Toronto kept the remaining band together, and the team kept on winning. So now what?
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00:00 The Toronto Raptors have lingered atop the Eastern Conference, but can they get it done
00:05 again without Kawhi Leonard?
00:07 I'm joined now by SINBA writer Rohan Nedkarni.
00:10 Roh, as the Raptors look to a post-Kawhi future, do they need to rebuild?
00:17 So this season would kind of be the argument against rebuilding, right?
00:19 I mean, they've managed to be one of the better teams in the East, one of the better teams
00:23 in the NBA, even without Kawhi Leonard.
00:25 Guys like Fred VanVleet and Pascal Skiacom taking a big step forward.
00:29 The Raptors are in kind of a really tricky spot with the way this season has shaken out.
00:33 Serge Vodka's on an expiring contract.
00:35 Marc Gasol is on an expiring contract.
00:37 Kyle Lowry only has one year left on his deal after this one.
00:41 I think the way Masai Ijiri set up this team was to kind of give them one more year, and
00:45 then maybe look toward the future with some of the younger pieces they have.
00:48 But with them being so successful, can you even rebuild now?
00:51 Or does this team deserve a chance to kind of continue doing what they've been doing?
00:56 I'm a romantic, Matty.
00:57 I would love to see this team.
00:59 I'd be able to stick together and give it another shot.
01:01 But these are promises I can plan for five years in the future, not just one year.
01:05 And I think it's going to be really interesting to see how Toronto kind of handles the success
01:09 they've had this season.
01:10 It's got to be kind of reminiscent of those '94 Bulls after Michael Jordan retired and
01:15 Scottie Pippen rose to the occasion.
01:17 But was that enough to win a championship?
01:20 Not quite.
01:21 We'll see how the Raptors continue.
01:22 Rohan, Ned Kearney, thank you so much for the time.
01:24 Thank you.
01:25 Thank you.
01:25 Thank you.