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Toronto Raptors: 2018-19 NBA season preview

By Mauricio Scott

Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images /
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Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images)
Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Storyline 2: Will Masai Ujiri’s bold moves pay off?

Throughout the entire offseason, Ujiri has been the punching bag of NBA Twitter and analysts alike. The firing of Dwayne Casey was seen as a bold, yet controversial move, as he went on to win Coach of the Year. Then there was that whole thing with DeMar DeRozan. Entering the season, things are starting to come together. According to Canada Live News, Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry, one of the team’s leaders last season, are meshing nicely:

"“We’ve been in almost every group together,” Lowry said after the Raptors finished the practice portion of training camp Friday at Fortius Sport and Health in suburban Burnaby, B.C. “We have to be on the same page, I think we’re going to be on the same page. He’s a heckuva a player and us being on the same page makes everything a lot easier, and getting everyone else on the same page will come.”"

Over a year ago, Ujiri did promise a culture change to take over in the organization. We saw how changes were made in the team’s play style last season, as they emphasized off-ball movement and went from an ineffective, iso-heavy team to one of the league’s best offenses in a year. What we do not know is that Nick Nurse, Casey’s former assistant and now head coach of the Toronto Raptors, was instrumental in laying the groundwork for these modifications.

Furthermore, in regards to the Kawhi trade, Ujiri had no choice but to make a move of this magnitude happen. The team was going nowhere with the Lowry-DeRozan duo, evidenced by the constant underperforming in the playoffs.

Betting on a rookie head coach to win right away is always a huge risk, especially when a star player leaving or staying depends on the team’s success. However, it’s definitely safe to say that if the ship does not implode this season, Nurse will be able to take this team places, especially with Leonard as the alpha dog. After all, he was a former MVP candidate before his injury-riddled mess of a season with the Spurs last season. Ujiri has always been known to be a smart risk-taker, and we’ll see if these sudden changes pay off this season.

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