@FlameRaptorRaven

4mo

The Raptors’ 2nd Greatest What If

What if Kawhi never left after 2019? It’s the easy choice for greatest Raptors what if. However, at the very beginning of their franchise, they were very close to having a top-20 player ever join their team. When the Raptors came into the NBA, their first GM was an interesting choice, Isiah Thomas. This is when Zeke had just retired as one of the most celebrated players ever. He had the dubious task of going through the expansion draft and then making the Raptors’ first ever draft pick in 1995. According to Zeke himself, he wanted to create a new position called the Raptor 2. The Raptor 2 would basically be a Power Forward with guard skills surrounded by a bunch of bigger guards who can give him pin-downs while also providing pin-downs for those skilled guards. Which player was was meant for this position? Kevin Garnett. The first time Zeke saw Garnett play, he said “That’s our Raptor 2”. KG was still in high school at the time, which led to Zeke approaching KG and suggesting that Garnett could go straight to the NBA out of high school, a fact that KG confirmed himself. On top of that, the Raptors used their 1st overall expansion pick on BJ Armstrong in hopes the Washington Bullets would take him in a trade for the 4th overall pick alongside the Raptors’ 7th overall pick. KG was their guy. So why didn’t it happen? There was a lot of skepticism around KG, mainly because he was going to be the first high school player drafted in decades so GMs were unsure what to think. The Timberwolves’ GM Kevin McHale apparently approached Zeke, a good friend of his, and asked what he thought of KG. Zeke basically said he would take KG if he was available. That response is at least part of what convinced the Timberwolves to take KG with their 5th overall pick. It wasn’t all bad. Zeke took Damon Stoudamire who won rookie of the year and selected Marcus Camby and Tracy McGrady in subsequent drafts. Still, it’s not what could’ve been. We missed out on some incredible hoops.

Raptors

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Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 8: Mr. VanVleet is his Dad’s Name

As I’m sure you can imagine, I had a lot of options in mind for the Raptors. Could’ve gone the easy route with Kawhi, the eternally underrated 2020 Raptors or even gone back to the Vince Carter Raptors (sorry Bosh). I do want to stay in 2019, but focus on a storyline that I think people have forgotten. The 2019 Raptors have seemingly become the gold standard of ‘THAT GUY played on that team?!’ conversations. It seems like every non-veteran from that team is doing great things with a new team. OG just became a Knicks legend, Siakam was the 2nd best player on the 2025 Pacers, Norman Powell became an all-star and finally, our main character, Fred VanVleet became a $100M player with the Rockets. VanVleet was an undrafted prospect out of Wichita State, but quickly established himself as a valuable contributor for the Raptors. On the Raptors’ iconic Bench Mob of 2018, VanVleet may have been the most important member. He was a finalist for 6th man of the year award, ultimately finishing 3rd despite averaging just 9 points per game. His combination of shooting, playmaking and defence made him a vital cog in the Raptors’ machine. When the Kawhi trade happened, everyone said the Raptors would only have him for 1 year, if he played at all. This put a ton of pressure on the entire Raptors squad, especially the younger players. They better be ready or risk being responsible for blowing the all-in push. Fortunately, everyone stepped up to the challenge, including VanVleet. With 7 extra minutes, he stepped up his scoring to 11 points per game while retaining his great playmaking and defense with only a slight drop in efficiency. VanVleet was never gonna start with Kyle Lowry healthy, but his role in ensuring the bench guys didn’t miss a step was vital. Come playoff time though and he felt off a cliff. Through the first 2 rounds, Fred VanVleet was averaging 4.2 points per game on horrific 28% shooting, including 20% from 3. He didn’t score more than 5 points in any game of Toronto’s 2nd round series against Philly. He was looking like a massive disappointment, until something happened. On May 20th, 2019, Fred VanVleet’s first son (2nd child) Fred VanVleet Jr. was born. Prior to attending the birth, Fred had played 3 games in the conference finals against Milwaukee and continued struggling. He averaged 3.3 points per game on 20% shooting and 18% from 3. He returned to the Raptors for game 4 and something clicked. Whether the birth of his son inspired him to step up his game or stepping away from the game cleared his mind, Fred VanVleet became a new man. From game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals to Game 6 of the NBA finals, he averaged 15 points per game on 51% shooting from the field and 53% from 3. In game 5 against Milwaukee, VanVleet set a career high (at the time) in 3s with 7 as he helped the Raptors take down Milwaukee and later Golden State to win the Finals. As if that wasn’t good enough, he hit THE 3-pointer to give Toronto the lead late in game 6 against the Warriors that ultimately won the championship. He went from someone potentially holding back the Raptors, to being one of the key performers down the stretch after his son was born. I’m sure there are other reasons why VanVleet turned it around, but the numbers sync up too perfectly to ignore his son’s birth as a reason why. VanVleet even said as much after game 4 against Milwaukee. Regardless of its actual impact, Fred VanVleet Sr. and Jr. became Larry O’Brien Legends forever in the summer of 2019.

@zach

Toronto Unveils the Raptors: Today in Sports History

On May 22nd, 1994, the Toronto Raptors’ name and logo were officially revealed. The expansion to Toronto was formalized the previous November, with the NBA awarding its 28th team to a group headed by Toronto businessman John Bitove for a then-record expansion fee of $125 million USD. Initially, the plan was to revive the Toronto Huskies name from their brief stint in the NBA during the 1946-47 season, but it was realized that making a Huskies logo could lead to confusion with the Minnesota Timberwolves. As a result, a nationwide contest ensued for the team’s name and colors. Over 2,000 entries were narrowed down to ten potential names: Beavers, Bobcats, Dragons, Grizzlies, Hogs, Raptors, Scorpions, T-Rex, Tarantulas, and Terriers. The final choice of Raptors was influenced by the blockbuster 1993 movie Jurassic Park. The team's logo and first general manager, Isiah Thomas, were revealed at a press conference.

@FlameRaptorRaven

Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 11: The Big Ticket and Big Balls

Despite a disappointing season, the Minnesota Timberwolves are undeniably in their best era. It’s the first time ever they have won a playoff series in 3 straight seasons and they have made more conference finals in the last 3 years than they did in the 34 seasons before. I believe it is worth revisiting the 1 season it happened. In 1995, the Timberwolves made their best draft pick in franchise history when they selected Kevin Garnett 5th overall. After a promising rookie season, Garnett quickly established himself as a young star before ascending to superstar in the 2000s. His insane intensity, prodigious defensive IQ and deep toolbox turned him into a nightmare on both ends of the floor. Sadly, because the Timberwolves were poorly ran, they struggled to build a team around KG, until 2004. They finished with 58 wins in the regular season, a franchise record to this day and the 2nd best record in the 03-04 season. Of course the biggest part of that was KG himself. The future Hall-of-Famer averaged career highs in points and rebounds while remaining a top tier defender. However, it was the supporting cast that helped the team finally ascend and it all happened thanks to 2 trades to acquire veteran Sam Cassell and the erratic Latrel Sprewell. Garnett, Cassell and Sprewell formed a formidable trio. Them along with shooting from Wally Szczerbiak and Fred Hoiburg and defense from Micheal Olowokandi made the Timberwolves a real threat. Now it was time to prove it. In the first round, the 1st seed Timberwolves faced rookie Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets. The Wolves chewed them up, spit them out and beat them in 5. Carmelo had averaged 21 points per game in the regular season and the Timberwolves held him to 15 on horrific 32% shooting. Nevertheless, this series included a 40-piece from Sam Cassell to win game 1 and a 31-point game from Sprewell to win game 2 while KG averaged 26 points and 16 rebounds throughout the series. The trio was locked in. In round 2, the Wolves met the Sacramento Kings. Forget their reputation today, back then they were one of the very best teams, often thought of as the cream of the crop in the West alongside the Lakers and Spurs. They boasted a loaded starting lineup that included Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic and the man that made it all work, Chris Webber. Garnett would be tasked with shutting down Webber. Sam Cassell put up another 40-point game in game 1 of this series, but the Kings managed to overcome it and steal a 1-0 lead. The Wolves would come back and get game 2 behind Garnett’s 28 points. After a hard-fought series, it all came down to game 7. Heading into the 4th quarter of that game, the Wolves clung to a 2-point lead thanks to a Sam Cassell 3. After a few minutes, the Big Ticket took over. He proceeded to score Minnesota’s next 13 points. It culminated with a 3-pointer to put Minnesota up 7 and then a block on Webber to keep that lead. It came down to the last possession. Kings had the ball, down 3. Garnett blocked Brad Miller’s layup attempt and Webber missed a 3 to clinch Minnesota’s first conference finals appearance. KG finished game 7 with 32 points, 21 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 steals in a legendary performance. He is 1 of just 7 players to ever have a 30-20 game in a game 7 and the only one to do it in the 21st century. In the conference finals, the Wolves ran into the Kobe-Shaq Lakers. This was the infamous Kobe-Shaq-Mailman-Gary Payton super team. The Wolves were obviously the underdogs, but they presented a real challenge. After losing game 1, Minnesota won game 2, but at the cost of Sam Cassell. He hurt his hip literally 43 seconds in. Miraculously he played game 3, but was MIA for the rest of the series. It was a crushing blow for a team that relied on him to be the 2nd best player beside KG. KG did his part and averaged 24, 14 and 4 in the series, which included a brilliant 30-point outing in game 5 to keep his team’s chances alive. But the Wolves ultimately lost in 6 games. At the time, KG’s 2004 playoff run had the most points, rebounds, assists and blocks of any Timberwolf ever. Only the points and assists have been surpassed since, by Anthony Edwards in 2024. It wasn’t just KG setting records. Sam Cassell became the 26th player in NBA history to put up multiple 40-point games in the same playoff run… yes really. Even better, Sam Cassell’s 2004 playoff run alone gave him more 40-point games in the playoffs than the following current and future Hall-of-Famers: James Worthy, Dr. J, David Robinson, Klay Thompson, Paul George and Demar DeRozan Although this era didn’t last long, Minnesota can finally say they have a better era of Timberwolves basketball and they can look back on this season with rose coloured glasses as the year Kevin Garnett became a Larry O’Brien Legend and Sam Cassell solidified his Larry O’Brien legend in stone.