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The Toronto Raptors have the deepest roster in history, a player with a chance to win the Most Valuable Player Award and a flexible style designed to handle any opponent.
This has all the makings of an incredible season, especially now that LeBron James' archrival has moved to the West Coast. Yet when spending time with the Raptors, it's hard to avoid the feeling of the franchise.
It's not the typical posture of a contender. The Raptors are a big, bad, beast of a team, and if they avoid major injuries, they should be there in the end. But they're also dealing with a load of scar tissue, and that might be a big deal for them to get over the Boston Celtics (their opponent at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN) or anyone else.
"We have a long road before we ever think about matching up with the Golden State champions," Kawhi Leonard said. "We're not Finals competitors right now."
"We do not know what this team is," Kyle Lowry said. "We're still trying to figure each other out."
When they were pointed to various Raptors that their wing-loaded roster, the presence of a star and experienced gritty, defensive-minded All-Star point guard, plus their devotion to shooting 3-pointers, made them a bit of a Houston Rockets-East, they ran from the comparison.
Lowry outright laughed. As did new coach Nick Nurse, who was raised in the Rockets system and won a D-League (now G League) title as coach of the Rockets' affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers in 2013. In Nurse's first season there in 2011-12, the Vipers took almost 500 more 3-pointers than any other team. In the night, the Raptors took 14 more 3-pointers than their opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"Oh no, I would not say that," Nurse said about the Rockets' comparison. "We just really like our versatility."
It's a thing to do with anything on an opponent's bulletin board. It's another to try to demolish a defensive mechanism for later danger. For the Raptors, it seems like a lot of the latter.
There are reasons why.
The man who won Coach of the Year last season, Dwane Casey, got fired.
Lowry is at best and downright moody at worst. Lowry, who said he could not be coached because "I could never coach a man like myself" is still adjusting to his best friend in the league and franchise bedrock DeMar DeRozan getting traded. The whole organization is on some level.
There's also Leonard's pending free agency. Teams in these situations always feel extra stress. It's like a foul smell in the room at all times. It can wear teams out, which is one of the reasons Kyrie Irving's statement of loyalty to the Celtics.
It does not help Toronto that plenty of people in the league do not think Leonard is going to stay. That's not binding, just ask those who had Paul George ticketed out of Oklahoma City a year ago. The Clippers are already rotating scouting through Raptor games like Leonard is a college prospect and they have the No. 1 pick. The Raptors can say anything. One thing they are not naive.
Leonard does or says.
"I'm a new person every day," said Leonard.
Cool mentality for a player, ulcer-inducing for a general manager.
As for his play, Leonard is joining his teammates in San Antonio. It's not his nature anyway, but he's hardly beating his chest to prove he's the same old Kawhi.
"It's not about me showing the world who I am or the player they want me to be," said Leonard. "It's about my comfort level I'm getting to take my time That's my main focus I'm not comparing myself to where I was [before the injury]. "
Then, of course, there was the embarrassment of last year. The Raptors spent all season building on the playoffs. They are focused on their defense, they are reducing their time to fresher, they are doing their best in the league. And they got swept by LeBron in the second round. Merciless.
It's a lot to overcome. The Raptors are not there yet. Add in the new coaching staff – Nurse was promoted from assistant, most of the rest of the staff scattered – and it's a team still very much feeling its way. Going slow feels careful.
Here's the thing, though: This team is absolutely loaded. Leonard, in theory, has a chance to replace James as the best player in the East. Lowry is still at the top of his game; he had 27 points and eight assists in the opener.
Pascal Siakam, the Cameroonian prospect the Raptors drafted out of New Mexico State three years ago, might be a revelation. When he was a rookie, he'd play minutes without touching the ball because of shaky skills. Draymond Green, defending big men, plucking down rebounds and racing to the other end. He could be a contender for Most Improved Player if things go well.
"Right, I never used to handle the ball," said Siakam, who's got a shot at a rookie when he started 38 games in a defense-first role. "With the years, I've worked on my game, The coaching staff sees things in me and they're encouraging me."
O.G. Anunoby's value as a wing defender exploded in the playoffs last season, and Nurse said it's so much healthier this year, now 20 months off a torn ACL. Fred VanVleet finished third in the sixth year of the voting year last season. Danny Green and Serge Ibaka are both versatile defensive players who are respectable shooters. Jonas Valanciunas can be used against traditional centers, and he is coming off his best PER season. C.J. Miles averaged a career-high 2.3 3-pointers per game off the bench last season.
The Celtics are the East's favorites for a reason. But it does not matter much to the Raptors as a nasty defensive team that flings 3-pointers by the bushel, Lowry giving his death stare and Leonard calling to mind the player who had the Warriors mulling their fate two years ago.
Right, Raptors?
"It's hard to say, I did not really see the Celtics compete last year," said Leonard. "I was not on the floor."
"I think we'll be fine against Boston," Lowry said. "Every day is different, some days we'll be right against them."
Sigh.
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