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In the last few seasons, the Toronto Raptors have constructed a team that has become a constant in the playoff picture.
However, Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri made it clear during a recent interview with Michael Lee of The Vertical that the primary goal for the franchise is to get past LeBron James in the Eastern Conference.
Article Continues Below“Our job is to beat him,” Ujiri recently told The Vertical. “You have to figure it out. If not, then go play in some other league or something. Go play in Greece. Our jobs, and the jobs of the players, [are] to figure out how to beat those guys. If not, you might as well give them the championship before it starts. I understand how good he is and I understand how good those teams are, but those things end. At some point, somewhere, somehow, we as leaders of our group, we have to figure out a way and motivate our players and give them the confidence to go out there and compete.”
The four-time league MVP has been the standard bearer in the conference for the last several years with seven straight NBA Finals appearances. Toronto has come up short against James in each of the last two postseason trips with latter being a convincing sweep in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
That said, the Raptors have done a strong job of keeping their core group in tact despite the lure of free agency. This summer, the Ujiri was able to re-sign All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry to a three-year, $100 million and veteran big man Serge Ibaka to a three-year, $65 million contract. This comes just a summer after the team retained All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan on a max deal of five years worth $139 million.
This is certainly a step forward, but in order for Toronto to truly challenge James and the Cleveland Cavaliers they need to acquire another All-Star caliber player. Until then, it will likely continue to remain an uphill battle for the Raptors to finally surpass them.
