Scratching and clawing
Season of change is a delicate balancing act with new offence, kids who need to play — and no respect in NBA GMs poll
Two teams, one goal.
At its essence, that’s what the NBA season comes down to for the Raptors, who once again are trying to strike a tenuous balance between immediate success and longer-term development, relying not only on a core of seasoned veterans but a group of young neophytes who must learn quickly for any immediate success.
It was all part of president Masai Ujiri’s grand planned: give a good group a chance to stay together, but have a backup plan ready should things go awry. While many teams around them were losing their minds in a dizzying array of franchise-changing off-season moves, the Raptors basically stood pat and put a finite timeline on the core group.
By retaining Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka and adding C.J. Miles, all on three-year deals, Ujiri clearly marked the timeline they would have to join DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas as the main fivesome.
By keeping a backup group of youngsters featuring Delon Wright, Norm Powell, Fred VanVleet, Jakob Poeltl and OG Anunoby, Ujiri hedged for the future as well.
But the future doesn’t matter to fans or players. It is the present that they worry about and while the veteran group has had some success, if the kids don’t pan out, trouble lurks.
“I’m excited to see what that young group does, because by this time next year it’s gonna pay huge dividends for the future,” coach Dwane Casey said. “It may be ugly a little bit early in the year, but I think as the year goes on this group will obtain a personality, a playing personality, an identity, an air of confidence that will win in the NBA.”
That youth came at the expense of a trio of veterans who were allowed to leave in the summer. The loss of Cory Joseph, Patrick Patterson and P.J. Tucker robbed the Raptors of some key experience that will be impossible to replace.
If the second unit — now comprised of Miles, Wright, VanVleet, Poeltl and Anunoby — can grow into something special, the departed veterans might not be missed; if they struggle, it’s hard to see Toronto matching last season’s 51-win total.
Toss in a slight change in offensive philosophy — more emphasis on ball movement and three-point shooting than ever before — and Casey’s contention that the first part of the season could be gruesome is not hard to see.
“The ball was going to two specific players the last few years, and rightfully so,” Casey said. “We have to get the other guys touches and the feel of making plays. It’s going to be ugly at times because guys are not used to being in that situation. At the start of the year, it may cost us some games, but for those guys to learn to play a certain way we’ve got to bite the bullet and sacrifice, and play a style of play that’s going to help us in the long run.”
The monsters blocking the path, of course, are the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have ended the Raptors’ last two seasons. While the Boston Celtics are trying to repeat as regular-season conference champions and the Washington Wizards are lurking, it is LeBron James et al who present the clear and present danger.
The Raptors didn’t do anything to specifically counter the Cavs, but hope that familiarity and the bitter memories of past playoff series will get them over the edge.
“We’re still trying to win a championship here one day, so we’ll keep trying,” Ujiri said. “Our job is to sign these guys and to make sure we do what’s right by them, by the organization, and the team going forward to win — and to one day win a championship, hopefully. To me, there’s no pressure. You do your job or you know what, leave it for another person to do. It’s simple for me.”
The Raptors will play the “we get no respect” card all year and why not?
In the annual survey of league general managers, the Raptors were slotted into the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference, behind Cleveland, Boston and Washington. As usual, it rankled some. “I love it. I love the fact people underestimate us,” Casey said early in training camp. “They’ve done it every year and we end up winning 50 (games).”
But is 50 enough? The Raptors have won more than 50 in each of the last two seasons, and 49 and 48 the two years previous, yet have fallen short in the playoffs. Much of that has to do with the presence of James and the Cavaliers in the same conference.
“It’s not about regular season. It’s about us pushing through in the playoffs and getting over Cleveland. That’s who’s been our nemesis the last couple of years,” Casey said.
“But that said, I like the fact they slight us. We should be playing with a chip on our shoulder. We’re that little team up north that they don’t respect, and we’ve got to get that and earn that.”