Keeping Pace Would Be a Huge Step Forward for the Raptors

The Toronto Raptors have never made the playoffs in four consecutive seasons. This piece of arbitrary trivia is mostly meaningless, except for the fact that it's very unlikely to remain true when April rolls around. Not only are the Raptors considered something close to a lock for a playoff position in the Eastern Conference, they're essentially a consensus pick to earn a top-four seed and home-court advantage once again.

Expectations are high, there's a collective trust in the quality of the team, and even an injury to Jared Sullinger seems to only be threatening Toronto's perch as the East's second-biggest threat. For the first time ever, the Raptors are established, entrenched, and accepted as one of the league's better teams.

For a franchise with a moribund 21-year history that until last spring didn't include a single victory in a seven-game playoff series, this is somewhat remarkable, and completely unfamiliar. For over two decades, the Raptors have been known for a lot of things—a purple uniform and pop-culture splash of a team name initially, Vince Carter's rise, Vince Carter's departure, Bryan Colangelo's Euro-import binge and roster carousel, Ben Uzoh's garbage-time dominance—but "winning" has never been high on the list. Until recently, the Raptors were more infamous than famous.

When general manager and team president Masai Ujiri took over the reins from the outbound Colangelo in 2013, the intention was not for that perception to change initially. Andrea Bargnani and Rudy Gay were jettisoned, and then Kyle Lowry was very nearly dealt to the New York Knicks. You should wake up every morning and thank whoever you pray to for James Dolan and the sunk-cost fallacy. The Raptors stumbled into an inexplicable, ethereal chemistry from there, surging to the playoffs for the first time in half a decade, and they haven't really looked back beyond some postseason growing pains.

That chemistry, and Ujiri's tinkering around the core of Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Patrick Patterson, and Jonas Valanciunas, built to a crescendo. The swells of the franchise built to the best season in team history, a 56-win campaign followed by not only the "seven-game series" hurdle being cleared, but an additional one, too. The Raptors jumped the curve, taking a step from a team hoping to win a playoff series to one hoping to contend for an NBA Championship in the near future. They pushed the eventual NBA-champion Cleveland Cavaliers to six games in the Eastern Conference finals.

It's at this time that it's instructive to remember that development is not linear. Just because the Raptors have continued to take steps in a somewhat patterned fashion over the last few seasons doesn't mean they'll continue to march forward, knocking off new goal after new goal, reaching new height after new height. In all likelihood, the Raptors are set to stagnate in 2016-17, a plateau that history (and regression, and the loss of Bismack Biyombo coupled with the injury to Sullinger) suggests could include a few less regular-season wins.

It's also paramount to remember that the reality facing the Raptors this year still puts them in a terrific position, now and for the long run. For the Raptors, a franchise that has never once seemed like it had a meaningful grasp on competitiveness, and an organization that has spent the entire lifetime of its primary demographic struggling to find sustainable footing, running in place for a year would mark an enormous step forward.

The Raptors are expected to be very good. They're expected to make the playoffs. In the past three years, they've vanquished countless demons that have haunted the halls of the Air Canada Centre.

They can't win a playoff series. Done, twice, even with the team largely at its worst. A superstar will never stay. Lowry re-upped on his rise, DeRozan signed a sub-max contract shortly after midnight on July 1, and there's optimism Lowry will choose to do the same once again this summer. There's no stability. Ujiri extended head coach Dwane Casey, got an extension himself, then promoted the front office core. Meanwhile, the Raptors grade out well for meaningful continuity despite balancing win-now mode with what projects to be the third-youngest opening-night roster in the NBA.

That's not to say the Raptors are infallible. The primary criticism against where they are entering 2016-17 is a correct one: They're not a legitimate championship contender, and it's not clear how they become one from the position they're in.

That concern, though, is premature. The championship-or-bust crowd is welcome to evaluate teams and seasons that way, but writing off any year in which a team doesn't have a claim to title contention is short-sighted. Teams have to build to that point, and as much as it would be simpler (and a lot more fun) if teams could take one step each season in perfect linear fashion, that can't be the expectation.

Again, simply running back the best season in franchise history should be looked at as a success, assuming the Raptors can put together something close to a repeat. It's important for teams to establish a consistent level of quality, and the Raptors have done an exceptional job building organizational equity during Ujiri's tenure. The success of the on-court product, the overwhelming success of All-Star Weekend, the new BioSteel Centre practice facility, the retention of talent and staff, and yes, even the presence of Drake have all contributed to nudging the Raptors closer and closer to the destination franchise they hope to become.

Five years ago, they don't get a meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency. DeRozan probably at least hears pitches from other teams. Fans are worried about Lowry walking.

Now, the Raptors are establishing themselves as a place people want to be. Sullinger said to figure out why he signed, all you need to do is take a look around.

Assistant coach Patrick Mutombo left the San Antonio Spurs organization because he wanted to contribute even more to winning. San Lorenzo de Almagro head coach Julio Lamas mentioned the Raptors in the same breath with the Spurs and Golden State Warriors when his team visited for an exhibition game. Drew Crawford called the Raptors about returning to their Summer League team after a great experience a year ago, and that very nearly effected the opening-day roster. Positive experiences with the team led E.J. Singler to decide to stick it out in training camp and the D-League rather than going overseas, and he, too, pushed for a roster spot. Fred VanVleet eschewed getting drafted in the second round in order to choose his own destiny, and he quickly chose the Raptors, who in turn chose him this week for the 15th and final roster spot. That VanVleet shares an agent with Lowry probably mattered; that they both share one with Serge Ibaka could eventually, too.

Building culture and reputation is important, but the gains are sometimes difficult to see without zooming out a bit. If the Raptors win 50 games and make a playoff run again, they remove themselves further and further from their somewhat unsightly adolescence. They further engrain themselves as a consistent playoff presence, as a team people are forced to think of when building NBA brackets or discussing the top ten or even top five teams league-wide. Maybe it matters in a big, splashy way in free agency down the line. Maybe it only manifests itself toward the end of the roster, or in the D-League, where the trickle-down effects are even less perceptible. Whatever the case, these things matter, now and down the line.

Everything matters in a salary capped league where teams need to create advantages outside of spending in order to remain competitive. Yes, a title matters, too, and is the ultimate cache-builder. The Raptors aren't there yet, though, and that's entirely fine. Standing in place is a big enough step forward this year.