Collin Murray-Boyles continues to make me eat my words. While I was an initial skeptic, even the most optimistic pundits likely didn’t envision him becoming this vital to a playoff rotation so soon. Yet, in the high-stakes environment of the postseason, he has emerged as a legitimate winning factor for the Raptors.

Murray-Boyles carved out an identity for himself in his rookie campaign as a winning player in every capacity. While far from the finished product Raptors fans hope he can become at his peak, it didn’t take long for CMB to become a mainstay of the rotation. He even earned some big head-to-head assignments in his first year.

This is exactly why he caught my eye, along with another standout youngster in Ja’Kobe Walter, as two key Raptors young guns who could be major players in the postseason push despite their inexperience. In the case of CMB, another trending storyline within the Raptors’ pecking order was the shift in the team’s outlook between using him at center versus having the vet (but eerily declining) Jakob Poeltl at that spot.

On the subject of what this Raptors team looks like between those two options, Toronto now has a two-game sample with Poeltl in his usual starting spot at the five. To put it simply, it hasn’t been an effective matchup against the Cavs in the slightest. Poeltl’s especially concerning Game 2 performance forced Darko Rajakovic and the coaching staff to pivot drastically as they chose to go in a different direction for the remainder of the night.

That direction now looks firmly in the grasp of Toronto’s bull-strong rookie, who has been every bit ready to take on the bright lights of the postseason head-on.

Collin Murray-Boyles deserves to be the Raptors’ starting playoff center moving forward

In Game 1, Murray-Boyles put up 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting, along with four rebounds and four assists in just over 20 minutes of action. It was a very strong rookie playoff debut, to say the least. He followed that up in Game 2 with an increased role and nearly 26 minutes of run. CMB provided 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.

And as NBA statistician Keerthika Uthayakumar pointed out on X, the 31 points Murray-Boyles logged in his first two playoff outings are the most by a Raptors rookie in franchise history.

While this development is worth celebrating for a front office that clearly made the right pick, there is likely a sense of regret seeping in too as Collin Murray-Boyles essentially plays Jakob Poeltl off the floor. Ideally, you wouldn’t have to choose one over the other, and both guys would find a way to coexist and produce within the Raptors’ system.

Murray-Boyles might seem like an inexperienced youngster and undersized big at face value, but he has shown no signs that he isn’t cut out for this moment. He has held his own against two formidable bigs in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen (which is no small feat), and it says a lot that Poeltl hasn’t been able to match them. Between his hustle, defensive versatility, and the lateral quickness required to match up with the Cavaliers, Murray-Boyles is providing the only frontcourt blueprint that has worked in Toronto’s favor thus far.

The jury is still out on what Jakob Poeltl could look like pending the final decisions and storylines for Game 3. But how reasonable would it be to play a game of “what if” with Poeltl when you’re down 0-2 already? You have to go with the proven commodity. In the context of this specific series, Murray-Boyles has become exactly that.

Think back to the rookie playoff showcase from Scottie Barnes in 2022. Despite losing the series, he quickly cemented himself as a key contributor against the 76ers, even with an MVP-level Joel Embiid on the other side. History might just be repeating itself here with Collin Murray-Boyles.

It’s probably in the Raptors’ best interest to reward CMB’s efforts to date and let him run with this opportunity.

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