Raptors open pre-season with Leonard unlikely to play but East competition on their mind

QUEBEC CITY — The Toronto Raptors open their exhibition schedule Saturday against the Miami Heat, with star forward Kawhi Leonard unlikely to play as he builds up from a summer of limited workouts.

Head coach Darko Rajakovic joked about a one-on-one game against Leonard at the end of training camp at the University of Laval. "Both of us are still in the process of reconditioning," said Rajakovic. "But still, he's in better condition than me."

Leonard has been held out from contact portions of practice this week, making his participation in Saturday's game at Centre Videotron unlikely. Staying healthy is the primary pre-season goal, especially for a team with so much invested in the 35-year-old Leonard.

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The game carries symbolic weight as it pits the Raptors against a Heat team that, like Toronto, made a fundamental roster change aiming to jump-start its fortunes. Miami added two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, 31.

"The East is going to be really, really competitive this year," said Rajakovic. "There's going to be a lot of teams that can compete for the playoffs and several teams in the East that can have high aspirations for winning the championship and be contenders. You know, Giannis went to Miami and I think they're going to be really good this year."

The Philadelphia 76ers added five-time all-star and 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, along with LeBron James. The Atlanta Hawks, who finished strong last season, brought in veterans Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Dorian Finney-Smith. The Indiana Pacers, the 2024 Eastern Conference champions, are healthy again. The Orlando Magic expect improvement if their core stays healthy.

None of the four teams that finished ahead of the fifth-place Raptors last season, Detroit, Boston, New York or Cleveland, have reason to believe they are worse.

"That's what you want," said Raptors point guard Immanuel Quickley. "You want to be challenged, as a player and as a team we're looking forward to that challenge. We've got a great group of guys with the right head on their shoulders that are ready to compete. So I think that's to our advantage, how hard we play every night. And I think that will give us an edge against most teams."

Rajakovic said the team must focus on its own preparation. "With all of that being said, we cannot change what other teams are doing, we gotta focus on ourselves and our preparation."

The Raptors have issues around perimeter shooting and depth at centre. Quickley, who made a career-best 178 threes last season, said improving three-point shooting will be a committee effort.

"That's been one important (point of) emphasis for myself," Quickley said. "Getting a lot of paint pressure (to open up the perimeter for his teammates) and when I'm off the ball, being ready to shoot. I think it will be on all of us (to get up more threes)."

With files from Sportsnet