There is only one thing that the 2026 Raptors share in common with the championship team from 2019: Kawhi Leonard.
The first to leave, yet the only one in Toronto today. A man who has never failed to reach the top of the mountain as a Raptor. Granted, he was only a Raptor for one season, but now that he is back, we can ask: do the Raptors have that same championship trajectory once again?
And with Leonard seemingly still in great shape, coming off one of his best regular seasons ever, are the 2026
Raptors arguably better than the 2019 champions?
Top end talent
In 2019, the team’s leader and best player was Kawhi Leonard. Barring an astonishing Scottie Barnes jump, which is totally possible, Leonard will be the team’s frontman for this upcoming season. Obviously, 2019 Kawhi is going to outclass the current 35-year-old Kawhi in almost every facet. 2019 was his prime. However, Leonard’s offence is still top-notch, and his defence is still amazing too. Even with all the injuries, Leonard’s longevity has been impressive. He is one of the higher-end players in the Association.
Kawhi Leonard’s had two main co-stars on his championship run. Kyle Lowry was an All-Star that season and meshed incredibly well with Leonard. Pascal Siakam had his breakout season in 2018-19, averaging over 16 points per game. These two players in that specific season, who are all-time Raptors legends, cannot compare to modern-day Scottie Barnes. Barnes has been getting a lot of positive attention this offseason. Many people are praising not only his regular-season performance but also his incredible playoff production in the series against the Cavaliers. Receiving comparisons to Scottie Pippen and his new teammate Kawhi Leonard, it is fair to say people have high expectations for Scottie Barnes this season.
Role players and depth compared
The projected lineup for the Raptors in the 2026-27 season consists of Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl around Leonard and Barnes.
Quickley and Barrett are the players that the Raptors got in return for OG Anunoby. Both are early into their primes and have shown promising flashes, but play more selfishly compared to Lowry and Green. They swirled around in trade rumors all of last year and will likely continue to be in the rumour mill, unless they sacrifice their own production for the betterment of the team. As for Poeltl, he has not been the same since he injured his back. Compared to Serge Ibaka, who was having some of his best offensive seasons in Toronto and was still a great defender, Poeltl is quite subpar.
The 2019 champions have a difficult bench to match. Fred VanVleet, Norman Powell, OG Anunoby, and Marc Gasol. There were also all of the quality players who had lesser roles: Jeremy Lin, Chris Boucher, and Patrick McCaw for example.
Collin Murray-Boyles was a great defensive asset for the Raptors last year. Any bench with him will be productive. Rookie Allen Graves should add a fun dynamic this year. Jamal Shead and Ja’Kobe Walter have been good contributors over the last couple of years too. They, especially Walter, will assume bigger roles with Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick shipped off to Los Angeles. There are also other guys, like veteran Kyle Anderson, rejoining Kawhi Leonard. It would not hurt to acquire more depth, especially at centre. This would allow CMB to play a more natural position of forward, instead of in the intense role of a centre.
Could the 2026 Raptors yield the same results?
This article is kind of premature. Right now, this team and its season are a mystery. Once this season starts, we will get a feel for how this ensemble is going to perform, how Darko Rajaković will manage things, how the chemistry develops, and who else the front office can add. According to speculation, there could be a guy like Domantas Sabonis added to the team. Players like Collin Murray-Boyles could get increased roles. Bottom line: there is time for adjustments to be made.
The competition is also much different in the current NBA. Now, the NBA is much deeper than the 2019 NBA landscape, partly due to the new collective bargaining agreement which disperses talent more effectively than ever. There is also the reality of so many new stars. The emerging stars from the time the Raptors won in 2019 have matured and have great squads next to them now. Not to mention, the Eastern Conference is much stronger than it usually has been, arguably more stacked than the Western Conference. The Warriors were a worthy opponent in 2019, but the competition all around the league has become more respectable.
We will see how the year plays out. There will be twists and turns, just as the 2019 champions had when Kevin Durant got injured in the Finals, making victory even more tangible. There will be roster adjustments, just like when the front office traded for Marc Gasol. The team will have to learn how to play together. Kawhi adjusted quickly in 2019 and won a championship in his first year in Toronto, so why wouldn’t he mesh with the squad this year? The road to success will be strenuous, but the ceiling is as high as ever.
