This Toronto Raptors team is the best in franchise history

Whatever happens to this Toronto Raptors team, one thing is abundantly clear: this team will go down as the best in franchise history.

Once again, it’s been an absolute rollercoaster of a season for the Toronto Raptors.

It started off in dramatic fashion, with Masai Ujiri trading franchise hero and long-time Raptor, DeMar DeRozan, to the San Antonio Spurs for the taciturn and distant, Kawhi Leonard.

Emotionally, it was a tough move. The Raptors had to give up one of the greatest players in franchise history for a potential rental. Your heart probably said no, for a brief moment anyway, but the head was always going to say yes.

The ambition was clear: take this team as far as humanly possible. An NBA Finals trip, something that no Raptor team has ever done before.

A pretty simple objective, right?

The bar was set higher than any year prior heading into this season because the team was far more talented than any Raptors team. So, while a trip to the Finals was a big step up, it was the necessary step up.

It finally looked possible on paper. The Raptors would just have to put it together on the court.

Now, they are two wins away from their first-ever trip to the NBA Finals, with a talented Milwaukee Bucks standing in the way of their wildest dreams.

Whatever happens to this team, whether they lose the next two games and bow out in six, take the Bucks to seven games or even put the sword into the team with the best record in the NBA this year, make no mistake: this Raptors team is the greatest team ever assembled north of the border.

The regular season might not have been a record-setting season, but even with Kawhi Leonard missing 22 games along with the Raptors dealing with an overabundance of injuries, including long lay-offs for Fred VanVleet, Jonas Valanciunas, and Norman Powell, the Raptors still managed to cruise to 58 wins — one win shy of their franchise record set last year.

Midway through the season, the Raptors rolled the dice one more time, in an attempt to get even better. That signaled the arrival of one-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and one of the best passing big men of all-time in Marc Gasol.

In a nutshell; it worked.

Gasol raised the ceiling of the team exponentially and his arrival saw the team jump to the top of the standings in three-point percentage and fourth in assist percentage.

His addition only added to the notion that this team was one of the premier teams in the NBA. They were ready to challenge for a title this year, the window was open for a potentially limited time.

Now, here we are, two wins away from the teams first ever trip to the NBA Finals.

The Raptors have technically been here before, in 2016. But let’s not compare this team to that team. That year felt like a “happy to be here moment” and nothing more. That was the beginning of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavalier clowning the Toronto Raptors for three straight years.

Those days are over now, and it’s a new chapter for the Toronto Raptors. Kawhi Leonard is leading the team, with the ever-present Kyle Lowry, and the budding star, Pascal Siakam by his side.

Whatever happens against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, just know, we’re in rarified air for Canadian basketball as a whole. This team has taken the biggest step of all, exorcising its demons along the way.

And with a few big moments stuck in there, we’re watching the greatest Toronto Raptors team of all-time.