Tracy McGrady Admits His Concerns for the Toronto Raptors

Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Raptors are not a locked-in favorite for the Playoffs. However, head coach Darko Rajakovic and his team know they have the potential to compete. It will be challenging, but they have a good upside with this team.

McGrady thinks that as well, but he is concerned about a few players on the roster. The former two-time scoring champion knows the talent is there, but he is worried about the dynamic between the players.

McGrady Believes the Raptors Could Have an Ego Problem

For a team to succeed, they must have a strong relationship with each other. The players should not oppose each other, as they are working hard to succeed as much as possible.

The Raptors have a strong roster, but they might have conflicting play styles. Almost every featured player needs the ball to thrive, as Scottie Barnes loves taking charge of games by himself. The same can be said about Brandon Ingram being a ball-handler and RJ Barrett succeeding as an on-ball scorer.

Someone has to sacrifice and play more off-the-ball. For people within the Raptors community, that has to be Barrett. Even if he is a Canadian athlete, he is not the favorite to become a lead ball-handler compared to his fellow Raptors

"BI and RJ were playing so well last year, and I hope he can get back to playing that type of basketball by adding BI to this team," McGrady said to The Athletic.

"But can those guys coexist and sacrifice? If one is having a great week or a great month, can the other one sacrifice not trying to outplay him? That is my only gripe with the Toronto Raptors: can they set aside their ego?"

"I love Quickley at that point guard position. I think they have a very, very talented and deep team, but it's all about coming together, dropping your egos at the door. And let's see what we could do with this."

It is on the Raptors to Prove McGrady Wrong

The Raptors can continue proving everyone wrong if they play well enough to reach the Playoffs this season. They could even reach the automatic Playoffs spot within the top six.

Of course, the East is wide open this year besides the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, the Raptors can surprise people because most people won't recognize how good their roster is.

They have some talented players here, including All-Star-level players such as Barnes and Ingram. Even though Barrett does not have an All-Star Game appearance, he is a tremendous talent. The same goes for Immanuel Quickley.

McGrady loves what he is seeing from the Raptors' development, especially if they get past his concerns about the ego messing up the roster for the foreseeable future.