TORONTO — Success was sweet, fleeting and completely reimagined for the Toronto Raptors. They impressed in Wednesday night's home game, featuring just one player from the 2019 championship.
And not to disrespect the lone holdover, Chris Boucher, but you can count on two fingers how many minutes he contributed in those playoffs.
Less than five years later, Masai Ujiri and free agency dismantled everything.
One by one.
Kawhi Leonard? Off to injury hell and the LA sun.
Kyle Lowry? He was traded to the Heat.
OG Anunoby? On the Knicks.
Fred VanVleet? Played against Anunoby for the Rockets on Wednesday.
Danny Green? Jeremy Lin? Marc Gasol? Serge Ibaka? It's out of the league.
In recent, and perhaps the biggest, move — at least since Leonard bolted — lanky All-Star forward Pascal Siakam traded a salary supplement and three first-round picks to Bruce Brown. In exchange, he was released to the Pacers.
A year or two too late, Ujiri gave up on the idea that Siakam was the No. 1 candidate. Siakam had an impact heading into free agency. And if Ujiri had recognized the consequences sooner like Utah's Danny Ainge, the payoff would have been greater, if not more so.
anything.
We never begrudge GMs trying to win games, but NBA executives tend to downplay this goal to put pressure on job security. And Ujiri being Ujiri, I still got more returns than I expected.
Consider this. With two players set to become free agents in the next five months, Ujiri will receive Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Brown, three first-round picks, and likely the top two in the 2024 draft. Acquired a first-round pick.
He refurbished the equipment during the rebuild, if that makes sense.
Suddenly, in mid-January, the people of Toronto are freezing their faces and asking themselves the same questions Knicks fans have been asking for the past three years. “Can we trust RJ and Quickley?” Sometimes the answer is “yes,” as Wednesday's blowout win over the Heat showed.
But again, that's only sometimes. We know Barrett isn't consistent, and while his youth (23 years old) makes a turnaround a key factor, his lack of athleticism limits him. Quickly also belongs to almost the same category, although it is a different type. They will be high-volume scorers who will get more chances in Toronto. they will grow. We can confidently say that the Knicks-Raptors deal is one of those rare exchanges that works out for both franchises.
The Raptors, like the Knicks, have a solid coach and assets to improve an already solid team.
But we're not too sure about the Pacers coming out of this rosy situation. With 64-year-old Rick Carlisle on the sideline and Tyrese Haliburton emerging as a superstar, the urge to “give it a go” is understandable. They are young and fun.
But Siakam won't take the Pacers beyond a level they haven't already occupied. They're still below the Celtics, Bucks, Sixers and Heat. I don't think Wednesday's move reshuffles the East's leadership.
Erik Spoelstra certainly has no intention of giving up his position.
“Brace yourselves,” the Heat coach said Wednesday. “We're not hiding from anyone. We're looking forward to the second half of the season.”
This also puts the Pacers at Siakam's free agency deadline, which could go one of three ways: 1) The Pacers play well and he re-signs at the number he deserves. 2) Siakam will struggle, but the Pacers feel forced to give Siakam maximum money because they're in trouble after giving up three first-round picks, or; 3) Siakam bolt to a more desirable location.
We don't like that possibility. The legend of Jimmy Chitwood doesn't bring NBA players to Indiana. Ujiri produced a championship in 2019 as well, although they weren't together in Toronto either.
Don't bet on Ujiri. The Raptors lost everyone in the recent championship, but they're better than you think.
