What if Chris Bosh Never Left the Toronto Raptors?
By Go Paolo
The Dynamic Duo and Fringe Playoff Hopes
2010-2011 Season: The Start of the Bosh-DeRozan Tandem
It was a sunny morning on July 9, 2010, when the news breaks. Chris Bosh chooses to forego the chance to join Dwyane Wade in Miami and re-signs with the Toronto Raptors on a max contract.
“I am committed to pushing this franchise to where I believe it can be,” Bosh said as he inked a five-year $90 million deal (with a player option in his fifth year).
With Bosh turning them down, the Heat acquired Amar’e Stoudemire to form their Big Three.
Bosh’s max deal left the Raptors with little room to maneuver for the rest of the offseason. Bryan Colangelo traded Hedo Turkoglu to Phoenix for Leandro Barbosa and Dwayne Jones.
But even with Bosh’s return, the Raptors were too thin. With a starting five featuring Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, Sonny Weems, Chris Bosh, and Andrea Bargnani, the Raptors would barely improve on their previous record and win 42 games for the sixth seed in the East.
With the sixth seed, the Raptors faced the aging but still elite Boston Celtics who would make short work of them, bouncing them from the playoffs in five games.
Bosh put up yet another admirable season similar to the previous season’s while DeRozan showed improvements and became the team’s second scoring option, eclipsing Bargnani.
The Raptors were one of the NBA’s most prolific teams on offense but were terrible on defense. And they badly needed help on the wings as their makeshift platoon of Weems, Linas Kleiza, and Julian Wright just didn’t cut it.
2011-12 Season: So Close Yet So Far
During the 2011 NBA Draft, the Raptors picked 17th and quickly addressed their gaping hole at the small forward by drafting Tobias Harris out of Tennessee.
In what was a lockout-shortened season, the Raptors just made the playoffs winning 34 of their 66 games and clinching the 8th seed.
Going against the top-seeded Chicago Bulls, the Raptors caught a break when the Bulls lost both Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah to injuries. In a hard-fought series, the Raptors secured their first playoff series victory by upsetting the short-handed Bulls in six games.
Despite riding high off this upset victory, the Raptors would again lose to the Celtics.
During the playoffs, the Raptors saw glimpses of DeRozan, Harris, and 2010 first-round pick Ed Davis. The young trio came up with big plays during clutch stretches as Bosh carried the load despite struggling more than he did in the regular season.