How the Toronto Raptors are being slept on to win the East.

Kawhi Leonard had his world flipped upside down due to one man, Zaza Pachulia. When Pachulia injured Leonard in game 1 of the WCF the San Antonio Spurs were up 25 points on the Golden State Warriors in the third quarter. This injury lead to the Warriors sweeping the Spurs. Then the next season came and when Leonard finally came back, he got injured again within a few games. Eventually the team shut Leonard down due to him claiming he still felt pain 24 hours after games. This combined with his NY doctors telling him it was unsafe to play lead to a total of 9 games played. Leonard seemed upset and even though very few things were said in public, he requested a trade and after a long wait, he along with Danny Green were traded to the Toronto Raptors for All-Star Guard Demar Derozan and other assets. The NBA world was shocked at this trade for a multitude of reasons. After everything calmed down it is clear to see the Raptors strategy. A one year run at possibly the finals and accelerate the rebuild process. Now, why the Raptors can topple the Boston Celtics, the team that seemed to be the clear cut to run through the East now with LeBron in the West and a healthy squad.

The Klaw

Leonard has proven his dominance through consistent hard work and success. He is a 1x Finals MVP/Champion and 2x DPOY. The stats speak for themselves. In the 2017 postseason Leonard averaged a stat line of:

27.7 PPG - 55.1% 2PT - 45.5% 3PT - 52.5% FG - 58% eFG - 67.2% TS. This combined with his elite defensive capability's make for an incredible run. Now, the Raptors get this & an All-NBA defender in Danny Green.

The Raptors main problem in reality is the fear of LeBron James. It's a mental thing and Derozan has admitted it. The Raptors were the #1 Seed in the East this year, beat the 8th seed Wizards 4-2 then got swept by the Cavs. Now you replace Demar with Kawhi who is a top 5 consensus player in the league, add Danny Greens defense, keep Lowry, keep the bench intact, and no LeBron to play against? This is the greatest team the Raptors have probably ever had. Now the main challenge is Boston, a team who many still think have a clear cut path to the finals. Many believed the same with the Warriors last year.

The Raptors are in a similar situation as the Rockets were last year.

The Houston Rockets were an explosive team, dunks, ankle breakers, crazy passes, buzzer beating game winners, and so much more. Even winning 65 games and reigning as the #1 seed they still had doubters. The Warriors were still so good even through injury and some people just couldn't picture them losing. While those people were right it did come down to a game 7. A game 7 that may not have happened if PG Chris Paul didn't get injured in game 5. The Raptors are being doubted the same way.

Boston v Toronto

While it is most likely the safer bet to choose Boston to advance to the finals come playoff time, it is not a sure one. Toronto has improved both on defense and on offense. They replaced their head coach which is still a move hard to tell if worth it or not. In the end, I believe the Raptors have a very good chance of upsetting Vegas (who has both Boston and Philadelphia winning the east over Toronto) and millions of NBA fans and defeat the Boston Celtics in a matchup that would definitely be one of if not the most hyped up series in the 2019 playoffs.