Toronto All But Locks Up Sixth-Worst Record

The Toronto Raptors have done a ton of losing.

The team has lost 15 games in a row and they have not recorded a win since March 3.

The Raptors did not look like a team that was interested in tanking coming out of the All-Star break. They won 3 straight games and were on the Atlanta Hawks’ tail for the final Play-In spot.

However, injuries to Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl basically ended the Raptors season. The Raptors then dealt with other injuries and Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett missed time due to personal reasons.

As a result, the Raptors shifted their focus to trying to keep their 2024 first-round pick.

The Raptors 2024 first-round pick is top-6 protected which means if it falls within the top-6 they will keep it. However, if it falls outside the top-6 the San Antonio Spurs will get it a part of the Jakob Poeltl trade that happened last season.

The Raptors are coming off a 48-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, their worst loss in franchise history. Also, the Memphis Grizzlies upset the Milwaukee Bucks. This means the Raptors now have a 3 game lead on the Grizzlies for the sixth-worst record in the reserve standings with 6 games left.

The Raptors have all but locked up the sixth-worst record at this point. This would give Toronto a 45.8 percent chance of keeping its pick.

They also currently have a 37.2 percent chance of landing a top-4 pick.

Toronto could mathematically still catch the Portland Trail Blazers for the 5th worst record, but they would need the Blazers to go on a winning-streak to end the season which seems unlikely at this point. The Raptors are a full 3 games up on the Blazers.

Raptors hoping to keep their pick

Given how the season unfolded with all of the injuries that happened with this team, it was clear that Toronto was going to do whatever it took to finish with the sixth-worst record.

Considering how bad this season has been, the Raptors would greatly benefit from having a top 6 talent added to this young core going into next season.