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Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Toronto Raptors [capture their first championship]
Masai Ujiri replaced Colangelo in 2013, and helped herald a new era of success, led by backcourt duo Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. The Raptors returned to the playoffs the following year and became a consistent playoff team in every year of Ujiri's tenure. Under Ujiri, the team also won five Division titles and registered their most successful regular season in 2018. However, the team's failure to reach beyond the conference finals prompted Ujiri to fire head coach Dwane Casey shortly after the playoffs concluded and conduct the high-profile trade of DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green later that summer, as well as acquire Marc Gasol before the trade deadline. In the 2019 playoffs, the Raptors won its first Eastern Conference title, and advanced to the franchise's first NBA Finals, where they beat the Golden State Warriors in six games to capture their first championship.