Rajakovic: ‘Day-to-day thing’ with Leonard - BERITAJA

QUÉBEC – The Toronto Raptors held their last believe astatine Laval University connected Friday earlier opening their pre-season against the Miami Heat.

The mobility is: will returning Raptor Kawhi Leonard play Saturday nighttime astatine the Videotron Centre?

Both the Heat, pinch caller centre Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Raptors person added perennial all-stars to their rosters this season.

Leonard helped Toronto triumph the 2019 NBA title and was traded backmost to Toronto from the Los Angeles Clippers successful a well-publicized woody this past summer.

Rajakovic said he would deliberation about playing Leonard connected Saturday, but it seems improbable arsenic the Raptors person been taking it slow pinch the oft-injured Leonard successful camp, a very ray head-to-head drill betwixt the coach and the superstar aft Friday’s believe notwithstanding. He has yet to participate successful full-contact drills.

“It’s a day-to-day point pinch Kawhi, but since he hit maine coming astatine one-on-one, possibly he will play against the Heat,” joked the fourth-year caput coach of Canada’s lone NBA team.

After playing a sold-out intrasquad crippled the nighttime earlier connected the location tribunal of the Rouge et Or, the Raptors are group to meet 1 of the about improved teams successful the NBA.

Rajakovic has precocious expectations for the team, acknowledging that about teams successful the Eastern Conference person besides improved.

“Expectations are changing, and we don’t attraction what the different teams opportunity about us,” Rajakovic said. “We person precocious expectations from Day 1, that’s really we work, that’s really we attack it.”

With the presence of Antetokounmpo pinch Miami, and LeBron James and Jaylen Brown successful Philadelphia, the Eastern Conference looks a batch different than it did astatine the extremity of the 2025-26 season.

Rajakovic said about of his regulars will play against the Heat. That could see constituent defender Immanuel Quickley, who says he tries to emulate the two-way crippled that Leonard has mastered.

“My dada sewage maine to watch Leonard play erstwhile he was pinch the Spurs,” said Quickley. “He was talking to maine about (Leonard’s) defence, and he was the first personification I saw arsenic a two-way player, and that’s the measurement I americium now, to play offence and defence, arsenic not a batch of players for illustration to do that.”

Rajakovic said he’s really happy pinch the measurement the first days of training campy went, but now it’s clip to spot really the squad stacks up against extracurricular competition.

“Every squad successful the NBA is super-excited astatine this clip of year, everybody likes their drills, but the players are sick and tired of going against each other, truthful we are excited to spell retired and play personification else,” Rajakovic said. “The crippled tomorrow will besides springiness america a batch of answers.”

The first-ever NBA crippled successful Quebec City is already sold out, thing that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Rajakovic.

“We are a small spot spoiled everyplace we spell successful Canada,” he said. “We are spoiled but astatine the aforesaid clip we are very grateful, arsenic we understand the value of the Raptors successful the different Canadian cities and communities, and the power the squad has connected the younger generation.”

After playing the Heat successful Quebec City, the Raptors proceed their training campy successful British Columbia earlier playing the Clippers — Leonard’s erstwhile squad — connected Oct. 10 successful Vancouver.

This study by BERITAJA was first published Oct. 2, 2026.