It’ll be all good and fine to want the Raptors to see their first pick of this coming NBA Draft go somewhere in the top-five but that won’t be enough for the Raptors to come remotely close to exiting their rebuild. This trade deadline will be important for the Raptors to get some combo of draft picks and role players because only then do I see the Raptors have a chance during either the next two seasons to finish somewhere in the top-10 in the Eastern Conference standings and thus at a minimum play a playoff-type game (hopefully, if during a given play-in tournament, one that goes much better than the one that they played in April 2023 during which they had lost 109-105 to the Chicago Bulls after having blown a near-20-point lead). It’ll be key for the Raptors to make significant enough changes to their roster because eventually fans will want to see results. Across the NHL, the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres have the top-three longest playoff appearance droughts, with the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks the only other such teams to not have made a post-2019 playoff appearance. I can’t think of a fan of the Senators who doesn’t want to see Stanley Cup playoff hockey return at some point this season to the Canadian Tire Centre, but for that to happen, those Sens will have to find ways to win multiple games in a row to even have a chance to keep up in the Eastern Conference wildcard race. Across the NBA only the Hornets, Pistons and Spurs Have yet to make a post-2019 playoff appearance, and throughout the 2010s, finishing in the top-eight in a given conference was essential to qualify as there had not been a play-in tournament back then. That said, hopefully the Raptors will end their playoff appearance drought, which started with their loss of their one and only play-in game in April 2023, either next season or the season after that. It’s not like fans of the Raptors will necessarily wait indefinitely.
Sheldon Keefe, then head coach of the Leafs, was ejected from a game his then-team would go onto lose 6-2 to the Golden Knights at Scotiabank Arena. One can of debate whether Keefe should’ve kept his cool just as one can debate whether Darko should’ve, unlike Keefe back then, kept his cool. Bottom-line is these Raptors, as much as they kept their latest loss to under 10 points, still lost that game although in any case I see it more likely the Raptors’ first pick in this coming NBA Draft go somewhere in the top-five than than that they will come remotely close to qualifying for a play-in spot.
They are doing worst this year than last year, in year two under Darko. Playing 500 never looked so good.
elite tanking
It’ll be all good and fine to want the Raptors to see their first pick of this coming NBA Draft go somewhere in the top-five but that won’t be enough for the Raptors to come remotely close to exiting their rebuild. This trade deadline will be important for the Raptors to get some combo of draft picks and role players because only then do I see the Raptors have a chance during either the next two seasons to finish somewhere in the top-10 in the Eastern Conference standings and thus at a minimum play a playoff-type game (hopefully, if during a given play-in tournament, one that goes much better than the one that they played in April 2023 during which they had lost 109-105 to the Chicago Bulls after having blown a near-20-point lead).
It’ll be key for the Raptors to make significant enough changes to their roster because eventually fans will want to see results. Across the NHL, the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres have the top-three longest playoff appearance droughts, with the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks the only other such teams to not have made a post-2019 playoff appearance. I can’t think of a fan of the Senators who doesn’t want to see Stanley Cup playoff hockey return at some point this season to the Canadian Tire Centre, but for that to happen, those Sens will have to find ways to win multiple games in a row to even have a chance to keep up in the Eastern Conference wildcard race.
Across the NBA only the Hornets, Pistons and Spurs Have yet to make a post-2019 playoff appearance, and throughout the 2010s, finishing in the top-eight in a given conference was essential to qualify as there had not been a play-in tournament back then. That said, hopefully the Raptors will end their playoff appearance drought, which started with their loss of their one and only play-in game in April 2023, either next season or the season after that. It’s not like fans of the Raptors will necessarily wait indefinitely.
Hell yeah Toronto sports am I right?
Miss free throws & open 3s. Same old stuff.
Darko got ejected again that’s 2 already
Sheldon Keefe, then head coach of the Leafs, was ejected from a game his then-team would go onto lose 6-2 to the Golden Knights at Scotiabank Arena. One can of debate whether Keefe should’ve kept his cool just as one can debate whether Darko should’ve, unlike Keefe back then, kept his cool. Bottom-line is these Raptors, as much as they kept their latest loss to under 10 points, still lost that game although in any case I see it more likely the Raptors’ first pick in this coming NBA Draft go somewhere in the top-five than than that they will come remotely close to qualifying for a play-in spot.