What the new NBA means for Toronto Raptors’ aspirations
It’s becoming all the more apparent that the NBA has a bit of a split-personality problem.
There’s the regular season NBA. That ho-hum-everyday-kind-of-NBA. Where things just seem to matter a lot less. Where so many conflicting priorities – like rest, health, development, and losing(!) – get in the way of winning. And where drama off the court – trade speculation, portentous Instagram posts, ESPN’s “Take(s)” addiction, and whatever the League’s latest existential crisis might be – gets nearly as much airtime as the sport itself.
But then, there’s the playoffs NBA. The hoops-that-fucking-matter-kind-of-NBA. Where every game is a battle to the bitter, bloody end. Where results are the bottomline [suck it, ratings-o-crats]. And where all the superfluousness [unless it’s about Stephen A. Smith playing solitaire LOLZ] shrivels and dies in the shadow of magnificence.
Okay, that’s all a tad dramatic. It’s, of course, natural for championship competition to matter more. But, I gotta say, after sweating this entire postseason out like I took too much acid, the difference feels stark. The playoffs are gladiatorial. The regular season is…kinda silly.
The issue also seems to be peculiarly unique to the NBA. No other of the big three leagues has such a stark contrast. Hockey culture forbids it; NFL violence doesn’t afford it; and the MLB is…well…baseball.
Only in the NBA does the regular season feel like such a slog, at times. And, only in the NBA, do the Playoffs feel so damn different. In every way. In style, in gameplay, in strategy, even in the rules themselves. Coaches, players, and referees are suddenly all participating in a basketball multiverse.
And, this difference between the two is only widening. Of the last twelve Finals teams, six were a three seed or worse. The twelve teams before that, there was only one [if you can even count a Lebron James-led team in the Eastern Conference as a “lesser seed”].
Regular season success is no longer as directly correlative to playoff success as before. [Yes, I acknowledge the Oklahoma City Thunder just dominated both, but bear with me.]
Take two of the last four Conference Finals Champions, for example. The 2023-24 Dallas Mavericks were crumb-bum to start the season. It was only after acquiring PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford at the trade deadline that things got rolling. This year, the Pacers were a meagre three games above five hundred at the halfway point of the season before their surge. Hell, the Denver Nuggets fired their coach within days of this past playoffs, and they got within one game of the Western Conference Finals.
Much of this devaluing of the regular season has to do with parity. More inferior teams have more time to seize an opportunity while less superior teams have less time to seize theirs – especially with players’ Achilles popping like they’re Rice Crispies.
One could argue that’s simply contextual to the current landscape of the NBA. Maybe dynasties lurk in the shadows. But I don’t think so. I think this is the new reality of the NBA.
The regular season is no longer a runway to the playoffs; it’s the sandbox. Teams use it to test and experiment with what they have. Waiting for the right moment to make a push.
And boyyyyyy, is now the right moment in the Eastern Conference.
The giants of yesteryear – Boston, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia – are withering. Those eager to succeed them, like Cleveland, New York, and Orlando remain fallible. Detroit and Atlanta look frisky, but unproven. Miami and Chicago are in no-one-knows-where land. I shan’t even bother mentioning Brooklyn, Charlotte, or Washington – I guess I just did. And, poor Indiana. While worthily honoured as defending champions of the Eastern Conference, the tragic injury to Tyrese Haliburton leaves the Pacers’ future opaque. To say the least.
As for Toronto, well, can it not look at a team like Detroit and see itself? Or squint – hard – at Indiana, and kinda see the same? A young All-Star with a smattering of young, athletic, dynamic guys to complement.
I don’t see why not.
It’s not crazy to imagine one or several of Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett [what the Hell is with all the RJ-is-a-toxic-asset-chatter going on!?], Immanuel Quickley, Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, Jamal Shead or Ja’Kobe Walter making another leap. In Year 3 of our Apron Rules Lord, it is essential for good teams to have a thriving, evergreen development program. Add another lottery pick and early second-rounder to its bevy of prospects, and Toronto has one of the more comprehensive systems in place.
We’ve also seen how important depth, versatility, youth, and grit were to playoff success this year. Toronto flaunts four self-creators in its starting five. A must-have. From there, Coach Darko Rajaković has already shown a willingness to crank the various levers of this team. On defence, they can downshift to smother opponents with length or upshift and harass teams with their speed and quickness. While on offence, the Raptors can now space things out with their cadre of shooters and playmakers or muck up the possession game with their army of mercenary grinders
It’s not perfect. Toronto’s still not as talented as those at the top of the East. There’s enough, though, to think this precocious core could make a playoff push.
And, you know what, before you scoff and roll your eyes at the mere suggestion of such a thing – ’cause I know that’s what you’re thinkin’ of doing – consider the Raptors’ involvement in all this recent trade chatter.
I’d venture to guess Masai Ujiri and company already feel Toronto is in the mix. Why else would they be so active?
An arbitrage-type trade on a distressed asset – such as a picky Kevin Durant or an anxious Giannis Antetokounmpo or a dunce-cap-kid-in-the-corner-situation, like Ja Morant or Zion Williamson – is totally this executive’s modus operandi. Especially when they feel they’re at the brink of something bigger happening. One injury. One guns-salute-turn-grenade-toss. One trade request. A few slumps. And Bingo! There’s Toronto sitting snug in the five seed.
Or, maybe, Toronto’s trade tickling is all conjecture. A recreational sail along the swelling trade seas. Maybe this team takes its time to test the new rotation. If the Raptors overachieve or show some playoff mettle, then maybe they make a Louisville Slugger swing for the fences after all.
Besides, like I said, nowadays teams have ample time to figure it all out. That’s what the regular season is for.
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