The Raptors have lost 10 in a row and will likely increase their woeful record when they play they host Boston Celtics Tuesday night.
All seems lost, especially knowing the Raptors have looked completely lost on defence.
The team is hardly hot, but the following are three hot topics.
1. Should the team make a change at head coach?
Amid so little expectations and under the backdrop of a rebuild, making a coaching change before the New Year even rings in might seem preposterous.
Mike Brown gets shown the door in Sacramento, prompting a handful of the NBA’s senior coaches to voice their displeasure, in part because of past grievances with the Kings franchise, but also because that’s what coaches do when rallying behind their peers.
No one is discussing any such move in Toronto, but given the recent embarrassment and how so little progress has been made it does pose the question.
Masai Ujiri hand-picked Darko Rajakovic, a noted developer of young talent who had never served as head coach in the NBA.
The two appear joined at the hip.
If, and it’s a big if, Ujiri fires his third head coach under his watch, it would set in motion the clock on his time in Toronto.
No one is suggesting such a bold move should be made, but at the same time one is left to wonder how much on what has played out this season and how last season unfolded rests on Rajakovic’s shoulders.
He’s accountable, took one for the team in Memphis when he got tossed two minutes in the fourth quarter in what turned out to be the worst defensive game the Raptors have ever played in their history.
Admittedly, he tried to infuse some life into a lifeless team that looks almost as lost as the amount of losses that been piled up.
He was looking for a bounce-back performance against the visiting Atlanta Hawks, who had played the night before and who were missing some key starters.
Instead of a bounce back, the Raptors took two steps back in getting humiliated at home.
Trying to glean whether players have tuned him out is a difficult exercise.
Whatever the Raptors are trying to execute on defence is clearly not working.
The roster Rajakovic has been given is not good, even when the team played well, but ultimately lost when poor execution in crunch time led to a one or two-possession defeat.
The perpetually positive Rajakovic reached his boiling point in Memphis.
He spoke post-game following the home humiliation Sunday about the team hitting a wall, even though the recent schedule has been pretty light by NBA standards.
He spoke from the moment he was introduced on media day on the need to focus on defence.
Heading into Beantown, the Raptors have yielded a total of 430 points in lopsided losses to the New York Knicks, Grizzlies and Hawks.
Last year’s debacle ended with the Raptors going 2-19 to close out the season.
They enter Tuesday’s tip with a 7-25 record.
2. What has happened to Scottie Barnes?
The TV shills overseeing the team’s broadcast Sunday ran an ad trumpeting Barnes as an all-star.
The only chance he has to be at all-star weekend is buying a ticket or arranging for a pass.
It’s laughable his name would even be mentioned as all-star, but that’s the problem when a communications company owns the team and the network.
Looks at the many corporate lapdogs employed to ostensibly provide baseball content.
Twice Barnes has been injured this season.
Without Immanuel Quickley, Barnes is being asked to handle the ball far too often.
No one is denying his talents, but he hasn’t played well.
One could argue Rajakovic has not held Barnes accountable, a delicate balancing act when the franchise has anointed Barnes as its face.
To his credit, Barnes did hold himself accountable in the wake of Sunday’s embarrassment.
Actions are required and Barnes simply must play better.
He can begin by being more aggressive and less prone to heave perimeter shots and being less turnover-prone.
Barnes isn’t going anywhere, but he needs to take his game to a higher level.
His defence must improve as does his shot selection.
Jakob Poeltl is a fine passer from the high post.
It might serve the Raptors by having Barnes on the block in some sets.
During the 2024 calendar year, the Raptors have posted a combined record of 20-62.
He was injured for the last 22 games of last season, a stretch that saw the Raptors post three wins.
He’s missed 13 games this season, a stretch that saw the Raptors post two wins.
His importance can’t be overstated, but Barnes needs to be better on both ends of the floor.
Rajakovic blew his top because his team was getting blown out and playing at such an unacceptable level.
It’s just a matter of time before Barnes blows a gasket.
He sets the tone and has to be more physically dominant and mentally tough as the Raptors try to emerge from his hideous stretch.
3. Were last year’s trades of OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam a mistake?
Monday marked the one-year anniversary of the five-player deal that involved OG Anunoby as the centre piece the Knicks acquired.
Pascal Siakam would follow as he landed in Indiana.
The jury is still out whether RJ Barrett and Quickley, the two players Toronto received from New York, can co-exist with Barnes because the trio hasn’t played together for an extended period.
The Knicks have clearly been the beneficiaries of Anunoby’s presence.
Anyone can see the Knicks won the trade because they did end up with the best player.
One of the pieces the Raptors received from the Pacers from Bruce Brown.
The veteran made his season debut Sunday and looked fine in playing with this untapped energy he was finally able to unleash.
The more Brown sees the court and is having a presence, the more his trade value increases.
The Raptors wanted to pivot to the Barnes era, meaning the writing was on the wall for both Anunoby and Siakam.
Without Anunoby, the Raptors have become a defensive disgrace.
Without Siakam, the Raptors lost an overall piece who contributed just as much off the court as he did on it.
The team has not been the same since the departure of each player and it remains to be seen when the Raptors will regain some semblance of relevance and competence.