I had a difficult time figuring out how to start this column. I worried they’d rip up my contract if this was an embedded get-to-know-me playlist or a series of wrestling clips and New Japan screen grabs. Nobody except me liked my idea of a run-in attack on Eric Koreen at Toronto Raptors media day. I also have a little trouble with the self-serious approach, if you can’t tell.

Really, though, it was difficult because The Athletic has felt like home for a while now, anyway. I’ve been freelancing here more or less since Day 1, nearly two years ago. I feel like some of my best work the last two seasons has come here.

Starting today, The Athletic is my full-time, exclusive home.

The Athletic is investing heavily in the Raptors this year, and once we start doing as good a job as I know we can covering the team this season, they’re going to invest even more. In our ability to travel, adding freelance work, upgrading Eric’s closet of flannels and more. Obviously, the greater interest shown from subscribers, the more momentum we can pick up on that front. Subscriptions are 40 per cent off right now, and I hope you take advantage and follow me here so we can show out of the gate just how much appetite there is for the kind of basketball coverage we’ll be doing this season.

About that. I’ll be covering what promises to be one of the most interesting and important seasons in Raptors history, and I’ll get to do that in an environment that will allow me to continue doing my very best work. I’ve always felt my deeper analysis was a natural fit here, and with The Athletic’s focus on telling deeper, richer and smarter stories throughout the season — plus additional resources — I really couldn’t be more excited. In addition to Raptors coverage, I’ll be following the ascendant stories of Canada’s best basketball players inside and outside the NBA and at the international level, occasionally dabbling with the Blue Jays or Wolfpack, and yes, probably shoehorning some occasional wrestling content to try to bait those Kyle Dubas faves. (Sorry, Mirtle, but we might need deeper cuts here).

Mostly my focus will be on expanding our Raptors coverage. Eric has done a great job the last two seasons because he’s a great writer. We’re going to make wonderful teammates, whether he likes it or not — once he gets over the fact that his dog, Walter, now likes me better. In seriousness, having two of us on the beat full-time will allow us to do some great stuff. We’ll both be traveling with the team, which is something I’ve very rarely had the chance to do as a freelancer. And with two of us around full-time, opportunities for one of us to work on the deeper storytelling a normal beat setup (and my previous personal setup) often doesn’t allow for will really open up. (I want to force Eric to do a whole bunch of “week in the life of” pieces this year.) We’ll also be bringing the Raptors Reasonablists podcast back for another season, as well as our regular Reasonablists column.

What I can bring to complement Eric is a depth of analysis. I’ve already done plenty of explaining of salary cap minutiae here, covered some of the Raptors 905 and Las Vegas Summer League and Canada/Toronto Basketball angles that might be under the radar, and used video analysis in place of regular postgame coverage. (Justin Bourne, by the way, remains the gold standard in this regard, and I’m so glad to call him a coworker again.) That’s all going to continue, and I’ll be bringing over some of my regular columns, namely my annual free agency cap primer, the pre-deadline “all your trade ideas are bad” column and frequent mailbags.

Those mailbags are part of an accessibility I really hope to maintain even behind a paywall. I’ll always respond in the comments on articles, respond on Twitter, or answer emails. I’m doing a Raptors Q&A here on Wednesday at noon, too. (I’ll also be joining the Raptors Reddit AMA 5-Timers Club with an AMA on Thursday at noon, where I’m happy to answer questions about the Raptors, our coverage plans for the season, Tomohiro Ishii, Tom DeLonge’s new book, the new Joyce Manor, or whatever.)

I feel an element of my role is to be a bridge between fans and the team they’re so passionate about. Part of it is also self-serving: I’ve always let my own curiosity and the curiosity of others guide what I write, and I’m more than happy to tackle a question or angle readers are interested about.

All of this is to say, while I’m now writing somewhere exclusively, I really don’t expect to change my approach all that much; I won’t be doing the smaller things like previews and pre-game notes and — praise be to the draft rights of DeeAndre Hulett — won’t be aggregating every time Kawhi Leonard wears forum blue or daps up Chuck the Condor. But that just means more time and more room for the bigger, better stuff.

Another cool thing: One of my favourite parts of running Raptors Republic was being able to give new and different writers a platform, and that’s something that will continue at The Athletic. I’ll be running point on any freelance Raptors coverage that supplements the work Eric and I will be doing, and I’m pumped that Katie Heindl and Vivek Jacob are two of the people that will be contributing to our coverage throughout the season.

I would be lying if I said this decision didn’t come with some anxious hours. I’ve been writing for fun for a decade, since when the biggest goal I had was to get linked by Skeets in the BDL Starting Lineup, and professionally for about six years. I’ve never been exclusive anywhere during that time. Raptors Republic was kind of my baby, too. My hope is that the weight of the change signals to you just how much I believe in what The Athletic is doing. The paywall comes with good reason, and if you look around on any of the verticals here, across any sport or city — especially with the incredible recent influx of talent on the NHL side and the NBA side today — I think that’s clear.

What’s more, to coincide with our expanded NBA coverage, in Toronto and across the league, subscriptions are 40 per cent off. It’s a lot of great content for $4.19 CAD a month. We’re also having a subscriber appreciation event in Toronto on Thursday, where I will do my best to hoard drink tickets to thank you personally. Champagne for my real friends, and all that.

It shouldn’t be surprising that an intro post I wasn’t sure how to write has now exceeded 1,000 words. I am who I am. To tell it shorter, I’m making The Athletic my full-time home (1) to be closer to Eric, (2) so Dom will have to make me graphics at all hours of the night, (3) so I can be teammates with Bourne and Andrew Stoeten and Eno Sarris again, (4) so I can work with our incredible NBA talent I won’t name so as not to forget anyone (this roster is deep), and (5) so I can finally get answers about how Shams gets his cheekbones to pop like that on camera.

But mostly, it’s because I believe in this company and its approach to sports journalism in 2018. It’s where I’ll be able to do my best work covering the Raptors in what could be the most significant season in franchise history. I really hope you’ll read along.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, get 40% off the annual plan with this link: theathletic.com/welcome