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Murray-Boyles, Martin and Hepburn will get a lot of runway in Vegas action.
Published Jul 10, 2025 • 4 minute read
Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks drives to the net between Ja'Kobe Walter (left) and Gradey Dick of the Toronto Raptors.
Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks drives to the net between Ja'Kobe Walter (left) and Gradey Dick of the Toronto Raptors. Getty Images
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Toronto Raptors fans that have grown used to their favourite team losing most games are in for something different the next couple of weeks.
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Toronto has brought a powerhouse of a roster to Las Vegas for the NBA’s annual Summer League slate.
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The benefit of winning only a third of the time over the past two years has been an influx of young talent — maybe not the top-of-the-lottery additions bad teams dream of, but enough solid prospects to start to turn a corner, which is the plan for 2025-26.
But before that, Toronto brings a group with the second-best odds of winning the Vegas tournament (behind Utah, according to the prognosticators).
It’s a change from recent editions which featured only one or two intriguing names and is actually a bit of a callback to the most storied Raptors summer roster of 2017, which included stalwarts Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and Jakob Poeltl.
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The hope is there’s a future all-star or two from the current crop, which is headlined by this year’s No. 9 overall draft selection Collin Murray-Boyles, recent first-rounders Ja’Kobe Walter and Gradey Dick, and second-rounders Jamal Shead, Jonathan Mogbo, Alijah Martin and Ulrich Chomche, plus shooter Jamison Battle and defensive standout Chucky Hepburn.
The team will be coached by Raptors assistant James Wade.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING TO SEE
Murray-Boyles doesn’t really have the type of game that typically stands out in the run-and-gun, erratic Summer League circuit, but this will be a first look in an “NBA environment” for the highly touted former South Carolina star.
How will he look alongside new teammates like Walter, Dick and Shead, who Murray-Boyles likely will play with plenty off Toronto’s bench to begin the season? How has his jumper come along? How has the work he has done on his body progressed in terms of slimming down a bit?
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Can Walter and/or Dick dominate this level of competition? Both are capable of it.
This will be Dick’s third summer playing in Vegas and the second time for Walter. Expect both to only get into two or a maximum of three games if past trends hold of young veterans only getting an early taste of the action.
Dick had a strong start to his sophomore season, but a rough finish. Is he bigger and stronger and more confident?
Walter’s college coach at Baylor told us a year ago he expected the talented wing to fill out, too, and that should help. He had an excellent last couple of months as a lost season wound down.
Shead should toy with this competition too.
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What about Martin and Hepburn? Martin is an electric, but undersized guard. We’d expect the Raptors to have him work on his skills handling the ball and trying to set up the offence a bit, even if he might be a full-time shooting guard who will have to make up for the size disadvantage with some elite athleticism. He should really stand out and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Martin turn heads in this format.
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Hepburn is on a two-way contract after going undrafted and probably bides his time with Raptors 905 for a bit, but a big Summer League could catch Toronto’s attention, as Shead did at times last summer.
Is there more to Mogbo? The drafting of Murray-Boyles has made Mogbo’s journey a bit tougher as there’s some overlap in skills, but Murray-Boyles is simply a much better prospect.
The team didn’t seem sure if he was a big or a wing in his rookie season, but ideally wants Mogbo to show he can play the wing (meaning hit a lot more than the 24% of his three-point attempts he made). He only attempted one three-pointer in last year’s Vegas stint and only four in five pre-season games. Expect that to change this year.
How’s Chomche coming along? The youngest player in the 2024 draft was supposed to get into a handful of March and April games for the Raptors to get acclimated to the NBA. But a February MCL tear dashed those hopes. He’s healthy now and ready to return to game action.
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It’s hard for centres to do anything offensively in Summer League because most guards are looking to score there or simply aren’t good enough at finding big men, but Toronto has higher-calibre guards and they’ll try to get it to Chomche at least a bit.
How the raw 19-year-old does when he gets the ball will be interesting to see. But he was drafted as a defensive prospect, first and foremost, and you can expect some highlight-reel blocks are on the way.
Any breakout candidates? Canadian AJ Lawson, who had some big scoring games down the stretch in rare feel-good 2024-25 Raptors moments, and Colin Castleton are both on non-guaranteed contracts and will be fighting to make the final roster.
Quebec’s own Quincy Guerrier played 40 games for Raptors 905 last season. Big man Tyson Degenhart has some limitations, but is Boise State’s all-time scoring leader and can get buckets.
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WHEN THEY PLAY
Friday, July 11 vs. Chicago, 8 p.m. ET
Sunday, July 13 vs. Orlando, 6 p.m. ET
Tuesday, July 15 vs. Denver, 8 p.m. ET
Thursday, July 17 vs. Golden State, 10 p.m. ET
TBD playoffs
@WolstatSun
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