https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/44588112/nba-offseason-2025-draft-free-agency-trade-targets-30-teams
Toronto Raptors
2024-25 record: 30-52
Draft picks in June: No. 7 (own) and No. 39/40 (via POR)
Odds at the No.1 pick: 7.5%
Free agents: Chris Boucher, Garrett Temple
State of the roster:
The lottery-bound Raptors took the rare step of trading a first-round pick at the deadline, acquiring Brandon Ingram from New Orleans and then giving him a three-year extension worth $120 million. But the move wasn't about this season. Instead, Toronto took the proactive approach of getting ahead of free agency. The Raptors did not have the cap space to sign Ingram outright without a trade.
"It takes a lot of really good players to win in this league, and so this is just sort of an incremental step along the way, as opposed to some big flag-in-the-sand-type move," Raptors GM Bobby Webster said in February.
Webster and president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri have taken the approach of not bottoming out and building solely through the draft. Instead, the goal has been to add established young players.
"Scottie Barnes is 23, Immanuel Quickley is 25, RJ Barrett is 24, Brandon is still just 27. So I think even from that perspective, it's a young core," Webster said. "We'll continue the rebuild, I think this is a progress. No change in progress or timeline."
Since last January, Toronto has acquired Ingram, Quickley and Barrett through trades. Those three -- along with Barnes and Jakob Poeltl -- are under contract for at least the next two seasons. For next season, 89% of its salary cap is tied up in those five players.
The Raptors will add a lottery pick and a second-rounder to join last year's four-man rookie class. The Raptors have gotten more than 1,500 points from Ja'Kobe Walter, Jamal Shead, Jamison Battle, Jonathan Mogbo this season, trailing only the Wizards in total points from rookies. The Raptors are the only team to have four rookies with at least 300 points this season.
Offseason finances:
Toronto enters the offseason with limited flexibility outside of their first-round pick. Including a likely top-10 pick, Toronto is over the tax and $1.3 million over the first apron. The Raptors can use up to $5.6 million of their non-tax mid-level exception and veteran minimum exception available. They also have the biannual exception, but that would hard cap them at the first apron. They will also have a second-round pick.
Top front-office priority:
The draft, roster evaluation and health. This is only the third time Toronto has had a lottery pick since 2016. The highest they have drafted since Ujiri took over was when the team took Barnes at No. 4 in 2021.
Evaluating the roster is more of a discussion for training camp. Because of the ankle injury Ingram suffered in New Orleans, the preseason will be the first time to see how he fits with his new teammates. In the small sample of possessions this season with Quickley, Barnes, Barrett and Poeltl on the court together, Toronto averaged 102.2 points and were outscored by 8.5 points per 100 possessions.
There are positives to the roster even without Ingram on the court. The Raptors went 22-21 after Jan. 13. That improvement over the start of the season (when they went 8-31) is a result of a defense that ranked second in efficiency and first in opponent effective field percentage since that date.
And then there is the question of roster durability. Out of the five key players on the roster -- Quickley, Barnes, Ingram, Barrett and Poeltl -- only Quickley has played more than 64 games in a season since 2022-23.
Extension candidate to watch:
Ochai Agbaji quietly has become one of the league's better defenders. Agbaji ranks in the top 10 in effective field goal percentage allowed vs. 2025 All-Stars, per Second Spectrum tracking. He also ranked in the top 10 in field goal percentage allowed as the contesting defender among those who faced at least 600 shots this season. Offensively, he had career highs in points (10.3), rebounds (3.8), field goal percentage (50.1%) and 3-point percentage (40.4%). Agabaji is extension eligible through Oct. 20.
Other extension candidates: Boucher (until June 30), Barrett (as of Oct. 1), Poeltl
Team needs:
The Raptors get a shot creator with the addition of Ingram, something they have sorely missed this season. According to Second Spectrum, the Raptors ranked last in made off-the-dribble jumpers per game this season. Ingram, albeit in a small sample of 18 games, ranked sixth in the league in those shots up until his ankle injury on Dec. 7.
Draft assets:
The Raptors have their own first-round pick in every draft through 2031. They are allowed to trade up to five firsts, including their lottery pick in June. Toronto has eight future second-round picks available.
Before the Golden State Warriors found themselves a game away from taking down the 2-seed in the first round of the playoffs and before they ever thought about trading for Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline, Jonathan Kuminga was the player this organization was enamored with. While the organization was high on his development, failed contract negotiations between the two parties raised eyebrows around the league.
It is no secret to anyone that owner Joe Lacob and those close to him love Kuminga's upside, which is why they envision him being a long-term building block. However, contract talks went nowhere, and the 22-year-old entered the season on an expiring rookie contract.
Regardless of what those outside the organization said about his future, Steve Kerr and the Warriors' brain trust remained committed to Kuminga.
“We want JK here for the long haul,” Kerr said near the start of the season. “Obviously, I want him to have a great year and put himself in a position next summer where we agree to a contract. I want one that he is thrilled with and we are happy with as well… If you just look at JK's arc of development, he is dramatically better now than he was three years ago.”
At the start of his fourth season in the league, Kuminga proved Kerr right. With the team hoping for a breakout campaign, Kuminga got off to a fast start, establishing himself as the Warriors' second-best scoring option next to Stephen Curry in terms of hunting his own shots and getting to the rim. He scored at least 10 points in 10 of his first 11 games, and he went on to average over 30 minutes per game in December.
This was the best month of Kuminga's young career, as he recorded back-to-back 34-point games before the calendar flipped to 2025, and he was an every-night starter for Kerr despite constant lineup and rotation changes. Unfortunately for the emerging forward, a severe ankle sprain he suffered at the start of January threw his great season off the tracks.
Kuminga did not return until the middle of March. By then, he was no longer viewed as an essential part of Golden State's hot streak.
When Butler entered the fold, he instilled new confidence and energy. The focus in San Francisco rapidly shifts from just making the playoffs to possibly contending for a title. Where Kuminga fit into all of this was the greatest question looming large for Golden State, and he ended up being the odd man out with Butler filling his role.
Despite falling out of the rotation and being benched at the end of the regular season, the Warriors have consistently shut down all negative connotations surrounding Kuminga. Even Butler made it clear that he would take the young forward under his wing and try to aid in his development.
After Butler was acquired, Lacob spoke with The Athletic in an exclusive interview, and he made it abundantly clear that trading for Jimmy and then signing him to an extension doesn't change the organization's view of Kuminga in the slightest. The mindset of keeping Kuminga long-term had not changed.
“Absolutely. One hundred percent,” Lacob firmly stated regarding the Warriors being committed to paying Kuminga. “Are you kidding me? I love that guy. We love him.”
There have never been any ill feelings from anyone in the organization towards Kuminga, league sources told ClutchPoints. Although there have been times when his future has been questioned by several front-office members, Golden State has always believed that he could develop into a two-way star on the wing as a result of his length and athleticism.
Even though Kerr and the forward don't see eye-to-eye all the time, there has always been a strong respect for one another, and Kuminga has taken pride in staying ready for his time to shine.
Kuminga has always shown flashes of his long-term potential with the ball in his hands on offense. He can push the tempo in transition and put the ball down in order to get to the rim. Ultimately, that can't always happen when Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Butler are in the game.
Golden State's offense tends to flow through Green at the top of the arc, and Kerr wants the focus scorers of the team to be Steph and Jimmy. That leaves Kuminga as the potential fourth option in this scenario. Since he isn't a catch-and-shoot threat, his fit has come into question when the Warriors could instead turn to shooting options like Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, and Buddy Hield, who can provide jolts of energy in any role.
The bottom line is that Kuminga isn't that type of player, as he needs the ball to be successful. Believe it or not, he's actually worse in terms of efficiency and spacing when playing next to the Warriors stars rather than taking control of the offense himself. Whereas some players thrive playing off star players, that is not the case here.
This has led to an awkward position for Kuminga with restricted free agency approaching in July.
So far in the first round of the playoffs against the Rockets, Kuminga has played only two times. He scored 11 points off the bench in Game 2 when Butler went down with his pelvic injury, and the young forward scored seven points in Game 3 without Butler. Kuminga finished both games with a negative plus-minus, and he has not played since the third game in San Francisco.
Essentially, Kuminga has been relegated to a role where he only sees the court in the unique situation of Butler or Green getting injured. Even with the Warriors needing size against a bigger and stronger Rockets team, Kerr has elected to play rookie Quinten Post and Gui Santos over Kuminga. Gary Payton II has also seen more run time in the frontcourt instead of Kuminga.
No matter how many times the Warriors mention Kuminga as an X-factor on their bench and claim he's ready when his number is called, his confidence has been shattered. Golden State is not playing him because Kerr and his staff aren't sure if they can trust him in the same lineups as Curry, Butler, and Green.
As a result, Kuminga's future is very much a topic of discussion that looms large in the background of the Warriors' current playoff success.
