The award for the best Toronto Raptors roster would have to go to the 2019 NBA champions. The 2018-2019 Toronto Raptors were one of the most complete rosters the franchise has ever put together, and they have President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri to thank for it.
Everyone had doubts when Ujiri decided to move on from DeMar DeRozan and bring in Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green from the San Antonio Spurs. But once things got rolling, it became clear it was the best move in their short franchise history.
First-year head coach Nick Nurse stepped in and made all of the pieces work together perfectly. Leonard and Green thrived in Nurse's defensive system and helped the rest of the core get to the next level. Kyle Lowry emerged as one of the main leaders of the team and a young Pascal Siakam also broke out. Ujiri made one last move before the playoffs, completing their championship unit when he opted to trade a few pieces of the Raptors’ lineup to acquire Marc Gasol.
After a few jittery moments to start the 2019 playoffs, the Raps took care of business against the Orlando Magic in the first round and moved on to face a highly-touted Philadelphia 76ers team. This series went all the way down to the final milliseconds of Game 7 when Leonard ended up making one of the biggest shots in franchise history to push them to the ECF. From there, it seemed that no challenge could stop the Raptors from achieving their ultimate goal. They fell 0-2 against the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, but won four consecutive games to move on to the NBA Finals. In the Finals, they dethroned the Golden State Warriors in six games to bring home their first NBA title to Toronto.