The Toronto Raptors traded their beloved franchise player, DeMar DeRozan, in the summer for the very talented but disgruntled Kawhi Leonard. Many pundits and fans were disappointed that the Raptors would be so bold as to give up a loyal soldier for one who could easily bolt for another team over the summer.
As it turns out, Raptors GM Masai Ujiri may have gotten the steal of the offseason. The team just set a franchise record by winning their sixth straight game on Saturday and are now one of only two undefeated teams of the 2018-19 season. Looking at them this early, Toronto may be one of a handful of teams that can beat the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the Finals.
Or can they?
Are the Raptors Playing Out of Their Minds Right Now?
The Ringer’s Dan Devine tells us how good the Raps have been thus far in this very young season:
“Through the season’s first week, the Raptors have been one of three teams to rank in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency in non-garbage-time minutes, according to Cleaning the Glass, joining the new-look Bucks and the Warriors.”
After six games, the Raptors are third (10.2) only to the surprisingly undefeated Milwaukee Bucks (15.0) and the Warriors (11.9) in net ratings according to NBA.com/Stats. Their offense and defense are lethal to the unfortunate six teams they have faced so far. Four of those six teams lost by double-digits to Toronto.
Their stingy defense is complemented by a three-point shooting offense similar to the Warriors, a philosophy that former coach Dwane Casey adopted in order to keep up with the NBA’s trend.
A Revitalized Kawhi Leonard
It’s a new season and we have a new Kawhi who seems intent on proving his detractors wrong about the kind of person he is and what he values most when it comes to basketball.
He is averaging career highs in scoring and rebounding. His stats of 26.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals may not be eye-popping, but as the leader of a new team, he is their best player almost on a nightly basis. Not only that, he is also shooting career-best clips from three-point land (45.5 percent) and the free-throw line (90.2 percent). Some may think that this is too small a sample size, yet there’s every reason to believe that Leonard is on a mission this season to accomplish two things: win Most Valuable Player honors and a championship with the Raptors this season.
It’s almost as if last year didn’t happen at all and Leonard is back to his MVP-form from the 2016-17 season where he finished third in voting for the highly coveted Maurice Podoloff trophy.
Fighting Spirit
And even when Leonard was asked to sit out the third game in four nights when they faced the Washington Wizards, the team leaned on the shoulders of veteran All-Star Kyle Lowry who exploded for 28 points. Lowry has been playing like a man possessed and he showed how good he can be by leading the team without Leonard. He went up against John Wall, one of the best defensive guards in the league and came out on top in their individual match up.
In an interview after the game, new Raptors head coach Nick Nurse summed up the attitude of his team which has been trying to get to its first Finals appearance.
“We've got a spirited group,” Nurse said, “that's ready to fight.”
Nurse is right. They are in a fighting mood on the court.
This team has been doubted (though with good reason) and discouraged against ever hoping of truly owning the Eastern Conference with LeBron James around in the past. Without their tormentor around, the team feels they are ready to take over the throne from the disheartened Cleveland Cavaliers who are reeling without their former King.
With that vacuum at the top, there are a couple of other contenders for the Beast in the East. There’s the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and the equally undefeated Milwaukee Bucks. Two things separate the Raptors from the rest of the pack: the fact that the core of the team has been together for more than a year and they added one of the best two-way players in the league in Leonard.
Despite protestations from fans when the Raptors traded DeRozan, one of the few stars who wanted to stay in Toronto, it’s hard to argue the early results. Leonard is an upgrade over DeRozan, who needs a system like what the San Antonio Spurs have in order for his talent to be realized in full. With Leonard, he can dominate a game and carry the team on his back regardless of the system in place with both his offense and defense. There are few players in the league who can match his contributions on both sides of the court and he is arguably the best two-way player in the game right now.
You may not like how Leonard handled his divorce with the Spurs, but it’s hard to argue his talent and his drive to be the best player that he can be. He has a chance to be a very special player in Toronto, one who will have to elevate his game a notch to lead a new team to new heights.
How the Raptors Can Defeat the Warriors
What separates the Warriors from the rest of the pack has been the presence of Kevin Durant on what was the greatest regular-season team in NBA history. Since adding Durant onto the roster, Golden State has been a handful for almost every team in the playoffs and more so in the Finals. The Raptors may have the ultimate Durant-stopper with Leonard in tow and someone who won’t miss a beat in making the Warriors forward work on the defensive end.
Whenever Leonard needs a breather, he has Pascal Siakam to take over in slowing down the Durantula. There’s also OG Anunoby who can do the same. The Raptors have no shortage of individuals who can stifle Durant and they may have the best personnel to do so in a seven-game series.
Lowry and Danny Green, an underrated pick-up from the Spurs in the Leonard deal, can match-up well with the sharp-shooting tandem of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Serge Ibaka will have to contain Draymond Green defensively and keep him from initiating the offense from the post. Jonas Valanciunas may have his hands full with newly acquired All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, but the Raptors have the long-armed defenders to effectively double team him in the post and make him work hard for his points.
As for the bench, Toronto has one of the deepest in the league, if not the deepest. Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, Norman Powell, and CJ Miles are a handful for most reserves.
But more than the individual match ups, Toronto already has one of the toughest defenses in the league despite Green and Leonard being newcomers to the group. That’s a testament to how good these two are as individual defenders as much as it is a proof of their team’s defensive superiority over other teams. That’s a good indication that they have a shot at stifling Golden State’s vaunted offense come playoff time.
Not Ready Yet but the Raptors are Hungry
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Leonard and Lowry dismissed the idea that they are immediate contenders to the Warriors who have been to the Finals for four consecutive seasons.
“We have a long road before we ever think about matching up with the champions like Golden State,” Leonard said. “We're not Finals competitors right now.”
“We don't know what this team is,” added Lowry. “We're all still trying to figure each other out.”
Leonard is right in believing that his new team is currently capable of challenging the Warriors for NBA supremacy even if their play on the court says otherwise. It is, after all, a feeling out process for Toronto right now after it semi-overhauled its superstar core and coach for the chance to compete now. Lowry is also correct in his assessment that they aren’t sure what they are at the moment.
But make no mistake.
This team was built to contend for a championship today. Ujiri didn’t make the controversial trade to ship off its heart to the Spurs just to go deep in the playoffs. Leonard’s impending free agency next summer is like a ticking time bomb for the organization which wants to win now rather than later.
If they win the championship this year, it gives them a huge opportunity to keep a superstar of Leonard’s caliber on their team and make him the face of the franchise for years to come. If not, Leonard will probably be gone next season as will most of the team. Rebuilding is not that far-fetched of an idea for the Raptors if they don’t win the Larry O’Brien trophy in June.
Like it or not, the Raptors will have to prepare themselves for the Warriors (the odds-on favorites) in the Finals and all indications are that is exactly what they are doing. More than the Celtics or the Sixers, Toronto is the best the East has to offer against the three-peat-seeking Warriors.
Can they beat Golden State? Sure they can. The only question is whether they can do it four times in a series. It’s a tall order, but they are only six games into an 82-game season. That’s more than enough time for the Raptors to remove the label of playoff busts and redefine themselves as champions.
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