Toronto Raptors: 3 takeaways from Game 4 vs. Cavaliers

1. There are no right answers for what comes next

People have been crying for the Toronto Raptors to blow it up for two years running, and this summer will be the third. It’s easy to see why: As long as LeBron remains in the East, this team isn’t going to reach the Finals.

This was their best shot at dethroning the King. They were healthy. They were better and deeper than ever. They had home-court advantage, DeRozan was at the peak of his powers, they had a modernized offense, a top-five defense and the King’s court was weaker than ever.

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They failed all the same, in spectacular fashion, and at this point it’s safe to say the Raptors will never beat a healthy LeBron James in the playoffs. The problem is, it’s not so simple as blowing it up either.

The most popular options are trading Lowry, trading DeRozan or firing head coach Dwane Casey. Each one comes with its own set of pitfalls.

Trading Lowry would mean an even more depressing end to the greatest era in franchise history, shipping away arguably the greatest player in franchise history. He’s also 32 years old, with $64.3 million owed to him over the next two seasons. Even with the talent he brings to the table, that hurts his trade value, along with his injury history and this latest playoff failure.

Considering his age, lack of height and injury history, this might be the best option for Toronto to pursue.

Shipping away DeRozan isn’t much easier. There’s no question he’s an All-Star talent coming off the best season of his career, especially since he started to improve his 3-point shot. But giving up that kind of player means Toronto would have to net a huge return, and there’s no guarantee that would happen considering his defensive deficiencies, his inherent flaws as a mid-range shooter and yes, his penchant for shrinking from the spotlight.

Before this four-game sweep, Casey was widely viewed as a top-three candidate for Coach of the Year. Now people are calling for his head, and understandably so. Despite everything that changed during the regular season, it was back to square one as soon as the Cavs came into focus.

He was out-coached by Tyronn Lue and if trading Lowry or DeRozan feels too difficult, giving him the axe and trying one more time with someone new at the helm would make sense.

Unfortunately, there’s really no correct answer here. It’s clear this Raptors team will never best LeBron as long as Lowry and DeRozan are its best players, but there’s also the (remote) possibility the King abdicates his Eastern throne and heads west. Whether it’s to Houston or Los Angeles, that would give Toronto yet another one-year window to capitalize on.

There’s something to be said for sustained success. There’s also something to be said against repeatedly running into a brick wall. LeBron could very well be back in the East, which would make a decision to keep this team together look stupid. He could also leave, which would make a decision to blow it up look even worse.

Unfortunately, the common theme here is the Toronto Raptors’ prospects of playoff success — past, present and future — are still being dictated by LeBron James. As such, there really are no right or wrong answers at this point in time.

Next: Full two-round 2018 NBA Mock Draft

The impact of these decisions will come to light down the road, but for now, no one should pretend they can see the way out of this darkness when all of Toronto is engulfed by one man’s shadow.