Raptors already planning offseason group team workouts

With the Toronto Raptors holding their end-of-season media availability for their players today, it marks the last time the team will officially be together for the 2023-24 campaign.

And after a year where the team won just 25 of 82 games, it’s perhaps a merciful end to a rather forgettable year in the grand scheme of the franchise.

With four midseason trades, a slew of injuries and personal absences, a lawsuit involving the New York Knicks, and an alleged gambling scandal surrounding Raptor Jontay Porter, the focus was more often than not off the court rather than on it.

But with what was one of the toughest years in franchise history now behind them, point guard Immanuel Quickley shared the news that the team has already begun planning their offseason, with large team workouts and practice runs expected to be part of the organization’s summer plans.

“We will definitely get together a lot this offseason,” Quickley said today. “I know a lot of guys stay in Miami and things like that, but [the coaching staff] is already putting together a plan so our team will be together a lot this summer.”

Quickley, who is a pending restricted free agent this summer after his first year in Toronto, is one of the players who the Raptors could benefit from having work more closely with their coaching staff should he return next season. While previous iterations of the Raptors were full of players with years of experience with the organization, Quickley himself is just 38 games deep into his career with Toronto.

“We probably talk more about off-the-court stuff than we do basketball,” Quickley said of his relationship with Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic.

For fans, the biggest date of note in the near future is May 12, when the team will find out their fate in the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery and if they’ll be conveying their top-six protected first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs or be keeping the pick for themselves and sending out next year’s first-round selection.

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