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Rather than reshuffling the roster, the Toronto Raptors were satisfied to maintain the core of a team that has delivered the most successful stretch in franchise history.
Whether the offseason was a success or failure for the Raptors depends entirely on one's existing opinion of the roster coming off of the 2016-17 season. Toronto won the second-most games in the Eastern Conference (51) but was outclassed by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the playoffs.
The Raptors have reaffirmed the idea that winning an NBA title isn't the only standard to measure a team's achievements.
Team president Masai Ujiri could've decided to blow things up and start over in pursuit of a championship. Instead, Ujiri doubled down, ensuring Raptors fans can still watch a winning team—albeit one that may continue to fall short of the NBA Finals.
Kyle Lowry's future was the biggest question surrounding the Raptors this summer. Not only did Toronto re-sign Lowry, but it also avoided what could've been a cumbersome long-term contract. In today's financial climate, $100 million over three years is a reasonable investment for a point guard of Lowry's caliber.
Toronto also re-signed Serge Ibaka for three years and $65 million and signed C.J. Miles to a three-year, $25 million contract.
In the Eastern Conference, maintaining the status quo should be enough for the Raptors to retain a top-four seed.
2017-18 Details
Season Opener: Thursday, Oct. 19, vs. Chicago Bulls (7:30 p.m. ET)
Championship Odds: 500-1 (via OddsShark)
Full Schedule: NBA.com
Top Matchups
Cleveland Cavaliers: Jan. 11, March 21, April 3
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As Sean Woodley of SB Nation's Raptors HQ wrote, the current turmoil is exactly why Ujiri bet on what might be a flawed roster but one that ensures Toronto can hang with the upper class in the East:
"Had the Raptors opted to take a voluntary step back, an early deconstruction of the Cavs would mark a massive opportunity lost for the organization. Yes, teams like Boston, Milwaukee and Washington still exist. But none of them carry the same air of inevitability that Cleveland did. For the last three years, Raptors fans and NBA neutrals alike have spent regular seasons talking themselves in the East being 'wide open' at the first sign of trouble in Cleveland. In a years' time, that might actually be true for the first time in ages. Toronto's off-season ensures the Raptors will be in the conversation to push through an East in which [LeBron James] doesn't play for the Cavs."
The Cleveland Cavaliers remain the measuring stick in the East, and they showed last year they can flip the proverbial switch when it's time for the playoffs.
With that said, the Cavs are even more vulnerable than they were in James' first season back with the team in 2014-15. James turns 33 in December, Kyrie Irving's future is up in the air and Cleveland failed to make any significant upgrades.
After the last two years, Raptors fans will know better than to read too much into regular-season results against the Cavs. Winning the season series over Cleveland wouldn't make Toronto the favorites to win the conference crown. It could indicate nonetheless that the Raptors are in a stronger position to test the Cavaliers in the playoffs.
Milwaukee Bucks: Jan. 1, Jan. 5, Feb. 23
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The Cavs remain the Cavs, the Washington Wizards are largely the same team from a year ago and the Boston Celtics signed Gordon Hayward. Those three teams, along with the Raptors, remain the four strongest in the East.
The Milwaukee Bucks will be by far the biggest threat to break into that group.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is a year older after averaging 22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists, and the Bucks will have Khris Middleton for a full season after he missed the majority of the 2016-17 campaign.
Jabari Parker will likely be out until February after tearing his ACL, though. The injury came as Parker was averaging a career-high 20.1 points per game and shooting 36.5 percent from beyond the arc.
The Bucks lost to the Raptors in six games in the first round of last year's playoffs. The regular season can give fans an idea of whether that gulf remains into 2017-18 or whether Toronto can expect a sterner challenge from Milwaukee.
Record Prediction
The Raptors won 56 games in 2015-16 and 51 games last season. Fifty victories should be the team's baseline in 2017-18. The roster is almost exactly the same and still has a few more years before the likes of Lowry, Ibaka and DeMar DeRozan start showing signs of a major decline.
Most importantly, the Eastern Conference is far weaker from top to bottom compared to 2016-17. The Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers both lost their best players, while the Atlanta Hawks seemingly signified the start of their rebuild with the Dwight Howard trade. Meanwhile, none of the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets or Orlando Magic is likely to show significant improvement.
The increased stratification in the East could result in high win totals for the top five or six teams and a big gap between the rest of the conference.
Matching their 2015-16 franchise record for wins is at least somewhat realistic for the Raptors if the stars align in their favor. At the very least, they should see a slight gain in their number of victories from a year ago.
Prediction: 54-28