Before this season, the Toronto Raptors were one of the most intriguing teams in the NBA. They were at crossroads between winning now or tanking for Andrew Wiggins (a fan favourite and Toronto native) or another highly touted prospect from the 2014 Draft Class. The Raptors had just fired Bryan Colangelo, the GM that blessed T-dot with the ridiculous contracts of Andrea “Primo Pasta” Bargnani and Rudy “Black Hole” Gay. To replace Colangelo, the Raptors brass brought in former Executive of the Year Masai Ujiri to steer the team away from the mess that Colangelo and the previous management created.
What happened next was nothing short of a miracle. Ujiri got rid of Bargnani for Marcus Camby, Steve Novak and Quentin Richardson from the New York Knicks and brought in future picks, solidifying the future of the team. The team seemed to be building for the future but had one key player to take care of, the aforementioned Rudy “Black Hole” Gay.
In the 18 games Gay started for the Raptors, he averaged 38 per cent from the field while commanding 30 per cent of Toronto’s possessions, ending them either with a shot, turnover or drawn foul. Only three players in the league history have used more than 30 per cent of their team’s possession and shot less than 40%.In a league obsessed with player efficiency rating, Gay is an abomination, especially with his $19 million salary.
The Raptors were 7-11 when the Gay trade happened, which gave every Raptors fan a reason to rejoice for more than one reason. Firstly, the Raptors were getting rid of the black hole that sucked the life out of offensive possessions and bricked enough shots to fund the renovation of Biology 1. Secondly, the Raptors were bringing in four solid rotation guys in Patrick Patterson, Chuck Hayes, Greivis Vasquez, and John Salmons, which would immediately strengthen the team’s depth at point guard and at the forward position. Thirdly, from a fan’s perspective, it seemed that the team was waiving the white flag on the season and was going to try the “Riggin’ for Wiggins” strategy, in other words basically purposely tanking for the much wanted future pro.
Then the Raptors surprised everybody and went 12-6 for the next 18 games, including wins over high powered teams such as Oklahoma City, Brooklyn and Indy and a hard fought loss against the defending two time champions Miami Heat on their home court. Now sitting on top of the Atlantic Division, Raptors are ranked third in the Eastern Conference. Their ascension to the top has more to do with the rest of the Eastern Conference self-combusting rather than the impressive Raptors play but even the most optimistic fans (including the Global Ambassador Drake) couldn’t have seen this turnaround coming.
Toronto has scored 105.8 points per 100 possessions since dealing Gay, nearly five points better than it managed with a Rudy-centric offence.Toronto is flinging the ball from side to side, one pick-and-roll bleeding into the next on the opposite wing and bending opposing defenses until an opening emerges. The Raptors are passing the ball 30 more times and shooting 3 times more per game — an intended benefit of replacing Gay in the starting lineup with Terrence Ross.
The Raptors have passed the eye test (they are fun to watch again and genuinely like playing with one another) and their coach, Dwayne Casey, reigning Coach of the Month, has developed a game plan to let the younger players, Jonas Valunciunas and Terrance Ross, play with intensity both defensively and offensively. The team is playing with a new found intensity and could cause headaches for other teams, come playoffs time. The Raptors are nowhere close to a championship contender but the transformation over one season gives the fans and the city reason to believe. The team that started the season at a crossroads with its identity, seemed to have found it. As Aubrey “Drake The Global Ambassador” Graham would say, “Started from the Bottom, Now we here.”
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