Want to watch the world burn? Just turn to Twitter and search for any of the following:
- “DeRozan Trade”
- “Raptors Trade”
- “DeMar Trade”
- “Lowry Trade”
Just don’t search for “Bruno Trade”…because that would be the darkest timeline and you don’t need people with that type of negativity in your life.
The season starting five game win streak now feels like it’s a world away, and the Raptors currently sit outside of a playoff spot (because that matters in late November?). If you explore the forums or social media, it truly looks as if the world is ending and the season is over.
The tank talk/debate has returned in force..
The Raptors have already lost to the New York Knicks, a deep shame for me even thought I recognize they are improved.
And watching the Raptors often brings about a certain amount of self-loathing in me.
It almost feels like things are back to the way they’ve always been, and that’s a problem. The last two years have been a sweet reprieve from a history full of wounds, and the summer was a continuation of that theme.
Toronto got one of the biggest off-season acquisitions in DeMarre Carroll, managed to get a first round pick and Norman (NORM!!!) Powell in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, got an apparent steal in Cory Joseph, bought a D-League team for Bruno and company, and even added a recent Canadian number one overall draft pick. Sure…it’s Anthony Bennett and not Andrew Wiggins, but…let’s just move on.
Outside of playoff success, it’s been one of the most positive stretches in franchise history, and it’s important to keep these things in mind at the moment. Despite what my emotions tell me after each loss, the world is not crashing around the Raptors.
Toronto has played just 15.8 percent of the season so far, and even maintaining the current pace would see the Raptors finish with 44 wins on the season, good for the sixth best season in franchise history. Even the most optimistic of fans were realistically thinking the Raptors could peak at roughly 50-52 games if all broke right for them.
I was in that group. My preseason prediction was that the Raptors would walk away with the first 50 win season in franchise history, a number that is still within reach if things break right moving forward.
Despite my optimistic prediction of 50 wins though, I’ve always maintained that this is still a building year for the Raptors. With the right bounces the Raptors could force their name into the conversation of the second tier, and perhaps even threaten for a spot in the Eastern Conference Final, but that is expecting/hoping for a lot from a team that was swept in the first round last season and who turned over a good portion of their roster over the summer.
This isn’t a true contender, but is trying to build towards being on in the years to come.
Yes, the Raptors are likely not as good as they seemed when they won their first five games, but they also aren’t just a .500 team when healthy. In fact, the Raptors currently have a net rating of +2.8, tenth best across the league.
Toronto also has the third best rebounding percentage (53.1 percent) behind only Oklahoma City and San Antonio, an area that the Raptors struggled greatly in last year. The defence too is in the top half of the league, after being 23rd last year. Significant improvements in areas of historical weakness.
Which is exactly what this season is about in my mind: seeing marginal improvements in key areas. Add to this the fact that Toronto has played more road games than any other team (9), and has barely seen their home court where they currently sport a 3-1 record. When Toronto has finished the two remaining games on their current road trip, 73.3 percent of their games to date will have been played on the road. This means that 61.2 percent of their remaining games will be played in the hopefully friendly confines of the Air Canada Centre.
All this is to say that hope is certainly not lost. At least that is what I’m trying to tell myself and why I spend far too much time trying to find stats to help me feel better.
