The Toronto Raptors are indeed the defending NBA champions, though the Eastern Conference franchise did lose All-Star swingman Kawhi Leonard to free agency this past offseason. As a result, the surging Milwaukee Bucks have remained the favorites to ultimately come out of the East this time around.
However, with the Raptors playing quite well since the league's restart down in Orlando, ESPN NBA analyst and former NBA big man Kendrick Perkins believes that Toronto has one major edge over the aforementioned Bucks.
“The Raptors have two bigs that can anchor a defense and protect the paint, Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol — both of those guys are elite defenders. And by the way, I’ve never seen a team that is so happy to play defense,” Perkins recently said, per NESN.
“The Toronto Raptors are happy to play defense. You should see the joy on their faces, the way they take pride in playing defense. They don’t even care about the offensive end. They say, ‘OK, we can get a bucket.’ And they have depth. … So, I’m looking at this Raptors team, Greeny, and I’ve got them picked coming out of the East.”
As it stands today, the Raptors sit second in the East standings, with the Bucks remaining at the top of the heap as the month of August is now officially underway.
With Toronto currently 48-18 on the year, the Raptors trail the 54-13 Bucks by 5.5 games. The Boston Celtics are in third place at 44-22.
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