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NBA Season Preview 2018-19: 5 teams that this season will make or break

By Bryan Toporek

HOUSTON, TX - APRIL 15: Jimmy Butler #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts in the second half during Game One of the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on April 15, 2018 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - APRIL 15: Jimmy Butler #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts in the second half during Game One of the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on April 15, 2018 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – JULY 20 – An employee at Real Sports Apparel inside Scotiabank Arena hangs up Kawhi Leonard basketball jerseys for sale to the public. Earlier, Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri talked to the media during a press conference about the DeMar DeRozan-Kawhi Leonard trade. July 20, 2018. Bernard Weil/Toronto Star (Bernard Weil/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – JULY 20 – An employee at Real Sports Apparel inside Scotiabank Arena hangs up Kawhi Leonard basketball jerseys for sale to the public. Earlier, Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri talked to the media during a press conference about the DeMar DeRozan-Kawhi Leonard trade. July 20, 2018. Bernard Weil/Toronto Star (Bernard Weil/Toronto Star via Getty Images) /

2. Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors put themselves into a pressure cooker this summer.

Not only did they fire head coach Dwane Casey, who led them to a franchise-record 59-win season en route to the Coach of the Year award, but they later traded DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected first-round pick for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. That swap is the definition of a high-risk, high-upside move, as both Leonard and Green are set to become free agents following the 2018-19 season.

ESPN.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski has been reporting for months that Leonard plans to head to Los Angeles next summer to sign with either the Lakers or the Clippers. Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri has fewer than 10 months to instead convince Leonard to re-sign in Toronto; otherwise, the Raptors could be headed into a full-scale rebuild.

During an appearance on TSN’s Overdrive, Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News said (via Dan Feldman of Pro Basketball Talk) Leonard is “going to go into this thing with an open mind and give this thing every last opportunity to work.” Before Raptors fans get too excited, though, Young added, “I think he still feels like L.A. might be the destination.”

If the new-look Raptors coalesce quickly, they could be the biggest roadblock for the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference. A deep playoff run could be enough to convince Leonard to stick around beyond this season, especially if Toronto makes it to the NBA Finals and puts a scare into the Golden State Warriors. But if Leonard remains dead-set on heading to L.A. next summer and the Raptors get off to a slow start, he’ll become a daily fixture in trade rumors.

The best-case scenario for the Raptors this year is their first-ever trip to the NBA Finals. The worst-case scenario is having to sell Leonard for 30 cents on the dollar ahead of the trade deadline. Perhaps no team in the NBA this season has greater variance between those two outcomes.