The Toronto Raptors made sweeping changes in the offseason that was headlined by a blockbuster trade with the San Antonio Spurs involving All-Star wings Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan. Raptors president resident Masai Ujiri made the trade because he felt the team had peaked with DeRozan and needed to change something up if they had any hopes of winning a championship.
“I have a mandate . . . to win a championship,” Ujiri told Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “You can’t continue doing the same thing over and over again. We gave a chance to [that] team. We tried to build it as much as we can.”
Trading for Leonard was a major risk by Ujiri but it may pay off. The Raptors look like a much better team with Leonard and even have the best record in the NBA at 30-12. Aside from their success on the court so far in the regular season, there's still a good chance that the Raptors re-sign Leonard in the offseason.
The DeRozan-Leonard swap wasn't the only major move that Ujiri made this past summer. The Raptors let go of Dwane Casey, who now is the head coach of the Detroit Pistons, even though he won the Coach of the Year and led the team to their best record in franchise history.
Unfortunately for DeRozan and Casey, Toronto flamed out in the second round once again and convinced Ujiri that it was time to make some major changes.
These changes may not result in a championship but it was clear that Ujiri had to do something. The Raptors clearly plateaued and Leonard and head coach Nick Nurse are taking the team to another level.
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