Raptors secure foundation for their future

TORONTO – What separates the NBA’s great organizations from the good ones?
 
There are numerous factors, of course, but a big differentiator is how they transition from one era to the next. Can they do it seamlessly without having to hit the reset button or endure a long and painful rebuild?
 
It’s a rare ability that requires pristine drafting and player development, savvy asset management, and a little bit of luck – occasionally a lot of luck. But it can be done, as teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat, among others, have shown.
 
The Spurs are probably the best example – the gold standard in the league and throughout professional sports for more than two decades. Prior to this past season, they had a record-tying run of 22 straight playoff appearances, resulting in six trips to the Finals and five championships.
 
Head coach Gregg Popovich and chief executive R.C. Buford were the constants, but their run – which came to an end when they went 32-39 and missed the post-season in 2019-20 – was a credit to the way they passed the torch between prominent players.
 
David Robinson helped groom Tim Duncan, who mentored Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, who paid it forward to Kawhi Leonard. Whenever a franchise cornerstone was nearing the end of his career, there always seemed to be another waiting in the wings and ready to inherit the reigns.
 
The Toronto Raptors have aimed to emulate that approach, and while they still have a long way to go in order to reach that almost unprecedented level of sustained success, they’re on the right track.
 
Their seven consecutive playoff appearances are tied (with Portland and behind Houston) for the NBA’s second-longest active streak. They’ve won at least one post-season series five years in a row, which is tops in the league. There aren’t many clubs that are held in higher esteem for their body of work over the past decade.
 
Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Dwane Casey – along with the architect Masai Ujiri – were the faces of their unlikely rise. While the core has undergone changes over the years – most notable with Nick Nurse replacing Casey and DeRozan being sent to San Antonio for one memorable year of Leonard – Lowry remains at the forefront of the team’s identity.
 
The six-time all-star is turning 35 in March and will be a free agent following this season. Even if he remains a Raptor beyond that point – and many are hoping he will – he can only defy the aging process for so long, you would think. Eventually, it will come time to pass the torch.
 
The Raptors have been good enough for long enough that they’ve had to consider and plan for what comes next. That’s what this past year has been about for Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster – setting the Raptors down a path that ensures they’ll be competitive for the foreseeable future.
 
The foundation they’ve built, and recently secured, features the promising young trio of Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby.
 
In the fall of 2019, the Raptors signed Siakam to a maximum salary contract extension worth more than $130 million over the next four years, beginning this season. Last month, they gave VanVleet a new four-year, $85 million deal. On Monday, just ahead of the deadline, they agreed to extend Anunoby for four years at $72 million. His deal will kick in next season.
 
All three players are home grown, having been drafted – or, in the case of VanVleet, signed as an undrafted free agent – by Toronto. They’ve come up together through the Raptors’ system, learning from veterans of the previous regime and sharing in the team’s recent success, including the championship run in 2019.
 
They’re all under the age of 27, yet to or just about to reach their prime years. They’ve each taken meaningful steps early in their professional careers and shown there’s still another level that they can reach. And now, they’re all under contract through 2023-24.
 
“They were second-year players when I was a rookie, so we all started off the same and we’ve all just been growing,” Anunoby said. “It’s been cool to see. We all work really hard, we’ve all been happy for each other. So it’s cool to see and I’m excited for the future.”
 
“I think it’s really been fun and interesting to watch them all grow,” said Nurse. “I think it’s a real credit first of all to them individually and to our organization – coaching staff, player development, all that stuff that we’ve been able to grow these guys to this point.”
 
“I don’t think any of them were real sure-fire high draft picks or whatever. Freddy’s undrafted and [Siakam and Anunoby were] late first-round picks, and they go out there and they compete with the best.”
 
For the Raptors, that’s been the key to carrying over their success, as it was for the Spurs. As a winning team that’s routinely selecting from the bottom of the first round, if they even have a pick at all, scouting and drafting well are paramount.
 
Sure, San Antonio was fortunate to end up with the first-overall pick in a class that happened to feature a generational talent like Duncan, but from there, they found Ginobili with the 57th pick and Parker at pick No. 28. Even Leonard, who they acquired on draft night, was a steal at 15.
 
A surprise 27th-overall pick in 2016, Siakam has blossomed into an all-star and all-NBA talent. VanVleet was passed over 60 times in that same draft and has become one of the league’s best success stories. Anunoby, who was recovering from a serious knee injury at the time of the draft in 2017 and fell to the Raptors at No. 23, may have the highest upside of the trio.
 
“He hopefully understands he can become one of the league's elite defenders,” Nurse said of Anunoby on Tuesday. “And then the rest of it, I just think continues to develop. He certainly shoots the ball well. His other skill work – what is he gonna do in transition, what's he gonna do on the block, what's he gonna do starting and ending drives, what kind of passer is he gonna become – all those things, I think, are accelerating I would say at probably a faster rate than expected. He's certainly more than just a play defence and stand in the corner guy. He's becoming a more active member of the offence because his skills are improving.”
 
“I definitely think I’m capable of more than I’ve shown [offensively],” said the 23-year-old forward. “I work really hard at this stuff. Especially with what my role’s been, I think I’m definitely capable of more, for sure.”
 
With an expanded role in the team’s offence, many are expecting Anunoby to take a big step forward in his fourth campaign, but the spotlight will be on all three of the young Raptors when they tip off the new season in Tampa on Wednesday. Siakam’s fourth year, and first as a primary option, was a success – or at least it would have been if not for his disappointing showing in the bubble. He’ll be on a mission to prove that, at 26 years of age, it was merely a small setback and his best is yet to come. VanVleet showed that he can be a full-time starter, but with the big contract people will want to see him continue to evolve as a lead guard.
 
“I think Fred is certainly a leader of the team, he’s kind of a natural leader anyway and [with] the departures of Serge [Ibaka] and Marc [Gasol] he probably takes a bigger role,” Nurse said. “And as far as Pascal and OG, I think this is the opportunity for them to grow into this a little bit. I think Pascal’s doing so, maybe his status in the locker room or status on the team helps that and OG’s coming along. He still seems like the young one of the group, not quite into that leadership role yet, but I think the chemistry between them has developed nicely.”
 
To compete for championships in the NBA you need a superstar, and the Raptors know that more than most – it’s the reason they traded the popular DeRozan for what turned out to be a rental in Leonard.
 
It’s why they were crossing their fingers in the hopes that Giannis Antetokounmpo would pass on signing his extension with Milwaukee, giving them a shot – even if it would have been a long one – at landing him next summer. It’s also why they’ve reportedly kicked the tires on the disgruntled James Harden, even though he would be a questionable fit in Toronto, both on and off the court.
 
Those types of players are hard to get your hands on, and unless one of their young foundational pieces takes an unexpected leap into that stratosphere, the Raptors will always be in the market for one of those elite talents.
 
But with the trio of Siakam, VanVleet and Anunoby – three all-star calibre players, or guys with all-star potential – under long-term control, the Raptors are virtually a lock to remain competitive as they transition to the next era. And with assets, and the willingness to spend them, they’re well positioned to make the move that would take them to the next level, if and