When Kawhi Leonard bid au revoir to Canada for Southern California last July, fans and media members thought the Toronto Raptors did the same to their chances of repeating as NBA champions. The math seems pretty simple: NBA superstars are essentially required to winning the coveted Larry O’Brien Trophy. This prevailing thought led both Los…
Though every NBA campaign is rife with injuries to notable players, every minute lost for one ostensibly opens up playing time for someone else. These opportunities often can be leveraged into bigger roles. Sometimes, even a career can be drastically altered simply by maximizing such a moment. (See: Draymond Green filling in for David Lee…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba) and Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) preview the Atlantic Division ahead of the 2019-20 NBA season. Who will the Boston Celtics miss more: Kyrie Irving or Al Horford? Can Caris LeVert become an All-Star this year in Brooklyn? Can the New York Knicks find enough minutes for…
Coming out of the first heavy-spending summer since 2016, several teams are locked into their current core and will have trouble generating significant spending power over the next two offseasons. Of course, other teams are still riding out their own bad 2016 contracts and will look to get back in the game in 2020 and…
The 2019-20 NBA season is just around the corner. After an offseason chock-full of player movement, the title race appears as wide-open as it has been in years. Over the coming weeks, we will examine one big question hanging over each team heading into the season. We’ll start today with the Atlantic Division, where the…
Three weeks after winning their first NBA championship in franchise history, the Toronto Raptors’ feel-good summer came crashing to a halt. Kawhi Leonard shook the league to its core by announcing he’d be signing with the Los Angeles Clippers, who had long been rumored as a possible free-agent landing spot for him. While the Los…
The news was devastating to the Toronto Raptors: Kawhi Leonard was heading home to Los Angeles. As their dreams of a repeat championship disappear, the focus must shift onto what the organization can do to replace its Finals MVP. The team’s salary situation dictates either a complete blowup of the roster or replacing Leonard with…
The balance a coach must maintain between flexibility and rigidity is forever the most difficult part of the job. In a playoff series, it’s important for a team to adjust to an opponent’s particular strengths and weaknesses, but too many adjustments and said team loses the identity that brought it this far. This dance will…
It’s finally here. The Toronto Raptors arrive to their first-ever NBA Finals riding an all-time great postseason showing by Kawhi Leonard. Their reward is facing a Golden State Warriors team that is the most dominant of the era, if not the best ever. Postseason demons finally vanquished and the basketball hopes of an entire nation meet…
We all thought it was Jimmy Butler’s arrival in Philadelphia, but it turns out the most important acquisition at the 2019 trade deadline was Marc Gasol heading to the Toronto Raptors. During this Eastern Conference Finals against Milwaukee, Gasol has averaged a seemingly “not-that-important” 10.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, five assists and 2.5 blocks while shooting…
