{"id":199800,"date":"2026-06-10T08:20:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T12:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=199800"},"modified":"2026-06-10T08:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T12:20:11","slug":"nba-finals-and-hindsight-show-the-2019-raptors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/06\/10\/nba-finals-and-hindsight-show-the-2019-raptors\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Finals And Hindsight Show The 2019 Raptors Are An All Time Great Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO<\/strong> \u2014 As the active championship series rages on and the basketball world hyper-focuses on modern roster construction, a fascinating piece of revisionist history should take center stage in Canada: the NBA finals and hindsight show the 2019 raptors<\/strong> are an all time great team that was wildly underappreciated in real-time.\u00a0For years, the mainstream narrative surrounding the Larry O’Brien trophy heading north of the border was framed entirely as a transient, one-year superstar carry job. However, looking at how that roster’s young depth has completely dominated the upper echelons of the league over the last several seasons, that great team so far ahead for its time. This is a cold, hard reality that becomes more undeniable with each passing postseason.<\/p>\n

NBA Finals And Hindsight Show The 2019 Raptors Are An All Time Great Team<\/h2>\n

When Kawhi Leonard<\/a> left for Southern California immediately after the parade, critics expected the franchise to crumble. Instead, the steady maturation of their supporting cast has turned that single championship run into an absolute historical goldmine. The sheer volume of elite, award-winning talent that was coming off the bench or operating as third and fourth options on that roster is practically unheard of in modern basketball history.<\/p>\n

From Supporting Pieces to Championship Pillars<\/h3>\n
\"NBA
Jun 13, 2019; Oakland, CA, USA; Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard (2) celebrates with the Larry O’Brien Trophy after the Golden State Warriors in game six of the 2019 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Consider the meteoric rise of Pascal Siakam<\/a>. When the Indiana Pacers<\/strong> stormed into the 2025 Finals, it was Siakam who shouldered the burden, winning the absolute honor of being named the Eastern Conference Finals MVP<\/a> after dropping 31 points in a series-clinching blowout against the New York Knicks<\/strong>. He came within a single game of winning another championship during that run, proving that he wasn’t just a product of an elite system, but a legitimate franchise engine capable of elevating a roster on the sport’s highest stage.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, the league-wide value of OG Anunoby<\/a> continues to skyrocket beneath the brightest lights of the sport. While an injury kept him out of the active rotation during the 2019 title run, he has since blossomed into a multi-time All-Defensive Second Team selection.<\/a> Anunoby’s development into a defensive nightmare has made him an indispensable wing anchor for the knicks.<\/p>\n

Anunoby’s impact has taken center stage in the current NBA Finals, dragging the New York Knicks to the precipice of glory. He put up with a masterful, highly efficient 28-point performance on 9-of-13 shooting in Game 3. Thanks to his dominance at the wing position, Anunoby stands just two wins away from his second championship.<\/p>\n

The Unrivaled Core of Draft Day Steals<\/h3>\n
\"NBA
Jun 8, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) vies for the ball against San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) during game three of the 2026 NBA Finals in the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What makes that 2019 squad age like fine wine is that none of their core developmental pieces were elite lottery selections. The front office constructed an absolute masterclass in scouting, assembling a championship core out of unexpected draft positions:<\/p>\n

Pascal Siakam was selected 27th overall out of New Mexico State and grew into a multi-time All-NBA weapon. OG Anunoby was picked 23rd overall and is currently recognized as a premier perimeter stopper in the entire league. Norman Powell<\/a> earned a stunning selection as an All Star reserve 2026 for the Miami Heat<\/strong>. Making his debut at 33 years old after scoring 21+ points per game, he stands as one of the oldest first-time All-Stars in NBA history.<\/p>\n

Fred VanVleet<\/a> went completely undrafted out of Wichita State, eventually securing a massive max contract and cementing an elite trajectory after making his initial All-Star debut back in 2022 while still wearing a Raptors uniform. VanVleet is set to start for the Houston Rockets next season after missing the whole of 2024-25 recovering from a torn right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).<\/a><\/p>\n

Back in 2019, Fred VanVleet was merely a backup point guard. Norman Powell was utilized as a seventh man. To have that level of future star power masquerading as secondary depth is a luxury that today\u2019s second-apron restricted contenders can only dream of building.<\/p>\n

A Hall of Fame Heavy Frontcourt and Legacy<\/h3>\n

While the development of youth is staggering, it is equally surreal to look back at the sheer veteran infrastructure that insulated the team. That roster was absolutely loaded with respected, battle-tested veterans like Serge Ibaka<\/a> and Marc Gasol<\/a>, alongside a legendary floor general in Kyle Lowry<\/a> and a peak, clinical version of Kawhi Leonard.<\/p>\n

When you blend that foundational veteran core\u2014which is incredibly rich in future first-ballot Hall of Famers\u2014with a bench unit consisting of four future high-level All-Star-caliber players, the historical math changes completely. The 2026 NBA finals and hindsight show the 2019 raptors were never a fluke. They were an organically drafted, perfectly constructed juggernaut that deserves to be spoken of in the exact same breath as the greatest single-season teams of the modern era.<\/p>\n

Credit:\u00a9 John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2014 As the active championship series rages on and the basketball world hyper-focuses on modern roster construction, a fascinating piece of revisionist history should take center stage in Canada: the NBA finals and hindsight show the 2019 raptors are an all time great team that was wildly underappreciated in real-time.\u00a0For years, the mainstream narrative […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":199805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,31,16,62,12,3,14],"tags":[1966,50477,50432,1244,168,319,442,4053,408,596,716,1082,1754,128],"class_list":["post-199800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-rockets","category-heat","category-nba","category-knicks","category-news","category-raptors","tag-2019-nba-finals","tag-2026-nba-finals","tag-2026-nba-playoffs","tag-fred-vanvleet","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-kyle-lowry","tag-marc-gasol","tag-nba-champion","tag-nba-championship","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-norman-powell","tag-og-anunoby","tag-pascal-siakam","tag-serge-ibaka"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199800"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":199806,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199800\/revisions\/199806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}