Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting to you the 2019 NBA Champions: The Toronto Raptors! In a thrilling game 6 yesterday night, the Raptors ousted the Warriors 114-110, securing the franchise's first ever NBA finals win in their very first appearance. Today, we will be recapping the series and looking ahead for both of the teams.
This series was easily the best finals in the last three years and had exciting finishes in games 3, 5, and 6. Toronto was able to go into Oakland and win all three games on the road, a marvelous feat that turned the entire series. Kawhi Leonard, the deserving finals MVP, was magnificent in every game, hitting bucket after bucket when his team needed him the most. Leonard became the second player to win finals MVP with two different teams and has now stopped two 3-peats. General Manager Masai Ujiri is officially a genius for swapping franchise icon DeMar DeRozan for Leonard, and it will go down as one of the greatest deals in NBA history. Also, let's give it up for Patrick McCaw. The Raptors bench warmer won two titles in his first two years in the league with Golden State and then crossed the border to win another won with Toronto. The man has never felt what losing feels like.
Let's also show some respect for Kyle Lowry. After finally making the finals, he banished his playoff demons once and for all in the past 6 games. He was outstanding offensively, and with the help of Fred VanVleet, hounded Stephen Curry for the whole series and gave him nightmares. Congrats to the OG Raptor.
The question regarding whether or not Kawhi will stay in Toronto remains a big one. He has no reason to leave, as he is loved by the entire country and is regarded as a hero. However, there is a chance he feels like his work in Toronto is done, and he might want to go to a bigger market like Los Angeles, which is where he is from. No matter what happens, we do know that the board man will get paid.
Toronto's championship team was extremely different than the build we usually see from finals-winning teams. Most champions either have a homegrown talent leading the way(like Dwyane Wade or Dirk Nowitzki) or signed a superstar in free agency(think LeBron with the Heat). What the Raptors have are a bunch of gritty veteran "glue guys" like Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, and Marc Gasol, G-League standouts making a huge impact(Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet), and are led by Kawhi Leonard, a player that was traded for after sitting out nearly an entire season. Get this: Not a single player on the entire Raptors squad was taken with a lottery pick in the draft. This team is odd on many levels, but as they say, "if it ain't broke don't fix it".
For the Warriors, this was probably the worst possible thing that could have happened. Aside from the pain of losing the finals itself, they had to deal with the brutal injuries to marquee free agents Kevin Durant(ruptured Achilles) and Klay Thompson(torn ACL). There is a real chance that both of them will never go back to their usual playing level, despite Golden State planning to offer full five year max contracts to the two of them. Golden State will have to proceed next season knowing that they are certainly not the favorites to win it all and will be a long shot to even make the Conference Finals.
This Raptors win is a huge deal for the NBA. Now that the Warriors dynasty can be deemed as toppled, competition is actually fair. Next season, the Warriors will not be the best team in the league by miles, and the league will get more and more competitive. Also, the NBA's Canada support probably doubled in these finals alone, as Canada never was into basketball(compared to hockey) as they are now.
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