The Toronto Raptors don’t have a lot invested in the NBA Finals.
They certainly didn’t come anywhere near playing under the bright lights, finishing with the league’s sixth-worst record. In earlier rounds they had prominent former players in the rotation for various teams, but after Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers went down in the Eastern Conference Finals even that investment ran its course.
Darko Rajakovic and the Raptors’ coaching staff are certainly watching the chess match between Jason Kidd and Joe Mazzulla to see what they can take away. Masai Ujiri and the front office will think through how both the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks built their teams to search for any takeaways. Scottie Barnes is likely watching how Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic operate as larger ball-handlers and playmakers, and Gradey Dick should be taking notes on Sam Hauser’s no-dip 3-pointer.
Because of a new rule in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), however, there is also one major reason the Raptors are paying attention to the NBA Finals: it will determine when they can get to work.
The Raptors have to wait on Luka Doncic
When Luka Doncic showed up to a must-win Game 3 in Dallas and was a defensive disaster, whining to referees and fouling out of frustration en route to fouling out of a winnable game, it looked like the Raptors’ front office would need to be ready to go on Friday night. Then Doncic and the Mavericks came out locked in on both ends of the court and blew out the Boston Celtics to force a Game 5 and extend the NBA Finals.
