Could the Toronto Raptors beat a full strength Team Canada?

Who’s the best team North of the Border? If the Toronto Raptors faced off against a full-strength Team Canada, who would you take?

The Toronto Raptors won an NBA championship, ranking them as the best “professional” team in the world.  Yes, they lost their best player in Kawhi Leonard along with starting shooting guard Danny Green. And yes, they face a confusing future with three of their best players on expiring deals. But hey! They still have the ability to be a top-three team in the East; they also have a promising star in Pascal Siakam.

With one of the most promising young rosters, including Jamal Murray and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a slew of accomplished NBA veterans, Team Canada was supposed to be one of basketball’s rising powers this summer. Except nobody showed up. And instead, the team went out of the FIBA World Cup with a whimper.

Even if both Team Canada and the Raptors are missing their best talent, they’re still forces to be reckoned with. We have yet to see either team play with their full-strength hypothetical rosters, but it’s never too early to dream of a fantasy matchup.

Who would win in a game between the 2019-20 Toronto Raptors and a full roster of Team Canada?

Now for clarity’s sake, we know that both teams are coached by Nick Nurse. So we are imagining this if Nick Nurse did coach against himself either through cloning or the multiverse theory. It’s Nurse versus Nurse, okay? – Technically Boucher is on both teams as well, although to be kind, we can call his impact limited.

And we get that the NBA game is different from the international game. So for the purpose of this piece, we will be playing with international rules.

Now let’s go on to the tale of tape..