The Raptors Are Taking The Leap

The NBA's Eastern Conference is undergoing a sea change in the wake of LeBron James's decision to leave Miami for Cleveland. A series of high-profile player moves have turned conference on its head—there's no real favorite as of yet in the race to make it to the Finals and lose to the Spurs. Welcome to the Inscrutable East, our offseason rundown of the teams that matter.

While superstars—or, just one in particular—have dominated the free agency conversation so far, one team in the Eastern Conference has quietly gone about bringing back a team that won 48 games and a division title last year.

The Toronto Raptors got to work on draft night, when they surprised many people by taking Bruno Caboclo with the 20th overall pick. General manager Masai Ujiri then traded for Lou Williams and Lucas Nogueira. He followed that up by bringing back his starting point guard and two key bench pieces at very reasonable contracts: Kyle Lowry at four-year, $48 million, Greivis Vasquez at two-year, $13 million, and Patrick Patterson for three-year, $18 million. To cap it off, the Raptors also signed James Johnson to a two-year deal.

After a first round loss to the Brooklyn Nets, Ujiri preached the importance of continuity and cohesion. The core of the team is still young, led by the 28-year-old Lowry, with DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, and Jonas Valanciunas all 24 and younger. Amir Johnson is 27, and so is Vasquez. Patterson is just 25. Nogueira is 21. Caboclo is 18.

The Raptors are without a true superstar, but they've accumulated enough young talent on their roster that there's the possibility one of the core players can make that leap. Valanciunas is one possibility. In just his second season in the league, he put up 14.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per 36 minutes. His instincts on the defensive end are improving, but his offensive game is still a work in progress. Ross had a horrendous debut in the playoffs. But in the regular season, he shot 39.5 percent from three, and has flashed the potential to be an athletic two-way threat on the floor. Most likely, both Valanciunas and Ross become above average players in this league, or at the very least serviceable rotation players. But they could be more than that. There's time, there's a chance.

Ujiri is smart enough to realize that even though his team surprised everyone last season, the league is such that to truly field a championship roster, you need a superstar. Roster building is a complicated exercise for general managers to navigate, with the salary cap and luxury tax penalties, not to mention any financial restrictions your team's owners may place on you. You can build an adequate roster that can compete in the Eastern Conference, but if the end goal is the title, history suggests you need to find that superstar.

It's this type of thinking that explains a swing-for-the-fences pick like Coboclo, who has already impressed the folks in Las Vegas (caveat: it's summer league). It may have been wise to select a rotation play who could have contributed right away, like say Kyle Anderson, but Ujiri is planning for the future as much as the present. The possibility—however low it may be—that Coboclo becomes a game changing player is worth far more to Ujiri than settling for a player who will end up playing 20 to 25 minutes per game off the bench for his career.

In the immediate future, the Raptors want to continue to establish themselves as a perennial threat in the Eastern Conference. Now that the Heat have been displaced as the top team thanks to LeBron's desire to return home, there's an opening. There's hope. There's a chance.

Internal improvement is a tricky thing. Some players don't improve as quickly or as much as predicted or you lose other to injuries: there are just so many factors. But the Raptors have the depth and potential to mirror what the Indiana Pacers have done the last three seasons. In 2011-12, the team won 42 games during a shortened season. They were 9th in the league in defensive efficiency and lost in the second round to Miami.

With the core of Paul George, Roy Hibbert, George Hill, David West, and Lance Stephenson, the Pacers won 49 games the next season, then 56 games in 2013-14. In both seasons, they finished first in defensive efficiency and reached the Conference Finals. George has become a potential franchise player, Hibbert has taken a huge step back, and while Stephenson is a tantalizing talent, he is also a potential disruption on and off the court. You build with your core, you improve, but you also find out what works and doesn't work for the long term. The Pacers are finding this out in difficult ways.

Ujiri knows the Raptors as currently constructed are not a complete product. At the same time as the roster improves, this is still a process of asset accumulation. Players who are contributing now may become valuable trade chips when the next superstar becomes available. But when that superstar is on the market, you want to make sure your team is desirable enough to be a landing spot for him. It's a tricky game. The Raptors are still based in Toronto. But if they win, perceptions can change.

For now, the Raptors will gladly accept the fact they'll enter next season as the prohibitive favorite in the Atlantic Division. The Sixers are rebuilding, the Celtics as well, and the Knicks and Nets figure to enter the 2014-15 season with lowered expectations, especially given the relative disappointments they both were a year ago.

Toronto is positioned well for now, but they're also mindful of the future. Teams around the league have already started planning for the summer of 2016, when Kevin Durant will become an unrestricted free agent. The Washington Wizards fancy themselves to be in the running for KD's services because he's from D.C. A week ago, that wouldn't be seen as enough of a reason to hope a player chooses your team, but LeBron changed all that. The Knicks and the Lakers will get in the mix, because they always do. Pat Riley isn't handing out two-year contracts in Miami—to Luol Deng and Mario Chalmers, and perhaps even Dwyane Wade—by accident. Teams have their eye on 2016.

The Raptors are considering this as well. They'll have flexibility under the cap in two years. They're not a team that's ever positioned themselves to be a contender in the arms race for a franchise player. Whether it's Durant or someone else, it remains a pipe dream. But the groundwork is being laid—there's a stable front office, a cohesive roster, and a winning environment. Toronto fans surprised and inspired many around the league with their enthusiasm in the playoffs. Imagine if they actually win a round or two.

For now, the Raptors can aim towards being a 50 win team next season, and work towards getting deeper in the playoffs. But the other part is important as well, let present success raise the possibility of a greater success in the future, both on the court and in the front office. There's hope. There's a chance. That's much better than Toronto's been able to say for a while.