Raptors Rebuild

Even now, as campus opens up, firstyear students will never know that sense of freedom we had back in 2019. Everywhere we go we are required to show identification to access the building. Every time I sign into U-Check, I’m constantly reminded of the dystopia I now live in, where the overarching body that is U of T controls my very actions. But U of T is only a middleman, so is the Canadian Government. The real boss is COVID. It was as if COVID robbed us of our independence; the life we were supposed to have as young adults. Yet, despite the restrictions, I have been able to find a sliver of independence while at home with my lovely family. Before COVID, I was used to buying lunch whenever I didn’t have any leftovers or sandwiches to make. As a student with no income, it probably wasn’t very wise to spend my money this way, but it was the case. I didn’t cook simply because I didn’t know how to. I now know how to boil an egg, bake chicken, and make my famous sweet potato casserole. Had I been living on campus in my first year, I would have been making store-bought ramen every night for dinner. Stuck at home, with a lot of time on my hands, I actually learned how to cook. I baked, I experimented, and I made dishes for my family once or twice a week. Since school started I haven’t been able to cook much, but at least I know what to do when I have to. I have grown more confident when using the stove.

Other than food, I have become more confident regarding finding jobs, understanding money and budgeting. I still have a long way to go before I’m fully independent and can make important decisions regarding my career, but COVID, although horrible, allowed me to take a break and learn new skills.

The Raptors Are Rebuilding, But It’s Not As Bad As You Might Think

Kyle Newcombe SPORTS

All sports rebuilds begin with a teardown. It is the easiest and fastest part, but also the hardest for loyal fans. For the Toronto Raptors, this was represented by the blockbuster sign-and-trade of long-time fan favourite Kyle Lowry. The details of such a deal are a little complex, but the end result was this: the Raptors traded Lowry to the Miami Heat in return for Goran Dragić and Precious Achiuwa. As a pretty serious Raptors fan, I think I speak for everyone when I say that Kyle Lowry is sorely missed. He is an all-star basketball talent, an amazing leader, and the fiery engine that pushed the Raptors’ team to new heights each season he played for them. First acquired by the Raptors in 2012, Lowry was not initially too happy about playing in Toronto, but overtime, he grew to love the city along with his new pal DeMar DeRozan, who the Raptors drafted in 2009. Following the news of the Lowry trade, fan tributes and well wishes poured in on social media making the breakup more than amicable. After all, it was just good business for all involved. Toronto was looking to retool and an aging star like Lowry was the obvious starting point. Thus, the teardown began. After the teardown comes the reconstruction; the building of a new, better team through drafting, signing, and developing new talent. Fortunately, the Raptors have an excellent track record and an enormous head start in this area. You will notice that the Raptors traded just one star-caliber player in Kyle Lowry. They still have plenty of talent leftover to build around. Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet are now full-on stars in their own right and were developed right here in Toronto. As a 27th overall pick and an undrafted free agent, Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet respectively have been huge success stories over the last few seasons. In 2017, I attended the Raptors 905 G-League championship game where they won the title. Siakam and VanVleet both played in that game. Today, they are the indisputable leaders of this Raptors team and have proved themselves time and time again. Aside from the retention of serious star power in Siakam and VanVleet, the unconventional nature of the Raptors rebuild is further exemplified by the fast action that was taken. You may recall that the Raptors won the NBA title not that long ago in 2019, and then they made it to game seven of the second round of the 2020 playoffs in the pandemic “bubble” in Florida. They only had one losing season before deciding to rebuild: the 2020-21 season. The 2020-21 season was very frustrating for Raptors fans. As someone who watched about 80% of the games that season, it was almost maddening to see the Raptors get so close to recovering again and again after their abysmal start, but in the end, it did not end up working out. One underperforming season where they missed the playoffs was all Raptors management needed to see. They immediately pulled the trigger on a team restructuring. The Raptors have such a strong winning culture and as a fan, I appreciate the decisive actions taken right away, rather than letting the team flounder for a season or two to see what happens. Of course, there were benefits to having a subpar record last season. Namely, a higher pick in the 2021 NBA draft. The NBA operates a draft lottery wherein all teams that did not make the playoffs the previous season are randomly selected to determine which order they will draft between the first and fourteenth overall picks, with worse Coninuted of page 4...