by Last year, I wrote an article detailing how the Oklahoma City Thunder’s blown 3-1 series lead against the Golden State Warriors in 2016 single-handedly changed so much about the future of the NBA.
That singular outcome led to Kevin Durant making one of the most controversial moves in basketball history, a move that never would have happened if OKC had finished the series against Golden State. LeBron James’s legacy was indirectly affected as well, with his Cavaliers standing no chance against a 73 win Warriors team that just added Durant. The league would definitely have looked a lot differently if the Thunder hadn’t blown that 3-1 lead in the conference finals. However, a series this impactful on the trajectory of professional basketball is not an isolated incident.
2019 saw one of the craziest back-and-forth playoff series in recent memory, and the aftermath of this series is even more chaotic. The Eastern Conference Semifinals featured the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers as the #2 and #3 seeds in the East respectively, but both teams illustrate completely different stories on how they got there. Let’s rewind:
Holy Matrimony in Toronto
After the unceremonious departure of franchise icons Vince Carter and Chris Bosh, the Raptors began to reset and retool. With their lottery pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, they selected USC forward DeMar DeRozan. In 2012, new president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri quickly began putting the pieces together. He swung a trade for Rockets point guard Kyle Lowry. These two would go on to become the face of the Toronto Raptors for the entire 2010s decade. Their fun personality and unbreakable chemistry off the court made them one of the most respected tandems in the NBA. Unfortunately, they never found any true playoff success as they were continuously terrorized by LeBron James, who dominated the Raptors during the 2010s so much that they often refer to the city as ‘LeBronto’. 2018 served as the final act for LeBron’s ownership of Toronto, as they swiftly swept the Raptors in 4 games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Raptors head coach Dwayne Casey was fired that season despite winning Coach of the Year in 2018.
As we flash forward to the 2019 conference semifinals against Philly, something is a little different about this Raptors team. For one, they have a new coach. Nick Nurse was hired to replace Casey in hopes of finally winning the Eastern Conference. They also don’t have to worry about LeBron anymore since he is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the other conference. The biggest change for this 2019 Raptors team is that Kyle Lowry will be playing without his best friend and co-star. In July of 2018, Masai Ujiri made a seismic trade that sent shockwaves throughout the NBA and Canada. The Raptors traded DeRozan, Danny Green, and Jakob Poetl to San Antonio for former Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who had previously missed 73 games last season due to a combination of a quad injury and public feud with the franchise. Trading for the disgruntled superstar was incredibly controversial and was met with widespread backlash. This tweet didn’t help causes either.
Kawhi Leonard has no desire to play in Toronto, league source tells ESPN.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 18, 2018
With Kawhi’s contract set to expire at the end of the 2019 season and a report that he doesn’t even want to be there, the Raptors had likely one and only one chance to win a championship with Leonard. Raptors fans were not happy to lose one of their beloved stars in DeRozan but were hopeful (and anxious) that Kawhi’s big game experience could get them over the hump.
The Raptors made quick work of the Orlando Magic in 5 games to set up a conference semifinal matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that found itself in the 2019 playoffs through an entirely different yet similar path, and a very controversial one at that.
Sam Hinkie and ‘The Process’
In 2013, the 76ers hired former Stanford grad Sam Hinkie to be their new general manager. This had been the third GM owner Josh Harris had hired since he bought the team in 2011. His first season as Sixers GM saw him trade away starting point guard Jrue Holiday for a first round draft pick and Nerlens Noel. This would become a common theme during Hinkie’s tenure, as he deliberately traded away the best talent on his roster in exchange for future talent.
The 76ers were one of the worst teams in the 2013-2014 season and had the third overall pick in the lottery, where they selected Kansas center Joel Embiid. The 76ers again struggled in the 2014 season and ended up with pick #3 again. This time, they selected recent national champion Jahlil Okafor out of Duke.
Basketball media and personnel began to question Hinkie’s methods and willingness to field a competitive team. He began preaching a slogan titled “Trust the Process” to Philly fans as a means to sacrifice short term success for long term glory. The NBA began investigating that Hinkie was losing games on purpose in order to get a higher draft selection. This investigation further evolved when the Sixers opened the 2015-2016 season with a 1-21 record.
After three years of ‘tanking’, Hinkie officially stepped down as GM in April of 2016, ceding operations to Jerry Colangelo. The 2015-2016 Sixers finished the season 10-72, and were awarded the first overall pick. They took LSU point forward Ben Simmons, and because he didn’t play his rookie season due to injury, the 76ers once again were one of the worst teams and held the third overall pick. However, the Sixers believed one #1 overall pick isn’t enough, and traded with the Celtics to select Markelle Fultz with the first pick. After years of living in the basemen and ‘trusting the process’, the 76ers were finally ready to compete again.
Simmons won NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018 and Joel Embiid finally stayed healthy to show that those years of tanking were worth it. They made crucial trades for Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris at the trade deadline to put the Sixers in position to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2001.
The Series
The 76ers and Raptors traded victories as the series shifted to Philly tied at 1. After a convincing win in game 3, the 76ers took an early series lead. However, back to back wins for the Raptors put them back in the driver’s seat. The Sixers were able to fend off elimination and force a game 7, which takes us here. After a back and forth game, Jimmy Butler tied the game at 90 with a tough layup in the final seconds. The Raptors had one final chance in regulation to send the Air Canada Center into a frenzy.
Kawhi Leonard delivered. In fact, he over-delivered. After that incredible shot in game 7, he took care of the Bucks in the conference finals en route to defeating the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, giving the nation of Canada their first ever basketball title.
Aftermath
After just one year in Toronto, Kawhi Leonard signed with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Raptors are back in reset mode as of 2024.
As advertised, the outcome of this series had major ramifications on the landscape of the NBA the following years. What if that shot didn’t go in and the Sixers win in overtime? Philly likely would have won it all with a depleted Golden State team on the other side and Jimmy Butler likely would have stayed a 76er. Instead, the Sixers front office decided to let Jimmy Butler walk in free agency and pivoted towards re-signing Tobias Harris and signing Boston center Al Horford.
This inexplicable decision cost Joel Embiid a superstar teammate, and things looked even worse when Horford bottomed out and Ben Simmons had his fiasco where he sat out the entire season and alienated himself from the organization. The Sixers have yet to reach the conference finals since that 2001 season despite Joel Embiid becoming an MVP winner in 2023.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Butler has made at least the conference finals in every season he has played since leaving the 76ers, a feat his previous team hasn’t done since before I was born. Butler has already led the heat to two NBA Finals appearances and four conference finals appearances overall.
Amazing breakdown that changed the face of the NBA