The end of an NBA season is always emotional as a fan. You are either devastated and left questioning why you put yourself through this each year when your team loses, or you are overcome with joy when your team climbs to the peak and walks away as the last team standing.
As a Raptors’ fan I can only assume that second part. It’s never happened for me. And the few other times it happened in my life can in the early 90’s when the Blue Jays and Canadiens won their respective championships. I was ages 6-8 when these took place, so I don’t think I was able to savor it fully.
Now that I’m a little bit older I understand that suffering as a fan is what makes the successful moments all the more meaningful. We saw it with Cleveland last year. One of the most tortured fan bases in all of sports finally had something to celebrate, and it was a championship parade unlike any other.
The Raptors have largely been a lesson in fan suffering for the last 22 years. Outside of the glimmer of hope that was provided by Vince Carter, nothing of particular value ever happened for the Raptors outside of the last four years we just experienced.
It’s this history that made the present era of Raptors’ basketball all the more special, and all the more significant. Even if Toronto wasn’t a real championship contender, it still felt like the Raptors’ had a punchers chance. They were the underdog that we loved to cheer for.
They were also an accident. This group was never planned and was incredibly close to never existing in the first place. We all know the story well by now. Masai trades Rudy Gay as the first move towards a rebuild and begins shopping Kyle Lowry. He was a James Dolan “Yes” away from sending the Raptors’ best player to New York. Instead, the team started winning.
Here we are four years later, after four straight playoff appearances, the first two 50+ win seasons in franchise history, three series wins, and one trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan became All Stars, Lowry earned an All NBA Team selection (while DeMar waits to see if he gets the same honor for this season), and both have Olympic Gold Medals to their names.
Now we’re left with questions. No one knows what comes next. Masai Ujiri said as much about himself during his end of season press conference. Every option is on the table. The Raptors’ could easily try to compete again by resigning some combination of Kyle Lowry, PJ Tucker, Serge Ibaka, and Patrick Patterson, or they could start a new era of Toronto basketball and go the route of a rebuild.
Any option in between is also on the table.
And while I find myself spending an inordinate amount of time these days brainstorming what I would like to see happen, and what I think could realistically happen, every option has brought me back to reflection on what has been.
I’m thankful for the last four years of Raptors basketball. I’m thankful to have watched meaningful games after years of knowing it was fruitless. I’m thankful to have lived and died with each playoff shot, no matter how terrible the selection may have been.
In regards to the summer ahead, I’ve got no complaint if someone wants to run the team back next year. I’m equally fine with people who want to do a complete rebuild, which would be my current preference. (Note: the only scenario that I can’t get behind for this summer is retaining our other free agents if Lowry walks. What’s the point there?) What I’m not fine with is anyone saying the last four years have been pointless.
The last four years have mattered. For only the second time in 22 years the Raptors’ found relevance in the NBA landscape. Two star players chose to resign here. One top free agent turned down additional money elsewhere to come to Toronto. Jurassic Park became a real thing, with the fanbase and the franchise earning global respect. We got to witness someone like Norman Powell stealing the ball from Paul George and throw down a soaring dunk. Twice, Masai Ujiri cursed out another franchise in a public setting. We even beat the Bulls.
These things matter.
Yes, it’s a low bar, but we’ve had the privilege of watching the best teams in Raptors’ history and have gotten to enjoy a greater level of success than ever before. Whether a rebuild or a run-back, I can’t help but feel thankful for this era, and I will look back on the 2012-2017 Raptors.
No matter how we move forward, the ride has been worth it.
