Toronto Raptors: Moving On From The Vince Carter Era
Playing in front of a capacity crowd at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C., and on national television across Canada, the Toronto Raptors started the preseason on a high note by defeating the Sacramento Kings 99-94 on Sunday night.
While it was just the first of eight exhibition games that will span the next three weeks, there was a strange, yet refreshing amount of energy exuding from the fans, media, and players in Raptorland.
No doubt that has a lot to do with how last season unfolded, when the Raptors went from a lottery-bound team to Atlantic Division winners in the blink of an eye. Without question, the excitement in the air leading up to the home-opener on Oct. 29, is also linked to the bond that was formed between the team and its fans in the epic first-round series versus the Brooklyn Nets five months ago.
These feelings of excitement are certainly warranted.
Things change quickly
This time last year, I viewed the Raptors as a fringe playoff team, one capable of hovering around the .500 mark and within reach of the seventh or eight seed in the Eastern Conference. Others saw a team that would benefit more from swinging-and-missing on purpose to increase the chances of a high lottery pick.
Either way, the Raptors have come along way since then.
As they embark on their 20th season, Canada’s lone NBA team is trending upwards like never before. There will probably never be anything comparable to the days of Vince Carter, but this is different. This version of the Raptors is sustainable.
(As a side note, though, there just so happens to be a new high-flyer in town)
Since the buzzer sounded on the 2013-14 season, there was a genuine feeling that this team was just getting started, a sentiment that was affirmed when general manager Masai Ujiri took the necessary steps to keep the core group of players together.
That task, however, was accomplished with relative ease as Kyle Lowry, Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson never seriously threatened to take their talents to another market.
A new era for the Raptors
This naturally led to a new topic of conversation in Toronto – that of continuity and chemistry.
Along those lines, I took a certain amount of comfort on Sunday night seeing five familiar faces in the starting lineup.
It was also encouraging to see Greg Stiemsma, Lou Williams, and James Johnson, making contributions and blending in as if they were always meant to be with this group.
What suddenly exists is a group of players who want to be here and understand the opportunity that is at hand.
This is already shaping up to be a special season in Toronto, but just wait until the real games get started.