Raptors launch title defense with little respect, few expectations

Prediction

The Toronto Raptors won’t be in the mix to threaten the 60-victory mark in 2019-20, but they’re also not just going to curl up and fade out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Toronto will be competitive, putting together 47 wins and finishing fifth in the East, setting up a tough first-round series with the Indiana Pacers.

Pascal Siakam has some great nights and some not-so-great nights, but gets stronger as the season goes along and shows he’s got the ability to be the Raptors’ franchise face for the next five years at least (the length of the shiny new max deal he’ll get).

There are questions for the future in Toronto — who will be the team’s next center once Marc Gasol is gone, for instance — but in 2019-20 the championship hangover isn’t as bad as it could be after the departures of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.

The Raptors wind up getting past the Pacers in the first round before being a relatively quick out in the conference semifinals. Disappointing the year after winning a title, but not catastrophic.