2024-25 Preseason: Raptors @ Nets takeaways
Brooklyn is about as ideal an opponent as possible to finish off pre-season against.
Toronto has wrapped up its pre-season, defeating the Nets 116-112 in Brooklyn to finish 3-2 in five games. The record is irrelevant, as we saw last season when the Raptors finished undefeated.
The team has had some really good stretches and some ugly stretches as well, as you’d expect with a rebuilding team with no concrete expectations beyond growth and development.
Most importantly for the Raptors, Immanuel Quickley was able to make his pre-season debut after missing the first four games due to a sprained left thumb. RJ Barrett and Kelly Olynyk once again sat out due to injury (along with Bruce Brown and Ja’Kobe Walter). It’ll be a pity if the two Canadians miss out on playing their first home opener with the team, especially considering the 30th anniversary of the franchise.
Let’s get to the takeaways:
QUICKLEY WASTES NO TIME FINDING GROOVE
It was a slow start for the Raptors, trailing 12-2 early (Brooklyn made three threes and a three foul shots after a 3-point foul out the gate) but it was Quickley who helped the team settle things down.
The 25-year-old found Jakob Poeltl for a layup in pick-and-roll action, hit a three as the trailer in semi transition off a Scottie Barnes push, and then found a rolling Ochai Agbaji for a layup after a screen on the right side of the floor.
Most noticeable with Quickley’s return is having a point guard equally adept at attacking either side of the floor. He has no qualms going left unlike Davion Mitchell and Jamal Shead who seem to go left primarily for dribble hand-offs.
Intriguingly, we were also able to see both Quickley and Mitchell on the court together, something that should happen fairly often over the course of the season. When initially checking in, Mitchell took the Cam Thomas matchup while Quickley stuck with Schroder and that’s exactly the matchups you would draw up in terms of prototypes: Let Quickley take the smaller, quicker guard while Mitchell takes responsibility for the more threatening scorer.
SHEAD, BOUCHER HAVE ENERGY TO BURN
We’ve already seen a pattern of head coach Darko Rajakovic inserting Jamal Shead and Chris Boucher into the game together and there’s got to be some type of energy drink deal for those two because that’s what they serve as when checking in.
There was a palpable uptick in intensity after they entered the fold, Shead picking up charges and pushing the pace whenever possible while Boucher brought his trademark hustle and spirit to both ends. The two had a nice connection on an alley-oop as well.
Shead followed that play up with a two-handed dunk, putting to bed any concern about some hamstring tightness that caused him to leave the game against the Celtics.
Boucher suffered a knee-on-knee in the fourth quarter and left the game with what was later diagnosed as a right knee contusion. Here’s hoping it won’t factor into his availability for opening night.
AGBAJI HAS MADE A POSITIVE IMPRESSION
He may have started slow but Ochai Agbaji has steadily improved and had a good impact over the course of the five games. His best game came against the Celtics and that performance carried over into Friday in Brooklyn.
The three-point shot looks like it will still be more of a struggle but his recognition of cutting opportunities and improved passing is making him a more complete choice in the rotation. Starting for the injured Barrett, Agbaji’s primary defensive assignment was Cam Thomas and along with Mitchell helped restrict the microwave scorer to 13 points on 3-of-10 shooting with zero threes.
There is plenty of competition for Agbaji when the team is fully healthy, as he’ll have to somehow squeeze minutes in between RJ Barrett, Gradey Dick, and Ja’Kobe Walter — not to mention the minutes Mitchell will also see at the two-guard. This is where the consistency of his three-point shot will really become an X-Factor.
DICK’S STRENGTH SHOWS ON BOTH ENDS
Gradey Dick didn’t have the shot going like he did against Boston but there were still signs of growth.
He had one drive to the basket in particular where he attacked with such force and finished through contact that you have to credit the muscle he’s gained in the off-season. Defensively, there was also a possession at the end of the first half where he was defending Cameron Johnson 1-on-1 and was able to absorb a couple hits and stick with him at the top of the arc before a crossover move created some separation. Johnson missed the shot and that was a just outcome for the effort Dick had put in.
Dick’s overall athleticism has literally taken a leap as he was also able to sky for a block coming over as a help defender and found time for a putback slam off a Jonathan Mogbo miss as well. He had 13 dunks all of last season and I imagine he will at least double it this season.
RAJAKOVIC PRE-SEASON REVIEW
We know the Raptors offence will not be a slog to watch. Ever since Rajakovic has taken over, he has implemented a system predicated on constant ball and player movement. Over the five games, Toronto averaged 31.4 assists per game and you expect that trend to continue.
What has many curious in Season 2 is seeing how the team defence progresses. With additions like Davion Mitchell and Jamal Shead as well as hopefully more healthy seasons from Jakob Poeltl and Scottie Barnes, it would be disappointing if the Raptors finished with a bottom-five defence once again.
One area I’m specifically curious to see defensively is how the Raptors fare when Poeltl is pulled out of the paint. There were several stretches in pre-season where teams targeted Barnes’ weakness of chasing around the perimeter with Poeltl also drawn out in screening action and that left no protection inside. There were also possessions where teams looked to attack Dick with Poeltl drawn out and that worked out in the opposition’s favour as well.
Overall, the vibes around the team seem very positive, Barnes has looked very vocal, and whoever has been on the bench has consistently brought energy in cheering on teammates. Rajakovic deserves his share of credit for that. We’ll also see how that holds up in tougher times.
This season isn’t so much about the wins, but rather the lessons, and how individuals progress over the course of the season along with establishing some defensive principles will be the biggest measures of Rajakovic’s success in 2024-25.
NOTES
You may be wondering why Scottie Barnes didn’t feature in the takeaways, but I’ve already talked about him plenty and there’ll be lots of room for him in-season. He finished with 21 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals, a block, and three 3-pointers and was terrific. He had a monster dunk attacking right, using the shoulder to brush off a defender, and taking off from the dotted line for the jam. Bring on Wednesday.
Substack doesn’t embed tweets like it used to so you can click the link below to watch the dunk (and follow me on Twitter, if you’d like):
Ulrich Chomche paid tribute to late legend Dikembe Mutombo with a “No, No, No” finger wag after a big block in the fourth quarter.
NEWS
ESPN released its Top 100 players list. Of note for Raptors fans, Immanuel Quickley placed 64th, RJ Barrett 53rd, and Scottie Barnes 35th. Jakob Poeltl did not make the list.
Among players who people connect/compare with Barnes, Paolo Banchero landed 24th spot, Evan Mobley 47th, Franz Wagner 52nd, Cade Cunningham 67th, and Jalen Suggs 95th.
Among former Raptors, Jonas Valanciunas was 91st, Fred VanVleet 79th, OG Anunoby 51st, DeMar DeRozan 45th, Pascal Siakam 42nd, and Kawhi Leonard 22nd.