With the Raptors’ offseason begun in full force, the franchise has seen its rookie receive the team’s first major individual award of the 2025-26 season. Collin Murray-Boyles has been named to the All-Rookie Second Team, the first Toronto player to receive the award since Scottie Barnes in 2022.
It has been a stellar season for Murray-Boyles that has not been totally reflected in his box scores. The former South Carolina Gamecock finished the campaign with 8.5 blocks, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists, as well
as a block and a steal a piece. Murray-Boyles proved that when given the minutes, he could affect the game at both ends of the floor. Predominantly coming off the bench in the regular season, as well as some high profile starts at centre, the rookie demonstrated excellent defensive chops, stellar rebounding, and flashes of genuine scoring abilities.
The playoffs are where Collin really shined, looking like the best player in Toronto’s rotation of big men at only 6’7. Averaging 14, 6.4, and 2.4, Murray Boyles had 5 stocks in a crucial game 6, and played a big part in anchoring Toronto throughout the series. Early playoff reps can mean so much for a young player’s development, and have further proved that the forward is a piece worth building around for the Raptors. But, Murray-Boyles seems to have enjoyed himself all the while. “It just makes me smile all the time, just being able to be a part of this,” he said about playoff basketball on the Raptors.
With Jakob Poeltl out for stretches throughout the year, Murray-Boyles’ defensive abilities as a small-ball centre earned him comparisons to his teammate, Scottie Barnes, as well as Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors. It seems he might land somewhere outside of that range, more of a defensive specialist who can pass, rather than a point forward, though the young player’s game certainly has the time to evolve. Improving his free throw shooting would make him even more of a threat in the post, where his ability to pump fake and score close to the basket gives him some of the most dominant looking moments on the hardwood.
Murray-Boyles’ received the fewest amount of votes of any player selected to the All-Rookie team, with only 66 votes compared to the player ahead of him, Ace Bailey, who received 107. He was the only All-Rookie on a playoff team to not make the First Team, which in part can be chalked up to him coming off the bench for a Toronto roster with much forward depth, while many of his other classmates found themselves in starting jobs on depleted rosters.
Looking to the future, Collin Murray-Boyles has the potential to become an All-Defensive mainstay, as well as a cornerstone of an ascendant Toronto Raptors squad. He’s come a long way since being drafted ninth overall, swearing quietly out of shock as he was called to join his current team. He has come into the league as a developed player, and as the years go on, additional coats of polish should see him transcend his place now and become a premier two-way threat Raptors fans should be glad to have on their team.
