Ahhh, life is good when the wins are piling up.

There’s little to no friction in the locker room, the media doesn’t have much to be critical of, and the players for the most part are content, or at least wise enough not to complain about their lot when everything is heading in a positive direction.

Toronto has won eight in a row and will attempt to tie the franchise mark of nine straight tonight when it plays host to the Washington Wizards tonight.

But for GM Masai Ujiri, there is another element that winning and a climb up the standings brings — and that is pressure to take advantage of the situation the Raptors now find themselves in.

With a solid grasp on second in the Eastern Conference, the Raptors’ schedule going into the all-star break includes just two games against teams that are .500 or better. This should allow their run to continue and Ujiri is naturally going to feel pressure to make the next move to take this team from that group behind the NBA championship contenders into the same bracket.

As it stands now, the contender group this season would include Golden State, San Antonio, Oklahoma City and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Raptors are right behind the Cavaliers in the East, but considered in the next tier of teams. They could make it to an Eastern Conference final but that would appear to be their ceiling.

The question Ujiri and his staff must ponder between now and that Feb. 18 date would be is there players who could take them to the next level there to be had and is this the time to make that move?

Ujiri is flush with draft picks, including four first-round picks over the next two drafts. The Raptors have their own picks plus the less favourable of New York’s first-round pick or Denver’s first-round pick this June, as well as the Clippers’ first-round pick (protected 1-14 in 2017,18, and 19) in 2017.

With a slew of youngsters already at the end of the Raptors bench and developing it’s highly unlikely the Raptors could add four more over the next two drafts (and that’s just the first rounders).

They also have attractive pieces they could part with outside their core which would help facilitate a trade.

At some point Ujiri is going to deal some of those picks, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen this February.

Ujiri’s modus operandi has always been to build a franchise that can compete over the long term. Short-term fixes have never appealed to him. He wants a team that can make a run at a championship and remain there for as long as possible. Mortgaging the future for the present has never been his way.

The Cavaliers firing of David Blatt this week and replacing him with Tyronn Lue seems to have suggested to some that the Cavs are now teetering and could be knocked off. But any team that has LeBron James and Kyrie Irving healthy, or at least getting healthy, remains the class of the East, coaching change or not.

Don’t kid yourself. Toronto is still chasing Cleveland. The more pertinent question is, have they put some sustainable separation between themselves and the rest of the conference.

Ujiri resisted the urge to get involved at the trade deadline a year ago when the team was 36-17. Barring a sudden change they will be somewhere around that same record this time around.

He said at the time he was making a commitment to give that group of players a chance, but there was also the clear indication that he preferred to address his roster’s shortcomings in the off-season.

There is no reason to suggest any of that has changed.

As it turned out that group was already in decline and would continue to do so until they became victim to the four-game sweep with the same Wizards who arrive in town tonight.

Ujiri and his staff addressed that decline by bulking up defensively in the off-season.

The belief now is that this group is more likely to sustain their level of play because it has a solid defensive foundation as opposed to last year’s team that was so offensively gifted they could outscore opponents in the regular season.

But does any of that change the approach at the trade deadline?

Ujiri has a decision to make: Upgrade at the trade deadline or wait until the off-season when he’s more accustomed to dealing.

During interviews prior to the Raptors recently played game in London, England, Ujiri talked about making this team relevant, by which we believe he means a championship contender. A few minutes after that he said, “We are happy we are a team that is trying to go from good to very good.”

The suggestion is they aren’t there yet. They may be a little closer than they were coming out of London, but still not there yet.

The likelihood is that in a little less than a month from now he will choose to stay the course with this group just as he did a year ago.

Of course all bets are off if all of a sudden Atlanta makes Al Horford available.

ROSS EARNING KEEP THESE DAYS

Terrence Ross appears to be growing into his contract.

The Raptors’ reserve guard/small forward struggled earlier this year after his signed his three-year, $33-million extension in early November, but there has been little mention about that deal in the last little while as Ross’ production has risen.

The 23-year-old swingman has scored in double figures off the bench in four consecutive games, including a 18-point night against the Clippers, as he and the rest of the Toronto bench helped turn around a game that appeared headed in the Clippers’ favour.

Over those four games Ross is averaging 14.3 points a game and shooting an unheard of 71.4% from the field and just over 68% from beyond the arc.

To say the man is shooting with confidence these days would be a rather big understatement.

And you can add Patrick Patterson to the shooting with confidence group as well.

“When T-Ross and Pat shoot the ball the way they’ve been shooting lately, it makes it easier for everyone,” head coach Dwane Casey said recently. “They bring energy, but what really changes the game is having that defensive energy and then go to the other end and Pat and T-Ross make shots.”