The Toronto Raptors have their sights set on the sixth-worth record in the NBA standings.
The Memphis Grizzlies are the team in competition with Toronto, setting up an intriguing tank battle between the two.
Both teams are experiencing injury riddled seasons. Memphis navigated a majority of the season without Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. The Raptors are without Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl and RJ Barrett due to the passing of his younger brother Nathan.
Since losing Barnes, the team is 1-6, lost seven games in a row and eight of their last nine. Toronto is simply undermanned, but losing games is the best thing right now as getting lottery picks is crucial.
Now 14 games remain in the regular season, the Raptors play 10 teams with a winning record. This bodes well in their chances of losing more games.
When going through a rebuild, there is a lot of losing and it is not a pretty process. If the season continues the way it is, Toronto is chasing the lowest franchise win percentage since the 2010-11 season.
Memphis recently got back Bane and Jackson Jr. is still playing, so the Grizzlies may win more than the Raptors. Toronto is 23-45 and Memphis is 23-46, this race for the sixth-worst record is heating up.
When it is all said and done, the Raptors have to give themselves the best chance possibly to keep their first-round pick. If Toronto ends up finishing with the sixth-worst record, they have a 46% chance of keeping the pick.
However, there is still a possibility of the team going through all this losing and it does not pay off. Relying on chance and ping pong balls falling in favor of Toronto is uneasy, but they have to put themselves in the best position possible.
Toronto dead last in CBS Sports’ latest NBA power rankings
It is no secret that the Raptors are trying to lose games, regardless of injuries. With this rebuild just kicking off, the Raptors may be in the mix of being the worst team in the association.
CBS Sports is picking up on that by placing Toronto last in their latest NBA power rankings.
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