Toronto Raptors Best Bets for the 2023-2024 NBA Season

A lot of fans who follow the Toronto Raptors closely want to forget 2022-2023 as quickly as possible. The glow of the 2019 championship run is truly extinguished. A 41-41 regular season record was the perfect outcome for a club that never found consistency. That extended to the infamous play-in game against the Chicago Bulls, whom they led by double-digits in the second half but ultimately lost to.

What does the 2023-2024 season have in store for the Raptors? A new era begins with a new head coach and new players suiting up in Toronto colours. Here are some bets to make and some to avoid this year regarding Canada’s lone NBA franchise.

While we’re at it, check out the NBA odds for plenty of basketball action.

Quick Recap of Changes

First and foremost, a speedy recap of what’s happened since we last saw the Raptors on the court. In many ways, this is not the same team that was bounced out of playoff contention by the Bulls last April.

For one, the only head coach to ever lead the franchise to a championship, Nick Nurse, is now in Philadelphia with the 76ers (and working through new headaches with James Harden). Darko Rajakovic steps in. A long-time assistant, the first-time head coach arrived from Memphis where he helped establish the Grizzlies as a stout defensive unit.

Fred VanVleet, a hero of the 2019 run, is now in Houston with the Rockets.

As for additions, the two biggest ones were free agent and guard Dennis Schroder as well as first-round draftee Gradey Dick. Lest he is forgotten, PF Jalen McDaniels, formerly in Philly, also arrived via free agency.

Toronto Raptors: Under or Over 36.5 Wins

This one feels a bit harsh. Granted, the team has lost valuable offensive asset in VanVleet and is operating under Darko Rajakovic, who has never served as a head coach in the NBA, let alone work for the Raptors organization.

This number feels like there are still lingering bad vibes from last season. True enough, it was incredibly difficult to know what to make of the club at times. Whenever it was felt that they had turned a corner, they’d stumble again. Still, 36.5 wins suggest the club will be worse than last year.

Important elements are working in Toronto’s favour, however. For one, they were a good defensive team last season. Scoring three-point shots and performing highlight-worthy dunks are great, but the defence wins championships, and the Raptors only gave up 111.4 points per game last season. That was good for fourth in the entire NBA. Pascal Siakam averaged half a block per game and virtually a steal per game, Gary Trent Jr. averaged 1.6 steals, and O.G Anunoby an incredible 1.9. All those guys are back.

What does need work on that side of the ball is making sure what shots are taken are contested. True, the Raptors only allowed opponents 82.3 attempts per game. Opposing teams’ efficiency? A whopping 49.1 per cent, 27^th in the league.

Rajakovic can help improve that. He has the players to do so and is a defensive-minded general himself.

Prediction: Over 36.5. Maybe not a ton more, but more.

Raptors and the NBA Cup East Group C

Ah, some may have thought we’d forget about this. It’s difficult to tell how much hoopla, if any, there is regarding the inaugural NBA Cup. A lot of the pre-season media coverage out there concentrates on how well clubs will do in the, you know, actual regular season and traditional playoffs.

Be that as it may, the NBA Cup is happening, at least for now. Sports Interaction has no shortage of props for the Cup, with the group and potential trophy winners to play. These are all on the futures page.

The most alluring bet of the bunch, at least regarding Toronto, is who will win the East Group C. For all of the Raptors’ inconsistencies and relative deficiencies, the group draw was very favourable. The Orlando Magic are rebuilding with decent, youthful core. Chicago is very much like Toronto, potentially good but far from great. The Nets have a nice roster but simply aren’t the same team from 12 months ago.

Then there is the Boston Celtics. Understandably they sit as the favourites at -155. No one believes the Raptors are a better team than the Celtics, but there could be a catch here. Namely, the fact that this is the NBA Cup. What is Boston after? That elusive 18^th banner to hang up at TD Garden or an NBA Cup? We’re not saying that the Celtics won’t put in effort for the Cup, but if the Raptors are going to try to build on their ambitions and see what they have with this current roster, the NBA Cup is an interesting opportunity.

Prediction: The Raptors win East Group C

Raptors’ O.G Anunoby as NBA Steals Leader

At first glance, this one seems oddly specific but notice on our futures page that O.G. Anunoby leads the odds at +275.

We’re not going to pretend that the question on everyone’s lips is who is going to execute the most steals per game in the NBA this season. That said, because Toronto has a player who is so ferociously good at doing that, it’s in the potential props on our site. Anunoby excelled at steals last season. He averaged 1.9 per game, a terrific number, followed closely by Jimmy Butler’s 1.8. To be clear, we’re going off of players who played a significant number of games. Jacob Gilyard of the Grizzlies averaged three steals…in one game.

Anunoby’s efforts helped propel the Raptors as the best thieves in the NBA in 2022-2023 with 9.4. No other club even came close, with New Orleans finishing second with 8.3.

Of note, that Anunoby finished with the best statistic in that department on the team was an outlier. Typically, VanVleet earned the most steals per night. The latter didn’t necessarily cool off either. Anunoby simply improved his game in that respect.

All that said, it feels like an incredibly difficult thing to reproduce. Lead the NBA in steals two years in a row? Chris Paul did so three years in a row about a decade ago (and two years in a row earlier in his career), but Anunoby on his best day is not Chris Paul.

Advice: Avoid this bet. Very unlikely to happen.

Will the Raptors Make the Playoffs?

This is ultimately what it boils down to, isn’t it? Nobody is talking about a championship these days in Toronto. The club has recently been too inconsistent, an argument that can include the 2021-2022 campaign as well. Furthermore, a brand new face with no prior NBA head coaching experience is leading the charge, as is a new point guard who has bounced around the league in recent seasons.

Scottie Barnes (currently day-to-day) needs to rekindle the magic of two seasons ago. Schroder needs to fit in well. Chris Boucher should be a bigger fixture. Jakob Poeltl will have a lot on his hands if the team is going to be as defensively sound as they were a year ago.

Expectations should be kept in check for the Toronto Raptors in 2022-2023. If the pieces come together, yes, this can be a playoff team. They might need to win a play-in game or two, but it can happen. It’s not insane to suggest that the Raptors, at a minimum, might play a first round series next April. The question is: will it happen?

Still, it’s a relatively prop. As we just wrote, the pieces need to come together. Toronto has lost a great leader in VanVleet, Siakam has proven to be more hit-or-hit than during his first couple of seasons with the team, and it’s not like Schroder and Poeltl have always been on great playoff-calibre clubs.

Prediction: The Raptors will not make the playoffs. They need a season to let this group cook.