Title: Raptors’ youth gains more valuable exposure in loss to Nets
Date: December 19, 2024
Original Source: Sportsnet
Synopsis: In my latest at Sportsnet, I wrote about the Raptors starting their youngest starting lineup ever in a loss to the Nets, complete with Jonathan Mogbo as a small-ball five.
The Toronto Raptors have never started a younger group of players than they did on Thursday.
This year, their 30th as an NBA franchise, has been all about looking to the past — both the parts worth honouring and the parts that would be better left forgotten if they weren’t a prelude to better days. Three decades is a long time to accomplish just about every anomaly of record, and the Raptors have certainly started worse lineups. But believe it or not, given the tone of the fanbase with Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper waiting in June, they’ve also been far more aggressive than this in starting a less-than-their-best group. Aron Baynes as the starting small forward, things of that nature.
Still, a franchise that spent its first two decades constantly looking to the future had never started a group younger than the 22 years and 187 days that a returning Scottie Barnes, Jonathan Mogbo, Ochai Agbaji, Gradey Dick and Ja’Kobe Walter averaged. Ironically, their G League affiliate, Raptors 905, started a significantly older starting five at the G League Showcase in Orlando earlier in the day.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 