There is definitely a sense of new around the Raptors on the eve of training camp that goes beyond the fact the team is back in Toronto, after a season and a half spent in an Orlando bubble and Tampa.
Familiar faces — notably Kyle Lowry and Norm Powell — are gone. There is a much-ballyhooed rookie in Scottie Barnes, and a sense that no one really knows what the team might become.
In a conversation about a month ago, coach Nick Nurse was almost giddy with excitement about what’s ahead. He’s got a variety of new talent, and enough leftover skill to feel comfortable that it’s not a rebuilding period at all.