It was pretty easy to be optimistic about the Toronto Raptors back in May, when they were coming off a dramatic seven-game first-round loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, which was the exclamation point on a 46-win regular season that represented a 16-win jump from the year before.Scottie Barnes opened eyes around the NBA with his dominant two-way showing against the Cavs, where he was the best player on either team and perhaps for the first time showed his potential to be the kind of player that teams can load with their wildest dreams. The team’s youngsters grew up fast, with Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter and (then) rookie Collin Murray-Boyles building on strong regular seasons, collectively, by showing some real spark in the playoffs. RJ Barrett also proved himself a playoff riser, with his determination to crack the paint giving the Raptors’ offence just the gas required at key moments. But as configured, was anyone looking at the Raptors as a team that could challenge the Eastern Conference elite? Were dreams of a run to the conference finals or beyond shared anywhere other than the most fervent, fanciful corners of the Raptors multiverse? Not really. This was a team that was 0-5 in the season series against the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks and finished the regular season 1-11 against the top three teams in the East and 1-12 against the top six teams in the West. But things were about to change. Perhaps buoyed by pushing the eventual conference finalist Cavaliers to seven games, or maybe flush with the confidence of the new five-year contract he signed back in June, Raptors general manager Bobby Webster cashed in some chips and pulled off one of the most stunning moves of the off-season: acquiring Kawhi Leonard from the Los Angeles Clippers for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks (2031 and 2033), a first-round pick swap in 2027 and two second-round picks (2030 and 2033). In an instant — well, a very long instant, given an NBA investigation into the Clippers for salary-cap circumvention as it relates to Leonard that dragged on until early September and delayed the deal being finalized for 10 weeks — expectations for the Raptors took a massive leap. So, yeah, to the extent it was easy to be optimistic about the Raptors in May, it’s really easy to be excited now, with training camp opening in Quebec City next Tuesday. Let’s get right to it: Five reasons to be optimistic about the Raptors heading into the 2026-27 season.Kawhi LeonardNo need to dance around it. When you add a seven-time all-NBA selection to your roster, your team is better. A lot better. A cynic might note that the Los Angeles Clippers had Kawhi Leonard on their roster for seven years and won just three playoff series, their high point a run to the Western Conference Finals in 2021. Twice Leonard was injured and couldn’t complete a first-round series.But we’re trying to be optimistic here.In the 35 playoff games he did play for Los Angeles, Leonard averaged 27.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and two steals with a true shooting percentage (which reflects the value of free throws, two-pointers and three-pointers) of 62.8. No one in NBA history has ever done all of that. And while a lot has been made of Leonard coming off one of the best seasons of his career last year as he averaged 27.9 (a career best) with a TS% of 62.9 (a career best), while adding 2.0 steals per game and grabbing 6.4 rebounds, it’s worth pointing out that it might have been the best age-34 season in NBA history — no one has ever hit or surpassed all of those thresholds after age 32 — and one of the best seasons ever by any NBA player in their 30s. He’s coming in hot, and relatively healthy, having suited up for 81 per cent of the Clippers games dating back to Jan. 23, 2025.As an added bonus, Leonard’s specific strengths suit the Raptors perfectly: he’s one of the best ball hawks in NBA history and one of just five players in league history to average more steals (1.7) than fouls (1.6) for his career, meaning he should fit in just fine on one of the most aggressive defensive lineups in the league. He’s also an elite three-point shooter (39.1 per cent for his career) and especially effective pulling up from three, as his 37.9 per cent on deep pulls ranked second to only Jamal Murray among players with at least 60 games played and at least 3.5 pull-up attempts per game, which should help a Raptors team that ranked in the bottom third of the NBA in three-point attempts and percentage. They know who they areObviously, the Raptors will be a different team with Leonard on the roster and Ingram with the Clippers, but they will most likely be a better version of the team they already were. Even when the Raptors were struggling under head coach Darko Rajakovic, they created a defensive identity that translated even as they became competitive last season. Recall that from Jan. 1, 2025, through the remainder of the 2024-25 season, the Raptors posted the seventh-best defensive rating in the NBA and were very nearly a .500 team — a stunning achievement for a club that was 7-26 on Dec. 31, 2024.Last season, the Raptors won 46 games in large part because they finished tied for fifth in defensive rating, and fourth in percentage of loose balls recovered. All of that activity helped the Raptors to finish fifth in the NBA in percentage of their offence from opponent’s turnovers, a key boost for a team that struggled to score in the halfcourt.Encouraging too is that all of those traits translated perfectly to the Raptors’ first-round series against the Cavaliers as the Raptors finished first among post-season teams in percentage of points off turnovers. Adding Leonard — a historically elite defensive player — should only enhance what the Raptors already do exceptionally well. What if the Raptors’ best player is Scottie Barnes?Leonard hasn’t spoken publicly since he rejoined the team, but in the most recent “Open Gym” episode — the Raptors’ typically excellent in-house documentary program — featuring footage from his visit to Toronto in early July, Leonard told Rajakovic: “If it’s Scottie’s team, it’s his team. I want to do whatever it takes to help you guys.”The last time Leonard wasn’t the best player on his team, he was winning a championship alongside Hall of Famer Tim Duncan with the 2014 San Antonio Spurs. Presuming Barnes is the Raptors’ best player with Leonard on the roster is quite an assumption, given Leonard was second-team all-NBA last year — a level Barnes has yet to reach in five seasons. But as Barnes enters his prime at age 25, it’s not crazy — especially after the Cleveland series where the Raptors’ two-time all-star scored more points than Cavs’ seven-time all-star Donovan Mitchell, more assists than (future) hall-of-fame point guard James Harden and more blocks than former defensive player of the year Evan Mobley.It’s unfair to expect Barnes to match the line he put up against the Cavs (24.1 points, 8.6 assists, 6.1 rebounds with 1.1 steals and 1.7 blocks) for an entire season, but his performance was the most definitive proof yet that Barnes is capable of beating good teams with his offensive force — a prerequisite to being a top 10 player. Even if Barnes goes for 22/7/7 this season and delivers the type of defence that earned him all-defence recognition for the first time last year, it might be enough to at least vie with Leonard as the Raptors’ best player. That would make the Raptors a very dangerous team.The kids are all rightThis time a year ago, one of the Raptors’ biggest question marks was if the likes of Dick, Walter, Shead and rookie Murray-Boyles were ready for NBA prime time. That’s not really a question anymore, for better or worse.After a promising second season, Dick fell off in his third year, never finding his shooting stroke and eventually falling out of Rajakovic’s rotation, which is why the Raptors were willing to include him in the trade for Leonard. Dick could end up the rare draft miss for the Raptors, but the progress of Walter and Shead in their second seasons counterbalances that, and the emergence of Murray-Boyles as an all-NBA level defender as a rookie is the kind of draft win that can change the direction of a team.First, Walter: the second-year wing shot an eye-popping 47.6 per cent from three after the all-star break last season and also averaged 1.2 steals per game in just 24 minutes of floor time. A low-usage, offensively efficient wing who can guard at age 22 and is still on his rookie contract? Hard to do better than that when picking 19th, as the Raptors were in 2024 when they chose Walter there (and for what it’s worth, Allen Graves, who the Raptors picked 19th overall in 2026, was outstanding in NBA Summer League).Meanwhile, Shead emerged as a quality back-up point guard who can play effectively alongside starter Immanuel Quickley. Shead was one of just nine players in the league to average at least five assists and make 1.5 turnovers or less and was the only one to do it while playing all 82 games.Murray-Boyles struggled through multiple thumb injuries as a rookie that limited him to just 57 games, but he still earned all-rookie honours. He averaged 2.3 offensive rebounds per game (second among rookies), blocked 0.9 shots (second) and shot 57.9 per cent from the floor (second). His 0.9 steals per game was seventh among rookies, but everyone ahead of him on the list played significantly more minutes than the 21.9 minutes per game Murray-Boyles did. But it was in the eye test where Murray-Boyles excelled the most, as his combination of size, strength, quickness and feel on both ends of the floor made him a game changer defensively and almost always a positive addition offensively. And then he averaged 14.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks while shooting 65.6 per cent from the floor against Cleveland’s big-man duo of Mobley and Jarrett Allen.Did we mention the Raptors’ best shooter is likely third-year wing Jamison Battle? If the youngsters pick up where they left off, collectively, the Raptors rotation will be deeper and better than could possibly have been predicted a year ago. Losing OG Anunoby hurts, but…If we’re being honest, it’s going to be really, really hard for the Raptors to emerge as the ‘winners’ of the 2023 trade that sent Anunoby to the New York Knicks in exchange for Barrett and Quickley. Anunoby has proven himself as the best defence-first wing in the league and delivered at the highest level possible as the Knicks won the NBA championship this past June.All of that said, Barrett followed up an impressive regular season by averaging 24.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists on strong shooting splits against Cleveland in the playoffs. He showed a strong ability to pound the paint, finishing third in points in the paint in the playoffs with 12.6 and was in the top 25 during the regular season among players with at least 50 games played.Meanwhile, Quickley’s absence in the playoffs due to a hamstring pull could well have been the difference in the Raptors advancing to the second round or not. He was only one of six players to average at least 16 points (16.4), 5.5 assists (5.9), 1.2 steals (1.3) and 2.5 made threes last season — joining the likes of Donovan Mitchell, LaMelo Ball, Luka Doncic and Tyrese Maxey. And while Quickley hasn’t always shown that ‘sixth sense’ that the most elite point guards seem to have, he takes care of the ball (just 1.5 turnovers per game) and was a competitive all-around defender last season.The Knicks got the best player, but Barrett and Quickley have shown they can be helpful starters on a playoff team, and there is reason to believe that at age 26 and 27, respectively, there is still another level each of them can reach.