Could the Raptors Become the Northern Spurs?

[psrs1]

Win just one championship then we can talk. Otherwise no.

[Scraptor]

My point was that the Raptors are clearly adopting the continuity/development approach which in the basketball world most resembles the Spurs. Getting over the top to win a championship likely will require somehow acquiring a great player, or have a really good player having a career year. .

It's a fine point, but I think my concern would be that labelling ourselves the Northern Spurs might lead to a false sense of accomplishment and, in turn, complacency.

Getting over the top and somehow acquiring a great player is the fundamental team-building question in the NBA. It's not a side note... it's the main question. Given our salary position, it's likely that over the first seven years of Masai's tenure, our most significant free agent acquisition will end up being DeMarre Carroll.

The other two methods of acquiring a great player are via trade and the draft. We've seen multiple stars trade teams over the last four years, particularly in the last year, and our most significant acquisition was Serge Ibaka. Solid, but likely not a championship-winning piece. We don't have a pick and Norm is not tradeable, so it's hard to see a package that could land a star this year, unless we get lucky and the Pelicans or Thunder decide to cut loose Cousins or George.

I can't see any way this team will be in a lottery for a long time to come

So this goes back to the overall question: Can you build a championship level team without being in the lottery? Houston has done it, but Houston benefits greatly from its weather and from having no state tax. If we spend the next five years winning fifty games, what does that mean for the likelihood of championship contention? Will we be just good enough... or can we be great?

[3inthekeon]

Well we're kind of like the present Spurs. Really good team. Highly unlikely to win the NBA championship.