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Toronto Raptors: Why this could finally be their year in the East

By James Kattato

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 5: Kawhi Leonard #2 and Danny Green #14 of the Toronto Raptors sit on the bench reading the half time stats during the second half of an NBA preseason game against Melbourne United at Scotiabank Arena on October 5, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 5: Kawhi Leonard #2 and Danny Green #14 of the Toronto Raptors sit on the bench reading the half time stats during the second half of an NBA preseason game against Melbourne United at Scotiabank Arena on October 5, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /
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We say this every year, but this one seems a little more real than the rest. The Toronto Raptors have a legitimate chance to win the 2019 NBA championship

Going into this NBA season, the Toronto Raptors were locked and loaded and fans were excited following the team’s new additions. We expected them to be good, but not this good. Sporting a 57-24 record, the Raptors have secured the second seed in the rising Eastern Conference.

The squad is littered with talent that matches up well against any team in the league and has phenomenal bench depth. Their unlikely hero of this great run? The man that everyone counted out before the season started for having no heart and not being the same guy as previous years, Kawhi Leonard.

During his debut season in Toronto, Leonard has been the catalyst of this team and has replaced the production and memory of DeMar DeRozan with a completely new product. He’s averaged 26.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and nearly two steals per game. He’s truly made a difference not only on the offensive end but the defensive end and is quieting the pre-season whispers that he may not have been the same after all.

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With his comeback season, he’s bound to make the All-NBA First Team and even be a dark horse candidate for MVP. It isn’t just Kawhi however that makes the Raptors into a real title contender, it’s every piece around them. These pieces aren’t just any regular guys, these are players that on their best night can 100 percent beat any team in seven games including the Golden State Warriors.

Kawhi has a supporting cast of Marc Gasol, Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, and many others, and this team is built for success for many reasons.

Since joining the team at the trade deadline, Gasol has been a revelation for the Raptors, but it hasn’t been in the basic stat-line that you see his impact. It’s been six years since he last hoisted the honor for Defensive Player of the Year, but there’s still great potential for him to impact a series on both ends and show why he won the award in the first place.

Compared to former Raptor big, Jonas Valanciunas, Gasol does absorb more touches on offense but doesn’t sit on the ball for nearly as long. He’s an incredibly smart and unselfish big that always looks to set his teammates up before looking to score the basketball. He’s a legendary contributor that the Raptors were lucky to land at the deadline. His unselfishness can be comparable to that of his teammate, Kyle Lowry.

Lowry is playing the most unselfish basketball of his career averaging 8.7 assists a night which ranks second in the whole NBA. He’s being a full-on team player this year and isn’t as worried about carrying a massive workload in the scoring column like past seasons. Make no mistake about it though, K-Low can still have a 30 point game out of nowhere if the team needs a scoring boost, which makes him a massive threat at all times. Another massive threat that nobody saw coming this year was Pascal Siakam.

Unless you’re a die-hard Toronto fan, you probably haven’t heard the name Pascal Siakam until this year, but you should know it by now. Averaging 17 and 7, Siakam has had a year where most voters see him as the leading candidate to win Most Improved Player of the Year. He’s improved in every category that you can name from last season. His points have increased by 10. Rebounds, two and a half. Free throws, a 16 percent increase.

Spicy P has truly been remarkable this season and is my x-factor against a team like Golden State if and when they meet in the postseason. An athletic, stretch four that can give a team like the Warriors a lot to worry about. He can get it done on all aspects of the offensive end shooting nearly 37 percent from 3 and he can get to work on the inside. One thing’s for sure, all true basketball fans are looking forward to seeing how he performs this postseason and in the years to come.

This is Toronto’s best and possibly last chance for a while to get to the NBA Finals. They look complete on both ends and are a scary team to come up against in the East. We got a sample size of what Leonard would look like matched up against the NBA’s juggernaut during the 2017 playoffs when he was a part of San Antonio. I think that based off of that, it’s fair to say that with Leonard healthy, he can do enough to neutralize Kevin Durant and help stop Golden State and this could be the only chance he gets to do it in Toronto.

Next. NBA: 5 biggest disappointments from the 2018-19 season. dark

Kawhi could very well leave after this year and it seems other pieces of the team may follow in his footsteps. To put it simply, they need to take advantage of their shot because if they get it, this could be the team that we see finally knock off the Warriors and stop them from three-peating.

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