Have the Toronto Raptors finally repaid their karmic debt for the Kawhi shot?

On the anniversary of the best moment in Toronto history, will the Raptors be blessed yet again by the basketball gods at the NBA Draft Lottery?

6 years ago today, May 12 2019, Toronto experienced the greatest moment in the city’s history. Four bounces of a ball on a rim and the swoosh of a net not audible due to the chasmic uproar of screaming that started before the ball was fully through the nylon.

Kawhi Leonard made a buzzer-beater shot that changed the trajectory of sports culture in the city of Toronto. It seems like we’ve been paying for it ever since.

As the joy of the championship era settled and the reality of the next era of Raptors history set in, it felt more and more each day like we sold our soul to the basketball gods in exchange for that shot. Whether you believe in karma or not, the peak of that shot and the championship that followed led into an era more depressing than ever before. We had reached the mountain-top, breathed in the sweet air of success, and were now addicted. The basketball gods expected their payback, though.

A pandemic, the bubble season, the Tampa season, the short levity of drafted Scottie Barnes, followed by the return into the pits of tanking basketball. Six years of losing basketball — is that enough payback? Are the gods satisfied enough to let the Toronto Raptors off the hook and let them have a bit of success again?

I guess we will see tonight, as the NBA Draft Lottery and its four measly ping pong balls determine the immediate future of the Toronto Raptors franchise.

The Raptors have a 7.5% chance of pulling the No. 1 Overall pick in a year when Cooper Flagg is the presumed top prospect. They have a 31.9% chance of getting a top-four pick — the same fate that was given to them in 2021 when they were able to draft Scottie Barnes No. 4 overall. Right now, the odds have them at No. 7 overall after a season of questionable tanking methods.

A few rolls of the tankathon machine have the Raptors going both ways — sometimes they leap up, and other times they roll back in the draft. No one can accurately predict where those ping pong balls will land.

If the Toronto Raptors get the No. 1 pick, Cooper Flagg is the obvious answer. A generational talent who wowed the NCAA during one year with Duke would turn into a franchise-altering piece for whoever is lucky enough to get him. Getting the first pick would certainly feel like the karmic debt of the Kawhi shot is in the past, and the Raptors could sure use some good juju going into next season.

Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster will be at the Draft Lottery tonight to represent the team. Last they spoke to the media after the NBA season, they were hopeful about the draft regardless of where the Raptors ended up. The Raptors’ decision-making duo has a pretty good history of scouting draft talent, especially this past year when they scooped five promising picks in Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Ulrich Chomche and Jamison Battle.

The NBA Draft Lottery is Monday at 7:00 p.m. ET.