It was one of the lowest moments in recent franchise history: When the Raptors were swept from the first round of the playoffs by the Washington Wizards in the spring of 2015, there wasn’t much of a silver lining in the humiliating defeat.
“It was tough times being swept. There are no good memories, no good things,” said Jonas Valanciunas.
Valanciunas is one of just three current Raptors who played in that series three years ago; Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are the others. As the team spent the past couple of days preparing to face the Wizards in Saturday’s Game 1 of the first round — a rematch of sorts — all three of the remaining team members pointed out how vastly Toronto’s franchise has changed since that low moment.