After an impressive debut season with the Toronto Raptors, head coach Darko Rajakovic laid out areas Collin-Murray Boyles must work on.
The NBA playoffs first round was the end of the road for one of the league’s most exciting young teams: the Toronto Raptors. But it also gave a rising talent the opportunity to shine when it mattered the most.
Collin Murray-Boyles, a 20-year-old rookie from Columbia, South Carolina, selected ninth overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, showed up in a seven-game series against a legitimate Eastern Conference contender and refused to blink.
Now, with the offseason underway, head coach Darko Rajakovic is laying out the blueprint for what comes next.
“20 years old,” Rajakovic said. “We don’t know his limits. We don’t want to put any cap on his development” (h/t Omar Osman).
Murray-Boyles became the first South Carolina player selected in the lottery in the modern NBA Draft era, and based on what his rookie season produced, that selection looks increasingly justified.
During the regular season, Murray-Boyles averaged 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks across 57 games in 21.9 minutes per contest. He achieved this statline shooting 57.9% from the field.
He took his game to a whole new level in the playoffs, chipping in double-digit points in five of the seven games against Cleveland. He posted 22 points on 11-of-15 shooting in Game 3, delivered a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double in Game 4, and followed it with 17 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, and two steals across 40 minutes in the overtime Game 6 victory.
Murray-Boyles became just the third Toronto rookie in franchise history to record a playoff double-double.
While his postseason heroics won’t be forgotten anytime soon in Toronto, Rajakovic specifically highlighted areas where the rookie needs to improve during Tuesday’s press conference
“I think what we got to really focus on this summer is developing his body,” Rajakovic said. “He needs to get stronger and faster, so he can sustain a long season.”
At 245 pounds and listed at 6-foot-7, Murray-Boyles already has an NBA-ready frame for his age. But Rajakovic is looking beyond his flashes of brilliance during the playoffs and thinking about durability across an 82-game season.
The second priority is offensive and Rajakovic reveals he wants Murray-Boyles to develop a face-up dimension to his game.
“I think it’s very important for him to add a little bit of a face-up game, so he can attack the rim off the dribble, 1-2 dribbles, he can come off DHOs, turn the corner,” Rajakovic said. “It has to be a slow and steady progress.”
Right now, defenders know that Murray-Boyles primarily operates in the post or in catch-and-finish situations. Adding a two-dribble pull-up or a DHO attack forces help defenders to respect a wider range of actions — which opens the floor for everyone around him.
Notably, Rajakovic is not making shooting the central development focus this summer. “He’s obviously going to work on his shooting, but I’m not putting prime on that in his development,” he said.
Rajakovic confirmed that Murray-Boyles spent the majority of last season playing the five in Toronto’s small-ball lineups. The expectation is that he continues in that role while growing into a more multifaceted forward as his offensive toolkit expands.
His ability to play as a small-ball five when needed makes him uniquely versatile and most effective alongside players like Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, and Ja’Kobe Walter in Toronto’s positionless system.