Raptors 2024-25 Schedule: Top Games, Championship Odds and Record Predictions
With a tumultuous season in the rearview mirror, the Toronto Raptors are officially looking forward to a new one.
Toronto fired head coach Nick Nurse and replaced him with Darko Rajaković ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. It also saw point guard Fred VanVleet sign with the Houston Rockets and then proceeded to trade notable names in Pascal Siakam (Indiana Pacers) and OG Anunoby (New York Knicks) during the season.
The result was a 25-57 record, which was just the second time since the 2012-13 season the Raptors finished with a losing mark.
While there weren't many headline additions during the offseason, Toronto is hoping continuity from some of the key pieces acquired last season will pay off in 2024-25. Here is a look at the schedule it will have to navigate during the upcoming campaign.
2024-25 Raptors Schedule Details
Season Opener: Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
Championship Odds: +100000 (bet $100 to win $100,000), per FanDuel
Full Schedule: The full schedule is available on NBA.com.
Top Matchups
New York Knicks
The Knicks and Raptors are going to be connected throughout the season.
While New York is surely more focused on the likes of the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers, the connection with Toronto stems from last season's trade. The Raptors sent Anunoby to the Big Apple in a deal that brought them RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.
Any success those players enjoy will catch the eye of fans of their former teams, and the head-to-head showdowns in particular will stand out as Barrett and Anunoby face each other.
From a larger Eastern Conference picture, these games can also serve as measuring-stick ones for the Raptors. They likely won't be battling for positioning among the top four seeds in the conference, but winning head-to-head matchups against some of the best teams in the league can provide confidence and a boost in their own playoff race.
If Toronto can take care of business against daunting opponents like the Knicks, it can provide the separation needed in potential battles with the Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat or others in the race for the bottom Eastern Conference playoff seeds and play-in tournament spots.
And it would surely be a welcome development for Barrett and Quickley to defeat their former team.
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks earned the final spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament last season, which is a reasonable goal for Toronto in 2024-25.
It would be quite the jump for the Raptors since they finished 11 games behind Atlanta in 2023-24, but the Hawks no longer have Dejounte Murray after trading him to the New Orleans Pelicans this offseason.
It also wouldn't be a surprise to see more consistent play from Toronto with an entire offseason for Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Bruce Brown, Quickley and others to grow accustomed to playing alongside each other.
There was plenty of roster upheaval as last season was ongoing, so even the continuity that was previously missing can lead to more improvement.
If that improvement is going to lead to at least a play-in tournament spot, it may require some head-to-head wins over the Hawks. Trae Young and Co. lost in either the first round or the play-in tournament in each of the last three seasons, which is exactly the type of team the Raptors should be looking to overtake in 2024-25.
And winning these contests would go a long way toward doing just that.
Season Forecast
There are some pieces in place for the Raptors.
Barnes is the face of the franchise and ideally will improve at 23 years old after making his first career All-Star Game last season. The team rewarded him with a maximum contract extension this offseason, and he figures to be a double-double machine during the upcoming campaign.
Still, there isn't exactly much star power around him.
Barrett took on more of a scoring role in Toronto and will help the team improve its record while playing for a full season, but Brown, Quickley, Kelly Olynyk and Jakob Poeltl are solid but unspectacular role players.
Perhaps the newly acquired Davion Mitchell will provide an important boost on both ends of the floor for the secondary unit. Gradey Dick is also a candidate to take strides in his second season in the league.
Given the collection of pieces and the chance to have a full season of Barrett with more roster continuity, improvement will come for the Raptors.
But it won't be enough improvement to make the playoffs.
Record Prediction: 31-51
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