Toronto Raptors: Where the Raptors stand in the 2020-21 NBA Awards race
By Jeff Borsuk
The Toronto Raptors season isn’t going as well they’d hoped but there is still an opportunity for one of their players to take home some hardware.
Last offseason, the Raptors lost two important players in Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. Those subtractions from the roster are a part of the problem that has been plaguing this iteration of the team.
This season, the Raps have been scratching and clawing to win basketball games when last year they were handily winning ballgames in bunches. This year, the goal of winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy has been replaced with just making it into the playoffs.
This means that the Raptors aren’t in the hunt for any team awards this season. However, there may be some hope that one of the team’s players or staff could claim an individual prize. We will break down each of the NBA’s awards to determine whether there is a chance that there could still be something worth celebrating this season.
The Raptors have certainly fallen out of favour with NBA gamblers, but Chirs Boucher has quietly jumped into the top three for Sixth Man of the Year odds this season. https://t.co/SV2B4n4B6d
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Will the Toronto Raptors win any individual awards?
Regular season MVP
The race for the season’s most valuable player has been a tight one with the expected leaders changing positions throughout the season. Injuries have played a big part in this hunt and may help decide who actually takes home the honour.
Unfortunately, none of the Raptors are anywhere near contention for this prestigious prize considering how poorly they have performed at times this year.
The top five players at this point are likely Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden, Stephen Curry, the sharpshooter on the Golden State Warriors. Even LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers, who has been out of action with a high ankle sprain for weeks, could be receiving votes for the award.
As much as players like Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet are beloved by the City of Toronto and their Raptors teammates, they aren’t currently playing their way into the upper echelons of the NBA like the names listed above. The Raptors have better chances in other categories.