Blow it up. Fire Casey. Trade DeRozan.
When you’re completely dominated in a playoff series the way the Toronto Raptors were against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, it’s easy to let emotions take over. Emotional thinking can often lead to rash decisions and there have been all sorts of knee-jerk reactions surrounding this Raptors team over the past week.
Scroll through social media and it’s easy to find posts about firing the most successful coach in team history, trading away an all-star who one year ago committed the rest of his prime years to a team that has historically had trouble keeping its franchise icons, and going down the Draft Lottery road.
That’s not the path the Raptors should be looking to embark on.
The makings of a contender are already in place. A core of DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka is a great foundation and the right collection of complementary players would make the Raptors a real threat to knock off Cleveland. And it’s much easier to attract that type of talent if you have a winning culture established.
Toronto is arguably the second-best team in the Eastern Conference as currently constructed and leads the East in wins since the start of the 2013-14 season. It would be very hard to walk away from that kind of sustained success and try to re-tool on the fly or completely throw in the towel on the next few years and gut the roster.
President Masai Ujiri has made it clear that he has ownership’s permission to go into the luxury tax, so re-signing both Lowry and Ibaka is a very realistic possibility. Stick with something you know has been successful and try to bring in the right role players to push you over the top.
It’s also unfair to fully judge the DeRozan-Lowry-Ibaka trio based on this past playoff run. The three of them never fully got the opportunity to grow their on-court chemistry because of Lowry’s injury late in the season. A full year together would be very beneficial and it would be intriguing to see what would come out of it.
Of course, keeping this core together likely starts with re-signing Lowry, who has very wisely declined his player option for the coming season. The Philadelphia native is entrenched as a top-tier point guard who is able to facilitate for his teammates or call his own number and take over a game with his scoring.
Ibaka was a strong addition to the team for the stretch run, giving the Raptors a legitimate threat at power forward from both an offensive and defensive perspective. Although his shot-blocking isn’t quite what it used to be, he’s still the rare combination of a rim protector and deadly three-point shooter, hitting 39 per cent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
DeRozan often takes heat for his analytically cringe-worthy mid-range game and iso-heavy style but it’s important to remember that this is a man who consistently puts in the work during every off-season to keep getting better. He’s not the complacent type.
What did he do after signing a $139 million contract last summer? Raise his scoring average by four points per game and post what might have been the greatest season in Raptors history.
This isn’t someone who is going to coast and rest on his laurels, so when he comes out and says he wants to make his teammates better and become as deadly a passer as he is a scorer, you take his words at face value. The three-time all-star understands offences are trending toward heavy ball-movement with three-point shooting as king. He deserves a chance to show he can adapt and continue to grow his game.
Speaking of growth, the Raptors will be looking for their younger players to continue to make strides.
Norman Powell looks like he’s on the cusp of being a productive player on a nightly basis and a full season of consistent minutes would go a long way in accomplishing that.
His insertion into the starting lineup in Game 4 against the Milwaukee Bucks completely changed the series. He’s able to serve as an extra ball-handler next to Lowry and DeRozan and he also brings strong defence and an already-decent three-point shooting stroke that he will likely look to improve.
Jakob Poeltl, Pascal Siakam and Delon Wright all played an important role at some point in 2016-17 and look like solid pieces for the future. While their continued development could be a big factor for the Raptors moving forward, the three of them could also serve as valuable trade chips.
Although the NBA continues to move away from traditional centres like Jonas Valanciunas, packaging him with a combination of young assets or draft picks could net the Raptors a nice return this off-season or at the trade deadline.
This is the type of move the Raptors should be looking to make. Keep the crux of the band together and make improvements to a proven unit.
There is absolutely no guarantee that you’ll find success if you play the lottery game time and time again. Just ask the Sacramento Kings or Orlando Magic. Even the Philadelphia 76ers and their much-maligned “Process” are years away from contending.
Who knows what that kind of future looks like? Sure, you could strike gold with a player like Karl-Anthony Towns, or you could end up with Andrea Bargnani 2.0. There are no certainties with tanking except for a few abysmal seasons off the bat.
As the Cavaliers sweep drifts further into the past, perhaps cooler heads will start to prevail and we can stop talking about tearing down one of the NBA’s best teams of the past four years.
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