The Raptors' early season plan should help them with their rebuilding plans

“We will play to win, but it is a team that is rebuilding itself. I think everyone sees that clearly and clearly.”

The president of the Toronto Raptors, Masai Ujiri, formulated or rather moderated the expectations for the team's 30th anniversary season weeks before the start of the season. Ujiri's media day announcement was significant because it was the first time in his 12-year tenure as Raptors boss that he openly acknowledged Toronto as a rebuilding team at the start of the season.

Even in Ujiri's first year in charge, when it was an open secret that the Raptors were tanking ahead of a 2014 draft that included Toronto Area product Andrew Wiggins and future MVP Joel Embiid, he never used the R- Word. Ujiri instead promised to weigh things up before making rash decisions. The December 2013 trade that sent Rudy Gay to Sacramento was supposed to accelerate the race to the bottom, but the Raptors rallied behind Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, sparking the “We The North” era – a streak of seven playoff games. Places in a row, which finally culminated in the 2019 championship.

During this long journey to the summit, Ujiri only used words like “retooling.” As the painful descent back to Earth began in 2020, it turned around but never quite wiped the scales. The Raptors had no intention of turning their COVID season into a tanking job in Tampa Bay until circumstances forced them to. When lottery luck struck them lucky and provided the 2021 pick that became future All-Star Scottie Barnes, the front office envisioned a bridge between two successful eras. Barnes' Rookie of the Year campaign and a 48-win season in 2021-22 fit this Spurs-like script.

However, this was not the case in the following two seasons. The same dogged effort to give his teams a fighting chance ultimately backfired on Ujiri. Actually a fragmented play-in squad traded a first-round pick during the 2022-23 season, and the 2023-24 Raptors – who got value from an OG Anunoby trade but waited too long to deal Pascal Siakam – couldn't quite hit rock bottom, although they always did still had a protected first place – all-rounder to San Antonio.

Now that they have control of all of their future picks, a loaded 2025 draft class looming, and a Barnes-led core of talent under the age of 25, Ujiri's Raptors can no longer hide from the inevitable. This is a team built for the lottery, not the postseason.

“When teams go through something like this, you set the tone for how you play and what you want your team's culture to be and hope for the best. “But we all know what the reality is in this league – the draft is a way for us to build teams and acquire players, especially in a market like ours,” Ujiri told reporters on media day.

Weeks later, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic told reporters on opening night that the team would “focus on the process and the result” this season. While Rajakovic's team is undoubtedly committed to player development and setting the tone for a better future, his words (and Ujiri's) are NBA-speak for “lottery odds mean more than winnings right now.”

That doesn't mean that the goal from the start will be to lose as many games as possible. An organization led by Ujiri will always be too proud The shameless.

But the league's schedulers may have inadvertently given Toronto a template. Looking at last year's records, no team has a tougher schedule in the first seven weeks of the season leading up to the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup.

The Raptors don't need to be out of sorts to get out of this 25-game stretch with fewer than 10 wins or to start 2025 with around 10 or 11 wins from their first 31 games. But if things actually get messed up, things could get downright ugly. Case in point: A Raps team that was without RJ Barrett, Kelly Olynyk, Bruce Brown and 19th overall pick Ja'Kobe Walter in its season opener against Cleveland lost Immanuel Quickley to a bruised pelvis in the second quarter. The result was a 30-point defeat in front of the home crowd.

A Raptors employee quipped to me as we crossed paths shortly after the final beep: “Get used to it.”

Even in a losing season, the Raptors will have to provide more excitement and entertainment than their terrible start if they want to inspire goodwill among fans. But a strategic regression, a rebuild or a tank – whatever you want to call it – should be an easier sell to these fans if the Raptors emerge from the first half of their schedule the way any honest observer would expect.

Aside from the truly deplorable teams in Washington and Brooklyn, Toronto's early-season schedule could put the Raptors in pole position for the third and final top spot in the lottery (although Portland may have something to say about that), with a winning odds of 14% connected is the Cooper Flagg competition.

If things go as they should, the Raptors' front office won't have to worry about finding themselves in the predicament that Utah has found itself in the last few years, as high-performing teams have their legs cut off in the middle of the season were cut away. And the Raptors' leadership has already softened the likely impending blow.

Of course, the 2013-14 Raptors remind us that there are no guarantees. Even the best-laid plans can be in vain if a team works together at the right time or arrives earlier than planned. And there are reasons for optimism.

Barnes enters the season as an undisputed franchise player for the first time after being named to the All-Star selection as a 22-year-old last winter. Quickley, whose combination of shooting and playmaking makes him a perfect fit for Barnes, enters the season as a full-time starter for the first time in his career. Barrett was coming off the best stretch of his career in the second half of last season and had an impressive performance with Team Canada at the Olympics. Gradey Dick, whose size and shooting ability are an enticing combination, looks more confident and complete than he did a year ago.

If these four youngsters and starting center Jakob Poeltl can ever be healthy at the same time, Toronto's starting five has the makings of a balanced and competitive unit. Meanwhile, second-round rookie guard Jamal Shead looks like he belongs (and like a future fan favorite).

Those bright spots, a much easier second-half schedule and a comically inept bottom half of the East could keep the Raptors in the play-in race for the duration of the season. But this front office is finally showing the confidence needed to properly execute a rebuild, and it's unlikely to be tempted by any fool's gold.

A merciless schedule over the next few months should prove this.

“Every game is a great opportunity for us to go out, compete and learn,” Rajakovic said on opening night. “When you play against more experienced and better teams, it obviously requires more preparation – to give more and compete against these teams. But you also learn what you need to work on and how you can improve as a team.” “

If Wednesday's opening game against a playoff-proven Cavs team was any indication, there is one a lot to learn and make up even more ground. Ujiri and Co. are certainly aware that they won't get there with internal improvements alone.

“We now have a clear path for the future,” Ujiri said at media day.

All signs point to this path – and the schedule – taking the Raptors to the top of the lottery before returning them to the top of the East.

Joseph Casciaro is theScore's lead Raptors and NBA reporter.