The Toronto Raptors surprised everyone last season, including themselves.
Last December, they dove head-first into a fire sale. By April, they were somehow setting a franchise record with their 48th victory and putting an end to their five-year playoff drought.
It was one of those must-see-it-to-believe-it performances—only those who had witnessed still weren't sure what had transpired.
"Before a dramatic reversal of a season, Toronto had been a meddling, mediocre group," wrote Real GM's Shams Charania. "... They had no identity, no established system—only jump-shooting tendencies, external blame for the coaching staff and a perception across the NBA of me-first attitudes."
That doesn't sound like the ingredients of a miraculous turnaround, does it? Neither does shipping out a primary scorer (Rudy Gay) for a handful of support pieces.
Maybe the inconceivable aspect of their surprising success was the reason it never seemed to command the respect it deserved. Or why the Brooklyn Nets had to deny their late-season skid wasn't done intentionally to set up a first-round matchup with the Rapt ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Zach Buckley
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