As this era of Raptors basketball continues to assert its dominance over any other era of Raptors basketball, nostalgia inevitably fades. Ten years from now, we’ll look back at DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry like we do at Vince Carter now — players who pushed the team another step forward toward universal respectability and toward (we hope) an eventual championship.
Which is good! Progress is happening, even if it took 20 years and some fits and starts. It’s also provided some interesting conversation, because now we finally have two eras to compare against each other.