Best-case scenario
I’ve been thinking about this for weeks now. Ever since Kawhi announced that he would be going to LA play basketball in the 2019-20 season. The honest truth is, I’m having a hard time deciding on a reasonable answer to what is the best-case scenario for the Raptors this season.
The obvious in your face best case, they win another Championship. I mean, that’s the best-case scenario for every team that plays in the NBA. But the question is, do the Raptors really have a chance of defending this year?
I know that most people’s answer to that question is a resounding no.
But this isn’t about what I think will happen. I’ll get to that on the next slide. It’s about a best-case scenario. And for a team that who are Champions, I can’t in good conscience present a best-case scenario that doesn’t include another NBA Finals appearance.
It’s not news that this season, the league is more wide open than it’s been in recent memory and many teams believe they have a legitimate shot of being on top come June. The Raptors are no exception.
Like I mentioned before, this season isn’t dramatically different from last season in the minds of Masai Ujiri, Nick Nurse and the returning Raptors players. They’re underdogs again but that’s fine. The Raptors thrive on being underestimated, overlooked, written off.
Every guy on that roster feels the need to go out and prove themselves game in and game out. The combination of having hard-working, high-IQ, high-character guys coming out with that kind of chip on their shoulders is powerful. If you didn’t figure that out during last season’s playoffs, you weren’t paying attention.