Toronto Raptors: Can First Place Continue?
Most of our Toronto Raptors columns so far have been pretty pessimistic. We’ve had a few hopes and a lot of complaints and we have not seen enough positive things to be confident in a shift from that narrative. But lost in the negativity, aside from a two-game winning streak where they appear to be doing the things we have been screaming for, is the reality that, almost unbelievably, the Raptors are in first place in the East’s Atlantic Division. Yes, a team under .500 is leading a division in the NBA. We suppose that they should just feel fortunate that they are in a division without back-to-back champ Miami or early season darling Indiana. Whether they are interested in such success aside, we have to wonder whether this current divisional hierarchy is sustainable. Looking closer at the division, we see no reason why Toronto can’t take this division. Again, we cannot be certain of their motivations, but the division crown may (gasp!) be theirs for the taking.
The Brooklyn Nets are a rudderless ship and the crew is no good
Most people figured that the Nets would be in control of the Atlantic Division after the bold move of trading draft picks and players for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry. No one figured they would be getting prime versions of these players, but they were getting two future Hall of Fame veterans who should have had something left in the tank. The reality? This team is a joke right now. Deron Williams is hurt right now but looked average when he was playing. New toys Garnett and Pierce are old. They aren’t just old, either. It is painful to watch a complete inability to play transition defense because they can’t move. Pierce is now a fourth or fifth option. We could make the case that they are where they have been in years’ past. Brook Lopez is by far their best player. Lopez is solid and a good very good player at a scarce position, but him as the go-to player could not have been what the Nets envisioned when they put this group together.
The only thing more painful to watch than the ill-conceived roster is the befuddled Jason Kidd doing his best head coaching impression. There have been recent reports that Kidd is not doing offense, defense or making any kind of call. He is lost; and what’s worse is that he is not learning on the fly with a bunch of rookies or players that just see Kidd’s impressive playing pedigree. He is “coaching” seasoned players, ones who know as much about running a team as he does. We did not understand this move then and we don’t understand it now. There is no reason for us or the Raptors to assume good things for the Nets, at least as long as billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov is going to make decisions based on style over substance.
The rest are hardly an issue
Luckily for the Raptors, they also share a division with two teams that, regardless of a relatively promising start, do not have the talent to put together successful seasons. The 76ers were considered a prime example of tanking, but rookie PG Michael Carter-Williams has been great. But he will hit a wall about midseason and they don’t have the horses to compete. The Celtics are going to be good, but much, much later. Brad Stevens can inspire confidence no matter the roster. If he won 20 games it would be a testament with a roster that revolves around Jeff Green and little else. And the Knicks? We still give Raptors GM Masai Ujiri a ton a credit for fleecing them in the Andrea Bargnani trade. To us, they are not a threat either. We don’t believe that any team that features Carmelo Anthony is functional. The Knicks are an odd mix of Anthony and parts like J.R. Smith with little cohesion. If they win the division, we will do the biggest crow tasting in our history and there are some noteworthy examples.
As far as we are concerned, the only threat to the Toronto Raptors is if the Nets find themselves and throw past glory out the window. But with Kidd seemingly just trying to look competent, we think that the players will be doing a fair share of overriding. We thoroughly discount them.
But the Raptors, with faults longer than we can list, are in a prime position to have an accomplishment while accomplishing little. Perhaps the sight of this will keep them from making decisions this season that positively impact their future. But at least they could call themselves division champs.