what happened to...the toronto raptors (pt. 2)

Welcome back to Part 2! 

After the turbulent Lebronto years, the Raptors realized that changes needed to be made to prevent the franchise from wasting these few years of possible contention. Personnel changes were necessary, and fast. 

First, Masai Ujiri fired then long-time coach Dwayne Casey in favour of Nick Nurse, an Iowan shooting specialist and assistant on Casey’s staff who had a knack for creative defensive schemes that would later be shown to the world in the Raptors playoff run. More importantly than a new coach, however, the roster needed to be shaken up. Players had to go as clearly, the current roster was not working out and in dire need of a retooling. 

No one could predict the events that would come next.

THE TRADE

Demar DeRozan was a franchise cornerstone and one of the most dominant Raptors of our generation who comprised the second half of a star-studded backcourt with friend and point guard Kyle Lowry. DeRozan made clear in the past, numerous times, that his intentions lived and died with the Raptors and he had no desire to leave in Free Agency to a more appetizing city or roster. In essence, Demar was the posterboy for loyalty and trust in the Raptors, two traits that were hard to come by for Toronto, with most players preferring to head down south to escape the weather of the city and eternal mediocrity of the franchise, at the first chance they could get. Demar had also developed a strong relationship with Ujiri and an intimate friendship with Lowry whose fun and playfulness could often be seen on the court and during post-game interviews. To complicate matters, I loved Demar. I remember one of my first background photos on my tablet was of an iconic Demar photo, as was my Drive profile picture and whatever other platforms I could throw it on. He was a star, he pledged himself to Toronto, and while he may not have had great playoff success, he was my favourite player. Demar was a good one, and I would live and die by Demar just as he would do the same for our city.

On the morning of July 18, 2022, the basketball world woke up to the news that Demar DeRozan would be traded to the San Antonio Spurs for disgruntled and injured two-way star Kawhi Leonard. Wow. If Demar was a star, Kawhi was the equivalent of the sun, a star on both ends of the court who could change the dynamics of a game in an instant with his crafty shot making and robotic playstyle that kept defenses off balance. For a young player who had devoted himself to turning around the franchise, famously writing “I got us,” to comfort and inspire fans after the departure of Chris Bosh, moving on from Demar was hard and a difficult decision for Masai. How would Lowry respond to the decision? How would the team? Changes were needed, certainly, and many thought it would be a small renovation, a retooling of the kitchen or bathroom,  but it was difficult to foresee the tearing down of the entire Raptors house.

Although many questioned his ability to play after sitting out the previous year with injury, It turned out that Kawhi would be the player that pushed the Raptors over the edge, from Quasi-contender to NBA championship favourites. The Raptors not only had Kawhi but a burgeoning young star in Pascal Siakam, now one of the best all-around players in the league, but at the time, a complementary scorer who could keep defenses honest and take some of the offensive load off Kawhi and his shaky knees. Fred Vanvleet, Mr. Bet on Himself, was an undrafted guard turned bonafide floor general at point guard who could run the offense and is tribute to Leonard and Siakam in one of the smoothest offenses a Raptors team had seen in years. That season, the Raptors would attain the largest winning streak in franchise history at a whopping fifteen games, and go on to finish second in the Eastern Conference behind the nifty Milwaukee Bucks. For years, the regular season was just the warm up before the grueling playoffs, a precursor to the only time of year that truly mattered. Spoiler alert, that playoff run would be magical.

SO, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TORONTO RAPTORS?

It was all ho-hum, hum-ho, business as usual for this new edition of the Raptors team, who unlike past rosters, would finish out playoff games in fashion. Lebronto should have been renamed Kawhonto with all of the game-winners and daggers that sent teams packing, as Kawhi put together one of the greatest individual performances in postseason history on the way to the first ever franchise championship, a victory over the dynasty that was the Golden State Warriors. How could any Raptors fan, or Canadian in general, forget The Shot, a fading mid-range and now Canadian heritage moment that bounced five times before sinking into the hoop to send the Raptors soaring through to the Eastern Conference Final, or the gritty comeback after being down two games to none against the Milwaukee Bucks to clinch the first championship birth in franchise history. 

The good times wouldn’t last.

HERE'S AN AUDIO RECORDING OF THIS ARTICLE FROM THE AUTHOR:  LISTEN HERE!