The suddenly surging Toronto Raptors might get some extra ammunition for Friday’s home date with the Chicago Bulls.
Starting point guard Immanuel Quickley has been upgraded to questionable, after missing the last eight games (all but one of them Toronto wins) and all but nine this season. Gradey Dick and Jamal Shead are also questionable as they battle an illness, while Kelly Olynyk could also return from his calf issue.
The team has surprisingly been on a tear, with the NBA’s best defence over the last two weeks and could win a sixth straight game against a struggling Bulls team that has lost 8-of-10.
It will be interesting to see how head coach Darko Rajakovic reintegrates Quickley whenever he does return and once he isn’t under any minutes restrictions. There’s no question the team will welcome back one of its best facilitators and shooters, but Quickley will need to help at the other end too in order to keep things rolling. Billed as a decent defender as a member of the New York Knicks, the slight Quickley has not impressed at that end at all as a Raptor yet.
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Defence-first backup Davion Mitchell has started 22 games this season and has been a key part of the resurgent defence lately. Mitchell has also shot 51% from the floor, 42% on three-point attempts and averaged 4.6 assists over the last 10 games. Fellow point guard Jamal Shead has also been a force defensively, while shooting 48% on three-pointers over his last 10.
The team also needs to continue to find minutes for veteran wing Bruce Brown, emerging rookie Ja’Kobe Walter and Dick at the guard spots.
But it also needs to finally provide Quickley with some runway. After signing the second-biggest contract in franchise history, the Kentucky product has had the most frustrating season of any Raptor. The trouble started in training camp with a thumb injury. Quickley was back for opening night, only to take a hard fall, which injured his pelvis and cost him the next eight games. Then it was an elbow issue that sidelined him for three more weeks.
Quickley made a stirring return on New Year’s Day, scoring 21 points and adding 15 assists as the Raptors blew out Brooklyn to snap an 11-game losing streak, only to be lost again after five more games, this time with a hip issue.
As a result of all of the injuries, Quickley has not been able to find his rhythm or his game yet in 2024-25. He’s shooting career lows on three-point (34.5%) and two-point (40.6%) attempts, and wasn’t getting to the free throw line or rebounding the way he had in the past.
It’s going to be a delicate balance for the franchise for another week until the NBA’s trade deadline, and then beyond. Toronto could move only 3.5 games out of a play-in berth by beating the Bulls, but nobody in the organization, aside from the players, wants to be anywhere close to that mix later in the season. As team boss Masai Ujiri once said: “Play-in for what?” The franchise needs to land a top draft pick. Playing one or two extra games would be of little benefit at this point.
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But Quickley needs to be given plenty of run and has much to prove over the next few months. In the meantime, Brown, Chris Boucher and Olynyk must be given minutes and responsibilities of their own to further entice prospective buyers by February 6.
When the deadline comes and goes, things will change for the Raptors. Rookies Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Shead and Jamison Battle will likely get bigger roles, the key young veterans will probably be shelved at the first sign of minor injury as the franchise keeps its eyes on the prize, May’s lottery.
Enjoy the wins now, Raptors fans, because the well could dry up soon enough.
@WolstatSun