The Raptors On The Verge Of A Dream Season

The Toronto Raptors have reached the 50 win plateau for the first time in franchise history and are poised for a breakout performance in the post season… But it almost didn’t happen.

Greetings readers. I’ve been out the last 6+ weeks dealing with an illness. I’m back and ready for the playoffs! Let’s Go Raptors!

The Toronto Raptors look to translate that same success from their 56 win dream season into the post season. However, they wouldn’t even have had the opportunity to be in this position with without a few key moments that would ultimately transform the Raptors as we knew them into what see before us now.

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Acquiring Kyle Lowry

It’s really hard to imagine where the Raptors would be without Kyle Lowry running the show. Yet, it wasn’t too long ago that he was considered a moody malcontent, a difficult teammate, a coach killer and a mid-tier point guard at best. He was on the outs with the Houston Rockets, and then Raptors General Manager Bryan Colangelo decided to take a chance on him, seeing his potential as a starting point guard at best, and a great back up to former Raptors mainstay, Jose Calderon at the very least. So Colangelo pulled the trigger on a deal to acquire Lowry by sending Gary Forbes and a 2013 1st round pick to Houston in the 2012 offseason.

Lowry was immediately projected as a starter upon his arrival to the Six. However, early injury challenges would prevent Lowry from proving that he was going to be the guy to take Calderon’s starting job in the early part of the 2012-13 season. But he would get that opportunity in spades with another acquisition made by Colangelo that would be the setup for the Raptors resurgence.

The Rudy Gay Trade (Both Of Them)

Knowing that his time in Toronto was in danger of being at an end, Bryan Colangelo made one the biggest swing for the fences
moves of his career on January 30, 2013 and orchestrated a 3 team blockbuster deal involving the Detroit Pistons, the Memphis Grizzlies and six players that saw Calderon go to the Pistons, Ed Davis go to the Bears and Rudy Gay joining the Raptors.

As the Raptors were 16-30 at the time and oddly still in playoff contention (the East was historically bad at this point), this move was seen as an attempt at a playoff push. And with Rudy at the starting small forward position, Toronto would cash in 7 wins to 5 losses (23-35 overall) in February. But back troubles and inefficient play, coupled with the similar playing styles of DeMar DeRozan and a looming $19.8 million player option at the end of the 2014 season made the Rudy Gay trade the silver bullet that would end Bryan Colangelo’s tenure as GM. Toronto would go 11-13 the rest of the season, finishing at 34-48, only four games out of the final playoff berth. Bryan Colangelo was out as Raptors GM. Enter Masai Ujiri who promised to evaluate everything. But with the Raptors starting the season 6-12, it was time for a change.

While his first move, trading former 1st overall pick Andrea Bargnani to New York for 3 players and 3 draft picks in the offseason, Masai’s signature move came on December 8, 2013, when he dealt Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Arron Gray for Patrick Patterson – our reliable stretch-4, Greivis Vasquez – the wily backup point guard who didn’t meet a shot he didn’t like, Chuck Hayes and John Salmon – two veterans at the tail end of their careers.

The move was thought to be the beginning of a tank job, and a blatant (and welcomed) attempt to get Andrew Wiggins in the draft, so all eyes remained focused on Masai Ujiri, who kept his cards face down.

Not Trading Lowry

Probably the most significant move that Masai made in the 2013-14 season was the one he did not make. Speculation came two weeks after the Rudy Gay transaction that either DeRozan or Lowry (if not both) were next to be shipped out of Toronto, which would effectively pull the plug on the rest of the season. Reports started coming out of New York that the Knicks were interested in Lowry and were willing to part with Ron Artest, Iman Shumpert, and a future first round draft pick. Both sides liked the deal. Lowry was as good as gone…

Then Knicks owner James Dolan stepped in and effectively killed the deal. He rationalized that he had been suckered into two lopsided trades with Ujiri before, and didn’t want it to happen for a third time. So Lowry wasn’t moved. And then a funny thing happened. Something no one ever expected. The Raptors began to win. And get good. A lot!

The Northern Uprising

The now young, upstart Raptors squad, led essentially by a group of misfits, took the NBA by storm. They would finish December with 8 wins and 6 losses (14-15 overall), and go on to finish the season with a (then) franchise record 48 wins, going 42-22 since the Rudy Gay trade. They earned the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, and were scheduled to face division rivals, the Brooklyn Nets.

No one expected Toronto to win. Between F-bombs, media articles, verbal taunts, malfunctioning equipment and lint rollers (thanks a lot, Drake -_-), it seemed the consensus that Toronto would most likely get swept after losing game 1, pundits citing Brooklyn’s experience as the ultimate X-factor. But Toronto wouldn’t quit. They started from the bottom, and behind 21000 fans inside the Air Canada Centre and 10000 outside, they showed that they were here to play.

Toronto and Brooklyn would battle back and forth to a decisive game 7, winner take all matchup. The game came down to the last play, with Toronto down by one point. Kyle Lowry, who only months ago was on the trade block, was now in position to make the series winning shot. However, Raptors nemesis Paul Pierce instead made the series winning block for the Nets, ending the Raptors’ season.

But a statement was made. For the first time since 2000-01 season, Toronto was once again ready to be a threat.

The Setback

However, things wouldn’t quite work out the way Toronto would plan. With players like James Johnson, Tyler Hansbrough, as well as newly acquired and eventual sixth man of the year Lou Williams in the fold, the Raptors were thought to have a good mix of offensive and defensive players at their disposal. Unfortunately their offense well superseded their defensive effort. The team would rank in the top 10 in offense, while their once elite defense would rank 23rd overall.

Toronto would once again set a (then) franchise best 49 wins, but would enter the playoffs winning only 12 of their final 28 games. They would face Raptors nemesis Paul Pierce, this time with the Washington Wizards. Just days before the playoffs, the future hall-of-famer would say in an interview that the Raptors didn’t have “it”, which would cause a stir in Raptorland. But when it came time to play, Pierce would show the team from the Six why Washington brought him there as the Wizards swept the Dinos in embarassing fashion.

Uncertainty faced the Raptors going into the offseason, with the team now firmly under the microscope and questions abounding if the current makeup of this team was as good as it was going to get.

The Setup For Greatness

Many thought that Masai was finally going to blow up the Raptors. And for the most part, he did. The obvious need being defense, Masai would eject the trigger happy Willams and Vasquez, the lost and confused Hansbrough, and Raptor mainstay and fan favourite Amir Johnson. In their place, DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joesph, Bismack Biyombo, Luis Scola, Norman Powell and Delon Wright, all from winning programs or highly skilled defensive minded players.

With the sting of last years playoff still fresh in everyone’s mind, the bar was lowered dramtically. The Raptors were expected to only win 45 games or less, and be in the bottom teir of the Eastern Conference Playoff picture, if at all this year.

Using that as fuel, the Toronto Raptors shocked the NBA world by shattering everyone’s expectations, including their own. Reaching the 50 win plateau for the first time in franchise history with 56 wins and the last team in the leauge to reach said plataue (we somehow don’t include the former Charlotte Bobcats, now the Hornets), the Raptors have one last demon to conquer…

They have never won a best of 7 playoff series. Ever!

Not Vince Carter. Not Chris Bosh. But maybe Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. They face an experienced team in the Indiana Pacers and a resurging Paul George, one year removed from his gruesome ankle injury last year. But Toronto is the better team, both in record and on the court. With no Canadian hockey team playing in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, there will be no better time for the Raptors to capitalize on their success and not just win a round in the playoffs, but acually compete for the first time since 2001.

All of Canada will be watching. They will have Canada’s complete, undivided attention. The Raptors are set up for greatness. All they need to do is get out of the first round.

And they will.

Next: Does Raptors Fine Season Mean Playoff Success?

All stats are provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise stated. Matthew Allman is a staff writer for Raptors Rapture. For more coverage on the Toronto Raptors, follow Matthew on Twitter @ShadowRapsFan and also follow @RaptorsRapture for the latest in Raptors news.