The NBA playoffs are still in full swing, with the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs putting on a show in the Western Conference Finals and the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers battling it out in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors, meanwhile, are following the action from afar and preparing for a crucial offseason after an early playoff exit.
The Raptors battled and gave it their all despite losing two starters to injuries, but ultimately couldn’t close out the Cavs after forcing Game 7 on a clutch 3-pointer from RJ Barrett in front of a hyped Toronto crowd. That early exit doesn’t automatically make the Raptors a postseason loser, though. In fact, Zach Lowe listed them as one of his postseason winners on the May 19 episode of The Zach Lowe Show.
“Scottie Barnes averaged 24 points, 8.5 assists—8.5 assists!—6 rebounds, almost 3 stocks, 51% shooting, 38% on threes, 54% on twos, defended everybody,” Lowe said about the Raptors. “First it was Evan Mobley, then it was like, actually we need you to defend James Harden and Donovan Mitchell and deny them the ball.”
“Despiriting loss for Toronto in some way, but no Quickley the whole series, no Ingram in the last half of the series,” Lowe continued. “They damn near almost won it, and I think they came out of that series, and I think they came out of that series feeling like, yeah, we have a franchise guy. This guy’s going to be an All-NBA guy someday and probably soon if he doesn’t make it this year.”
The playoffs were a first step in the right direction for the Raptors
Winning their first-round series would have been great, especially after they came as close as they did with a Game 7 on the road, but that’s not all this playoff run was about. It was about learning what the young players on the roster could do, how much more Scottie Barnes could elevate his offensive game, and what the roster was desperately missing.
The Raptors got the answer to all of those questions, and Barnes’s breakout was the best thing that could have happened to this team. He is the face of the franchise and the player the Raptors are building around. Knowing that he has another level to reach and is on his way to becoming one of the NBA’s elite two-way players makes it much easier to trust the process.
The Raptors have their two-way star, but they still need to upgrade the roster around him, and doing so may not be as easy as it seems this offseason, given the money they've already committed to several players.
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