Toronto Raptors returning to Montreal for exhibition game

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Canada’s NBA team is returning to Montreal.

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The Toronto Raptors  will hold training camp in Montreal and will take on the Washington Wizards at the Bell Centre on Oct. 6 as part of the pre-season schedule. The game will be the eighth NBA Canada Series game played in Montreal, the most in any Canadian city outside of Toronto.

The NBA Canada Series has featured 15 teams playing 18 pre-season games in front of more than 335,000 total fans across six cities.

The game will feature Montrealers Chris Boucher and Quincy Guerrier (with the Raptors on a training camp invite) and Kelly Olynyk and RJ Barrett, who will be representing Canada in Paris at the Olympics.

The French-language media also will be pleased to welcome Wizards players Bilal Coulibaly and Alex Sarr, who both hail from France. Sarr was the second pick of last month’s NBA draft while Coulibaly went seventh a year ago. Washington is banking on the two teenagers to eventually help the franchise turn itself around.

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Washington also just drafted Kyshawn George, who was born in Switzerland but is the son of Montreal native Deon George, a former Canadian national team player.

The Wizards will later head to Mexico City for another exhibition, this time against the Miami Heat, on Nov. 2.

“The energy, enthusiasm and passion that fans in Montreal have for the NBA is on full display every time we play games there. We thank the Raptors and Wizards for participating and look forward to celebrating the 10th NBA Canada Series and the Raptors’ 30th anniversary at the Bell Centre in October,” NBA Canada senior vice president and managing director Leah MacNab said in a release.

Raptors general manager Bobby Webster added in the release: “We have always felt the love from our fans in Montreal and across Quebec, so we are thrilled to be visiting again this fall.

“The NBA Canada Series is an amazing initiative that allows us to physically connect with communities across the country. We look forward to celebrating nearly 30 years as Canada’s NBA team.”

The Raptors played a pre-season game in Vancouver last year and previously played in Montreal in 2022, when they also hosted a game in Edmonton.

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