However, if we are truly bent on building a contender, the team is going to have to make some very difficult and calculated decisions in the near future. This team won the hearts of Toronto by playing unselfish and hard. When discussing the future of this team it is important to keep our hearts out of it. The team is young, with improving talent but the question is where do we go from here? And this question makes the future of Toronto more complicated than ever before. I don't know if Masai saw this coming but either way the rest of the story is history: the team took off, won their second Atlantic division title, DeMar DeRozan was an all-star, Kyle Lowry was even better (even if not acknowledged) and the team won the hearts of Toronto. Very rarely does trading away your most talented player have this effect but I think that is because rarely is a plan so flawed and a pieces fit so poorly. When Rudy was traded some thought that the tank was on, however the exact opposite happened the bench was solidified, the starter's roles were defined and the team took off. He had a -0.8 OWS in his time with the Raptors this season if you look at all the NBA players Rudy was at the bottom of that category.
![regrading rudy gay trade regrading rudy gay trade](https://images.thestar.com/PnJH8GZtg879PCPCxaSUhslruNM=/1086x756/smart/filters:cb(1592632722248)/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/sports/raptors/2020/05/20/how-the-rudy-gay-trade-the-second-one-turned-around-the-raptors-franchise/rudy.jpg)
At this point I am not sure if he was doing it to improve the team or not while Rudy Gay's talent was obvious the fact is he did not fit with this team.
![regrading rudy gay trade regrading rudy gay trade](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3ZPiFwu3hiyWHQZIpKfeRTI_LSg=/0x25:4000x2275/1600x900/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/24773443/20131207_pjc_ai4_440.0.jpg)
Instead of chalking this up to a tough schedule (a la Colangelo) Masai accepted his team had no chance to contend and made a change. Then the season started and everyone had the same view, this team was not very good. Coming into this season there was a very polarizing view of the Toronto Raptors amongst fans some liked the roster and others hated it (like yours truly).