The Toronto Raptors Have Finally Found Their Star

Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors have had a bit of a turbulent history. They have had star power before, but that star power has often demanded trades to other franchises. That included Toronto's first ever draft pick, Damon Stoudamire. It also included the franchise's first really big star, who finally brought some postseason success to the team in the spring of 2001, before predictably leaving for greener pastures (meaning it was all about the dollar bills, y'all). Then Chris Bosh seemed to bring talent and promise, but he never delivered in a big way. DeMar DeRozan was a star who brought the Raptors to the playoffs regularly, but they always seemed to lose right away.

But they traded DeRozan to San Antonio, and picked up Kawhi Leonard. And Leonard was the man who finally brought some notable postseason success to the Raptors franchise that was starving for something like this, a kind of breakout season for them. I was actually in Toronto in the spring of 2001, while the team was enjoying their playoff run, beating the Knicks, and then taking the NBA Finals-bound 76ers to the limit. They showed tremendous promise then, but never really followed it up with something more solid or lasting, which gave that run a feel of being more of a flash in the pan, than anytihng substantive.

This current run of success, however, feels a bit more substantive than that. Kawhi Leonard is right at the center of it, and he certainly seems happy. The Raptors have a team loaded with talent, and so long as they can stay together, there is no reason that they would not be able to look forward to enjoying still more success in future years, as well.

For now, of course, they are in the NBA Finals, and have a chance to doing something amazing, that would redefine this franchise altogether. It will not be an easy task, especially against a team like the Golden State Warriors. Yet with Leonard in Toronto's lineup, it hardly feels like an impossible mission. He is the best news that the Raptors have had in a long, long while.

With Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors Find Success That Endures by Alex Wong, May 26, 2019:

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