what happened to... toronto sports franchises (NBA & NHL)

06/10/2023

If you’ve been following the Toronto sports landscapes in the recents weeks to months, you’ll notice that things have changed. No longer are the Toronto Raptors one of the premier franchises in the NBA, respected for their integrity, coaching, and player development; no longer are the Toronto Maple Leafs fighting for the cup in the NHL playoffs after being eliminated by the red hot Florida Panthers; and no longer are the Toronto Blue Jays considered as world series favourites, a title they held a recently as the start of the 2023 spring season. As for the Toronto FC, our soccer friend who sometimes is forgotten amongst the big three, they’re franchise is in complete and utter disarray after reaching the league final in three or four years between 2016 and 2019. So, let’s dig in: in this two part series, we’ll examine what happened to each of the Toronto franchises.

THE TORONTO Raptors

Let’s begin with the Raptors. You can think of this as a continuation from our previous Raptors series where we ended at the pivotal trade deadline of this most recent season. Unsurprisingly, the weeks following the trade deadline saw more of the same, even after the acquisition of Jakob Poetl, albeit at a hefty price of a first round pick, gave fans hope that the team would turn the season around. The Raptors finished the season slightly over .500 at 15 wins and 11 losses but finished the season at 41 and 41, a sign of eternal mediocrity and dwelling in the NBA’s no man’s land, the region between the seventh and 11th seeds where qualifying for a playoff play in tournament drastically reduces a team’s chances of earning a top 5 draft pick. That’s where the raptors ended up, ultimately squandering a fourth quarter lead in losing to the Chicago Bulls with Daughter of Demar DeRozan, Diar, earning an audience member of the game for screaming every time the Raptors attempted a free throw. I shouldn’t say the playoff tournament can’t lead to success, just look at the Miami Heat, winners of the tourney, who are now set to play the Denver Nuggets in the NBA finals.

In terms of the Raptors, however, the team has no direction and the front office isn’t sure of whether to return next season with the same group led by Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, or ship one of them off and enter a rebuilding mode. To make matters worse, Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr are pending free agents, their 13th draft pick is far from a guarantee of a quality player, and perhaps most importantly, the Raptors are coach-less! Former bench boss Nick Nurse signed a deal to become the coach of the Philadelphia 76ers and Adrian Griffin, an assistant under Nurse, the coach of the Bucks. The Raptors have been linked to Steve Nash, Becky Hammon, and JJ Reddick, with the only appealing option to me being Reddick because of the fact that he could, even in his retirement, beat all of the Raptors players in a three point shooting contest in practice.

I’m not sure where the Raptors could go from here. Finding a coach is the first step, and in an ideal world, Pascal Siakam and the 13th pick should be traded to the Blazers for their third pick so the Raptors can walk away from the draft with point guard phenom Scoot Henderson. From there, Fred VanVleet can walk, Gary Trent can return only if he doesn’t ask for an outrageous amount of money, and OG Anunoby should be primed for a bigger role in the offseason. A starting lineup of Henderson, Trent Jr, Anunoby, Achiuwa and Poeltl doesn’ts sound so bad to me. For now, we’ll have to wait and see what Masai has in store.

THE TORONTO maple leafs

I’ll keep this brief because I'm not the biggest Leafs fan, but what happened to these guys? Talks of “this was finally going to be the year,” supported by a big trade deadline acquisition and some out of this world playing from Mitch Marner were proved wrong when the Leafs lost in the second round to the Panthers. If you call a first round playoff victory a success, with one of the highest payrolls in the league, then enjoy your summer Leafs fans because it only gets harder from here with Auston Matthews in his final year of his $750,000 rookie contract. I’ll quote sports columnist Cathal Kelly because I’m not sure how the Leafs should move forward.

“You know what can be done by the Toronto Maple Leafs? Anything they want. Stop thinking like some podunk club from the back end of nowhere and start thinking like Manchester United. If everyone agrees you are “a different beast,” act that way. The Leafs spent seven years acting like things happen to them – good things (they win the draft lottery) and bad things (the refs job them in the playoffs again). Before this all falls apart, try making things happen for a change. A new centreman isn’t going to change much. A new leader might.”

Kelly believes the Leafs should move on from current coach Sheldon Keefe and target Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who I know to have lots of Stanley Cup experience, even as a general hockey fan.

Things got even weirder (in other words, more Leaf-like) from here, with the rushed departure of GM Kyle Dubas after his words at a tearful press conference led to Brendan Shanahan pulling the plug on the Dubas era. Hopefully for the Leafs nation, next year’s drama and crushing layoff loss will be put behind them. Anything but more of the same.

Note, while writing, the Pittsburgh Penguins hired Dubas as President of Hockey Operations, a big promotion as he’ll likely hire a GM under him to get things done. A big move for them!

Let’s hope the Dubas-less Leafs, free-falling Raptors, underperforming Jays, and Toronto “reality TV” FC can turn their fortunes around. For now, however, the future is far from bright.

WRITTEN BY: JON ROSENHEK