The “long road ahead” has multiple meanings for the Toronto Raptors.
It could reference the long road to respectability. A lot of Raptors fans have reached the final step of the grief process and accepted that the team, as currently constructed, is not good enough to make a deep playoff run. Just last week, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert, and Jayson Tatum chose the Raptors as their rest game (injury report be damned). Toronto needs to make a handful of changes in order to regain its opponent’s respect.
The long road ahead could also reference the February 9 trade deadline.