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Should Raptors trot out same roster now that King James has left the building?

By Brian Boake

TORONTO, ON- MAY 9 - Masai Ujiri, Raptors president takes questions as the Toronto Raptors hold media availability after being eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games at the Biosteel Centre on the CNE Grounds in Toronto. May 9, 2018. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON- MAY 9 - Masai Ujiri, Raptors president takes questions as the Toronto Raptors hold media availability after being eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games at the Biosteel Centre on the CNE Grounds in Toronto. May 9, 2018. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images) /
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The NBA’s Eastern Conference is wide open since LeBron James moved on. The Raptors are sorely tempted to make a trade in hopes of improvement, and filling the vacuum. Should they?

The speculation continues unabated. A possible trade between the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors, in which Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan are the principals, remains the biggest source of chatter among NBA media types.

Some of the deals I’ve seen are absurdly one-sided. They would in effect denude the Raptors roster of its youth and future draft picks. The Sporting News’s Sean Deveney has the right idea.

Our site has already offered some blockbuster-trade thoughts (here and here), which you are welcome to consider. However, I want to take the discussion in another direction.

Is no news good news?

Let’s suppose the deal doesn’t happen, which I think is the most likely outcome. DeMar stays put, as does everyone else. [20-second timeout: I’d like to see Serge Ibaka moved elsewhere after his ineffectual playoff effort. Sadly, every NBA executive saw the same thing. Masai Ujiri won’t get any traction if he tries to move Serge and his big-dollar contract.]

Fred VanVleet, the only Raptor potentially in flux, has re-signed with our team. The kids are running hard in Las Vegas in the hope of landing a contract, with the Raptors 905 or elsewhere. As it happens, the two most effective players on our tournament team, OG Anunoby and Malachi Richardson, are already on the payroll. In short, our roster may undergo no change at all between now and Opening Night.

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Raptors fans have every right to be greedy. We have been recently treated to the finest years of our franchise’s regular season history, yet haven’t come close to sniffing a championship. Supposedly the rise of both the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers means our trophy window is rapidly closing. The smart money thinks the Raptors won’t get out of the Eastern Conference in the spring of 2019 – forget about an epic battle with a Western titan.

I’m not so pessimistic. LeBron James has decided he’s done everything he can for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and is now a Los Angeles Laker. That man has been a Raptors killer for too long, but now won’t get a shot at us until the Finals (assuming he gets there – the Golden State Warriors might have something to say about that).

You have to win the East first

The Cavs who remain aren’t a playoff team. Yes, Boston and Philly are for real, and there are a few interesting Eastern dark horses. Indiana and Milwaukee, and perhaps Miami, Detroit and Washington, will be tough outs.

Yet the East is vulnerable. The Raptors as currently constituted have experience and depth, to an extent no other contender can boast. I’d happily go to war with our group.

NBA Presidents & General Managers are hard-wired to make deals. Masai has already made one this off-season, by dumping head coach Dwane Casey in favour of Nick Nurse. I say that’s enough. Maybe running back the same roster is a bad idea…but making a poor trade is worse.

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