If you ever went to summer camp, you know the last day is full of tearful goodbyes. Hugs, warm and full-bodied, even with people you hardly even met. Promises to write, to always remember your brief, fiery friendship. And maybe you will. (Remember, not write.) There’s no rhythm to what childhood memories affix themselves in our brains, only to resurface decades later when watching the Toronto Raptors play.
In many ways, Toronto’s absolute thrashing of the Charlotte Hornets was the last day of summer camp. The team came into (and out of) training camp spouting words of togetherness, of friendship, of vibes and unity. Summer camp. And this was the last game at Scotiabank Arena in the 2024-25 season. Last day.
But there were no tearful goodbyes. The players are ready for their real summers. The coaches. Media. Fans, even. Everyone is ready to move on. This season was a blip, a still frame of time that’s just been waiting to be stowed in the past. Still, there is something meaningful in last days, in last moments. There was more juice in the arena than there has been recently. Liam hit a half-court shot at halftime to win season tickets to the 2025-26 season. Toronto showed tribute videos for The Raptor (an original employee on Day 1 of the franchise) and in-arena announcer Herbie Kuhn. Jonathan Mogbo finished with a triple-double, the first of his life (including high school and college). The bench mobbed him as he came off the court late in the fourth. There is true magic in endings.
When I asked Darko Rajakovic what his biggest point of pride is for this season, first he cited the fans. (Thanks for watching this, he may as well have said. Thanks for sticking with us.) Then he cited the team unity that remained through thick and thin. The last mention was that the team built its foundation going forward. That, more than anything (aside from the upcoming draft pick), was the point of this.
“We’re going to start to build our foundation starting now,” said Rajakovic on media day.
If there’s anything to write home about this season, it’s that Toronto did build its foundation. The team is up to 15th in defensive rating on the season, far far better than last year. But it has not been consistent. It has been a story of constant improvement. Pre All-Star break, Toronto had the 26th-ranked defence in the league. Since the All-Star break, it has been the best.
“I’m a defensive coach,” Rajakovic told me a few weeks ago. “A defensive coach who knows a little bit about offence.”
These foundations will matter when the Raptors start building their house next season. But that is next season. For now, we’re still on the last day of camp. Awkwardly saying goodbye even though the buses haven’t arrived yet to take us home (or to Cancun). It has felt like the last day for a while.
Toronto’s youngsters have their days in the sun with the team alternating rest for its established veterans. Ja’Kobe Walter hit a game-winner. Jamal Shead had his stolen by his fingernails. AJ Lawson had his moment, too. Shead rested against the Hornets. He has been a little too good, too productive. It remains mathematically possible for Toronto’s seventh-worst record to be seized by the San Antonio Spurs. So sit on the bench, Shead.
He addressed the crowd before the game. “Thank you guys for such a great year. Good or bad, you’ve shown us support… We can’t wait for next year.”
Then the rookie went and sat for rest. Not even Chris Boucher was allowed to have what could very well be his last moment as a Raptor in Scotiabank Arena, with Rajakovic saying it wouldn’t be “fair” to play him after weeks out of the rotation.
But even with Shead sitting, and Ja’Kobe Walter out, and Gradey Dick injured, the Raptors still had plenty of young up-and-comers ready to seize the spotlight. Unlike past seasons, there is no shortage of players ready to pop off given the opportunity.
Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, and RJ Barrett suited up together in the same game for the first time since March 14. It has been noteworthy whenever they’ve played together.
The three should win their minutes against Charlotte. The reason this is something to watch is because this has not been a trend. On the season, the trio of Barnes, Quickley, and Barrett — BBQ — has been Toronto’s worst three-man lineup in terms of net rating. They were very good together in 2023-24, winning their minutes.
At one point, Barnes got into a shooting contest with Nick Smith jr. Barnes hit a pull-up triple, then Smith did, then Barnes hit another. Then Quickley piled on with two of his own. And that was it. Two full minutes of good shooting fortune, and the game was done. Not hard to beat these Hornets. To end the half, a Quickley-Barnes pick and roll saw the Hornets blitz Quickley, who tossed the short roll pass to Barnes. He gathered, surveyed, and threw a lob to a cutting Mogbo. Good basketball.
And that was it for Quickley and Barrett. They didn’t return to the court after the first half. Barnes — the only one of the bunch who is actually injured — did come back. He tossed in some jumpers post haste. In fact, he opened the third quarter with four consecutive zero-pass possessions, tossing jumpers at the rim with abandon. The fifth saw him throw a turnover, then the sixth saw him pass only to get it back before hitting a running hook.
It was good to see Barnes engaged. At this point, I don’t care about the level of competition. Watching him dominate as a scorer is meaningful. Before sitting out Toronto’s previous two contests with a hand injury, he had scored five, nine, and nine points in the previous three games. Him putting the ball in the basket on the last day of camp matters.
Barnes probably isn’t going to be firing up so many pull-up jumpers next season. He hasn’t been successful with them this season — with an effective field-goal percentage of 41.1 — and they’re trying to be good next year. So get ‘em up now. It’s fun they went in.
He sat after a handful of minutes into the third quarter. Mogbo continued an excellent game of passing from the high post, dunking everything (he said it’s been intentional, and Rajakovic has “been on his case” to dunk everything), and locking up on defence. It was the best game of his young career. Lawson cut for layups and dunks. Rhoden scored with ease, hitting everything he threw at the rim. The Raptors continued being much, much, much, much better than all the teams below them in the standings.
And that’s it for home games in the 2024-25 season. In many ways, it feels like it never really began. In other ways, it feels like it lasted forever. We’ll have more eulogizing to come when the actual season ends, with the team heading on the road tonight for two final games, both in Texas. At some point, Toronto very much wants to lose one. With the final game against the Spurs (the team breathing down their neck for seventh in the reverse standings), the tanking shenanigans could be extreme.
For now though, they keep letting their stars play, at least intermittently. (Not that it is necessarily helping them win — it’s more guys like Shead, Walter, Lawson, Rhoden, and company doing the damage.) But it was a good sendoff to Scotiabank on the season.
“No magic,” said Mogbo after the game. “It’s just God.”
