Nearly four months have passed since the Toronto Raptors lost Game 7 to the Brooklyn Nets in the first round. Listening to the team hold court at its annual media day, that loss felt at once like it was yesterday and forever ago.
While the memory of the final seconds of the loss remain fresh in the minds of Raptors players, an offseason of reflecting coupled with a free agency that brought back the team’s core has everyone ready to go. Tipping off training camp on Tuesday in Toronto before heading to Vancouver for a week of learning, the team anticipates picking up where it left off in May.
“Guys put in a tremendous amount of work this summer,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said. “Everybody is anxious to get started. It seems like the season just continued to go with the summer league and individual workouts. This is the part that we're all excited about because this is when you get the most work in the NBA as far as fundamentals, get your philosophy put in.”
Beginning the season without disappointment from the previous year hanging over his head for the first time, DeMar DeRozan was enthusiastic when addressing the assembled media. DeRozan spent much of his summer with Team USA preparing for the World Cup where he earned a gold medal with the program. Going from All-Star guard for the Raptors to reserve Team USA gave DeRozan added perspective and helped him take another step forward in becoming a leader.
With Casey and Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri agreeing that this will be a huge season for third-year players Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross, DeRozan will be there to ensure the two follow through with their actions.
“My job now, I think I have that right now, is to make sure they bring it every single night,” DeRozan said. “And push them. You can’t get tired, you can’t get fatigued, you can’t make excuses, you can’t do none of this no more. You’re not young no more, you’re in the league, y’all played at a high level, so there’s no more excuses. It’s just for me to bring that potential I know that they have out of them.”
Ross spent time in the offseason training with DeRozan. The gesture to include Ross was another sign of DeRozan's maturity and leadership.
"Normally I always try to work out by myself," DeRozan said. "But, as soon as we started working out at the beginning of the summer, I wanted to be with Terrence a lot to really push him and push him to another level so he could really see how hard I worked and show him what it takes to be at that next level…I’m telling him, ‘You gotta be consistent with it.’"
Lowry: "I Expect A Lot"
Looking ahead to how the team wants to play this season, Kyle Lowry said the team will be looking to get Valanciunas more involved on the offensive end. After a busy summer that included time with Hakeem Olajuwon in Houston and a running coach in Oregon, Valanciunas met DeRozan in the World Cup semifinals, suiting up for Lithuania.
There are big expectations for Ross and Valanciunas, but the offseason additions of Louis Williams and James Johnson help lessen the load on each of Toronto’s starting five.
“Last year we struggled a lot with bench scoring,” DeRozan said. “A guy like Lou Will definitely helps that, by far, the things that he’s able to do. And James, the versatility that he has, the quickness he has, how big he is, being able to hard the LeBrons, the Joe Johnsons, the Paul Pierces, even some 4s, honestly. That’s going to help us a lot and change the dynamic of the game to where we kind of struggled — instead of having Amir guard the Paul Pierces.”
With DeRozan and Lowry leading the way, the recipe for success seems to be self-awareness and accountability.
“I expect a lot,” Lowry said. “And, I hold my teammates accountable and they've got to hold me accountable.”
Ujiri and Casey shrugged off questions about season predictions, but both acknowledged the higher stakes and expectations this season. Lowry pointedly discussed his desire to give fans more to cheer for in a deeper playoff run this year.
“We've got a great fanbase, they hadn't won in a long time,” Lowry said. “I understand their excitement, but we have to do better. We have to get the city and the country more, because we want to make it to the next round and get further.”