The Toronto Raptors remade large portions of the roster in 2023, even as they refused trades for players like OG Anunoby and star Pascal Siakam. Masai Ujiri knew that running back the exact same roster from last season was a one-way ticket to more playoff disappointment.
The back end of the bench received a significant facelift, as a whole new crop of two-way signees and veterans are ready to fight for every morsel of playing time. The biggest departure, obviously, was losing Fred VanVleet to the Houston Rockets after a stellar career in Toronto.
These departures have inadvertently created a bunch of revenge games in which the departed will do everything in their power to stick it to the Raptors after they parted ways.