Toronto Raptors: Was This Season A Fluke?

Two seasons ago, the Toronto Raptors made the magical Rudy Gay trade that brought them from a team playing like garbage to a team rising high enough to land the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

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This season played out in the opposite manner. Toronto started off red-hot and then went cold just before the All-Star break, never breaking out of their slump for the rest of the season. That seeped into the postseason and we all know what happened there.

But was this season a fluke?

It might just be that the Raptors simply aren’t that good. In 2013-14, they caught opponents off guard with their newfound chemistry and ball movement that appeared after Gay’s departure. It held up until they finally fell in a seven-game series.

Last season, they caught opponents unawares again to start things off. They had more chemistry than most other teams, and their ball movement was still good. But as the season wore on, other teams began to match the Raptors’ chemistry level and figure them out on the offensive end despite Toronto finishing with the fourth-best offense in the league.

Then the Raps dropped off defensively, finishing the year 25th in defensive rating.

Those high hopes gained from the Raptors’ glorious playoff run in 2014 were quickly shut down this season. These Raptors chances are ephemeral, and as they stand now, they aren’t going anywhere fast.

Both DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry have been named All-Stars over the past two seasons, and yet neither of them were able to push their team out of the first round. Granted, Lowry wasn’t healthy in this year’s playoffs, but still.

Can a team with those two as the best players really get anywhere in the still-pitiful East? The Eastern Conference is only going to get better, and this current Raptors squad wasn’t able to get over the hump when it was at its worst in years.

So perhaps the answer is no. The last two seasons’ outcomes have agreed with that statement. Raps fans often become irate when you mention a DeRozan or Lowry trade (especially since Kyle just signed a new contract with the Raps last offseason), but it may be the only way to keep things moving forward.

Masai Ujiri knows that. He’s not one to shy away from pushing onward. He’s already fired two assistant coaches in Bill Bayno and Tom Sterner (a fan favorite). All bets are going to be off this summer, especially for players.

If Ujiri can get the right haul for one of those two guys, it’s not hard to see him going for it. Maybe a DeRozan trade to the Los Angeles Lakers? Maybe a larger offer to try and bring home Andrew Wiggins from Minnesota (a guy can dream, y’know)?

Who knows what the answer is. The only thing we can know for certain at the moment is that these Raptors just aren’t going to cut it as is.

Real contenders don’t collapse the way Toronto did. Real contenders aren’t flukes.

Next: Golden State Warriors: 5 Lessons From NBA Finals Game 1

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