Last year the Toronto Raptors experienced another dropoff at the gate in terms of ticket sales. With only 33 wins on the season and a bleak outlook for next season this year may be even worse.
But representatives of the Raptors disagree. It seems that the Raptors' loyal fan base is willing to suffer through another losing season in hopes of building with the new rookies and developing into a perennial playoff contender. Many pundits around the league have stated for quite sometime that if the team continues its losing ways, it will be in serious trouble. However it could be argued that an average attendance of 17,100 for a 33 win team has to reflect one of the more optimistic fan bases in the league. Here's hoping that a few Charlie Villanueva crams on Zaza Pachulia and Joey Graham lock down defensive efforts on Vince Carter continue this optimism.
As discussed in our past few media watches, former Duke point guard Jay Williams would be a big piece of this optimistic rebuilding plan. Williams agent yesterday stated however that Toronto has some tough competition for the former Blue Devil's services. Pay does not seem to be one of the main issues factoring into Williams' decision however it will likely come down to which team can provide the most playing time, development opportunity and field the most competitive squad. This last point may be the proverbial "rub."
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