Head coach Darko Rajakovic always bristles when asked about the expectations fans and media have for the Toronto Raptors this season.
asserted
fans → bristle → Raptors
But even he can’t ignore the buzz around his team ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.
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he → ignore → campaign
“I have a neighbour, Stewart; he’s a pain in the ass every day asking me about the team and guys and the buzz in the city.
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he → have → city
He’s a really good thermometer for me on what’s going on in the city,” said Rajakovic on Tuesday after Raptors practice at OVO Athletic Centre.
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Rajakovic → ’ → Centre
“We absolutely love what’s going on.
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what → love → ?
It’s awesome to see that the city has a buzz about the team, that there’s excitement about the team.
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city → ’ → team
“Everybody’s looking forward to see what this team can do and how this team is going to perform.
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team → look → what
That’s why we put a lot of work in.
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we → ’ → work
That’s why we build this team so we can go out there and have a team that can answer the questions every single night.
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that → ’ → questions
Those raised expectations — not that Rajakovic would use the word — come from the off-season addition of Kawhi Leonard and a solid first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers last April in which all-star Scottie Barnes seemed to find a new gear.
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Barnes → raise → gear
Leonard returns to Toronto after a blockbuster trade that sent Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and several picks to the Los Angeles Clippers.
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that → return → Clippers
The 35-year-old forward, who led the Raptors to the 2018-19 NBA title before joining the Clippers as a free agent, also cautioned against having high expectations before the Raptors host the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday in their home opener.
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Raptors → lead → opener
“It’s the start of the year.
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It → ’ → year
We’re not sure what to expect yet,” Leonard said after practice Monday.
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Leonard → ’re → practice
“We’ve been working hard during the whole training camp, and we’ll just see it down the road.
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we → work → road
“Once 20 games, 25 games are under our belts, and then we’ve got to push from there and see what we can do better.”
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we → get → what
Toronto’s first 10 games are against relatively soft opponents, including Chicago, the Washington Wizards, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Clippers.
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games → include → Chicago
Only the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, and Denver Nuggets should give the Raptors trouble in that opening stretch.
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Timberwolves → give → stretch
“We know what we need to do stepping on the floor this coming week,” said Leonard.
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Leonard → know → floor
“We know what the formula is of winning: playing hard, playing smart, playing fast, playing defence, less turnovers, and making shots.
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formula → know → shots
“I’m excited for the season to start, and let’s see what happens.”
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what → ’m → ?
Leonard joins Barnes, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl in Toronto’s starting lineup with a deep rotation centred around Collin Murray-Boyles, Jamal Shead and Ja’Kobe Walter.
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Leonard → join → Boyles
Barnes, a two-time all-star who had been the cornerstone of the Raptors’ offence and defence last season, said that despite being a bit of a homebody, he also can’t ignore the buzz.
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he → say → buzz
“I don’t really go outside that much, but I think being on social media, people are super happy, excited about Kawhi being back
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Kawhi → go → media
,” said Barnes.
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Barnes → say → ?
“If I am out in public, I think that’s more what people ask, talk to me about, like ‘how’s Kawhi?’ and things like that.
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Kawhi → think → that
“There’s excitement on social media, but I think we’re just trying to focus on what we can focus on, focus on playing hard, trying to do the right thing, move the ball.
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we → ’ → ball
How can we keep developing our offence?
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we → keep → offence
But other than the hype, we’ve just got to be ourselves and go out there and win games, that’s our main goal.”
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that → get → games
Toronto had a 46-36 record last season, good for fifth in the Eastern Conference’s regular-season standings.
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Toronto → have → standings
The Raptors pushed the fourth-ranked Cavaliers to seven games in the first round of the playoffs, despite Ingram and Quickley missing significant time due to injury.
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Ingram → push → injury
Heading into this season, ESPN is projecting that the Raptors have a 74.6 per cent chance of making the playoffs and is predicting 45.5 wins.
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Raptors → head → wins
Rajakovic said that the Raptors had a team meeting on Tuesday about preparing for the season and that Barnes emphasized to everyone the importance of staying mentally present.
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Barnes → say → importance
“Let’s take care of today, you know?
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you → take → care
That’s our mindset, so we’re going to take it one game at a time,” said Rajakovic.
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Rajakovic → ’ → time
“We’re going to prepare one game at a time.
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We → go → time
We’re going to compete one possession at a time, and the culmination and sum of all of that is going to be what we’re gonna achieve as a team this year.
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we → go → team
“We cannot go far ahead and project what’s going to happen.
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what → go → ?
We don’t know what other teams are going to do.
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teams → know → what
We don’t know the state of the injuries on our team or on other teams.”
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We → know → teams
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
