The Current State of the Toronto Raptors

4 consecutive playoff appearances, back to back 50+ win seasons and 1 Eastern Conference Finals appearance. The golden era of Raptors basketball is upon us and yet, it has been overshadowed by the continued dominance of LeBron James and the seemingly unbeatable Golden State Warriors.

As the dust has settled from a second round sweep to the Cavaliers, the Raptors find themselves as both winners and losers of the offseason thus far. They found success in being able to retain their 2 biggest free agent stars in Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka to term-friendly deals. On the other hand, the losses of Corey Joseph, Patrick Patterson, DeMarre Carroll and PJ Tucker have heavily diminished their depth, especially on the second unit.

As of today, the current roster indicates a heavier reliance on young, unproven players such as Delon Wright, Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl to shoulder a load of rotation minutes. For a team that’s in a 3 year window of contention, that is not an ideal situation in the slightest and it leads to a number of question marks.

With the retention of the Raptors core 3 pillars, the team seems primed to finish with home court in the playoffs once again on account of an increasingly weak Eastern Conference. However, the losses of key rotation players make it difficult to see an improvement over the last two seasons. The young guns could surprise us all but it isn’t fair to expect that from them at this stage in their limited careers.

With that being said, the Raptors are in a unique situation where despite their aging core, they’re still one of the youngest teams in the league because of Masai Ujiri’s insistence on internal development.

As Masai seems keen on letting the core ride out these next 3 years, the Raptors seem destined to repeated second round and conference finals exits. From a short-term perspective, it feels disappointing and somewhat anti-climactic considering the excitement of these past couple of years. On a larger scale, we need to realize how far this franchise has come from the days of Mike James and Andrea Bargnani leading the team to meaningless lottery seasons. The reality is the Raptors aren’t a championship caliber team but 50 wins isn’t too bad either.

An alternative is if the Raptors decide to blow it up in the middle of their window. Admittedly, if the Raptors are looking to become great instead of just good as soon as possible, this would probably be a better long-term option. Although core players such as Lowry and Ibaka appear to be exiting their prime, they still provide tremendous value to contending or pseudo-contending teams. At the very least and barring a sizeable drop in production, the Raptors should be able to nab draft picks and young players in exchange for their two older core pieces if they choose that route.

The case of DeMar DeRozan is slightly more compelling because of his age and career trajectory. He is projected to have more than a few years left in his prime which means that the Raptors could keep him on board if they elect to undergo a quick retooling. Of course his impending free agency in 2020 could truly test his loyalty if that were the case. The Raptors could also contemplate dealing him along with Lowry and Ibaka as he would realistically net the biggest return of assets out of the three.

A rebuild of the Raptors would be painful to see but it would also be exciting to see the full potential of their young nucleus, especially Norman Powell. With their young pieces already in place, they have the optimal components in place to accelerate a rebuild.

There is no clear answer on how the Raptors could or should approach the next 3 seasons. The NBA is an ever-changing landscape and you never know what’s going to happen next. Generally, as a fan of any sports team, championship or bust is a common sentiment. As a long-time fan of the Toronto Raptors, it’s much tougher to say.