5 biggest surprises of the 2017-18 NBA season

5. The Raptors’ rejiggered offense

Going from good to great is one of the NBA’s most difficult team-building challenges. Thanks to the stewardship of general manager Masai Ujiri and Coach of the Year candidate Dwane Casey, the Toronto Raptors handled that with aplomb in 2017-18.

Following their Eastern Conference Semifinals sweep at the hands of the Cavaliers last season, Ujiri bemoaned the need for significant systemic changes. With Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, P.J. Tucker and Patrick Patterson all headed for free agency, the core of this Raptors squad appeared to be in jeopardy.

“After that performance [against the Cavaliers], we need a culture reset here,” Ujiri said at his end-of-season press conference (via ESPN.com). “We’ve tried what we’ve done so many times and it hasn’t worked. We have to go a different direction, do something different. I don’t know now what it is.”

Cooler heads prevailed, and Ujiri re-signed both Lowry and Ibaka instead of blowing apart the team. But despite continuing to rely upon the same core pieces, the Raptors unveiled a new-look offense this year that helped them surge to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

In years past, Toronto’s offense often devolved into your-turn, my-turn hero ball between Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. Last season, the Raptors ran the sixth-highest percentage of isolation possessions (8.5 percent) and ranked 27th in passes per game (273.4). This year, they’re among the bottom 10 in isolations (5.7 percent) and are floating around the league average in terms of passes per game (300.1). Relying more heavily on the complementary cast not only lessens the burden on Lowry and DeRozan, but it also made the Raptors far less predictable.

Whether the new-look Raptors can carry over their regular-season success to the playoffs is anyone’s guess. But so long as they remain dedicated to the offensive principles they’ve embraced this season, they’ll have a far better chance of making it to the Finals than the Toronto teams of years past.

Next: 4. Victor Oladipo