Raptors have made a few changes to their court this season

The Toronto Raptors are getting a makeover this season — and we’re not talking about the roster.

After playing to a raucous crowd in Vancouver in their preseason opener against the Sacramento Kings, Toronto faced the Australia-based Carins Taipans on Sunday evening at Scotiabank Arena.

And while the game itself wasn’t close — it was a 134-93 win for the home side — it offered our first look at a few subtle tweaks at the team’s actual playing floor.

Three major changes highlighted the team’s new look court.

Firstly, the double branding of “Scotiabank Arena” on the floor has changed from black to red, adding a bit of colour pop to the middle of the court. Secondly, the team has embraced thinner sidelines, removing an outside border that spanned around two feet around the court and read “North” in several different languages.

#Raptors have made some subtle tweaks to the court this year. ‘Scotiabank Arena’ now in red as opposed to black. Thinner sidelines, which used to feature “North” across the court in several different languages.

2023-24 to 2023-23 comparison. pic.twitter.com/8HqfaAm1MJ

— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) October 15, 2023

Lastly, the team has overlaid various portions of raptor claws around the sideline and baseline areas, although they might look more like strange black shapes at first glance if you’re not quite sure what they are.

Here’s a closer look comparing last year’s floor to this year’s from the broadcast angle:

Raptors court 2022-23

Raptors court 2023-24

And here are a few looks at the sidelines and baselines on either side of the court featuring the aforementioned claws:

The Raptors travel to Chicago where they’ll take on the Bulls for a preseason matchup on Tuesday evening, before closing out their exhibition schedule with a home game against the Washington Wizards this Friday at Scotiabank Arena.

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