Toronto Raptors' front office behind move to rest starters more

If you haven’t watched too many Toronto Raptors games of late, you might’ve had a double take at the lineup closed out Tuesday night’s game against the Orlando Magic with.

Jamal Shead, Jared Rhoden, A.J. Lawson, Orlando Robinson, and Ja’Kobe Walter were all on the floor for Toronto, the last of which hit the game-winning three-pointer with just 0.5 seconds left to seal a 114-113 win for Toronto.

All five players in the closing lineup are in their first year in Toronto, with Robinson being the most experienced of the bunch at the pro level with a total of 94 career NBA games.

“I’m definitely going to remember that one,” Walter said. “That was probably, really, the first game-winner of my life.”

On one hand, Toronto’s choice of players for its closing group was a reward to the younger lineup in a season where Toronto currently sits 13th in the Eastern Conference, and has no real path to making a postseason appearance.

And while nobody would ever admit on the record to it, it appeared to be a not-so-subtle attempt at increasing the team’s draft lottery odds in a lost season, though the players clearly had other plans.

While the Raptors are battling a few injuries, all of Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poeltl and RJ Barrett all started the game for Toronto, all of whom would typically be out on the floor in the final minutes of a tight game.

Tankathon.com currently gives the Raptors the fifth-best odds at the first overall pick next year, widely expected to be standout Duke freshman Cooper Flagg.

Using lineups like the Raptors did on Tuesday might naturally lead to a few more losses, which in turn would help Toronto’s chances of landing a top draft pick like Flagg.

But another stat runs counter to Toronto’s race to the bottom: they’ve got the NBA’s easiest schedule over the final 20 games, with their opponents having a combined .358 winning percentage on the year.

Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic made one thing clear: the team’s inexperienced lineup at the end of the game wasn’t solely a decision made by him.

With a front office fully aware of the implications of moving up the standings this late in the season, it sounds like president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster fully backed their coach’s late game plan to pull the starters regardless of the score or game situation.

“This is what we talked about as an organization. It is very important for the young guys to be in those situations so they can learn. There is no better school than this for them to be on a court,” Rajakovic said.

Rajakovic also spoke pregame about why he expected to shelve his starters a bit more than usual, with no Toronto player hitting the floor for more than 30 minutes last night.

“It gives us an opportunity to take a look at different guys, different lineups giving more opportunities for players who aren’t usually getting as many minutes,” Rajakovic had said pregame, as per Sportsnet’s Michael Grange. “That’s a true investment in the development of these guys.”

Toronto’s front office might not exactly be rooting for losses right now, but they’re clearly emphasizing long-term development over winning the rest of this year. And with the draft lottery less than two months away, it’s at least made the team more watchable over the remainder of the regular season.

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