"Nate Bittle is out of the boot, so he's reconditioning now," Toronto's Darko Rajakovic said at practice, calling the team in "pretty good health." Asked whether Alijah Martin had tweaked his knee, he said Martin went through a whole practice and "was completely fine."
Scottie Barnes will carry a heavy load for Toronto, Darko Rajakovic said at practice: "We need Scottie to be a beast getting to the rim, scoring at the rim. We need Scottie to knock down his 3s." He accepts some nights Barnes will overpass or take too many shots.
"It's still a grind, even for everybody... You're not in midseason mode." Kawhi Leonard on his conditioning before Toronto's opener. He gauges readiness by playing games and seeing how he feels, says "you can't go as hard as you used to" and that recovery is now big.
Toronto is tracking Kawhi Leonard's workload and health, with his own input, to keep him holding up through the playoffs. "We're checking every single box that exists," Darko Rajakovic said. Leonard even asked to guard more point guards in preseason to build conditioning.
Trayce Jackson-Davis, after losing time, got heavy minutes in Toronto's last two games, and Darko Rajakovic liked his drives and finishes. The Raptors coach wants him attacking the basket: "We need him to be a beast regarding the ball offensively and defensively."
Jamison Battle practiced and will be available Oct. 15, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. Battle, Allen Graves and Kyle Anderson are in an open race for the 9th through 11th rotation spots, and Rajakovic said he is "not gonna shy away from throwing different guys in the fire."
Kawhi Leonard was planned for 15 minutes in his Raptors debut, in shifts of 5 or fewer. Darko Rajakovic said the style is so demanding "it's going to be really hard for anybody to play full 12 minutes." Main players in both of the next two games? "I do have a plan, yes."
Collin Murray-Boyles is still adjusting to a new Raptors role: alongside Jakob Poeltl, Darko Rajakovic said, one plays by the rim and the other higher up in pick-and-rolls. Next step is 3-pointers and attacking off the dribble. He says he'll shoot when defenders sag off.
Kawhi Leonard is "still trying to get in shape" and learning Toronto's play calls; his aim in his debut was to defend and get tired. Darko Rajakovic kept him with the starters: "I tried to get those guys as much as possible on the court together"
Allen Graves hit early foul trouble in his Raptors debut, and Darko Rajakovic said "I actually loved all the fouls that he picked up" because they came from aggressive defense. He has huge trust in Graves' three-point shooting and wants him taking every open look.
Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles can play center in small lineups, power forward or point guard, Kawhi Leonard said of his Toronto Raptors teammates. Coach Darko Rajakovic added that Murray-Boyles "worked so, so hard over the course of the summer on his shooting."
Jamison Battle's return runs through the practice floor. Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic on Oct. 10: "His back is feeling better, but he's not ready to play. He just needs to go through practice and contact before he's available for the game."
Collin Murray-Boyles and Jakob Poeltl "will be sharing the court quite a bit," Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said Oct. 10, and the pairing comes with a demand: "When those 2 are together on the court, we have to be dominating rebounding, offensive and defensive."
Immanuel Quickley's job is to let it fly, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said Oct. 10: "He needs to shoot a lot of 3s. He needs to playmake for us." That is a mandate for both high three-point volume and running the offense.
When Kawhi Leonard is back, the Raptors' offense changes, RJ Barrett said Oct. 10: "a little more cutting, spacing... just to make sure that he has room." If he's doubled, teammates stay available. Immanuel Quickley said Leonard already chimes in during film sessions.
Darko Rajakovic told Kyle Anderson to be ready to play center and power forward for Toronto, and "maybe handle the ball." Anderson, comfortable as a small-ball center, once told his agent the Raptors had "7 or 8 guys that are 6'9 with long arms. Like, where do I fit in here?"
Lu Dort would pick Olympic gold over an NBA title. Toronto's RJ Barrett didn't pick: "When it's your country, it's a little bit of a different pride." A Toronto title would be different too, he said. From practice, on an injured teammate: "we'll see once he gets back."
Kawhi Leonard beat Darko Rajakovic in a one-on-one game at Raptors training camp, and the coach denies letting him win. His case for losing anyway: "it would not be good if I beat him in 1-on-1. That would not be good for anybody."
Kyle Anderson and Alijah Martin are "just still returning from injury," Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said at practice. He sees Anderson as the veteran voice Garrett Temple once was: "I'm having same conversations now with him like I had with Garrett Temple... 2 or 3 years ago."
Kawhi Leonard is ramping up with Raptors staff conditioning his lungs, muscles, legs and tendons. He says he feels good and is taking it slow: "We're taking it step by step, so hopefully everything works out." Asked about a suggestion he won't play Oct. 10, he gave no answer.
Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Anderson didn't play in the Raptors' first preseason game. "We watched a lot of film on him, and he's watched a lot of film on us and how he could be implemented into our offense," Collin Murray-Boyles said of Leonard at practice.
Collin Murray-Boyles says his game won't change whether he plays beside Jakob Poeltl or as the Raptors' lone center: "I don't think it really matters much." Darko Rajakovic plans to use him a lot with both units. His body work has him jumping better: "It feels way better now."
Ja'Kobe Walter is handling the ball more in Raptors camp, teammate Collin Murray-Boyles said at practice: "Last year he was a lot off-ball movement, but he's really looking for his shot off the dribble."
Jamison Battle is "huge" for the Raptors' push for more threes, Darko Rajakovic said at practice, along with Kawhi Leonard and Allen Graves, who showed all summer he can shoot. He plans a 10-man rotation that "may end up being 9" or 11, with limited minutes for the 10th man.
Kawhi Leonard has yet to play with this Raptors group and missed much of summer open gym. Darko Rajakovic said Leonard can name every teammate but is still learning what they do: "there's going to be some growing for sure." The plan: "we don't want to change Kawhi."
Collin Murray-Boyles has outgrown a backup role, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said at practice: "he cannot be playing backup minutes... he's so good and so he improved so much." He still sees him off the bench, with Jamal Shead, to lift the defense and pace.
Jakob Poeltl felt good after his first game, the Raptors' preseason opener: "I was pretty happy with like where I was at, like just body-wise, conditioning-wise." Still adjusting to Scottie Barnes' passes: "sometimes they come fast, they come when you don't expect them."
Scottie Barnes bumped his knee and the Raptors kept him out for the entire second half. "We were cautious how much we're gonna play him," Darko Rajakovic said. Missing a couple of injured players, he also limited minutes for others in their first game back from a long break.
"I'm almost like overconfident of a person," RJ Barrett said on Oct. 3, adding the Raptors' system "fits my game very well." He owned "some stupid shots in the 2nd half" but said the game beat practice: no "annoying, pesky, pesky teammates" trying to steal the ball.
Collin Murray-Boyles is getting minutes at both power forward and centre for the Toronto Raptors, and Darko Rajakovic wants him to be more forceful on offense. "That's going to be definitely a work in progress," Rajakovic said of the dual role.
"You guys got a green light to shoot the 3-ball." Darko Rajakovic told Tyreke Key and the rest of the Toronto Raptors that after Key twice drove instead of shooting. Toronto got the extra threes it wanted but hit 29%. "We just got to make more shots," Rajakovic said.