CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Toronto fans need no reminder. The playoffs have been a bit of a sore subject for them.
The Raptors have earned a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs in each of the last five seasons, yet they have failed to reach the NBA Finals. A LeBron James-led Cleveland team ended their runs the past three postseasons, including an embarrassing 4-0 sweep with Toronto as the No. 1 seed in the East. The Raptors were stuck in perpetual purgatory.
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But something this year may finally — for real this time — be different. Raptors president Masai Ujiri made the move of the summer in landing Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green from the Spurs in exchange for a package headlined by DeMar DeRozan. Nick Nurse was named the new head coach after Dwane Casey's firing, and LeBron headed to Los Angeles.
Fifty-five games into the season and just days before the All-Star break, Toronto looked like a true contender, battling the Bucks for the top seed in the East. Management, however, refused to stay complacent, joining the Feb. 7 arms race at the trade deadline to acquire even more talent in hopes of ridding the Raptors of their playoff woes.
"There was a big power shift in just a couple of hours," Green said at Saturday’s All-Star availability. "I’m expecting a very good dogfight. Milwaukee’s been great all year. Philly has some new pieces. Boston is always good. With those three teams, the East is powerful. It’s going to be a heck of a dogfight to get to that last stage."
The Raptors acquired veteran big man Marc Gasol from Memphis at the deadline in exchange for Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, C.J. Miles and a 2024 second-round draft pick and signed Jeremy Lin on Monday after the guard was bought out by Atlanta. Since the new pieces have officially moved north of the border, the two have immediately meshed well with the rest of the roster.
Gasol has played in three games for Toronto, averaging 10.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in 20.0 minutes per game. While the 34-year-old is no longer a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, he’s an upgrade over Valanciunas and could play a key role in a potential matchup against Joel Embiid and the Sixers, who recently acquired Tobias Harris from the Clippers.
Lin had eight points, five boards and five assists in 25 minutes in his lone game with the Raptors before the All-Star break. The addition of Lin couldn’t have come at a better time, as backup point guard Fred VanVleet had surgery on Wednesday to repair a partially torn ligament in his thumb, requiring at least three weeks of recovery.
"With Freddy being out, we need [Lin]," Green said. "He shoots pretty well from behind the arc and attacks strongly to the basket to make good plays. With [Gasol and Lin] in our second unit, they bring a lot of firepower."
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Most importantly, Toronto has won every game since the deadline.
"The organization did a good job of trying to make us better during this last stretch," Leonard said. "Time will tell where our journey is going to end. We have a good chance to make it to the Finals and win it, but we still have a lot of work to do."
While LeBron may no longer be a playoff hurdle in Toronto's way, MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo won't exactly be an easy postseason riddle to solve should the Raptors find themselves in Milwaukee. The East-leading Bucks acquired Nikola Mirotic from New Orleans at the deadline, putting another shooter around Antetokounmpo and making a top-five offense even more lethal.
The two teams likely wouldn’t meet until the conference finals, but for the first time in recent years, success in past playoff series could prove to be the catalyst in propelling the Raptors to the NBA's biggest stage.
Green and Leonard have each won an NBA title with the Spurs. Gasol brings plenty of knowledge from seven playoff seasons with the Grizzlies, as well as international experience in helping Spain to a FIBA World Championship and two Olympic silver medals.
"We hopefully bring that defensive experience to bring that playoff edge," Green said. "If we can bring just a couple of those little details, we can help this organization get over the hump and make it to that final stage."
Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, like the rest of Toronto's fan base, hopes that 2019 is finally the team's year, finally something different.
The proof will be in the pudding. Lowry says skeptics only have one thing left to do: "Watch and see."