Well, there you have it. The NBA may have got their way. In 2021, the NBA officially introduced the play-in tournament as a part of their schedule, at an attempt to encourage more teams to compete as oppose to tank their season away.
Despite Masai Ujiri’s famous “play-in for what?” quote, the Toronto Raptors seemed to trend in the direction of finishing between 7-10 being a real option. The Raptors currently sit at 26-31, following a brutal late game collapse agains the Utah Jazz.
Considering this season has been a massive disappointment, and heading into the trade deadline, the top six in the East seemed an entire level above the rest, it seemed as if the Raptors ceiling was going to be somewhere in the play-in mix.