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The Raptors ended an extended spell of summer silence late Tuesday morning, unveiling a pair of new alternate jerseys to be worn during the 2016-17 season.
Based on a teaser video tweeted yesterday from the team's account, a return of the Toronto Huskies motif felt like a foregone conclusion. Those assumptions were in fact, accurate. Except instead of the minimalist look used in 2009-10 that featured and all-white uniform with blue lettering, this coming season will see the Raptors pay homage to the franchise's roots with this blue-on-blue creation:
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Perhaps more surprising is the inclusion of an additional alternate ensemble to been worn this year -- one that seems long overdue for a team in a city with a Chinese population as significant as Toronto's. The Raptors will don Chinese New Year jerseys for the first time in 2016-17. Somehow the design team managed flawlessness on its first attempt:
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Here's a more detailed description behind this beauty, via NBA.com:
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A few years ago, before the Raptors accidentally became good and the team's re-brand was accelerated and/or altered, there was an argument to be made that the organization should have completely wiped a mostly sad slate clean and adopted the Huskies nickname and colours full-time. Coming off the franchise's best season, that would be a nearly impossible sell, but it's nice to see the history of the Huskies' at least being incorporated into the Raptors' ensemble of uniforms. It's a simple, almost bland look, but not every alternate uniform needs to be OVO-inspired or adorned with Atlanta Hawks highlighter yellow.
As for the Chinese New Year jersey, something tells me it's going to fly off hangers. It's essentially perfect. It's the second-most exciting development of the day trailing only the fact that the Raptors appear to have avoided wearing sleeved abominations for another season.
What do you think of the new Raptors alternates?