Whether or not a healthy Warriors squad would have beaten the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals remains to be seen. We will never know the answer.
Without superstar Kevin Durant -- who strained his right calf earlier in the playoffs and then tore his Achilles in Game 5 -- the Warriors, albeit still laden with stars, were at a significant disadvantage against a hungry Raptors team that eventually won the series in six games.
One of the heroes for Toronto in that series was point guard Fred VanVleet, who was a thorn in the side of Golden State the entire time. VanVleet joined Warriors forward Draymond Green on the latest episode of "The Draymond Green Show" podcast where the two revisited the fiery matchup from almost three years ago.
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After missing the first four games of the series, Durant returned for Game 5. Green asked VanVleet what the Raptors were thinking after rumors had swirled that the superstar was set to return to the court.
"I just remember being in the locker room before Game 5 and there was a little buzz like 'when is he coming back?' there were whispers that he was going to play," VanVleet said. "I felt like he was going to play, if he was close enough to play we knew he was going to try it out. I just remember the conversation like 'alright he's coming back, we're going to go at him, we're going to see what he's got.' He came out and hit the first four shots and I remember I was like 'damn, this dude is special.'"
Draymond went on to claim that if Klay Thompson -- who sustained a torn ACL in Game 6 -- was healthy, the Warriors would have won the series. VanVleet disagreed, countering with a bold claim that his Raptors were still a "much better" team than the Durant-less Warriors with a healthy Klay Thompson.
"I don't agree with that, but at the same time, I can see that argument," VanVleet added. "(Klay) in those Game 6s, he's got a super catalog of those crazy games where it's hard to beat him.
"I felt like we were a much better team than y'all without Kevin [Durant] because we had the depth and there were certain matchups that we can pick on and some of the guys you guys were playing in those moments we weren't used to seeing from the Warriors dynasty ... We had certain things that we were hunting for in specific situations. But who knows, nobody will ever know. Y'all could argue that for the rest of your life."
On Thursday after the podcast had aired, Green took to Twitter, sharing his response to VanVleet's claim.
Whether or not a healthier Warriors squad -- either with Durant or Thompson or even both -- would have beaten the Raptors that Summer will never be known.
Knowing what Golden State has done in years past while at full strength, it's hard not to imagine that series going seven games and possibly even ending with the Warriors' fourth NBA title in five years.
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