Team Approval Rating & Player Grades (End of 2025: 20W-15L)

[LoveMyRaps]

Another year in the books, figured this is a good time to hand out some grades. We're also nearing the halfway point of the season!
Feel free to assign grades to whomever. You don't need to do every single player, just the guys you have a pretty good read on.

Overall team grade: B- (20-15 is a decent record but we've lost a lot of games we should've won. Lack of effort is quite apparent. Constantly being beat on the boards, not enough hustle, losing out on 50/50 balls, poor coaching decisions, etc.)

Notable player ratings:

Ingram: A- (he's been everything we had hoped for and then some. The fact that he's played every single game this season is huge for us!)
Barnes: A- (DPOY caliber season - offensively he's taken a bit of a leap)
Mamu: A- (another guy that has exceeded expectations. home run signing by the front office.)

RJ: B (an important player that does a little bit of everything & is vital to the team's success. he's having his most efficient season to date)
CMB: B (honestly very pleased with his growth. the 3-ball has been a pleasant surprise. defensively he's as advertised - a DPOY in the making. Needs to lose a bit of weight, improve his touch around the rim, and miss less games. Overall, very happy with this draft selection and I'm very high on him.)

Quickley: C+ (I had very high expectations for him coming into the season. Had him penciled in as a breakout candidate. Unfortunately, he's been quite underwhelming. He's had some really good games, but he's also had some very bad games. He's gotta be a lot better & consistent for the amount of money he's being paid.)

Walter: C+ (had a terrible start to the season, but has started to come alive. Solid POA defender and has been hitting his 3s. Need him to be a lot more consistent though)
Shead: C (Decent defender, pretty good at creating for others, but can't do the most important thing in basketball: shoot)

Darko: C- (Being generous with this rating only because the players, especially Ingram, speak very highly of him. His rotations still suck, and he tends to make a lot of boneheaded decisions. Subs out the hot hand, follows a strict sub routine and doesn't go with the flow of the game, doesn't award guys for strong performances, refuses to shake things up, seems to live by "if it's broke, don't fix it").

Poelt: D (He fleeced the FO. Highway robbery. Even in the limited games he's played, he's been abysmal. Can't shoot, can't defend, can't really do much. Now he can't even stay healthy. Still part of me believes he can turn it around...)
Dick: D (*insert "oh brother - this guy stinks!" meme*)


P.s. Bobby Webster - you have work to do! I will hold off until the trade deadline before I'm ready to assign you a grade.

[HumbleRen]

Brandon Ingram gets an B+. Very happy with his durability but his playmaking hasn’t been as good as it was when he was on the Pelicans, hoping it comes around in 2026.

Scottie Barnes gets a B+ for me. He’s been a top 10 defender this season in my opinion but his offence still leaves me wanting. This team NEEDS him to be a 22-24 ppg guy and I’m just not sure he can get there.

RJ gets an A from me, he’s done everything we’ve asked from him. I still don’t think we should pay him anywhere near $30M per year on his next contact but he’s become integral to our success due to Gradey and Jakobe making 0 development in their creation ability. Good luck in the negotiations with his agent Bobby.

IQ gets a C. Good player, just in the wrong role. S/o his agent, they scammed us good.

Poeltl gets a TBA. Horrible timing for an extension.

Gradey gets a F. What an utter disappointment.

Ochai gets a D.

Jakobe gets a C+. His defence has been stellar but the lack of any offensive ability has been disappointing.

Shead gets a C. Amazing paint touch driver but arguably one of the worst finishers in the league and can’t shoot a lick. Not sure a back up Pg survives like that beyond their rookie contract. His shooting is his swing skill no doubt.

CMB gets a C+ from me. His defence and feel for the game has been amazing for a rookie. Just kinda disappointed we haven’t seen his offence from college translate to the NBA. I don’t think we put him in positions to succeed as well but I’m a bit more forgiving.

Mamu gets a A+. Not much you can ask for from a minimum contract signing.

Jamison Battle also gets an A+. In a just world, he gets more minutes than Gradey and Ochai.

[pingpongrac]

Mamu: A+ (incredibly consistent and productive; he has done a bit of everything and you couldn’t ask for much more from a guy making ~2.5M)

Scottie: A- (DPOY-like first 35 games and improved offensively; has generally been very good with a few absolutely dominant MVP-type performances, but he has also had more than a few absolute stinkers)

Ingram: B+ (generally has been good or even great on the offensive end — especially when RJ has been healthy — but he has been a bit of a sieve defensively; however, he has also locked in on the defensive end in the clutch on numerous occasions and made big plays to secure a win)

RJ: B+ (very effective and efficient while he has been better on the defensive end as well; if he didn’t miss 15+ games, there is a good chance we’re 2-3 wins better than our record is now)

CMB: B (defence is already incredibly good and his instincts and activity — as well as his surprising three-point shooting — have more than covered up some weaknesses in inside scoring and his FT%)

Shead: B- (despite absolutely putrid efficiency and scoring instincts, he has been very productive and impactful; very sophomore FVV-like as he’s kind of the leader of the bench unit despite being so inexperienced in the league while being absolutely tenacious in his will to win)

JKW: C+ (incredibly up and down season, but he has generally been better over the past few weeks; brings some high-level 3+D off the bench when he is locked in)

Agbaji: C+ (started off the season absolutely terribly, but has turned it around over the past month or so; just knows how to play within his role as the 5th option on offence while being one of our better one-on-one defenders)

IQ: C (he has been fine overall, but he could/should be better; too many games of not enough offensive production while not contributing too much in other areas, though he has had about a dozen really good games that seem to go unnoticed)

Poeltl/Gradey: D (Poeltl has been in and out of the lineup all season and his performance has generally been poor while Gradey had a great start to the season then completely fell off a cliff and squandered his opportunity when RJ was out)

Overall: B. We have won some games that we probably shouldn’t have due to some late-game heroics, but we have also thrown away about half a dozen games due to lack of effort for large portions of the night. This team has been all over the place as some nights they look like a top 5 team that can be dominant on both ends and other nights they look like a bottom 5 team, but it’s hard to complain about a 20-15 record at this point when most expected ~35 wins on the season. That being said, the more we see of Darko, the more I think he is not the coach for this team. I have never been too high on him, but the polarizing play of this team and their inability to get up for almost half of the games until they’re down by 15-20 points is a pretty damning piece of evidence that Darko isn’t getting the guys prepared enough.

[links135]

I gave an A- mostly because of injuries and youth. I think the biggest thing people forget is if you take away Garret Temple, who doesn't play, the Raptors roster is tied for youngest in the league with Brooklyn.

Hell freaking Brandon Ingram has been healthy as **** so far. Wait. ****. I jinxed it. WE'RE DOOMED.

[C_Money]

I would give it a C- and I’m questioning how the hell we’re still 4th in the East.

[HumbleRen]

I would give it a C- and I’m questioning how the hell we’re still 4th in the East.

That winning streak gave us a huge cushion over everyone else.

Been below .500 since then. We’re running out of cushion, we gotta start stringing some wins along now.

[Indeed]

I would give it a C- and I’m questioning how the hell we’re still 4th in the East.

That winning streak gave us a huge cushion over everyone else.

Been below .500 since then. We’re running out of cushion, we gotta start stringing some wins along now.

Our record in wins against above .500 team with full roster isn't great.
I wouldn't give the team C- to be fair, but A is too high for a team being over the tax and not so great against other .500 teams.

The front office isn't good either, giving the contract extension of Poeltl, yet, out of touch with players. Shall see how they handle the tax and determining the contract value of our players near trade deadline.

[Boardbreaker]

B maybe a B+ considering we haven't seen our starting 5 play together in a month or so now. Some gritty wins but a lot of winnable games lost as well.

[ash_k]

Massively underperforming the record should be 25-10 at worst right now(even with the injuries). IQ should be coming off the bench, we need a floor general out there.

[Tripod]

If told 20-15 with:

Yak missing a bunch of games
RJ missing a bunch of games
CMB missing games but trending well
IQ looking horrible for 10+ games
Ochai shooting 20% LESS from 3 vs last year
No growth from Gradey or Walter or Shead
A healthy Ingram
An improved Barnes
Mamu a success

Most would have taken that record. Yet it certainly is a case where we should have 4/5 more wins than we have.

Cavs will pass us imo...but can we hold off the rest to keep 6th? Might have squandered too many games in this 1st half and with Yak ailing.

[God Squad]

B+

[dagger]

I'm waiting another six games until the 41-game mark. Last night was such an across the board failure by all but a couple of players - the bench was 0-18 from 3!!! - that I don't feel comfortable giving out passing grades today.

[Raps in 4]

Team: C
We're a mediocre team, as expected.

Darko: B
Team is playing as expected, given the talent level.

Scottie: B+
The best player on the team. Inconsistent effort from game to game keeps him from rating higher.

Ingram: B
He is who we thought he was when we made the trade.

Quickley: C+
Extremely streaky.

Barrett: B
He's playing well within his new role. He's not super talented, but he understands his limitations.

Yak: D
We don't need to trade for Street Clothes. We already have him.

Dick: D
Little to no progress in his development.

JaKobe: D
Same as Gradey.

Ochai: D
Regressed from last season.

Shead: C-
High IQ player, but atrocious shooter. Dude can't even crack 50% TS. If he ever learns to shoot, he's going to be very good, but that's a huge 'if'.

CMB: C+
His defense has been as advertised. The offense is not there. I'm not sure what kind of value to expect long-term. We could have picked better I think. I would dangle him in a trade, personally.

Mamu: A+
Not our best player, obviously, but he's surprised me with his impact. I thought he was a bum when we signed him.

[Syd-TK3]

Biggest Suprise is Mamu
Biggest disappointment is Gradey
Everyone else has basically played to my expectations with the exception of Poeltl who is just cooked now

[Kingsway_fan]

Brandon Ingram gets an B+. Very happy with his durability but his playmaking hasn’t been as good as it was when he was on the Pelicans, hoping it comes around in 2026.

Scottie Barnes gets a B+ for me. He’s been a top 10 defender this season in my opinion but his offence still leaves me wanting. This team NEEDS him to be a 22-24 ppg guy and I’m just not sure he can get there.

RJ gets an A from me, he’s done everything we’ve asked from him. I still don’t think we should pay him anywhere near $30M per year on his next contact but he’s become integral to our success due to Gradey and Jakobe making 0 development in their creation ability. Good luck in the negotiations with his agent Bobby.

IQ gets a C. Good player, just in the wrong role. S/o his agent, they scammed us good.

Poeltl gets a TBA. Horrible timing for an extension.

Gradey gets a F. What an utter disappointment.

Ochai gets a D.

Jakobe gets a C+. His defence has been stellar but the lack of any offensive ability has been disappointing.

Shead gets a C. Amazing paint touch driver but arguably one of the worst finishers in the league and can’t shoot a lick. Not sure a back up Pg survives like that beyond their rookie contract. His shooting is his swing skill no doubt.

CMB gets a C+ from me. His defence and feel for the game has been amazing for a rookie. Just kinda disappointed we haven’t seen his offence from college translate to the NBA. I don’t think we put him in positions to succeed as well but I’m a bit more forgiving.

Mamu gets a A+. Not much you can ask for from a minimum contract signing.

Jamison Battle also gets an A+. In a just world, he gets more minutes than Gradey and Ochai.

Well said. Agree.

[canada_dry]

B.

[Tha Cynic]

I have been relatively satisfied with everything but our drafting and development. It’s bad. I’m not sure who we lost that changed everything, but what have we seen in terms of progress here? Do we want to keep this up with CMB too or risk ruining his development? I think the coaching also leaves a lot to be desired and wonder how much of the lack of development is also due to that.

[Duffman100]

I give the overall thing a B with various levels of frustration and grades.

Scottie, Ingram and RJ get B+ to A.
Quickley is like C+ or B-, just too inconsistent and not enough defense.
Shead and Mamu B to B+ off the bench
Walter C but rising
Dick is a D- to F.
CMB is a B-, doing everything well but finishing and FT.
Poeltl has been hurt, so hard to grade.

[DG88]

Overall I gave the team a B, due to the fact that I expected them to be at .500, so being 5 games up with the injuries that have occured to both Poeltl and RJ is impressive. Though I'm seeing cracks through bad offensive process and defensive lapses that have scratched my head throughout the season.

Scottie Barnes: A
He's been the rock of our defense and has produced in the majority of the 35 games played. He's come up with some clutch blocks/steals in key moments of the game. He's lead some great runs to get us back into games. He should be in the running for DPOY and All Defensive Teams.

Sandro Mamukelashvili: A
Best free agent pickup in a long time. Has been great for us off the bench and starting in Poeltl's absence. His shot making, driving and passing makes him a real threat for us off the bench, along with his activity.

Brandon Ingram: B
As advertised he's been that scorer that has taken the pressure off Scottie and has hit some major buckets for use in key moments this season. His defense is very up and down, making some clutch plays to complete lack of awareness. His shot diet hasn't been to my liking but that what you get with Ingram.

RJ Barrett: B
Has helped with providing rim pressure for the starting lineup and has supported our fast break offense when he's on the court. The knee injury really exposed his importance to the offense.

Collin Murray-Boyles: B-
Has had some impressive rebounding games as a rookie and the defense has come as advertised. The shooting is a work in progress but he's hit some outside shots here and there when open. Just need to see the offensive consistency from him.

Jamal Shead: C
He's played his role well as a backup PG who provides us with a change of pace with his ability to get into the paint and setup his teammates for easy baskets. He's a tough as nails player who gets into opposing guards defensively. Still his lack of scoring instincts and wavering shooting hurt when the rest of the bench outside of Manu aren't reliable scorers.

Immanuel Quickley: C-
I was hoping for him to show why we paid him $32.5 million per year for the next 5 years. Yet I'm still wanting more out of Quickley than what I'm getting from a starting PG. He'll have some defensive moments and then completely just lose his man on defense. He's had a lot of unproductive offensive nights and then string together a few. Though the thing that really hold him back is that he's not a PG. He'd be better as an off ball threat mainly instead of a setup man of an offense. His biggest weakness is he's not a guard that can get to the rim consistently to put pressure on the defense. The best he's got is a floater or push shot after a mirad of dribbles and screens. I think I've come to the conclusion that he's either a 6th man or they give the ball handling responsibilities to someone else.

Ochai Agbaji: C-
Ochai didn't start off the season well at all not hitting his 3s or being a cutter and finisher. We could only play him for spurts to provide rest until RJ went down. Luckily he's started to turn it around recently, which upgraded his mark from me.

Ja'Kobe Walter: C-
Rough start for Ja'Kobe specifically since his minutes were cut from last year. A lot of scoreless games especially when we needed a spark from the bench offensively. He's been up and down but recently up with some nice scoring games. His defensive effort is there though so that leads to some optimism.

Jakob Poeltl: D
It's been a disappointing season for Jak the back injury has made him ineffective on the court. He's definitely better than this grade but if he's good enough to lace em up you expect some level of effectiveness. It just hasn't been there this season.

Gradey Dick: D
He's had a small handful of scoring moments this year and that's it. Gradey has not been very effective on the court as a shooter who cannot shoot. On top of that his defense is pretty paltry, which only compounds the issue.

For the rest of the players it's inconclusive since they've barely played meaningful minutes.

[ItsDanger]

Easy F.

But your grade depends on your own objective and expectations. If you review past similar polls, they likely average out to B grades.

My objective is an exciting legitimate top 4 East playoff team. 1st round exits with middling roster and no exciting players isn't appealing. Currently, team is 4th but could easily drop in standings very soon. Playoff revenue means nothing to me.

It's becoming more clear that Bobby isn't the guy to take this franchise to next level.