The full 2025-26 NBA regular season schedule has been released. Fans of every franchise can now look ahead with a clearer sense of what’s to come: highlighting tough matchups, important dates, the return of familiar faces, and an overall sense of the landscape that awaits their teams.
With that, Raptors Nation and folks like myself now have a clear sense of Toronto's future trajectory in competition. Kicking off the new year with a game on the road, I believe it's the perfect season opener for the Raptors to face the slightly revamped Atlanta Hawks.
Raptors set to face Hawks in season opener on October 22
I've been closely watching how the Hawks have navigated their offseason, and I’ll admit, from a Raptors' enthusiast’s perspective ... I can't help but feel a bit jealous.
They added Nickeil Alexander-Walker, whom I believe is one of the NBA’s most underrated players, and took a shot on Kristaps Porzingis. Despite his ongoing injury concerns, he’s exactly the type of big you'd want on a contender — especially considering his championship pedigree with the Celtics (even if it got cut short abruptly).
And of course, Trae Young remains at the helm, complemented by Dyson Daniels, an absolute defensive stud; a healthy, hopefully refreshed Jalen Johnson; Zaccharie Risacher, still developing; and key bench pieces like Vit Krejci, Luke Kennard, and Onyeka Okongwu.
Put simply, this won't be a walk in the park for the Toronto Raptors. Sure, Toronto has retooled also and are eager to make a statement in the season debut of Brandon Ingram, signaling a new era of Raptors basketball following Masai Ujiri's departure. However, I’d argue they’re up against a tough match-up with a team equally desperate to claw their way into the middle of the Eastern Conference’s relevancy, if not, aiming for a higher seed in the pecking order.
Last season, the Raptors went 2-1 against the Hawks, but it's important to recognize that this isn't necessarily the same Atlanta team as last year — and the same goes for this version of Toronto. This year, Toronto will face the Hawks four times, with an extra game added to their schedule — a group play matchup in the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup.
I'm really excited to see how these two teams, with their updated looks, will perform on October 22. I truly believe Toronto and Atlanta will be closely on each other's radar all year, especially as the postseason approaches. We might just be getting a sneak preview of the key matchup the Raptors could face in a future playoff battle.