5 ways in which the Raptors have impacted modern NBA history
The Toronto Raptors have had a tumultuous history throughout their 27 NBA seasons.
For their first 18 years, they had precisely one playoff round victory to their name, missing the postseason 13 times.
Since 2013-14, the Raptors’ 435 regular season wins rank third amongst NBA teams. They’ve been a beacon of consistency, making the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons, only missing out in the 2020-21 campaign.
When looking back at the last three decades of the NBA, Toronto has a massive footprint across the league. In recent times, Toronto’s actions and performances — or sometimes lack thereof — have had huge implications across the rest of the league.
Here’s five ways in which the butterfly effects of the Raptors have impacted the history of the modern NBA:
The James Harden — Ben Simmons trade
The biggest trade of the NBA season — and recent league history — might not have taken place if not for the Toronto Raptors.
SNY reporter Ian Begley suggested this week that former Nets guard James Harden was “concerned” about former teammate Kyrie Irving’s unvaccinated status, which has prevented him from playing in home games as well as travelling to Toronto, which could’ve had major impacts for a potential playoff series between the two teams.
Via @IanBegley: “According to a source, the prospect of playing the Raptors in the postseason was one of the reasons James Harden was concerned about Irving’s vaccine status earlier in the season.”
— Alec Sturm (@Alec_Sturm) March 4, 2022
Ultimately, a beleaguered Harden was shipped to Philadelphia for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, and Andre Drummond, along with a series of draft picks.
It’s early days yet, but Harden has averaged 26.8 points, 12.0 assists and 7.5 rebounds in four games for the 76ers. The Raptors might not have been the sole catalyst for the trade going through, but perhaps their influence pushed it over the finish line.
The Kyle Lowry trade that wasn’t
It was clear that Kyle Lowry’s time as a Raptor was ticking leading up to the 2021 trade deadline, with trade offers coming left and right for the veteran point guard. HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto reported that a Lowry trade was on the table with the Philadelphia 76ers, with then-rookie Tyrese Maxey being rumoured as part of the return.
Ultimately, Toronto held onto Lowry, opting for a sign-and-trade with Miami that netted them Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa.
Philadelphia, the top seed in the East, faltered in the playoffs, losing to fifth-seeded Atlanta in the second round. The series loss contributed to the fallout that saw the underperforming Simmons never play for the 76ers again, as he sat out the entirety of this season before being shipped out for Harden.
If Lowry was a part of the 76ers, perhaps the playoffs would’ve gone differently for last year’s 76ers, and perhaps Simmons would end up sticking around for them long-term. Maxey would’ve been a strong return for Toronto as well, as he’s put up 17.6 points, 4.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 56 games this season.
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Toronto’s failures have had just as big — perhaps bigger — an impact on NBA lore than their successes.
After four games in the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals, Toronto and the Cleveland Cavaliers were all tied up at 2-2.
Cleveland was coming off a 2015 NBA Finals loss to Golden State, while Toronto was looking to advance to its first Finals in franchise history. The series looked all set up for an exciting finish, before Cleveland outscored Toronto by 64 points over the final two games to take the series 4-2.
The 2016 Finals ended up being one of the most memorable in NBA history: Golden State took a 3-1 lead, before Cleveland reeled off three straight victories to clinch the organization’s first title and the third of LeBron James’ storied career.
All told, Toronto went 2-12 against LeBron’s Cavaliers in three playoff series, being swept out of the 2017 and 2018 playoffs by them. Had any of those swung the other way — most likely in 2016 — who knows what the fallout may have been for the legacy of the Raptors, LeBron, and his eventual free agent move to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The fall — and rebirth — of the Warriors’ dynasty
The Raptors’ biggest success — its 2019 championship — also came at the expense of Golden State’s health and place in NBA history as a modern dynasty.
Kevin Durant injured his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, before Klay Thompson suffered an ACL injury in Game 6. Durant would never play for the Warriors again, signing in Brooklyn, while Thompson missed both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons while rehabbing, suffering a separate Achilles injury in fall 2020.
“Obviously a devastating series for us, given the injuries to Klay and Kevin. It seems so long ago. The Raptors were great and deserved to win the championship,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said in last December’s visit to Toronto.
It’s not hard to find an internet debate about what would’ve happened if the Warriors stayed healthy that series. But it’s far less common to wonder what would’ve happened to Golden State after the fact.
Without Durant and Thompson, Golden State went 15-50 in the 2019-20 season, finishing 15th in the Western Conference.
What if the Raptors keeled over and lost in four, like some pundits were predicting? Would Durant have stuck around in the Bay Area? Would a healthy Warriors team have made it to a sixth straight NBA Finals in the 2020 bubble, denying LeBron James a fourth title?
Heck, if we’re still talking about the Warriors: perhaps Canadian Warriors All-Star Andrew Wiggins — born in 1995 — would’ve never played the sport at a high level if not for the Raptors’ integration in the country in his childhood.
The Chicago Bulls’ resurgence
No trade impacted the Raptors’ championship more than the Kawhi Leonard/ DeMar DeRozan swap in the summer of 2018.
Toronto’s front office took the biggest gamble they have in their history, offering the city a once-in-a-lifetime run that paid off handsomely with an NBA title despite Leonard’s one-and-done run with the Raptors.
DeRozan’s spoken many times that the trade messed with his mental health, coming as a complete shock after being assured by Toronto’s front office that he’d remain in Toronto.
If DeRozan remained a Toronto Raptor, well, who knows what would’ve become of the NBA. Would Toronto have offered him a contract extension this past offseason, or would he have left in free agency?
Would the Warriors have won a fourth title in 2019? Would Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks have come out of the Eastern Conference that same year? Many questions, few clear answers.
After three years in San Antonio, DeRozan signed with the Chicago Bulls this past summer. He’s been garnering attention as an MVP candidate in Chicago, with the 39-25 Bulls sitting fourth in the Eastern standings after missing the playoffs in each of the last four years.