Morning Coffee - Apr. 11, 2025
Barnes stepped up when the team needed him | Ingram ruled out for the season lol | Mavs tonight
Raptors encouraged by Barnes’ progress as a leader - TSN
The Barnes that arrived at training camp in the fall was better prepared for the responsibility he’s inherited and everything that comes with it on and off the court. He's always been a vocal player, but according to his teammates he’s far more assertive during timeouts, at practice and in the locker room. He’s organized various team dinners throughout the year. In December, when the team was in the middle of its worst stretch, he called and led a film session with the starters to make sure that everybody was on the same page. He’s held himself and his teammates accountable behind closed doors and in front of the microphone, where he’s looked more confident and been more engaging. Each night, before they take the floor, he gives his team a pre-game speech.
“I mean, the first time I heard it I didn’t want to laugh,” joked rookie Jonathan Mogbo, who has known Barnes since they were AAU teammates in the fourth grade. “It was like, oh, I guess this is what he does. It was different seeing that side of him, but it’s important and it kinda sets the tone and gets our mind right before every game. That definitely speaks to his leadership.”
“I always believed and trusted that he has that leader in him and he was really able to showcase that this year,” said his head coach and most ardent supporter, Darko Rajakovic. “[We’ve had] a lot of conversations [about] how he needs to talk to his teammates, how he needs to lead, what kind of example he needs to set. This whole season he was always the hardest playing player in every practice we had. He was always the one setting the tone for everybody and that’s something that I do not take lightly, and I really appreciated.”
“His commitment to the organization, to the team, to his teammates is through the roof.”
Planning a team event, picking up the tab at dinner, speaking up in a film session or in the pre-game walkthrough to share something he can see but others may not – these are small, subtle areas of leadership that go a long way on a young and rebuilding club, things Barnes may not have been comfortable doing earlier in his career.
The Raptors locker room that he came up in was a divided one. It was never contentious, but the veteran holdovers from the team’s championship era were used to doing things one way and Barnes, the precocious fourth-overall pick and 2022 Rookie of the Year, was of a different generation. It was only a matter of time before the team handed him the keys. The vets knew it, could see the writing on the wall, and it never sat well with them, which made for an awkward dynamic. When they were winning, it was manageable. When they started losing, it wasn’t.
But over the past 16 months, the front office has cleaned house and built a roster around Barnes, empowering him in the process. More often than not, teams inherit the personality of their best player, and you can see a lot of Barnes’ best qualities in the Raptors. They have a passion and desire to compete. They take the game seriously but not too seriously; there’s typically a looseness and joyous energy on the floor and in the room. They’re resilient; they’ve had to be to navigate the ups and downs of the past two seasons.
That’s the Barnes effect. Outside of Chris Boucher, who likely played his final game as a Raptor in February, he is their longest-tenured player. The other guys look to him for guidance, even the older ones. It’s one of the first things that Brandon Ingram picked up on when he joined his new team after being acquired at the trade deadline.
“From the first time I stepped in, I noticed that his teammates follow him, they follow his voice,” Ingram said during his introductory press conference back in February.
Most NBA teams aren’t tanking — but being on the edge of contention is no picnic, either - The Athletic
Similarly, Toronto has already hit on Scottie Barnes, taken fourth in the 2021 draft, and paid him accordingly. Yet, the Raptors haven’t made the playoffs in the desultory East since 2022, when Philadelphia dispatched them in the first round. Since winning the 2019 NBA title, they’ve won one playoff series. They’ve hit a wall. But they’re doubling down on their existing core.
They traded for forward Brandon Ingram from New Orleans at this year’s trade deadline, and immediately inked him to a three-year, $120 million extension, continuing a recent trend by acquiring players facing rising free agency and extending them before they hit it.
Despite finishing well out of the running this season, Toronto will run it back for 2025-26 with Ingram, Barnes, R.J. Barrett, guard Immanuel Quickley and center Jakob Poeltl. The Raptors will chalk this season up to growing pains with encouraging signs, like forward Ochai Agbaji’s development in the second half of the season and Toronto’s year-long improvement defensively, rising from 26th in defensive rating last season to 16th this season.
“No matter what level you’re on, or what level you’re at, you kind of have to come to some realization or stop cold in your game or your career, where you need to make a change or make an adjustment, or change a habit, or something that changes your whole career,” said Agbaji, who was part of the three-team deal in 2022 that sent Donovan Mitchell to the Cavaliers and Lauri Markkanen to Utah and then was sent from the Jazz to the Raptors at the 2024 trade deadline.
Agbaji has tinkered with his shot for years. And it continues to be a work in progress. He shot 49 percent on 3-pointers in November, 28 percent in December, 42 percent in February and 30 percent in March. His confidence soared while he took part in pre-camp workouts with teammates in Spain last September. And he’s in a good place now, despite the up-and-down shooting. But the line between “he’s getting better” and “he’s a part of our future” is a fine one for every team.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have unlimited capability to constantly learn new things and add new skills all the time,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said. “So those moments when you slow down, they’re going to happen. What I think is very important is there is no overloading, being very strategic about what you put in front of the player. Because when you have an overload of information, the whole system slows down. It’s much harder to make decisions.
“So I’m always walking a fine line of coaching and teaching and adding, and at the same time, making sure that I’m not doing too much, so the players can’t play instinctual basketball.”
Highs and Lows of the Toronto Raptors’ 30th Anniversary Season - Raptors HQ
If we couldn’t have wins, at least we had vibes. The team was filled with great energy and the players genuinely loved playing together. With that genuine connection came a lot of growth from them as leaders.
Scottie Barnes especially grew into his role a lot. On the TSN broadcast it was reported that Barnes hosted several team dinners throughout the season, and worked on both his leadership skills with the team while also training to represent the team better. That meant going through training to do better in media speaking engagements and making sure he was involving himself in the community.
That obviously trickles down into the younger players as well. Players like Jamal Shead and Ja’Kobe Walter already came to the team with reputations of being good teammates and good people, but this environment has helped them along. Walter is now the team ambassador for MLSE Launchpad, a charity that helps underserved youth through basketball programming. Shead is making addresses to the fans before games.
Leading this team off the court is of course Garrett Temple, who has been credited time and time again as the voice inside these guy’s young ears. Whether it’s about the on-court development or just life, Temple seems to be the guy to go to when you need to chat. It proves the closeness of this team.
Temple stated after Wednesday’s game that he wants to come back and play next season. He turns 39 in May, and despite that shows great hustle on the court. There does not seem to be any reason to not re-sign Temple this summer. His deal is fairly cheap, and his impact on the core players is incalculable.
Toronto Raptors waive Orlando Robinson and Cole Swider, possibilities for open roster spots - Raptors Republic
The Toronto Raptors have waived centre Orlando Robinson and wing Cole Swider.
The 24-year-old Robinson had his two-way deal converted just over a month ago after completing two 10-day contracts beforehand. Across 35 games with the Raptors this season, the 6-foot-10, 235-pound big man averaged 8.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 34.0 percent from distance on low volume.
Swider, who was recently signed to a deal for the rest of the season, was also waived. The 25-year-old averaged 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 37.9 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from three in eight games with Toronto. The 6-foot-8, 220-pound sharpshooter recently put together his best game as a Raptor, going for 12 points, eight rebounds, and 4-for-6 from beyond the arc in Toronto’s 120-109 win against the Brooklyn Nets.
The end-of-roster shenanigans might not be done there, however. The Raptors will have flexibility under the tax to sign someone for multiple years, as Sportsnet’s Blake Murphy explains.
As it stands, the Raptors have two roster spots open for one or both of Robinson/Swider to be brought back on different deals, or A.J. Lawson to be converted to a standard deal (which would subsequently open a two-way spot).
Per Sportsnet’s Michael Grange, Colin Calseton is another potential option after playing 10 games for Toronto across two different 10-day deals. The 24-year-old averaged 6.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 stocks during his time in Toronto.