Don’t for a moment be fooled by the Raptors’ victory over the Nuggets yesterday. For all the celebrating they did following their brush with success against hitherto-surging opponents, they remain, for lack of a better term, lost and, evidently, in transition. They hadn’t won in a close to a month, with the unfamiliar swoon wreaking havoc on the camaraderie that fueled their championship run in 2019. Just recently, head coach Nick Nurse and acknowledged linchpin Pascal Siakam even had a confrontation that required others to step in after they suffered an eighth straight setback.
Granted, winning over the Nuggets, starring Most Valuable Player candidate Nikola Jokić, is no mean feat, never mind the visitors’ handicap playing on the second night of a back-to-back set. That said, the Raptors should find no comfort in the development. At 18-26, they’re currently 11th in the Eastern Conference, with management apparently set on implementing a changing of the guard that’s tantamount to a rebuild. On the way out, and likely prior to today’s trade deadline, are erstwhile franchise cornerstone Kyle Lowry and the much-improved Norman Powell.
Perhaps the Raptors’ mind-set, and standing, would have been different were they not time and again beset by significant personnel absences due to injuries and safety protocols. That said, there can be no arguing with the result, which has them on the fringes of the playoffs and in no position to contend for the hardware. Given the turn of events, the front office has deemed it best to, at the very least, explore the viability of taking a step back in the immediate term and laying the groundwork for future advancement.
For the Raptors, the projected expense of accepting a fall from grace, however temporary, isn’t inconsiderable; parting ways with vital cogs, and especially Lowry, comes with intangible cost. Then again, they may well have little choice, and not simply because doing nothing goes against president of hoops operations Masai Ujiri’s predilections. Which is to say they’ll be hurting either way. The only question is what path they ultimately deem will subject them to less pain.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
