Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri speaking at a press conference. Image by Frank Gunn via AP Photo
Whether one watched the entire 2023-24 NBA season or just took a quick glance at the standings, they can gain a grasp on how last season went for the Toronto Raptors. In layman’s terms, it did not go well.
The Raptors were a losing squad in the 2023-24 season, plagued with a plethora of problems. Seeing the writing on the wall, they sold off at the Trade Deadline. But oftentimes when teams are bad, they get access to good draft picks — thanks to a previous trade, the Raptors could not even do that.
Shameful Season
Now that the offseason has arrived, Raptors president Masai Ujiri addressed the situation via an interview. He revealed that last season was an embarrassment to both he and the organization, and vowed that winning will be in the Raptors’ future.
“Last year was a shame to me, to us,” said Ujiri. “And in a way that I feel we had to like rebuild and many things came away. It’s now starting to settle. But winning, sports is only about winning. Nobody cares about anything. If you don’t win, you’re irrelevant. So sports is about winning. And we’re going to win here again.”
While Ujiri’s comments shoot hope into the hearts of Raptors fans everywhere, the road to winning will not be easy. Thanks to the shipping off of top talent and the aforementioned loss of a top draft pick, a future exists where the Raptors will be good again, but it will take several years and a lot of work.
Raptors’ Problems
The Raptors finished with a record of 25-57 last season, which landed them at 12th place in the Eastern Conference and a staggering 39 games behind the first-place Boston Celtics. Their winning percentage of just .305 was certainly not even close to bearing a spot in the Play-In Tournament. Knowing this early, the Raptors sold off.
The 2024 Trade Deadline saw Toronto deal a vast majority of their major players, particularly the ones who played a big role in their sole 2019 title. Said players included Pascal Siakam, who was traded to the Indiana Pacers, and OG Anunoby, who was traded to the New York Knicks.
Those players went on to play sufficient roles in leading their team to playoff berths. They each went on to re-sign with the respective clubs they were traded to. But oftentimes, losing means that the team can gain access to a high draft pick.
The Raptors ran into a string of bad luck regarding the NBA Draft Lottery. They actually won the eighth overall pick, but due to a clause in the Jakob Poeltl trade in 2023, they were forced to defer their pick to the Spurs if it ended up being outside of the top six.
That is exactly what happened, and the Raptors were therefore forced to hand over their draft pick to the Spurs. Toronto lacks any draft picks in this year’s draft and will have to start rebuilding from scratch, which Ujiri has now promised. Only time will tell, however, whether or not that actually occurs
