Raptors schedule reveal: highlights (SGA!), lowlights (Sag for Flagg!) and a little mystery

You want some schedule minutia? We’ve got some schedule minutia.

Tankapalooza!

Sure, it’s impossible to know who’ll be where in the standings near the end of the season, and which teams might be playing for greater odds in the Cooper Flagg draft lottery. But look at Toronto’s last 12 opponents: San Antonio, Washington, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Chicago, Portland, Detroit, Brooklyn again, Charlotte again, Dallas, San Antonio again. Aside from Philadelphia and Dallas — and maybe San Antonio, if they get squared away — that has the possibility of a “no one wants to win” finish.

Westward bound

Even though the first month will be dominated by conference play because of the Emirates NBA Cup, the Raptors still get to head west as they usually do early in the season. They’ll be at Denver, Sacramento, Los Angeles (for both the Clippers and Lakers) and make a pit stop in Milwaukee on the way back from Nov. 4 to 12. It will also mark the first time they’ll see the Clippers’ Intuit Dome, the only new building in the NBA this season, which officially opened Thursday.

Westward bound II

The NBA did the Raptors a solid: Their only other trip to the Pacific time zone is March 14 to 19: Utah, Portland, Phoenix and Golden State. How the schedule makers split Sacramento and Golden State into two trips when they’re about a 90-minute drive apart is mystifying, though.

Mystery dates

Yes, it will be the usual 82-game season when all is said and done. But thanks to the NBA Cup schedule, there are two gaps in case the Raptors make the knockout rounds. If they don’t advance, they’ll play Dec. 12 or 13 and Dec. 15 or 16: one home, one away. The NBA Cup playoffs will be Dec. 10, 11, 14 and 17.

Old friends 

Everyone got to pay tribute to former Raptors Fred VanVleet (Houston Rockets) and OG Anunoby (New York Knicks) when they returned to Toronto in new uniforms last season, but no one saw them play because they were injured. Health willing, they suit up when New York is here on Dec. 9 and Houston visits Dec. 22.

One and done

Several fan favourites are scheduled to pay one regular-season visit to Scotiabank Arena — with the usual warning that load management, injuries and who knows what else might gum up the works:

• Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, who is sure to make at least one jaw-slackening play: Oct. 28 
• LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, who might retire after this coming season or play five more: Nov. 1 
• Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, sure to get the loudest ovation of any visiting player: Dec. 5 
• Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, who can get a triple-double that hardly anyone notices: Dec. 7 
• Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, who has known the arena since before he was a teenager: Jan. 13 
• Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, who might be the best player in the league by that time: March 23 

So long, Turner

This coming season figures to be the last  on Turner with a new broadcast deal kicking in for 2025-26. It won’t matter to the Raptors, who have been left off the Turner schedule. The team’s lone appearance on the big American networks will be Jan. 18 in New York on ESPN. The Raptors’ local broadcast schedule is still to be determined. TSN and Sportsnet tend to have a draft once the hockey schedule is also out and settled.

Back-to-backs

The Raptors will play on consecutive nights 15 times, up one from last season. A third of them, however, will require no travel. They’ll have four back-to-back home sets and one in Los Angeles.

Make it a double

Three of them, actually. The Raptors will play the Hawks in Atlanta on Jan. 23 and 25, the Magic in Orlando on March 2 and 4, and host the Washington Wizards on March 8 and 10.

Holiday hangover

The Raptors (surprise, surprise) won’t play on Christmas Day. But they will take on the Celtics in Boston at 3 p.m. on Dec. 31, then kick off 2025 at home to the Brooklyn Nets, a 7:30 p.m. start.