The 2024-25 season marks the first full season of this new era of the Toronto Raptors franchise. The Raptors are coming off their worst season in over a decade, finishing the 2023-24 season with just 25 wins. While the Raptors are coming off a horrible season, DraftKings Sportsbook expects a better season from Toronto, with its over/under win total set at 29.5.
Breaking Down The Raptors Win Total For The 2024-25 Season
The Toronto Raptors used to be one of the best teams in the league, having only two losing seasons over the last decade. However, recently, they have been stuck in mediocrity with no clear path forward. The 2023-24 Raptors were expected to win 36.5 games. Toronto didn’t even come close to reaching this mark, winning just 25 games. The Raptors didn’t just underperform the sportsbooks expectations. Toronto vastly underperformed its front office’s expectations, leading the team to blow up the old core and begin rebuilding. This new iteration of the team is expected to take a small step forward from last year’s team, winning five more games.
Caught The Injury Bug
The new core of this Raptors unit is Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and Jakob Poeltl. This core group only appeared together in 14 games last season for Toronto, posting a record of 7-7. The Raptors looked like they could make a push for the play-in until Barnes and Poeltl suffered injuries. Barnes would miss the rest of the season with a broken hand, leaving the Raptors without their best player for the last 22 games. Poeltl would miss the last 21 games of the season, leaving Toronto without their starting center.
Toronto’s new stars, Quickley and Barrett, also missed significant time to end the season with serious family matters. Barrett missed 13 games with Toronto, while Quickley missed seven. The Raptors’ top four players combined for 72 missed games, nearly an entire season. While you can’t guarantee health, the team could easily blow by their win expectations if Toronto’s top four stay healthy.
Betting On Internal Improvement
The Raptors’ decision to blow it up last season means the team is young and has a lot of room to improve. Last season, Barnes broke out as a true star, making his first All-Star team and averaging 19.9 points 8.2 rebounds, and 6.1 assists. With another offseason under his belt and the team being built for him, Barnes is poised for another leap in 2024-25. Outside of Barnes, the Raptors have two other young guys who look ready for a jump this season.
Barrett played his best basketball with the Raptors last season, putting up 21.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.1 assists. He was playing at a near All-Star level. Barrett is coming off a tremendous Olympic tournament where he was Canada’s second-best player. Rounding out the Raptors trio is Quickley, who got his first chance to start last season. Quickley sized this opportunity, establishing himself as a led guard with Toronto. With an offseason to prepare for being the starting point guard, Quickley should be even more prepared to run the offense for Toronto.
The Last Word
The Raptors had an up-and-down year, which led to them blowing up their team. In the brief time Barnes, Barrett, Quickley, and Poeltl played together, the Raptors were a .500 team. With better injury luck and some expected internal development, the Raptors should blow by their win total of 29.5.
