For the Toronto Raptors to get where they want to go this season — starting with securing homecourt advantage for the first round of the playoffs — a lot of players are going to have to step up.
That’s the case for most teams, of course, but for these Raptors a “next man up” mentality is going to be crucial.
Kawhi Leonard’s night-to-night availability will be up in the air all year and others will be absent too, sometimes in bunches, as was the case Friday in Milwaukee when both Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley joined fellow starter Leonard as unable to play.
On Friday it was Alijah Martin’s time to rise to the occasion. Martin had scored 74 total points in 30 games with Toronto since being drafted 39th overall in 2025 with six made three-pointers. Martin matched those six made career treys in 31 minutes against the Bucks, leading Toronto to a needed 121-107 comeback victory.
It was quite a night for the former NCAA champion with Florida, a 9-for-11 performance overall, that also included his customarily stout defence (two steals and a blocked shot). The defence and winning mentality initially sold the Raptors on Martin, but it’s his potential as a shooter that intrigues them at this point. They know at a minimum he’ll be a scrappy, if undersized (6-foot-2), shooting guard who gives his all and fits into their aggressive defensive schemes. But if his shot can be a weapon, Martin will force head coach Darko Rajakovic into giving him a role.
Kawhi Leonard of the Raptors shoots a free throw during second quarter NBA preseason action against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Oct. 15, 2026.
Toronto Raptors not a good outside shooting team
Toronto is not a good outside shooting team. The Raptors are closer to the bottom of the league in that department than the middle and need all the gunners they can find.
Jamison Battle is bigger than Martin and an even better shooter, but he doesn’t provide anywhere close to Martin’s defence, so he could be most at risk of losing minutes, despite some recent big performances and his success in the playoffs against Cleveland.
Martin was tremendous in the NBA G League for Raptors 905 in 2025-26, shooting 39.6% on three-pointers, averaging 18.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game in 40 appearances. That earned him a second-place finish in G League rookie of the year voting and third in defensive player of the year voting.
Instead of riding that momentum, Martin had to deal with off-season knee surgery, which hampered his preparations for this year and forced him to deal with adversity. Not that it showed Friday.
“I don’t want to get emotional, but when you love the game and it just gets stripped away from you, from like, things you can’t control, you just hit rock bottom,” Martin told reporters after the game, per Sportsnet’s Michael Grange. “So I’m grateful, honestly. I’m just going to keep my head down, stay humble and just keep pushing.”
Toronto Raptors guard Norman Powell shoots the ball over Miami Heat forward Kelly Olynyk during Tuesday’s game. (USA TODAY SPORTS)
Memories of the past
The out-of-nowhere game for the ages conjured memories of another undersized guard who the Raptors once drafted in the second round.
During Leonard’s first Raptors tenure, Norman Powell, then further along than Martin is at this point but still not fully established as a valued contributor on a good team, was able to take advantage of Leonard’s frequent absences to shoot 40% from three and showcase his potential.
Martin has a long way to go to get close to Powell’s level (he finally made the all-star game in his 11th season and is a career 39% outside shooter with three seasons averaging at least 21 points a game), but they are about the same height and build and share an elite work ethic and belief in themselves.
Out of nowhere
Martin will want to avoid being a trivia question. To do that he’ll need to have other strong games so that this one wasn’t just an outlier.
He doesn’t want to join the ranks of other Raptors who had one magical game but never did it again.
Acie Earl was the first Raptor to score 40 points in a game when he did it against his old team, the Boston Celtics, in late-1996 at the end of a brutal Raptors season. He only scored 20 or more in a game four other times as a Raptor.
Charlie Villanueva scored 48 as a Raptors rookie but never again more than 29 that season. Terrence Ross had 51 in 2014 but amazingly never even got to 30 points in any other game as a Raptor. Centre Loren Woods had most of the best games of his career in the first few games of the 2004-05 season for Toronto then never did much else.
Our bet is while Martin might not hit six three-pointers in a game again, he can establish himself as a dependable player.