How the Raptors Can Be NBA Title Contenders for Years to Come

Image via Illustrator/Kagan McLeod

No one drafts better than the Raptors, and no one picks up players from the wayside like them either. The Spurs’ dynasty centred around the drafting of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and a draft-day trade for Kawhi Leonard while the Warriors drafted Steph Curry, Klay Thompson as well as Draymond Green.

Toronto has the 29th overall pick this year to add to the young core now consisting of Siakam, OG Anunoby, and ideally Fred VanVleet if he re-signs. That’s one All-Star with superstar potential, a future Defensive Player of the Year candidate with budding offensive potential and a borderline All-Star guard. Terence Davis showed flashes of his potential, Paul Watson showed signs of being a contributor, while the jury’s still out on last year’s draft pick Dewan Hernandez. Norman Powell looks more and more like a perennial Sixth Man of the Year candidate.

By consistently scoping out diamonds in the rough the Raptors are ensuring they not only have a playoff core that will always keep them in the conversation, but are always a move or two away like they were before the acquisitions of Leonard, Danny Green, and Marc Gasol as well.

Acquiring talent through the draft is one thing, putting them in position to succeed is entirely another. Raptors 905 has proven to be an incredible incubator of development for Toronto, providing a platform for a lot of the current core to improve and harness skills for the NBA level.

Every great franchise has its own competitive advantage: the Lakers have their history and location, the Spurs’ secret sauce for years was load management before it became the ‘it’ thing, while the Warriors and Bulls took advantage of cap situations better than anyone for their dynasties. For the Raptors, it’s the 905. Only Miami can come close to rivaling the success the Raptors have had in graduating players from their development program to the highest level.

While players around the league may still frown upon getting “sent down,” the Raptors have done well to destigmatize that notion as much as possible. Imagine coming to Toronto and saying you’re not willing to work on your game with the 905 when Siakam and VanVleet stand as the pillars of the franchise’s future—it’s not happening.

In Ujiri, Bobby Webster, Teresa Resch, Alex McKechnie, Dan Tolzman, and a host of others, Toronto boasts a truly elite front office.

The acquisition of Kawhi Leonard does not happen without the years of success before it, continually building up equity, and then knowing when the iron is just hot enough to strike. This front office has made it clear on several occasions that they do not consider tanking to be a suitable option, instead consistently challenging themselves to level up from where they are.

Arguably one of the biggest moments in franchise history came in the last two years, when Ujiri first pursued a culture change while keeping the same pieces, and then realizing that things needed to change the next year but still keeping things in-house by promoting assistant coach Nick Nurse to the top position. Both years Toronto could have looked to rebuild; instead both times they came out better and stronger without sacrificing the present or the future.

The front office’s ability to be flexible and competitive at the same time is exactly what will allow them to be successful, as long as Ujiri—currently a free agent at the end of the 2020-21 season—is kept in Toronto, of course.

Nurse has already emerged as one of the best coaches in the league, with some members of the media even going as far as to say he is the best already. Like the front office, his ability to be flexible stands out. He knows when to be hard on his players, when to put an arm around the shoulder, when to throw haymakers, and when to lay low.

He often talks of his experiences in college, the D-League, and the British Basketball League and, while the talent level in those leagues is certainly lower, there a transferable lessons there about the intangibles of managing relationships and the little things that can be done to get the best out of a player. At 52, he’s old enough to hold significant experience but young enough to keep going for a while yet.

Players recognize and respect this, and when you’ve got a championship ring and a Coach of the Year award to show off after just two years on the job, they’re all ears in meetings and timeouts.

It’s the elephant in the room. The way the ducks are lined up, Giannis Antetokounmpo will be the Raptors’ primary target when free agency comes around in 2021. The front office has lined up its contracts to ensure there is room for a max deal, Ujiri has long had a relationship with the reigning MVP, and only re-signing more than one of VanVleet, Gasol, and Serge Ibaka to a long-term deal would get in the way of that.

Lowry, Siakam, and Nurse were able to show him what they’re capable of on the hardwood last year and earned some quality time with Antetokounmpo at the All-Star Game this year as well. The biggest factor at play will be Milwaukee’s ability to surround Giannis with talent this upcoming season after consecutive post-season failures. Many had the Bucks as firm favourites to come out of the East, but they were hardly the same team in the Orlando bubble and losing to the Miami Heat in five games has raised plenty of doubt. Giannis has since unfollowed his Bucks teammates on Instagram, but that was followed by a three-hour lunch with the franchise’s owner Marc Lasry this past Friday to discuss a willingness to go into the luxury tax to improve the roster.

The biggest domino and topic that was notably not discussed in the meeting is the supermax contract Antetokounmpo is eligible for. Prior to COVID-19, he would have been in line for approximately $250 million over five years. With the expected cap hit due to the global pandemic and fractured business relationship with China, the supermax might even look like a regular max contract. Throw that in with the Bucks' inability to match the level of their regular season success with playoff success and there is every case to be made that it makes most sense to at least wait until the following off-season, when there’ll likely be more money in the league and several more options to consider.

And then, for the Raptors, it comes down to hitting all the right notes with their pitch.