It all started so well, and then it suddenly turned for the worse.
The Raptors began 2014 at the top of the Eastern Conference, and ended it with a record of 24-8. It all seemed so certain moving forward. The Raptors were well on their way to 50 wins, an Atlantic Division Championship, a top seed in the Eastern Conference (perhaps even the top seed), and an overmatched first round opponent in a historically weak conference.
Then the calendar turned to 2015. The Raptors would finish 2015 with a .500 record (25-25), fail to secure the first 50 win season in franchise history, fall to the fourth seed in the conference, and get swept by a Washington Wizards team that made the Raptors look inferior in every single area of the game.
But hey, at least we have another Atlantic Division Championship banner hanging in the rafters…right?
Last night’s loss didn’t make me mad. It didn’t even disappoint me. If anything, it felt like a relief of sorts. A relief that it is all done, a relief that I don’t need to watch the Wizards embarrass the Raptors again in these playoffs, and a relief that change may be coming soon. After all, no matter what direction Masai Ujiri chooses to go changes are imminent.
Prior to the start of the playoffs Ujiri was asked if this playoff run would have any impact on his roster decisions moving forward. Unlike his usually cryptic answers, Ujiri was rather forthcoming and straightforward about what this would mean for the team.
Masai, last week: “Playoffs make an impact in terms of evaluating for the offseason. 100% it influences everything”. Should be a busy summer
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) April 26, 2015
That’s as candid as Ujiri gets in regards to his vision for the franchise’s future. “It influences everything.”
In reality, we’ve known all along that Toronto’s success wasn’t by design. The Raptors became one of the NBA’s best stories almost immediately after Ujiri shipped Rudy Gay to Sacramento for their spare parts, and a happy accident ensured as Toronto turned into one of the league’s great experiments. Could a team that intended to tank accidentally succeed without a superstar? Could they actually compete with the best the league had to offer?
For a little over 12 months the answer was a resounding yes. The Raptors went on a brilliant 12 month run that was by far the best in the franchise’s history. Two straight record breaking years, two straight division championships, a blocked lay-up away from the second round, and yet two straight first round playoff exits.
And now the experiment is likely over. The rest of the league caught up to what Toronto was doing, ended this time of success, and pushed them into the dreaded realm of being a treadmill team.
Now, Ujiri and the Raptors find themselves at a fork in the road, and the general belief is that the team could be willing to take a significant step back in order to try to eventually move forward. The Raptors could now tear down the roster than survived such a dismantling less than two years ago.
At the very least, it would be surprising to see Dwane Casey return to the Raptors bench. Free agents such as Lou Williams, Amir Johnson (the Raptors heart and soul for the last six years), Chuck Hayes, Tyler Hansbrough, and Landry Fields (Poor Blake!) could all be gone.
In reality though, it’s not just the free agents that could have just played their last game in a Raptors uniform. Is anyone on the roster other than Bruno truly safe? Could Ujiri look to explore the trade market for DeMar DeRozan? What about last summer’s marque free agent, Kyle Lowry? Has Terrence Ross outlived his ‘potential’? Is it possible that even Jonas Valanciunas, who was viewed as the future franchise cornerstone not long ago, could be sent out in a summer trade?
The noise has already started and will likely only grow as the reality of the season ending sinks in. Raptors’ fans will read/hear more and more about the potential fire sale that is coming to Toronto. Zach Lowe and Amin Elhassan recently covered just this in The Lowe Post podcast on 4/24/15. The entire podcast is worth a listen, but here is the money quote from Lowe (starting at the 43:30 mark):
Let’s say it ends on Sunday…a Raptors convincing loss in the first round, I think all bets are off about what happens in the offseason. I think literally every player is on the table. Anyone can be moved. I think Dwane Casey is in trouble. I think that’s the license that Masai Ujiri has to say, ‘Okay, this team went as far as it can go, it’s just not very good. Let me start putting my stamp on it.’
That, in a nutshell, is where the Raptors find themselves. It will be common (and realistic!) thought that will be permeating every discussion involving Toronto for the foreseeable future.
At the moment there are far more questions than anything else, and the coming months should provide the answers.
One thing is for sure though; this offseason can’t help but be more enjoyable and exciting than this Wizards’ series was.
