Is the 2025 Raptors starting five good enough? It is the million dollar question that no one knows the answer to yet. On paper, it looks like it could be a formidable as you have talented players at each position. When you think about it Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl and Brandon Ingram are all talented players. And each of them could be a starter a lot of teams in the NBA. However, we have never seen all five play together. Also, prior to the Ingram trade, when the four other players played together, the results were mixed. So can they play together? Let’s look at the pros and cons of this line up.
Is the 2025 Raptors Starting Five Good Enough? – Pros
The first pro of this lineup is that you have five talented players who all can score. In this starting lineup, you have potentially four 20 point per game scorers as Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley can have big scoring games. Also, Jakob Poeltl can give you about 15 points per game along with 10 rebounds. Also, all of them can pass the ball. Teams will have a hard time guarding the Raptors as if you double team one player, they can just pass the ball and find the open player and let him score the basket.
The other pro of this starting lineup is they have length and size. A front court of Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram and Jakob Poeltl looks pretty nice. All of them can rebound and all of them have a large wingspan so that they can get their hands into passing lanes for deflections and steals. Also, they can use their long arms to alter and deter shots at the rim. Also, RJ Barrett has good size at the shooting guard position and should have a size advantage on most guards he is facing. And Immanuel Quickley is a good size point guard at six foot three and having a six foot 10 wingspan and should be able to guard most point guards.
Is the 2025 Raptors Starting Five Good Enough? – Cons
The biggest concern I have with this starting lineup is that every player except Jakob Poeltl needs to have the ball in their hands to be effective. Unfortunately, there is only one basketball. Also, coach Darko’s offense emphasizes ball movement and quick decision making. This means you are passing the ball quickly and moving to open spaces. However, most of the starting lineup does not play well off the ball. Jakob Poeltl can of course and moves into space, sets hard pics, passes and rebounds.
The only other player who has shown this is Scottie Barnes. But do you really want Scottie Barnes doing all of the dirty work and potentially not touching the ball for long periods of time? Probably not, as he is your best all around player and you have invested a lot in him to be the franchise player. Are the three other players willing to play off the ball a lot to make this line up work? I have my doubts as it is something that neither of them have done consistently in their NBA career. We will see what happens.
My second biggest concern is that will the starting five commit to coach Darko’s defense scheme. In summer league, the young players played an intense pressure defense which was fun to watch. It created a lot of havoc and resulted in tips, steals and fast breaks. It was exhausting for the players but it was effective as the team made it to the summer league title game. But will the starting five commit to it? The only defensive players in the starting lineup is Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl and I know they will try to do it. However, the other three players are not known for defense. Will any of them commit to defense and are they even capable of doing so? I do not know. The only hope is that Brandon Ingram can up his defense to average or a bit above. If he does, then the starting lineup defense doesn’t look so bad. Here is hoping for the best.
Conclusion
Is the 2025 Raptors starting five good enough? I honestly do not know. I am hoping they can gel but I am thinking that they might be five good pieces that just don’t fit together. We will see how management thinks about this in the coming weeks. There has been rumors about trading RJ Barrett for the last while so that could happen. Also, Quickley has been a disappointment so far and doesn’t seem to gel well with Scottie Barnes on the court. I would not be surprised if the team traded him. However, if no trades are made, then the team is committed to seeing this lineup in action and are hoping they can be good. The goal for the Raptors this year is to make the playoffs. Will this lineup help them do it? We shall see.
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