Raptors Lottery Spot Virtually Locked Following Victory Over Nets

The Toronto Raptors can no longer climb the draft lottery standings.

That doesn’t mean they’re entirely out of luck when the ping pong balls start bouncing next month, but Sunday’s 120 to 109 win over the Brooklyn Nets officially locked them into no better than the seventh-best lottery odds. At this point, it will take a good deal of luck for Toronto to move up.

Is it disappointing?

A bit. The Raptors had the third-worst record in the league as recently as late January. Just a month ago, they sat fifth in the lottery standings with a 42.1% chance at a top-four pick and a 10.5% shot at landing Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick.

But an 11–8 run since the start of March has chipped away at those odds, leaving Toronto in a tougher spot heading into lottery night. Assuming the Raptors lose at least one of their remaining three games, they will clinch the seventh spot, which carries a 32% chance at a top-four pick and a 7.5% shot at No. 1.

To their credit, the Raptors tried to hold their position.

They have rested Jakob Poeltl, Immanuel Quickley, and RJ Barrett in alternating games for the past month, and have not hesitated to pull their best players late in close contests.

The problem was twofold. Scottie Barnes did not want to sit, continuing to play through a lingering right hand injury. On top of that, Toronto faced by far the easiest schedule in the league over the past month, which led to some wins the organization would rather not have picked up.

Take Sunday, for example.

Barnes missed his 17th game of the season and can now appear in a maximum of 65 games, the league minimum for award eligibility. Even so, the Raptors still could not out-tank the tanking Nets. Jamal Shead posted a career-high 12 assists along with nine points and a plus-31 performance in 29 minutes. Jonathan Mogbo had his first career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Jamison Battle and Cole Swider each knocked down six threes as Brooklyn failed to keep pace.

The silver lining for Toronto is that several young players have stepped up and shown they can compete at the NBA level, even if the competition has mostly been against struggling teams. Shead looks like a capable backup point guard who should take a step forward next season. Ochai Agbaji has made progress as a three-point shooter and carved out a role as a defense-first wing. Battle also looks like someone who should be in the mix next season as a floor-spacing bench option.

But now it’s in the hands of the lottery gods, and all the Raptors can do is hope for a little luck when the ping pong balls start bouncing in a few weeks.

Up Next: Charlotte Hornets

The Raptors will return home for a practice day Tuesday before hosting the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. ET.