Should the Toronto Raptors seize the moment?

It’s a wonderfully odd time to be a Toronto Raptors fan.

Exciting. Unpredictable. Manic. The whole package.

One moment, I’m a vat of coffee in, watching the Washington Wizards game, swearing to myself that I’m not watching another game. Trade the whole lot of ’em. THEY STINK.

Then, literally days apart, there I am, holding on to my couch for dear life, scaring the shit out of my already neurotic dog, cheering wildly as the Warriors/Magic comebacks mount. I love this team! Everyone! Playoffs here we come!

It’s a microcosm for the entirety of the year. At times, the Raptors look like they got it figured out. Self-confidence radiates down the roster. Not a hint of panic or worry when things get tough. They just grab their lunch pail and hard hat and get after it.

But then it flips. Everything stinks. Everyone. Frustration, disconsolation, apathy. It’s all there. No one’s getting back. Layups bungled one-after-the-other. Confusion on switches. Turnovers. Timeouts every forty seconds. Nothing’s working. Whole project looks cooked.

It’s why all the Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, Ja Morant, Domatas Sabonis speculation is afoot. The team’s in desperate need of anchoring. Someone, additionally, to bring rigour and consistency to this precocious team.

But I hate that. That’s settling. That’s sitting on the fence. That’s towing the line. Pushing the big boy decisions down the road. Not really risking now but kind of risking the future. It’s too soft. Too impotent.

Do all that, to what? Lose to Cleveland in five? Beat Atlanta in six?

Nah.

If the Raptors do nothing fine. Perfectly, fine. No one would fault the status quo. That’s a decision in-and-of-itself. We got the bones of something good, let’s see it play out.

Michael Grange reported as much for Sportsnet. Bobby Webster and MLSE executives have “a really good vibe” and there remains “a lot of runway, and no rush” for Webster to strut his stuff. They’ve got time.

And, that makes sense. All of this year, so far, is gravy.

The Raptors are mere losses away from a tumble down the standings (five games separate third and ninth) anyway. And a hard stare at their record brings up some doubts. A few empty-calorie wins in there, if we’re being honest. A few too many putrid losses too. What’s that say come Playoff time?

So maybe staying put is the right move. Wait for more coalescence as most develop further into their primes.

But that feels wrong.

Because staying put and hoping for the future and planning out some linear projection of how great everything will eventually be is just not reality. There’s too much variability now. Not everyone can have the restraint of a thousand monks like the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Not everyone can be that fortunate either. Not in the NBA. Not where wear and tear and ligament pops and racist governors and temperamental Superstars and Klutch and dumbass General Managers and questionable gambling habits can upend it all in a heartbeat.

Indiana, Milwaukee, and Boston’s experiences with torn Achilless taught us a stark lesson on Carpe Diem. Use it while you got it. Cause nothing is certain. Nothing [Can you tell I’ve lived my formative years through three global financial crises?].

So, sure, the Raptors’ future looks all sunny and shiny. And sitting on a few eggs ’till they turn to gold seems like a good plan. But what’s any of it matter if everything that is nice and important to you can disappear in an instant!?

Nothing, at the moment, suggests certainty in the East either. It’s a wreck. New York is in the throes of turmoil. Cleveland lost Darius Garland again. Orlando has stunk. The rest are as inconsistent as Toronto. Only Detroit proves superior. And, it’s the type of untested-feel-good-story-number-one-seed team you could see sputtering out first round.

Even the West’s feeling a bit rickety these days.

So, maybe, if you’re Bobby Webster, you say fuck it after all.

Maybe patience was a virtue in the 20th century. Maybe there’s no such thing in this hyper-driven chaotic world. Maybe all we know is what we have in this very moment. And all we can rely on is chance and the increased odds of success we give ourselves. Cross our fingers, squeeze our sphincters, and hope.

So lets throw caution to the wind. Let’s toss the reel into the vast stormy sea, and try and land a big fish. Not for the aforementioned small fry guys. Not anymore anyway.

They’re not worth their weight. Towns and Sabonis are defensive liabilities. Davis is old and injured. Ja Morant is fickle and might not even play. None justify pushing all the chips in the middle.

Besides, you can’t just yell YOLO! and low-ball it. You gotta think big, real big.

To my mind, Toronto needs another All-Star creator [assuming Jakob Poetl gets healthy]. Someone to jumpstart idling possessions. Someone to spread the floor and pressure the rim and punish mismatches and hit the open 3. Someone to complement Barnes and Ingram. Someone to cut dense playoff butter like a hot knife. Someone to go off, King in the dwindling moments of a tight game. Someone not to dribble around for the whole of a very important clutch possession only to end up doing this:

But then what I just described doesn’t grow on trees. Those that do exist aren’t going anywhere, unless they demand it. (Which is also why, as an aside, ahem, I defended the Quickley/Ingram trades. Teams like the Raptors have to manufacture those guys. Buy low, hope high kind of transactions. See what comes of it.)

So, finding these guys is virtually impossible. You’re going to pinch them only by offering an irrefusable proposition. And, even then, it’s unlikely. Still, I crunched the numbers. And crunched again. And these are the guys I found.

Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, and Austin Reaves.

That’s it. Three guys. Who could be available. I’m not saying it’s realistic or possible or whatever. But if you’re going to do it, if you’re going to trade all the picks you got, and if there’s a hint of a chance they’re available, I’m doing it.

It’s the only way to combat uncertainty and inconsistency. The only way to find true arbitrage. The only way to overcome chaos. Is to overwhelm the moment. Zap it with as much of a good thing as you can. Leave no room for error.

So either don’t do anything or do everything.

Because if the Toronto Raptors truly want to put an end to all its tumult, and rise above the rest, and really capture a vulnerable East, then don’t hold back. Don’t half-ass it. Don’t get cute. Don’t seek out the next “distressed” situation. Go for it. Go for all of it. Don’t look back.

Seize the moment.

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