 35 minutes — including the entire fourth quarter — in Wednesday’s victory over Oklahoma City, writes Brian Robb of MassLive.com. Tatum, who finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists (five turnovers), three steals, was making his ninth appearance in 2025/26 after missing most of the season due to a torn Achilles tendon.
“It definitely feels different,” Tatum said. “Just from the standpoint, it’s been a while since I’ve been in certain moments. And sometimes the best moments when I don’t have a chance to think, when I’ve just got to react and I got to move, whether it’s coming off a ball screen or on a close out or you get a rebound and you’ve just got to take off with the ball. And it will be moments like that and afterwards I’d be like, ‘All right, that felt good. That felt normal.’
“So these are things you can’t simulate in workouts or scrimmages or things like that. Just got to be in the moment. So just from the standpoint, it just feels like it’s been a while and each game I kind of surprise myself with encouraging things, certain plays that I just tally up in my head.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Starting point guard Immanuel Quickley will miss his third consecutive contest on Friday when the Raptors face New Orleans, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. Quickley, 26, is dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Second-year guard Jamal Shead has started the past two games with Quickley out.
- In 17 games since the All-Star break, Ja’Kobe Walter is shooting 48.6% from long distance while playing strong defense, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic, who says the second-year wing seems primed to deliver a breakout performance in the playoffs — assuming the Raptors can make it in. “He’s shooting at an insane rate. He’s not gonna shoot like that forever,” RJ Barrett said. “But defensively, the things he’s doing every single night with steals and deflections (are important). And then on offense, he’s making the shots, but he’s just making the right plays. He’s taking the right shots. He plays like a player way above his years already.”
- Veteran guard Jordan Clarkson was out of the Knicks‘ rotation for a prolonged stretch earlier this season, but he wasn’t discouraged by the lack of minutes and kept working until his next opportunity arose, per Steve Popper of Newsday (subscriber link). Clarkson has not only provided his typical scoring off the bench over the past couple weeks, he’s also been a play-maker and has improved defensively as well, Popper notes. “Yeah, for sure,” Clarkson said. “I mean, being able to get comfortable. I know everybody wanted it to click like immediately when I got here. But, you know, I’ve got to feel out a new coach, new system and everything, so, I’m getting a chance to watch the D-N-P’s and learn. It was pretty big for me and you know I continue to stay ready and just kept playing and figuring stuff out.”
Markelle Fultz Signs 10-Day Deal With Raptors
3:48 pm: Fultz’s 10-day deal is official, the Raptors announced (via Twitter).
2:45 pm: Veteran guard Markelle Fultz is signing a 10-day contract with the Raptors, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports (via Twitter).
The Raptors have an open roster spot, so no corresponding move will be necessary. Their NBA G League affiliate, the Raptors 905, claimed Fultz off the waiver wire on March 6.
Fultz, a former No. 1 overall pick and a veteran of eight NBA seasons, has since been working to get back into game shape. He has played in five G League games and his minutes were ramped up over the weekend.
He played a total of 50 minutes in a pair of back-to-back games in Portland on Friday and Saturday and finished with 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting and 12 assists against four turnovers, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.
Fultz could give the Raptors an immediate boost. He’ll be active for Monday’s game against the Jazz, Grange tweets.
Grange also notes backup point guard Jamal Shead has been struggling of late. Shead was 1-of-6 from the floor and was minus-22 in 21 minutes during Sunday’s loss in Phoenix. Shead is shooting 6-for-25 from 3-point range over his last 12 games and 31 percent from the floor overall.
Starting point man Immanuel Quickley is dealing with a foot injury that will keep him out of the team’s game against Utah on Monday.
Fultz, who was selected with the first pick in the 2017 NBA draft, had his career derailed by injuries and has played in just 255 regular-season games across eight seasons for the Sixers, Magic, and Kings. He made 21 appearances for Sacramento in 2024/25, averaging 2.9 points and 1.3 assists in 8.8 minutes per contest.
Fultz will earn $188,932 over the course of his 10 days with the Raptors, who will take on a $131,970 cap hit.
Raptors Notes: Barnes, Ingram, Shead, Murray, More
The Raptors picked up a much-need win over Phoenix on Friday after dropping six of their previous eight games, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Scottie Barnes, who entered Friday with a questionable tag due to an illness, was under the weather but made the biggest play of the game, blocking Jalen Green‘s dunk attempt from behind after Green initially drove past him.
“Got out there. Was a little tired and a little winded,” Barnes said after logging 14 points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal in 31 minutes. “Fight through and make it to live another day.”
Toronto was clinging to a four-point lead with 43 seconds remaining at the time, and the block led to a fast-break dunk for RJ Barrett, resulting in a four-point swing. It was the Raptors’ first victory over a team with a winning record since January 25, Grange notes.
“It’s pretty amazing. We hit adversity,” said Barnes. “We had two options, to either quit (or) go out there and fight. This just shows the character of this team. We went out there and fought and got a dub. This was a great game. They had us in that first half. We fought back; we made winning plays.”
Brandon Ingram, who had been in a slump in recently, had a game-high 36 points (on 13-of-20 shooting) while chipping in seven rebounds, three assists and a steal, Grange adds.
“I think it was an urgency to compete and most of all stay together,” Ingram said. “We’ve been through some times where the other team was scoring offensively and we weren’t able to stop the bleeding or find a rhythm on the offensive end. At those times, we would put our heads down a little bit and sort of take it upon ourselves to try to fix it. I think tonight we just stayed connected.”
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- As Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes, Friday’s victory was important for a number of reasons. Not only did it improve Toronto’s position in the postseason picture after the team had fallen into play-in territory, but it showed the group wouldn’t just lay down after falling behind. Head coach Darko Rajakovic said before the game he was not happy with how the team responded to an incident involving Dejounte Murray and Jamal Shead near the end of Wednesday’s loss at New Orleans. Murray made a three-pointer to put the Pelicans up 18 points with 1:24 remaining, then stood over Shead, who had stumbled, and taunted him (YouTube link). Only Immanuel Quickley halfheartedly came to Shead’s defense. “I thought that we did not handle the situation the way we want and how we were supposed to,” Rajakovic said. “Our players had conversations with each other. They know that’s not the true picture and image of our team. They all agreed that’s never going to happen again.” Both Koreen and Grange observe that the team quickly rushed to aid Barrett after a flagrant foul by Grayson Allen on Friday.
- For his part, Shead seemed more bemused by Murray than upset, Grange writes. “I think in the moment I was just like, ‘Oh snap, he’s over me.’ That was about it,” Shead said before chipping in six points and eight assists in 25 minutes off the bench against the Suns. “We were really focused on the outcome of the game. We just weren’t happy with that. It got blown out of proportion a bit. We weren’t really focused on that. … I don’t think I responded in any type of way … (but) if it comes up again, I think we’ll respond a little differently.“
- In another story for Sportsnet, Grange details how the bond between Ingram and Shead has been symbolic of the team’s chemistry this season. “I think I’m connected to the underdog’s personality,” Ingram said. “People that bring the energy in the room, that have high character. (Jose) Alvarado’s like that, Jamal’s like that. And he (Shead) loves the game of basketball, like, I feel like he really loves the game of basketball. He has the knowledge, and he wants to get better. He wants to learn. He has an open ear. He listens, but he also responds well, too. So, I think it’s just easy to connect.”
Atlantic Notes: Demin, Sixers, Ingram, Shead
The Nets’ top rookie, Egor Demin, is out for the season due to a left foot injury. Demin didn’t want his first season cut short, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post, but the pain he was experiencing in his foot grew progressively worse.
“He’s been a kid that wants to play, wants to be out there, wants to develop — and nothing better than playing real games to get better at this level,” coach Jordi Fernández said. “Obviously when you have discomfort and it doesn’t allow you to play at that level, we had to find solutions. We were trying to find the best way. And at the end of the day, the good thing is it’s [a] non-surgical procedure, which is good.”
The expectation is that Demin will be able to avoid surgery as a result of being shut down now.
“Obviously the summer and getting him to work and get better throughout the process and having a summer is important,” Fernandez said. “So, the fact he’s not going to be able to play these 20-some games, it’s not the best, because he wants to and we value real reps. But his health is the number one priority. And we’re very, very optimistic and positive about it.”
Dr. Andrew Brief of the Ridgewood Orthopedic Group said the Nets made the right move.
“He might just have a high pain tolerance. But it seems like an opportune moment for the Brooklyn Nets to shut him down now, given the fact that he’s having symptoms, and he’s had recurrence,” Dr. Brief told Lewis. “It’s probably affecting his play, and the team is not in the situation right now where they’re playing for a playoff spot.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Sixers are already without Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. due to injuries for tonight’s game at Detroit. Adem Bona (back) and Johni Broome (knee) are also listed as out and Andre Drummond (back) is listed as questionable, which means the team will be severely depleted up front, Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports tweets.
- Raptors forward Brandon Ingram‘s shortcomings become more apparent when he’s not on the floor with star forward Scottie Barnes, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. Ingram’s weaknesses as a top option have surfaced during the team’s recent nose dive. Ingram is a willing passer but not a quick decision-maker, according to Koreen, and he’s been in a shooting slump.
- Raptors guard Jamal Shead showed some signs of breaking out of his offensive slump. He had nine points, three assists and no turnovers in 20 minutes against New Orleans on Wednesday. Prior to that, he was shooting just 20 percent from the floor in the month of March, Michael Grange of Sportsnet notes. Overall, Shead is shooting 36.8 percent from the field and he needs to be more of a scoring threat to be an effective NBA player, Grange contends.
Raptors Notes: Barrett, Ingram, Shead, Barnes, Dick, Battle
The Raptors blew a double-digit lead en route to Wednesday’s loss to San Antonio and only managed to score 17 points in the fourth quarter. Toronto’s half-court offense has been a major reason why the club is now 4-15 against the teams with the 10 best records in the NBA, per Eric Koreen of The Athletic.
As Koreen writes, RJ Barrett certainly isn’t solely to blame for those half-court struggles, but he hasn’t been helping matters lately. The 25-year-old wing has averaged 14.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists on .401/.308/.734 shooting in 12 games since he returned from an ankle sprain. His scoring, FG% and 3PT% over that stretch are well below his full-season averages.
Unless Toronto reverses the trend of falling to the league’s top teams and Barrett starts playing better, using Barrett as a primary salary-matching piece could be the team’s best chance at improving in the offseason, says Koreen. Barrett will earn $29.6MM in 2026/27, which is the final year of his contract.
Rival teams didn’t seem interested in the long-term contracts of Immanuel Quickley or Jakob Poeltl ahead of the deadline, Koreen writes, and the only other high-priced player the team might consider using in search of upgrades would be Brandon Ingram. But Ingram makes more money than Barrett, has taken pressure off Scottie Barnes, and holds a $41.9MM player option for ’27/28, Koreen notes.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- In another story for The Athletic, Koreen details how second-year guard Jamal Shead has become a beloved member of the Raptors not just for his play, but for his leadership as well. General manager Bobby Webster likened Shead to Fred VanVleet, while Shead’s head coach at Houston, Kelvin Sampson, said he was the “best point guard defender I’ve ever coached and he’s also the greatest leader I’ve ever had.” “He’s intense. You can tell he means every word he says,” said LJ Cryer, who lived with Shead during the latter’s senior year with the Cougars. “He’s not gonna let you slack. If he sees you not playing hard, he’s gonna call you out on that. He doesn’t hold his tongue. He practices what he preaches. He picks up the ball full court. He’s hounding guys, diving on the floor, all that. Whenever he’s playing with that intensity, you’ve got to match him. You can’t just have one guy out there playing balls to the wall and the rest of us chilling.”
- Head coach Darko Rajakovic said Barnes was “playing through pain” and “on one leg” in Wednesday’s loss to the Spurs, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link). That was Rajakovic’s rational for why Barnes was resting to open the final period, Lewenberg adds.
- Third-year wing Gradey Dick, the 13th overall pick of the 2023 draft, was out of the rotation entirely on Wednesday, receiving his first DNP-CD in more than two years. Rajakovic discussed it after the game, per Lewenberg (Twitter link), stating that Dick was still adjusting to his role, which is much different than it was over his first two seasons. Jamison Battle may have leapfrogged Dick in the rotation, notes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca, though the second-year small forward is still playing limited minutes.
Raptors Notes: Poeltl, Shead, Respect, Murray-Boyles
The Raptors are considered one of the contenders that might make a bold move prior to the trade deadline. Head coach Darko Rajakovic has one name atop his wish list but that player is already in the organization, Michael Grange of Sportsnet tweets.
“There’s one guy that I really, really like that I would like to join our team. His name is Jakob Poeltl, that guy can definitely help us,” he said.
Toronto’s starting center has been sidelined since Dec. 21 due to a back injury and he remains out indefinitely. Poeltl recently received targeted pain relief treatment, per the team, and went through a non-contact workout on Tuesday, Grange notes.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- Jamal Shead‘s omission from the Rising Stars competition is an “egregious snub,” Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. He observes that Shead is fourth in minutes and first in net rating for a team that’s 10 games over .500 and third in the Eastern Conference standings. Shead is averaging 7.2 points and 5.6 assists in 22.4 minutes per game. Shead took the news in stride, Lewenberg adds in another tweet. “I think everybody that made it is having really good years and contributing to their teams. So, I’m not really worried about that,” he said.
- The Raptors are gaining respect around the league after going 4-1 on their West Coast trip, including a 103-101 win over the Thunder, The Athletic’s Eric Koreen writes. They’re among the top five in the league in defensive rating despite the absence of Poeltl, their only true rim protector. Koreen suggests they’re resembling the 2021/22 Raptors, a team with modest preseason expectations that finished fifth in the East.
- Collin Murray-Boyles (left thumb contusion) is listed as questionable to play against the Knicks on Wednesday, Omer Osman tweets. The lottery pick, who is averaging 7.8 points and 5.1 rebounds, has missed Toronto’s last four games.
Atlantic Notes: Shead, Nets Streak, Traore, Shamet
The Raptors‘ Jamal Shead has emerged as one of the top backup point guards in the league and he could be deserving of even more playing time, Michael Grange of Sportsnet writes. Shead finished with 15 points and a career-best 13 assists in a loss to the Clippers on Friday.
“He’s amazing, he wants everyone to succeed,” fellow guard Gradey Dick said. “And he has our backs. He has my back and I have his. And I feel like when you have a point guard like that, it’s super motivational … and I feel like what people don’t talk about enough is just the selflessness. He wants everyone to win. I had just missed a shot right there and he’s one of the first guys to come up and say, ‘Stay right there. The way they’re playing their defense, you’re going to be open for another one,’ and that was one of the next plays.”
Shead is also a bargain. The club holds a $2,296,271 option on his contract for next season, which will undoubtedly be exercised.
Here’s more on the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets snapped a five-game losing streak on Friday but it didn’t come easy. They blew a 20-point, fourth-quarter lead before a late Michael Porter Jr. basket put away the Bulls. “The lesson is that there’s no safe lead in the NBA. Teams will always punch back,” coach Jordi Fernandez said, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “Give them credit. But at the end of the day, responding is important because when things go against you and then the other team takes the lead, it may seem like a big mountain in front of you. And the guys kept composure, scored when we needed to. Mike with a big bucket and then the stop.”
- Fernandez made an interesting personnel decision on Friday, riding Nolan Traore instead of lottery pick Egor Demin at the point during crunch time, Lewis notes. Traore finished with seven assists. “I’m very happy with both. I’m very happy with how they play, how selfless they play, their intentions,” Fernandez said. “That’s how you learn and get better. I know (Demin’s) not happy if I take him out of the game. That’s what I hope. And then from there, I know he can bring that level of physicality to guard, to switch, to guard bigger guys, to get into the paint. And then everything else that his superpowers are shooting the ball and finding the 3-point line. I know that that’s there.”
- Landry Shamet returned from a 25-game absence and scored six points in 16 minutes for the Knicks in their loss to the Warriors on Thursday night. Shamet, who is on a one-year, minimum salary contract, was sidelined with a shoulder injury. “He worked his tail off. Landry, he’s a worker, man,” Knicks coach Mike Brown told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “He was getting after it. It means a lot for him to play. He was in a great rhythm before he (got hurt). He’s been out a while. It’s going to take some time for him to get back. But it’s exciting for him to be back and we’re going to be patient with him while he’s fighting to get back to where he was.”
Atlantic Notes: Brown, Embiid, Lowry, Shead
Jaylen Brown is set to return for the Celtics‘ matchup with the Heat on Thursday after missing Monday’s loss in Indiana due to back spasms, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel notes (Twitter link). The Celtics have lost two consecutive games after winning nine of their previous 11 contests.
Brown believes that the Celtics have not been getting the whistle they should from the referees, Jay King writes in an article for The Athletic. He was fined $35K earlier in the week for criticizing the officiating after a game against the Spurs, which he expected.
“I think something had to be said,” Brown said. “As a team, we get to the free-throw line the least in the league. So just protecting our guys and myself. I think that we deserve a little bit of more respect.”
King points out that the Celtics are the only team in the league averaging fewer than 20 free throw attempts per game, and that Brown is 15th in attempts, despite driving more than anyone in the league other than Deni Avdija and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who both rank in the top four in free throw attempts.
Brown says he’s studied what referees look for and doesn’t believe that the whistle he and the team receive is consistent with the calls other teams get.
“They just pick and choose who they like to call it on. That’s the part that pisses me off,” Brown said. “It should just be everybody should just get reffed evenly and consistently, but it just seems like there’s an agenda where some guys they choose to call certain fouls for, some guys they don’t. So I don’t know what goes into that decision-making, but it’s kind of clear that certain guys on certain teams, certain markets or certain profiles get preferential treatment versus others when it should just be basketball.”
Head coach Joe Mazzulla agreed with his star player’s assessment, though he cautioned against getting too caught up in it.
“We can’t put ourselves in a situation where other people are allowed to control the outcome of the game,” Mazzulla said. “So we have to get better.”
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Joel Embiid is the healthiest he’s been in two years, Tony Jones writes for The Athletic. His body responding the way he wants it to has helped bring him a newfound sense of joy to the Sixers. “I can’t sit here and say that I thought this would happen again. I was skeptical that I would have a chance of being this consistent,” Embiid said. “That’s why I’m kind of emotional about it. I think there were a lot of people that thought this would never be possible again. So, I’m happy that I’m getting the chance to play again and be consistent again. I just want to keep playing, and keep trying to get better every single night.” Embiid isn’t as explosive as he once was, as evidenced by his recording his first dunk of the season in a recent win over the Knicks, but he has been able to play with fluidity and intention, Jones writes. “What we love is that he looks happy,” said teammate Tyrese Maxey. “We want him to be happy, more than anything. And he looks healthy. I think the thing that I’m most proud of is that he’s staying on top of his treatment. He’s staying on top of getting ice and seeing the training staff. Just seeing him healthy, that is the stuff that really matters.”
- Kyle Lowry got to experience a special moment at the end of the Sixers‘ win against the Raptors on Monday, writes Ian Harrison of The Associated Press. With just under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter and the road crowd chanting his name, Lowry was inserted into the game and was greeted with an enthusiastic standing ovation. The game marked what could be the point guard’s last appearance in Toronto, six-and-a-half years after he helped bring the city its lone NBA championship. “I got an opportunity to experience probably one of the greatest basketball moments of my personal career,” Lowry said after the game. Coach Nick Nurse heard the crowd chanting, “We want Lowry,” and gave them what they wanted. “I thought they didn’t think I was really going to do it, but I was planning on it there and got a good moment to do it,” Nurse said. “It was nice to be able to kind of bring him in on his own there.” Lowry emphasized after the game that his retirement plan still involves signing a one-day contract with the Raptors to retire with the team he spent nine seasons playing for.
- Jamal Shead has been one of the standout performers for the Raptors this season, Eric Koreen writes in his midseason report card for The Athletic (subscriber link). Shead is one of two players, along with Scottie Barnes, whom Koreen awards an A grade, writing that the guard’s defense and ability to get downhill have earned him coach Darko Rajakovic‘s trust late in games. Koreen also notes that in Shead’s clutch-time minutes, the Raptors outscore their opponents by 26.2 points per 100 possessions.
Raptors Notes: Barnes, Reserves, Bamba, Barrett
On the heels of one of their most disappointing losses of the season on Friday in Washington, the Raptors bounced back in impressive fashion, beating Golden State and Orlando in back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday.
In the victory over the Warriors, forward Scottie Barnes led the way by posting the first 20-20 triple-double in franchise history (23 points, 25 rebounds, and 10 assists). In the process, Barnes showed why he remains a centerpiece of the Raptors’ future despite his limitations as a scorer, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic.
On Monday, with Barnes not at his best (13 points, 5-of-12 shooting), Toronto found another way to win against the Magic, leaning on reserves like Jamal Shead (19 points, five assists), Gradey Dick (15 points), and Collin Murray-Boyles (12 rebounds, two blocks) to help propel them to a victory.
“Those guys, they’re built of special cloth,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said of his youngsters after the win, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. “They’re built of resiliency. They’re really putting in a lot of work. It doesn’t matter if we win, we lose. It doesn’t matter if we’re up, we’re down. It does not really matter what kind of mood we’re in. They’re extremely professional. They’re doing a good job of preparing for each game. They keep going forward.
“I love how fearless they are. I love how together they play. That’s something very important for young guys to learn early in their careers: You’ve got to bring energy every night. It’s very important.”
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- Rajakovic was “very disappointed” that Barnes wasn’t among the top 20 Eastern Conference vote-getters in the first returns of the fan vote for the 2026 All-Star Game, as Grange relays. “We need to get this right. Canada needs to get this right,” the Raptors’ coach said. “… Only two players in the NBA this season have 500 points-plus, 250 assists-plus, 25 blocks-plus and 250 rebounds-plus, and that’s Nikola Jokic and Scottie Barnes. I have no doubt that Scottie Barnes is an All-Star. I have no doubt that he needs to be toward the top of that list of players in the East. Canada, we need to get that fixed right now.”
- Newly signed to a non-guaranteed contract, Mo Bamba didn’t make much of an impact in his Raptors debut on Monday — he blocked a shot but committed two fouls, and the team was outscored by nine points during his four minutes on the court. Still, with Jakob Poeltl out due to a back issue, Bamba should get more chances to show he deserves to stick with the team a little longer, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. “I think this is a good opportunity for him to prove to everybody that he belongs in this league,” Rajakovic said. “We’re going to have a very clear plan for him. We’re going to give him an opportunity to show what he can do and hopefully it works for both sides.”
- Bamba said on Monday that he and the Raptors had been in contact since the G League Showcase earlier this month before reaching a contract agreement over the weekend. The former lottery pick added that he has known a few of his new teammates – including Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Barnes – for several years (Twitter links via Lewenberg).
- Barrett had just 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting in his return from a sprained knee on Sunday, then sat out on Monday in the second end of a back-to-back. However, his teammates were very happy to have him back — Toronto’s 116.6 offensive rating during Barrett’s minutes this season is the highest mark of among Raptors players. “He creates so much pressure on the rim,” Barnes said on Sunday, per Grange. “Catch and shoot is amazing. Transition, we know we miss him a lot, those fast breaks … he gets out and runs a lot. He leads our fast breaks. He’s big for us. With play-making, you saw when I screened for him, being able to get that roll, going downhill (and getting) easy dunks. He does a lot for this team that it’s hard to try to take over in that sense.”