The ambiguity that hung over the Toronto Raptors going into last season is gone and the direction is clear. They’re finally embracing the rebuild, and regardless of whether you agree with what came before it, so should we, Josh Lewenberg writes.
TORONTO – Up until recently, the word “rebuild” was taboo inside of and around the Raptors front office.
“I would use the word rebuilding,” said Ujiri, asked to characterize his club’s upcoming 2024-25 season on the eve of training camp. “Yes, in sports, you always want to be competitive and you play to win. We're going to play to win. But it is a rebuilding team. I think everybody sees that loud and clear.”
That shouldn’t be a problem this year. Expectations in Toronto are as low as they’ve been in more than a decade. You don’t even have to temper them yourself; the team has done it for you. It should be noted that the word “rebuild”, or a variation of it, was used six times over the team’s annual Media Day festivities on Monday: four times by Ujiri and twice by head coach Darko Rajakovic. No player used it, nor would you expect them to – although a refreshingly candid Poeltl came close.
Coming off a challenging first season as an NBA head coach, Rajakovic’s job doesn’t get much easier in Year 2. He and his staff are the intermediaries, charged with carrying out the organization’s long-term goals while keeping the locker room together and focused on the day-to-day, and building a winning culture from the ground up. It’s hard to see those priorities aligning, which is why coaching a rebuilding team might be the toughest job in pro sports.
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