When things have gotten frustrating for the Raptors over the, oh, let’s say, last two decades, fans of the team have dreamed of a more streamlined ownership group. This has usually been tied to the idea of paying the luxury tax when it comes to player salaries, the most obvious sign to a fan base a team is doing everything it can to win.
But, the conversation about commitment to winning should be more nuanced. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has in fact paid the luxury tax three times — twice in lost years in the early 2000s, and again in the championship year — but that does not get at how much the organization has tried to win. Being able to pay into the luxury tax is largely a product of being able to acquire players, whether through the draft, trade or free agency, who are worth splurging on. When they have struggled, it is because the Raptors have failed to bring in those players, and little of that can be traced back to an unwillingness to spend.
Regardless, it has been tempting for fans to cry out for a more single-minded, winning-obsessed approach from ownership. For so long, Mark Cuban was a sort of ideal, in the sense he was going to spend whatever it took to build a winning team, and did not have to deal with the same corporate machinations MLSE would do to make a change. The Mavericks spent on players, both in terms of salaries, and fortifying those players with high-end technology, an assembly line of coaches and much more. Cuban built a consistent winner and got his title in 2011.
Since then, Cuban has been shown to be something less than the perfect organizational steward in any
