Raptors Takeaways: Shaky loss to Wizards highlights sobering stretch
December 27, 2025
Raptors Takeaways: Shaky loss to Wizards highlights sobering stretch
4 comments
Tidbits
On last nights game
>RJ Barrett and Jakob Poeltl are legitimately injured, and the hope entering the year was that there was enough depth – new additions, young players who got expanded developmental opportunity last season, a healthy Brandon Ingram – to withstand the lighter parts of the schedule at less than 100 per cent. A projection of, say, 44 wins for the team (hello) included a belief they’d be deep, tough, and effortful enough to win games like Friday’s.
>The Raptors aren’t there yet.
>The defence on Friday looked even shakier, as a young (and in some spots, old!) Wizards team won the hustle battle often and found a higher gear scrambling and helping defensively on key possessions. Once a hole was dug, the league’s worst fourth-quarter offence over the last few weeks simply couldn’t climb back out.
On Poeltl
>The Raptors have been cautious with recovering players in back-to-back situations, so it’s worth noting that they’ll play Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday at home (with a mandated off-day Tuesday) before there’s another full practice day to ramp back up.
On Mogbo
>Jonathan Mogbo got an opportunity with Poeltl and Murray-Boyles down. Coming off of a strong stretch of play with Raptors 905, there was room for optimism the sophomore could provide a spark. That slipped away quickly, like a couple of passes through his hands on dump-offs. He nearly finished with an 11-trillion, tallying just one steal on the box score in 11 minutes.
On Walter/Dick/Bench
>At the two-guard spot, Ja’Kobe Walter had a really nice and versatile scoring night (15 points on 5-of-7 shooting) but wasn’t at his sharpest defensively. Gradey Dick, meanwhile, continues to shoot poorly, and while he’s shown juice elsewhere – he had three pretty assists and could have had a fourth – his secondary skills just won’t matter at this level if he can’t knock down threes reliably.
>Individually, you can understand the ups and downs for the group of young players, one that still includes Jamal Shead (minus-27 in 19 minutes) and Jamison Battle (0-for-3). As a collective, it hasn’t been enough to sustain them. With two starters playing a combined 245 minutes over the last month, you’d hope the decision of “who loses minutes when X and Y return” wasn’t as easy as it feels right now.
On the offense
>The absences also really drive home a truth about this offence: Even with a lot of individual talent, there’s very little threat on the rim. The Raptors rank second in the league in assists that lead to a bucket at the rim (awesome!) but have the lowest rate of unassisted rim scoring by a notable margin.
>Brandon Ingram’s mid-range, Immanuel Quickley’s shooting, Barnes’ ability to go coast-to-coast for bully lefty dunks or high-low passing against a zone, it’s all good stuff, but Barrett is often their best path to the paint or the free-throw line.
>That’s particularly notable with transition lineups, as Rajaković can’t strategically stagger as many anchor starters right now. Bench-heavy units are really struggling to create advantages, and a lot of the team’s depth pieces have fairly narrow offensive roles or comfort zones.
On Lawson
> AJ Lawson was with the NBA club for additional depth, after a difficult travel day due to weather that saw him arrive with enough time for only a quick pregame warmup. He got the call in the fourth quarter and helped force an eight-second violation while the game was still close.
Blake Murphy killing it as per usual spitting facts unlike most of our subreddit bowing before their cult leaders pensare and Sampson
Gradey should go down to the g league. He’s been struggling too much this year.
I think if Bobby makes win-now moves this deadline, I’m gonna have to take a break from this team. It’s so depressing following the draft year after year and seeing so many incredible prospects would be walk-in to our rotation or even better, be franchise all-time greats… and we just continue to pursue play-in tier positions. So awful.
4 comments
Tidbits
On last nights game
>RJ Barrett and Jakob Poeltl are legitimately injured, and the hope entering the year was that there was enough depth – new additions, young players who got expanded developmental opportunity last season, a healthy Brandon Ingram – to withstand the lighter parts of the schedule at less than 100 per cent. A projection of, say, 44 wins for the team (hello) included a belief they’d be deep, tough, and effortful enough to win games like Friday’s.
>The Raptors aren’t there yet.
>The defence on Friday looked even shakier, as a young (and in some spots, old!) Wizards team won the hustle battle often and found a higher gear scrambling and helping defensively on key possessions. Once a hole was dug, the league’s worst fourth-quarter offence over the last few weeks simply couldn’t climb back out.
On Poeltl
>The Raptors have been cautious with recovering players in back-to-back situations, so it’s worth noting that they’ll play Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday at home (with a mandated off-day Tuesday) before there’s another full practice day to ramp back up.
On Mogbo
>Jonathan Mogbo got an opportunity with Poeltl and Murray-Boyles down. Coming off of a strong stretch of play with Raptors 905, there was room for optimism the sophomore could provide a spark. That slipped away quickly, like a couple of passes through his hands on dump-offs. He nearly finished with an 11-trillion, tallying just one steal on the box score in 11 minutes.
On Walter/Dick/Bench
>At the two-guard spot, Ja’Kobe Walter had a really nice and versatile scoring night (15 points on 5-of-7 shooting) but wasn’t at his sharpest defensively. Gradey Dick, meanwhile, continues to shoot poorly, and while he’s shown juice elsewhere – he had three pretty assists and could have had a fourth – his secondary skills just won’t matter at this level if he can’t knock down threes reliably.
>Individually, you can understand the ups and downs for the group of young players, one that still includes Jamal Shead (minus-27 in 19 minutes) and Jamison Battle (0-for-3). As a collective, it hasn’t been enough to sustain them. With two starters playing a combined 245 minutes over the last month, you’d hope the decision of “who loses minutes when X and Y return” wasn’t as easy as it feels right now.
On the offense
>The absences also really drive home a truth about this offence: Even with a lot of individual talent, there’s very little threat on the rim. The Raptors rank second in the league in assists that lead to a bucket at the rim (awesome!) but have the lowest rate of unassisted rim scoring by a notable margin.
>Brandon Ingram’s mid-range, Immanuel Quickley’s shooting, Barnes’ ability to go coast-to-coast for bully lefty dunks or high-low passing against a zone, it’s all good stuff, but Barrett is often their best path to the paint or the free-throw line.
>That’s particularly notable with transition lineups, as Rajaković can’t strategically stagger as many anchor starters right now. Bench-heavy units are really struggling to create advantages, and a lot of the team’s depth pieces have fairly narrow offensive roles or comfort zones.
On Lawson
> AJ Lawson was with the NBA club for additional depth, after a difficult travel day due to weather that saw him arrive with enough time for only a quick pregame warmup. He got the call in the fourth quarter and helped force an eight-second violation while the game was still close.
Blake Murphy killing it as per usual spitting facts unlike most of our subreddit bowing before their cult leaders pensare and Sampson
Gradey should go down to the g league. He’s been struggling too much this year.
I think if Bobby makes win-now moves this deadline, I’m gonna have to take a break from this team. It’s so depressing following the draft year after year and seeing so many incredible prospects would be walk-in to our rotation or even better, be franchise all-time greats… and we just continue to pursue play-in tier positions. So awful.