The 2017-18 NBA season was the last season of heartbreak for the Toronto Raptors. Not that there will ever be another heartbreaking moment in franchise history, but this season feels like the team is playing with house money.
They’re the reigning NBA champions and have started off their title defense with a victory over the New Orleans Pelicans and a loss to the Boston Celtics, but it’s going to take a lot for that to happen. If someone had pitched that fact to you 16 months ago, you would have told them that they were crazy. The Raptors had just been swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers (again) and the team was in crisis.