The 2024-25 NBA season is all but over for the Toronto Raptors. The team has been officially eliminated from postseason contention, to no one’s surprise. The focus from here is squarely on the 2025 offseason.
The Raptors have done themselves no favors in the reverse standings when it comes to the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft. The team has gone 5-5 over their last 10 games, winning themselves out of potentially boosting their draft lottery odds.
Toronto has won four games in a row. That includes a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets, both of whom they were fighting for positioning against in the upcoming draft. This has the Raptors all but locked into the 7th best odds in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Should the Raptors stay put at the seventh overall pick in the draft, Kevin O’Connor suggested the team will add a ‘jaw-dropping’ guard at that selection in his most recent NBA Mock Draft for Yahoo Sports.
O’Connor wrote: “[Kasparas] Jakucionis is a slick shot creator with a creative passing gene and a fearless scoring ability, carving up defenses with crafty finishes, step-back jumpers and jaw-dropping passes. And the Raptors need a point guard of the future who can thrive with and without the ball. That’s why KJ makes sense. But he’s not a sure thing. As a freshman, Jakučionis would follow up his highlights with turnover brain-farts that derailed the hype train. But he’s shown enough highs to warrant a top-10 selection.”
The Raptors locked up Immanuel Quickley as the ‘point guard of the future’ in the 2024 offseason, handing him a large five-year, $162.5 million deal. However, Quickley has let some critics down in the 2024-25 campaign.
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The Raptors guard has only played 31 games this season, struggling to stay on the court throughout the year. His averages look respectable, posting 17.5 points and 5.9 assists per game, with shooting splits of 42-38-87.
As far as the early returns for the money handed out, those numbers are somewhat overwhelming overall. The move to potentially add Jakucionis would give the Raptors insurance if Quickley never blossoms into the type of lead guard that Toronto hopes he will be.
