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The Toronto Raptors participated in this year’s NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, and the team performed well overall, achieving a 3-2 record in its five games.
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Let’s make it clear right away: while wins in the NBA Summer League are certainly nice to see, it’s truly more about the process. But when the team is winning and its young players are showing rapid improvement, you know things are going the right way.
For the Raptors, the combination of the team’s wins and their Summer League roster prospects looking sharp on the court gives reason to believe they have a promising chance this season.
Allen Graves Showing Off in Vegas
With the 19th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, the Raptors selected Allen Graves out of Santa Clara.
At 19 years of age (he turns 20 on July 28), Graves is a 6’9″ power forward who should provide plenty of scoring, rebounding, and energy off the Raptors’ bench this coming season.
With Raptors franchise player Scottie Barnes ahead of him at PF and with Kawhi Leonard set to start at SF once the Raptors’ blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Clippers is finalized, Graves will come off the bench in his rookie season in Toronto.
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But based on what we saw from Graves in NBA Summer League action, he’ll be a key reserve for a Raptors team that is expected to be an NBA Championship contender this coming season.
In his four NBA Summer League games, Graves averaged 16.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.0 blocks as he filled up the stat sheet for the Raptors.
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In addition to Graves, the Raptors’ other draft pick this year, second-round guard Jaden Bradley, also participated in the NBA Summer League. He struggled to shoot consistently during it, but he’ll head to the G-League this coming season on his two-way deal and provide depth for the Raptors.
In terms of undrafted free agents, center Nate Bittle performed well for Toronto in the summer, and he could be a sneaky depth player for the team this year on an Exhibit 10 contract.
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Raptors Have a Bright Future
With Barnes leading the way, Toronto has one of the league’s best young big men as their franchise player. But he is far from the only talented young player on their team.
Collin Murray-Boyles and Ja’Kobe Walter, the team’s first-round picks the last two seasons, were both very impressive this past season. Toronto also has key players such as RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, both on the right side of 30, in its starting lineup.
This past season, the Raptors made a massive leap by making the playoffs and nearly taking out the favored Cleveland Cavaliers in a tight, seven-game first-round series. That prompted Toronto general manager Bobby Webster to trade for Leonard, one of the NBA’s truly elite players, to help the team make a legitimate championship push next season.
The Leonard trade is currently being held up due to the NBA’s investigation into the Aspiration scandal, but the hope is that Toronto will be cleared to trade for the two-time NBA Finals MVP before the season begins.
With Leonard and Barnes leading the way, and with all of the Raptors’ young players supporting them, this team has the potential to be very good for a very long time.
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This story was originally published July 20, 2026 at 8:05 AM.