Raffy Ledesma
The Toronto Raptors have slowly turned into an Eastern Conference powerhouse. It can be argued that they were already a contender last year when they recorded as franchise best regular season (59-23) and were No. 1 in the East. However, their regular season achievements never turned into playoff success. In the past five years alone, they have been swept three times in the playoffs, twice by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. This led to the firing of longtime coach Dwane Casey in May 2018 shortly after he was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year.