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The Toronto Raptors have built a sustainable and competitive team over the decade that have consistently been in the playoffs looking to bring a title to the City of Toronto.
It all started in 2011 when coming off a 28 win season, they drafted John Wall out of Kentucky with the 7th pick. They quickly followed that up with jumping 10 spots to claim the number one pick in the “Anthony Davis or bust” draft. Drafting Wall and Davis in back to back years provided Toronto with the combo of PG/Big to create a potential sustainable foundation. The question was, would GM Hokey be able to build a team around them.
*Drafting Anthony Davis and John Wall in back to back drafts anchored the Center and Point Guard position for the foreseeable future
During the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons the Raptors made the playoffs, but were bounced in the first round in each year. Lucky for them, they owned the Seattle Supersonics 2014 first from a previous trade involving Chris Bosh. Th pick was used to draft Zach Lavine out of UCLA. While Hokey was hoping that he would involve into a starting shooting guard, Lavine never reached that potential and the Raptors moved on from him before his rookie contract expired.
* Zach Lavine came into the league with a lot of promise, but hasn't lived up to his top 10 draft status
Despite Lavine not panning out, Anthony Davis turned into an All-League big by his 3rd year and John Wall took over the point guard duties from veteran Tony Parker creating the ultimate one-two punch.
Then the Raptors then struck gold not once, but twice when they jumped seven spots to the 4th pick in 2015 to draft Jahlil Okafor and six spots in 2016 to the number one selection to draft the coveted Giannis Antetokounmpo from Greece. The Toronto Raptors now had the best young nucleus in the league, primed to have one of the best group of young talent in the league for the foreseeable future.
*Adding Okafor and Giannis to Anthony Davis and John Wall gave the Raptors the best young core in the league
In the 2017-18 season, the Raptors with their young core added Three Point Specialist JJ Redick, and solid role wing players Danilo Gallinari and Danny Granger. They won 61 games and made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals, before falling to the eventual champions, Miami Heat. Despite the defeat, the Raptors had Wall (27) and Davis (24) locked up on long term deals, while Giannis and Jahlil were still on rookie contracts. The future was bright.
After the season looking to improve their wing play, the Raptors and the Los Angeles Lakers agreed to a massive deal that would see two first round picks and a first round swap sent to LA for Paul George.
Although the move gave the Toronto Raptors a wing to pair with young talent already on the team, the Raptors were bounced in the first round in 2019 and 2020, proving the acquisition to be a bust.
*At the time Toronto had high hopes that Paul George was the missing piece. But he only averaged 12.5 and 11.3 points per game during his two seasons, while turning it over 2.5 times per game before being traded back to Los Angeles
After jettison Paul George back to the Lakers, the Raptors retooled adding guard Brandon Knight and Big Man Isaac Haas (from the George Trade) and won 55 games, making it back to the Eastern Conference Finals last season with the same core and the same hope.
However, they fell in a tough seven game series to Derrick Rose, Kevin Love and the Milwaukee Bucks, who would go onto win the Finals.
As we look ahead to this season, the Toronto Raptors have the same core once again and have high hopes of making it to the NBA Finals. With an elite point guard, two elite big man, and an elite wing, the Toronto Raptors have the talent. They still need a shooting guard and need to beef up their defense on the perimeter. Can Hokey make the right moves to capitalize on his championship window? This may prove difficult with the lack of cap flexibility and the Raptors are already close to the 2nd apron. Should Hokey move one of Okafor/Davis/Giannis to create more balance throughout the roster? Although Toronto has the star power, the lack of depth is noticeable.
After a very good preseason (where the Raptors GM didn’t even post a DC), it is clear that Toronto has the best starting lineup on paper. The question is: Will it turn into the franchise’ first championship?
It all started in 2011 when coming off a 28 win season, they drafted John Wall out of Kentucky with the 7th pick. They quickly followed that up with jumping 10 spots to claim the number one pick in the “Anthony Davis or bust” draft. Drafting Wall and Davis in back to back years provided Toronto with the combo of PG/Big to create a potential sustainable foundation. The question was, would GM Hokey be able to build a team around them.
*Drafting Anthony Davis and John Wall in back to back drafts anchored the Center and Point Guard position for the foreseeable future
During the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons the Raptors made the playoffs, but were bounced in the first round in each year. Lucky for them, they owned the Seattle Supersonics 2014 first from a previous trade involving Chris Bosh. Th pick was used to draft Zach Lavine out of UCLA. While Hokey was hoping that he would involve into a starting shooting guard, Lavine never reached that potential and the Raptors moved on from him before his rookie contract expired.
* Zach Lavine came into the league with a lot of promise, but hasn't lived up to his top 10 draft status
Despite Lavine not panning out, Anthony Davis turned into an All-League big by his 3rd year and John Wall took over the point guard duties from veteran Tony Parker creating the ultimate one-two punch.
Then the Raptors then struck gold not once, but twice when they jumped seven spots to the 4th pick in 2015 to draft Jahlil Okafor and six spots in 2016 to the number one selection to draft the coveted Giannis Antetokounmpo from Greece. The Toronto Raptors now had the best young nucleus in the league, primed to have one of the best group of young talent in the league for the foreseeable future.
*Adding Okafor and Giannis to Anthony Davis and John Wall gave the Raptors the best young core in the league
In the 2017-18 season, the Raptors with their young core added Three Point Specialist JJ Redick, and solid role wing players Danilo Gallinari and Danny Granger. They won 61 games and made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals, before falling to the eventual champions, Miami Heat. Despite the defeat, the Raptors had Wall (27) and Davis (24) locked up on long term deals, while Giannis and Jahlil were still on rookie contracts. The future was bright.
After the season looking to improve their wing play, the Raptors and the Los Angeles Lakers agreed to a massive deal that would see two first round picks and a first round swap sent to LA for Paul George.
Although the move gave the Toronto Raptors a wing to pair with young talent already on the team, the Raptors were bounced in the first round in 2019 and 2020, proving the acquisition to be a bust.
*At the time Toronto had high hopes that Paul George was the missing piece. But he only averaged 12.5 and 11.3 points per game during his two seasons, while turning it over 2.5 times per game before being traded back to Los Angeles
After jettison Paul George back to the Lakers, the Raptors retooled adding guard Brandon Knight and Big Man Isaac Haas (from the George Trade) and won 55 games, making it back to the Eastern Conference Finals last season with the same core and the same hope.
However, they fell in a tough seven game series to Derrick Rose, Kevin Love and the Milwaukee Bucks, who would go onto win the Finals.
As we look ahead to this season, the Toronto Raptors have the same core once again and have high hopes of making it to the NBA Finals. With an elite point guard, two elite big man, and an elite wing, the Toronto Raptors have the talent. They still need a shooting guard and need to beef up their defense on the perimeter. Can Hokey make the right moves to capitalize on his championship window? This may prove difficult with the lack of cap flexibility and the Raptors are already close to the 2nd apron. Should Hokey move one of Okafor/Davis/Giannis to create more balance throughout the roster? Although Toronto has the star power, the lack of depth is noticeable.
After a very good preseason (where the Raptors GM didn’t even post a DC), it is clear that Toronto has the best starting lineup on paper. The question is: Will it turn into the franchise’ first championship?