Time to blow it up, Toronto

Unfortunate as it may be, it’s time for the Toronto Raptors to blow it up

I’ll admit, keeping a perennial playoff team together is tantalizing. Especially if you’re the Toronto Raptors. The new-era Raptors have notched 48 wins in four consecutive seasons, and 50 wins the past two. Not only that, but they’ve energized the city. The traditional hockey-town of Toronto has been all-in for their basketball team these past few years.

So a full upheaval of the roster would be disheartening. But it’s also necessary.

I’d never usually advocate for a full-on rebuild of a winning team, though. I never thought that the Lob City Clippers should’ve rebuilt their roster, despite coming up short time and time again. I don’t think that the Rockets should rebuild despite similar shortcomings. But that’s because I always felt that in a given postseason, if the stars aligned perfectly, those teams could win it all. I can’t say the same about Toronto.

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While they’ve been a top-seed for the past few years, they’ve never had the it factor. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are great. But they’re not superstar great. They’re not “build a franchise around me” great. And they’re certainly not championship great.

The LeBron Obstacle

Kyle Lowry put it well, when asked about the East’s inability to beat the Cavs.

"[via Sporting News]“They’ve got LeBron James. Nobody’s closing the gap on him”, he told reporters on Friday, after the Cavs went up 3-0."

And that’s putting it kindly. If anything, the gap is widening. The Cavaliers are going to their third straight NBA Finals, whether you like it or not. And they may very well sweep their way there.

As for the Toronto Raptors, the postseason struggles of their two stars are well-documented. But even if they performed up to their abilities in the playoffs, Toronto still wouldn’t have enough. They don’t have a player that can go toe-to-toe with LeBron. They don’t have a player that you trust in an isolation at the back-end of a game.

Increased Competition

On top of this, the competition for second-best is only getting tougher. With the rise of the Wizards and Celtics, the Raptors barely crack the top-4. And the Bucks are right on their heels, ready to knock them off that not-so-prestigious pedestal.

But a full-on rebuild is tough, given their current contract situations. They just inked DeMar DeRozan to a monstrous $139 million contract that doesn’t expire until 2021. Not sure you can move him. But Lowry, on the other hand, is currently locked into a subtle $48 million contract that expires next season (or he can opt out, which he will probably do, this summer). And given his current age, 31, it may be in their best interests to try and see what they can get for him, or let him walk this summer.

Again, it’s not that I don’t like Toronto. I think that they’ve been great for the city of Toronto, and the NBA, these past few seasons. They’ve revitalized hoops north of the border. But four years in, and they’re still levels behind the cream of the crop. And the gap between them and the Cavs is only widening.

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Not to mention the increased competition to even distill the “honor” of second best.

The Toronto Raptors may very well hold tight and give it one more go next season. That’d be settling for a good team. But if they want a chance to become a great team, they have to jump ship and start over.