Toronto Raptors Fall in Latest NBA Power Rankings After Timberwolves Blunder

Through one week in the 2026-27 NBA regular season, there has been a roller coaster of emotions for the Toronto Raptors. They were able to capture two convincing wins against the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards without ever facing a deficit, but subsequently were dismantled in a 117-94 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. With the organization’s world flipped upside down after such an eye-opening defeat, ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news that newly acquired seven-time All-Star Kawhi Leonard will sit out for the next few weeks due to the left knee swelling that held him out of Sunday night’s contest. 

With Leonard on the floor, it seemed nothing could go wrong. His offensive gravity allowed much more freedom for Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Immanuel Quickley to find their own offense, as well as creating more easy opportunities for Collin Murray-Boyles and Ja’Kobe Walter. Defensively, the “pick your poison” Leonard/Barnes/Murray-Boyles unit proved to be extremely effective at forcing turnovers and igniting transition offense. On the other hand, Minnesota was able to exploit Toronto’s severe lack of shooting with Leonard out of the lineup, and while Barrett, Quickley, and Walter were able to find their own buckets, the overall offensive flow was dramatically different without their stabilizer to end an opposing run. 

Consequently, the Raptors dropped one spot in John Schuhmann’s NBA Week 2 power rankings. Now sitting at No. 9 overall and No. 4 in the Eastern Conference, the next few weeks are vital for the team’s future outlook. Many view the Raptors as dark-horse championship contenders, but without Leonard on the floor, they simply look lost offensively. 

“They rank seventh in the percentage of their 3-point attempts (56%) that have been wide open,” said Schuhmann. “The four perimeter starters are a combined 14-for-62 (23%) from beyond the arc.”

These stats prove that the quality of the looks Toronto is getting isn’t the problem; it’s that the Raptors can’t hit shots whether they are open or contested. One may think that it’s a positive notion that they are getting so many wide-open shots, but actually it’s quite the opposite. Opposing teams are simply not wasting their energy getting out to the three-point line to defend the Raptors because they believe it is clearly in their favor for Toronto to take threes as opposed to driving to the basket. Right now, head coach Darko Rajakovic and his squad are getting punked in that aspect because there is simply nothing they can do to prove that leaving them open is a bad option. 

Week 2 shows two consecutive home games against the Orlando Magic, who are without superstar forward Paolo Banchero due to an ankle sprain, followed by the contest of a four-game road trip at Crypto.com Arena against the Los Angeles Lakers. If Toronto wants to stop falling further in both the power rankings and standings, they’ll need to immediately improve on their 26.2% from three (29th in the NBA). Equally as important, Barnes will have to turn it around after a 0-for-12 scoreless outing, as he’ll be the offense’s focal point with Leonard out.