Darko Rajakovic Reveals Whether Toronto Raptors Will Tank in Second Half of 2024-25

The important thing to note here is that the Raptors will actually have the easiest remaining schedule of any team in the NBA. According to Tankathon, their opponents for the second half of the season possess an underwhelming winning percentage of .398. 

For context, the Washington Wizards will have the second-easiest schedule, with their opponents' winning percentage being .448. That is a significant difference in the Raptors' favor.

TSN reporter Josh Lewenberg highlighted that Rajakovic openly spoke up about there being no talks internally about maintaining draft positioning.

The Raptors beat reporter asked Darko why that was not the case. Toronto's head coach spoke up on the matter.

"Because we're focusing on one game at a time, player development, and going into every game trying to get better," Rajakovic told Lewenberg.

The reality of the situation is that no team will ever really admit to tanking. That being said, Rajakovic's comments sound like an honest admission. This feels especially true when coupling them with what Scottie Barnes had to say on the matter recently.

While the Raptors currently have every opportunity to finish with a record that will give them a chance to pick one of the incredible young prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft, they are also not too far out of the Play-In picture in the Eastern Conference. 

The Raptors are only four and a half games back of the Chicago Bulls for the 10th spot. Perhaps that experience is internally valued more greatly than any potential addition from the upcoming draft class.