In their first playoff appearance since 2022, the Toronto Raptors came up short against the Cleveland Cavaliers in a seven-game first-round series. Not many gave the Raptors a chance in this series, so their ability to find themselves one game shy of their first series win since the Bubble in 2020 should be promising for their future. 

Everyone in the rotation played a part in the team’s result, whether good or bad. Some players made an extreme impact on the Raptors’ ability to get to Game 7, while others may have been the reason the team isn’t playing against the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. 

It’s no secret that the majority of the bench did not play to the best of their abilities, forcing the starters to play more minutes and give more production to have a chance at winning. To see the grades of all the rotational bench players, read the article here. Now, here are the grades for the Raptors’ starters in the first-round playoff series, with expectations taken into consideration. 

The Raptors’ starting point guard throughout the regular season sat out the series with a hamstring strain. He admitted in his exit interview that he wasn’t necessarily close to returning, and that it would have been a low chance for him to even play in the second round had the Raptors advanced. His leadership and scoring ability surely would have helped the team during the stretches of stagnant half-court offense. 

There were high hopes for the second-year guard going into his first taste of postseason basketball. With injuries to Quickley and Brandon Ingram, he played at least 26 minutes in all seven games, largely due to his impressive three-point shooting and perimeter defense to end the regular season. 

If only his best four games of the series were taken into consideration, he would have had a B+/A-. He made at least three shots from beyond the arc on 42% shooting or better in those four games, with several steals and even more forced turnovers. However, in Games 3 and 4, the former No. 19 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft went scoreless in 53 minutes of action on 0-for-15 shooting. Somehow, the Raptors were able to win both of those games, but his absence on the offensive end was a glaring issue that simply cannot happen from a starting player in the playoffs. 

Barrett was the sole reason the Raptors even made the trip back to Cleveland for Game 7. His unbelievable shot to win the game with 1.2 seconds left in overtime will be a memory he and Raptors fans will never forget. Down the stretch, he became the first option when Toronto needed a bucket, and for the most part, he delivered. His improved defense was on display as well, making timely stops against the Cavaliers’ superstar guard duo. 

However, he wasn’t incredibly efficient in the series, especially from distance, and his shot selection seemed questionable at times. Outside of Game 3, when he shot 6-for-8 from three, the former Duke Blue Devil shot just 11-for-36 from distance to match 63.4% from the free-throw line. He surely played himself out of trade talks with his postseason performance, but there is still more work to be done for him to be a top option for the Raptors moving forward. 

After leading the franchise in scoring in the regular season, Ingram was expected to be the guy late in games, as he had been all season. He earned the second All-Star nod of his career because of his unstoppable ability to score the basketball, and that was not on display in the postseason. He was efficient in Game 1, but limited to just nine shots by a Cavaliers defense that was specifically targeting his ability to take over on offense. 

He then followed by shooting 14-for-49 from the field in the next three and a half games before ultimately sitting out the remainder of the series due to a reaggravated heel injury in Game 5. Not only was his scoring heavily limited, but his defense was not up to par against the best second-half offensive team in the NBA. Although he was just traded for at the 2025 midseason deadline, his postseason performance was bad enough that the chances of him being traded this offseason are no longer zero. 

These playoffs were important for Barnes, who was on a mission to continue to prove his worth in this league. He did that with flying colors on both ends of the floor, providing unlimited playmaking, paint scoring, and, of course, relentless perimeter and interior defense. With Quickley sidelined, Barnes was the primary ballhandler for the Raptors, and his ability to pick and choose his moments to find his teammates or get his own shot was extremely impressive. 

Defensively, he made a significant case for Defensive Player of the Year in the regular season, exemplified by his fifth-place voting for the award. Whoever needed more proof of his abilities got exactly that against the Cavaliers. He guarded Evan Mobley for most of the series, but his ability to switch and blow up the pick-and-roll actions with James Harden or Donovan Mitchell led to countless empty possessions for the Cavaliers. Barnes proved this regular season that he is a bona fide All-Star, but this postseason, he proved he is an All-NBA level player. 

Similar to Walter, Poeltl had an inconsistent series. However, the Austrian big man really only had four games where he had a real impact, which ended with a total of 41 points and 28 rebounds. He suffered a lower back strain in the middle of the regular season that forced him to sit out 24 straight games, and it appears he was limited for the rest of the year. He never returned with the same level of aggression in attacking the basket or the glass for rebounding, two aspects the Raptors desperately needed. 

He definitely had his hands full trying to stop Jarrett Allen and Mobley in pick-and-rolls with Harden, but he put up very little of a fight defensively, as seen by Allen’s 22 points and 19 rebounds in Game 7. With how well rookie Collin Murray-Boyles was playing, there really was no room on the floor for Poeltl’s lack of effort, and head coach Darko Rajakovic agreed based on his lack of minutes.