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Rajakovic said his star forward is dealing with a ‘day to day’ thing
The Toronto Raptors held their final practice at Laval University on Friday before opening their pre-season against the Miami Heat. The question is: will returning Raptor Kawhi Leonard play Saturday night at the Videotron Centre?
Both the Heat, with new centre Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Raptors have added perennial all-stars to their rosters this season. Leonard helped Toronto win the 2019 NBA championship and was traded back to Toronto from the Los Angeles Clippers in a well-publicized deal this past summer.
Rajakovic said he would think about playing Leonard on Saturday, but it seems unlikely as the Raptors have been taking it slow with the oft-injured Leonard in camp, a very light head-to-head drill between the coach and the superstar after Friday’s practice notwithstanding. He has yet to participate in full-contact drills.
“It’s a day-to-day thing with Kawhi, but since he beat me today at one-on-one, maybe he will play against the Heat,” joked the fourth-year head coach of Canada’s lone NBA team. After playing a sold-out intrasquad game the night before on the home court of the Rouge et Or, the Raptors are set to meet one of the most improved teams in the NBA.
Rajakovic has high expectations for the team, acknowledging that most teams in the Eastern Conference have also improved.
“Expectations are changing, and we don’t care what the other teams say about us,” Rajakovic said. “We have high expectations from Day 1, that’s how we work, that’s how we approach it. ” With the arrival of Antetokounmpo with Miami, and LeBron James and Jaylen Brown in Philadelphia, the Eastern Conference looks a lot different than it did at the end of the 2025-26 season. Rajakovic said most of his regulars will play against the Heat.
That could include point guard Immanuel Quickley, who says he tries to emulate the two-way game that Leonard has mastered.
“My dad got me to watch Leonard play when he was with the Spurs,” said Quickley. “He was talking to me about defence, and he was the first person I saw as a two-way player, and that’s the way I am now, to play offence and defence, as not a lot of players like to do that.
” Rajakovic said he’s really happy with the way the first days of training camp went, but now it’s time to see how the team stacks up against outside competition.
“Every team in the NBA is super-excited at this time of year, everybody likes their drills, but the players are sick and tired of going against each other, so we are excited to go out and play someone else,” Rajakovic said. “The game tomorrow will also give us a lot of answers. ” The first-ever NBA game in Quebec City is already sold out, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Rajakovic.
“We are a little bit spoiled everywhere we go in Canada,” he said. “We are spoiled but at the same time we are very grateful, as we understand the importance of the Raptors in the different Canadian cities and communities, and the influence the team has on the younger generation.
” After playing the Heat in Quebec City, the Raptors continue their training camp in British Columbia before playing the Clippers — Leonard’s former team — on Oct. 10 in Vancouver.
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