It’s Christmas Day in Camelot, and King Arthur is hosting a grand feast at the Round Table. Suddenly, as the knights enjoy their dinner, the Green Knight, a physically imposing tree-like figure, bursts into the great hall and declares a challenge: any knight who lands a blow on him shall receive his powerful Green Axe, a magnificent weapon. In return, the successful knight must travel to the green chapel next Christmas and receive a blow of equal measure. Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew, takes up the challenge, beheads the Green Knight, and now must deliver on his promise.
Intent on keeping his end of the bargain, Gawain sets out on his journey to the chapel, facing challenges, temptation, and overall dread as the date creeps closer. Will his honour and chivalry get in the way of his pursuit of greatness?
The Toronto Raptors promised to be a good defense heading into the 2025-2026 campaign. They boasted the second-best defense after the All-Star break and dominated in the Summer League with their ball pressure. They doubled down on their intentions throughout training camp and preseason by telling everyone about their goal to be dominant on that end.
“I don’t see a weak link on defense for us this year,” Darko Rajakovic told the press during Media Day. “Everything (for us) starts on the defensive end; we want to dominate on that end.”
Through five games, they’re the ones being dominated.
The Raptors are 1-4. They have given up 120+ points in four of their five games, including 139 points to both the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets. They are second-last in defensive efficiency early in the year, with only the Brooklyn Nets posting a worse defensive rating. They’re 26th in opponents’ points in the paint and 19th in opponents’ second-chance points. They foul at a horrendous rate, committing nearly 26 fouls per game, 3rd-worst so far this season.
Perhaps their most glaring issue is that the team’s intended identity on defense —ball pressure, high pick-up points, and relentlessness at the point of attack— has completely failed them. The Raptors have pressed on 17% of their defensive possessions, second-most in the league, but teams are scoring 1.147 points per possession in these situations, ranking in the 21st percentile.
Is it time for a change? Or do they, like Gawain in the tale of the Green Knight, persist on this path that they’ve laid out for themselves?
“We want ball pressure because that’s the right thing to do for young players to develop good habits and grow, but we have to be smart in how we’re approaching it,” Rajakovic said when I asked him if it’s time to change up strategies when it comes to ball pressure. “We’re too close. We don’t want to be on body on body, we never coach that. We can’t be reckless and try to close the gap every time. Then you’re allowing easy drives, which puts the whole team in a bad spot.”
Rajakovic is right in a way. The Raptors’ ultra-aggressive style has them losing the battle before it even starts. They are ninth in the league in blow-by rate on drives, allowing 1.24 points per possession in these situations. Teams are scoring 1.149 points on all drives from the Raptors, ranking 28th in the league so far this season, according to Synergy.
These blow-bys are getting the Raptors’ defense in rotation, scrambling before they even get a chance to establish themselves in the half-court. Their current lack of size, with Poeltl out due to back tightness, is only exacerbating the issue.
“At some point, we have to ask ourselves, what are we willing to give up on the defensive side of the ball?” Brandon Ingram told me in practice. “We have to be better at guarding the ball. We have to be there for each other in gaps and make sure that we stop drives to the lane and limit them from getting to the basket. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
Once again, astute observation. The Raptors are allowing teams to shoot 38.6% at the rim —the fourth-most in the league —and opponents are shooting a blistering 72% on those shots. Perhaps when the only seven-footer on the roster comes back, that number will regulate. But that might not be any time soon.
The Raptors are currently on the same path Gawain was: having promised something they may not be able to deliver on.
There’s still some time left in their journey before they have to pay the piper, or, in the case of the Green Knight, receive a blow to the head.
Gawain’s journey is one of honour, how much you’re willing to stick to your ideals, even if they’re false (or deadly), and whether that is all worth it in the pursuit of doing something truly remarkable.
The Raptors must ask themselves the same question: Do they have what it takes to play the way they want to defensively?
So far, the answer has been a resounding no.
