Raptors' checklist: Five keys to turning a promising roster into a successful NBA season

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗
Cite

Smith, D. (2026, October 21). Raptors' checklist: Five keys to turning a promising roster into a successful NBA season. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/raptors/raptors-checklist-five-keys-to-turning-a-promising-roster-into-a-successful-nba-season/article_8b56855c-ea42-49f3-aa65-4e1aeef70dd1.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-10-21 · by Doug Smith

Quick Summary

The article outlines five key areas for the Toronto Raptors to focus on during their upcoming NBA season, starting with beating strong opponents and staying healthy throughout the year. It emphasizes the need for unexpected performances from young players like Allen Graves or Jamison Battle as well as maintaining a strong home court performance at Scotiabank Arena, noting that improving their previous 24-17 home record would be crucial for playoff positioning. The article also stresses the importance of avoiding significant injuries to key players and performing well in critical early-season matchups against top teams like Boston, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-21, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

The Toronto Raptors are aiming for a successful NBA season that begins on Wednesday with a home game against the Chicago Bulls. According to Doug Smith, one key factor is improving their performance against top teams; last season, they were 2-22 against the best Western Conference and top three Eastern Conference teams. Additionally, staying healthy is crucial, as avoiding significant long-term injuries to key players could mean having them available for over 57 games each. Second-year guard Jamal Shead and rookie Collin Murray-Boyles were highlights of the previous season, with Walter also showing promise in the final weeks. Improving their record against division rivals like the Knicks, Sixers, Celtics, and Nets is another goal for home-court advantage in the playoffs.

Written for “Raptors NBA Season Prospects” on 2026-10-21, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Raptors NBA Season Prospects
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
This Raptors season comes down to one word — and it's (sort of) a big one different event · 90%
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 12% hedged 3 of 24 📰 publisher trust 63
“The articles discuss different aspects of the Raptors' upcoming season and do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”
Raptors try to ignore expectations ahead of promising 2026-27 season different event · 90%
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 41 📰 publisher trust 63
“The articles discuss different aspects of the Raptors' upcoming season and do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
11
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 11 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
63/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-21 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 8778 article(s) · 23 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 23 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Doug Smith
21 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Kawhi Leonard is back, and so are the Raptors' championship hopes There will be noise attached to this Raptors season, noise they have not heard for years, associated with legitimate contenders, and noise they are anxiously awaiting.
2026-10-21 · assertive framing · Raptors vs. Bulls live: Kawhi Leonard releases hype video to thank Toronto ahead of tonight's home opener
🔮 Improving on that record would go a long way to vault them in position to have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
2026-10-21 · assertive framing · Raptors' checklist: Five keys to turning a promising roster into a successful NBA season
🔮 Without him, I don’t think it would be the team we are.
2026-10-19 · assertive framing · Part Lowry, part VanVleet. Jamal Shead has become the heart and soul of the Raptors
🔮 It’s fun for me and more varied questions might interest some of you, too.
2026-10-18 · assertive framing · Raptors mailbag: The RJ Barrett trade noise should finally stop — but it won't
🔮 It’s unlikely the Raptors will change their starting lineup but that group should close every close game.
2026-10-16 · assertive framing · Raptors flash on defence in pre-season loss to Knicks
🔮 The Raptors surely are, and all they are thinking about now is how good this group might become, because Kawhi Leonard took to an NBA court in a Toronto uniform again Tuesday night and it was nothing but good.
2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Raptors vs. Knicks: Kawhi Leonard launches second act with impressive end-to-end performance
🔮 While fans and some players would gladly trade days in training camp and the odd pre-season game for a bit more rest in an arduous regular season, the Raptors coach wouldn’t mind even more preparation time. “If you ask players, they will start to play games on the first day of training camp … if you ask coaches, we’re missing probably two weeks of training camp
2026-10-13 · assertive framing · Darko Rajakovic would like more, not less, as the Raptors' pre-season gets busy
🔮 New Raptors staffer Stephen Silas, who has been an NBA assistant or head coach since 2000, was part of an ill-fated Toronto-Cleveland exhibition game that never took place in St. John’s. Silas, the 53-year-old son of legendary NBA player and coach Paul Silas, was an assistant on the 2003 Cavaliers team that had a game against the Raptors cancelled because of condensation on the court, robbing fans there of seeing what would have been the final pre-season appearance of then-rookie LeBron James. It’s part of Raptors lore and not only because the organization has failed to keep a vow to return to Newfoundland.
2026-10-08 · assertive framing · Raptors Insider: The tale of slippery Rock revisited, and why Kawhi Leonard needs the guru
🔮 There’s lot of competition at his spot — and Toronto may very well start the season with a 14-man roster instead of a full 15-man team — but Burnett has created some interest.
2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Jakob Poeltl's first week is one of the positives of Raptors training camp
🔮 At no point has Kawhi admitted any culpability publicly — his first statement went only as far to say that “I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle” — so I cannot speak to what he would have told, or not told, Silver or any investigators.
2026-10-04 · assertive framing · Raptors mailbag: How does Jamal Shead's contract impact RJ Barrett's future in Toronto?
Also by Doug Smith
Raptors vs. Bulls live: Kawhi Leonard releases hype video to thank Toronto ahead of tonight's home opener
2026-10-21 · Toronto Star
Part Lowry, part VanVleet. Jamal Shead has become the heart and soul of the Raptors
2026-10-19 · Toronto Star
Raptors mailbag: The RJ Barrett trade noise should finally stop — but it won't
2026-10-18 · Toronto Star
Raptors flash on defence in pre-season loss to Knicks
2026-10-16 · Toronto Star
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 21 articles by Doug Smith →

Topics

NBA Raptors Toronto the Chicago Bulls the Eastern Conference

Subjects

Raptors ORG · 3× Toronto GPE · 2× the Eastern Conference ORG · 2× Celtics ORG · 1× Knicks ORG · 1× NBA ORG · 1× Nets ORG · 1× Sixers ORG · 1× the Chicago Bulls ORG · 1× the Western Conference ORG · 1×

Narrative

Let’s say a good target is having the key rotational player shooting for 57-60 games (just a bit more than 70 per cent of the games) and they hope the majority of them eclipse that. Find a surprise or two It’s fair to say second-year guard Jamal Shead and rookie Collin Murray-Boyles were pleasant surprises a season ago and Ja’Kobe Walter become one in the final month or six weeks of the season.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-21
🔮 Improving on that record would go a long way to vault them in position to have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
2026-10-21 · Toronto Star
Raptors' checklist: Five keys to turning a promising roster into a successful NBA season · assertive framing

Claims (11 extracted, 0 hedged)

Talent carries the day throughout most of an NBA regular season but even the most talented teams need some breaks to go their way as well. asserted
teams → carry → breaks
Here are five things the Raptors need to take care of to ensure a successful season that begins Wednesday at home against the Chicago Bulls. asserted
that → need → Bulls
Beat a few good teams The Raptors were a combined miserable 2-22 last season against the top six teams in the Western Conference and top three in the Eastern Conference. asserted
Raptors → beat → Conference
On paper, there appear to be more “good” teams this season making the job more difficult. asserted
job → appear → paper
That’s just not good enough. asserted
That → ’ → ?
Stay healthy It doesn’t mean the top eight players are available for 75 games each but avoiding season-crippling long-term injuries to significant players is paramount. asserted
avoiding → stay → players
Let’s say a good target is having the key rotational player shooting for 57-60 games (just a bit more than 70 per cent of the games) and they hope the majority of them eclipse that. Find a surprise or two It’s fair to say second-year guard Jamal Shead and rookie Collin Murray-Boyles were pleasant surprises a season ago and Ja’Kobe Walter become one in the final month or six weeks of the season. asserted
Walter → let → season
If rookie Allen Graves does that, or Jamison Battle has a full good season or Kyle Anderson has some gas in the tank, that’ll be a huge boost. asserted
that → do → tank
Stay in touch It’s imperative the Raptors don’t get buried in the standings early in the season and are forced to scramble just to get into a guaranteed playoff spot in the final couple of months. asserted
Raptors → stay → months
Enjoy home cooking Toronto hardly took advantage of the Scotiabank Arena last season, posting a pedestrian 24-17 at home (.583), tied for the worst home record among the top six teams in the Eastern Conference. asserted
Toronto → enjoy → Conference
Improving on that record would go a long way to vault them in position to have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. asserted
Improving → improve → playoffs
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