The 2016-17 version of the Raptors will be building on the franchise’s most successful season and playoffs ever. Four of the five starters are returning, and the power forward position will surely be stronger than it was.
So why aren’t we predicting a triumphant motorcade wending its joyful way down Yonge Street? Because one would have to be a purblind fantasist to believe the Raptors can defeat first the Cleveland Cavaliers, then the Golden State Warriors, to claim the Larry O’Brien Trophy (memo to “the commish” Adam Silver: Please get a new name for that thing!