International players, including Gasol and Serge Ibaka, have been a part of Toronto’s formula for years. They also have been players less hung up on taking their games and earning their livings in Canada, relative to guys raised in the U.S.

All part of a “necessity is the mother of invention”-approach that has led to this point for the Raptors.

Raptors forward Pascal Siakam did not have the easiest journey to the NBA.

“We’ve had guys who have had to work their way up, who have always been counted out,” guard Norman Powell said after Toronto eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks in the East finals Saturday night, “and I think that’s what makes this so good.”

Powell spent four years at UCLA at a time when anything beyond one starts to feel like a stigma. He was drafted No. 46 in 2015 by Milwaukee -- and ironically traded that night with the pick that would become Anunoby for a guard named Greivis Vasquez. Grievous indeed, since Vasquez played only 23 games for the Bucks and has been out of the league for four years.

Said Powell of the humbling he and various teammates have received: “It makes us so much more hungry, and everyone understands each other because of that. Everybody understands the dog days of working their way up, of people saying ‘You can’t do this. You can’t do that.’ But the belief and the fight that these guys have built their whole basketball lives, it really shows.”

Don’t misunderstand: the Raptors have had an appropriate share of high Draft picks for a franchise that missed the playoffs for five seasons before this active six-season run. Several of those players were flipped in trades for others whose value already exceed their Draft positions.

What will it take for the Raptors to prevail in The Finals?

DeMar DeRozan (No. 9) and Jakob Poeltl (9) were dealt to San Antonio in the deal that delivered Kawhi Leonard (15) and Danny Green (46). Jonas Valunciunas (5) was flipped for Gasol. Terrence Ross (8) was shipped to Orlando for Serge Ibaka (24).

But getting traded for a player picked in the lottery doesn’t impact the self-esteem quite like getting picked there oneself.

“A lot of guys have come from some good places, some good stories behind it, but they have a chip on their shoulder,” Green told reporters. “Guys that have been in the league, or guys that know what it's like to be out of the league or be picked last [in a pickup game], have a point to prove. A lot of character's built on this team coming from many different places.”

Embry -- the first black general manager in professional U.S. sports who helped Milwaukee to its NBA title in 1971 and an esteemed NBA exec ever since -- agreed.

Which players will matter most for Toronto in The Finals?

“You’ve got to establish the will to win to have a winning culture,” Embry said, “and you’ve got to find the right players. I’ve always said that means trying to get players of high character, everything else being equal. This front office has done a great job of that.”

All things being equal, a team would rather have the No. 1 pick than not. But as Embry said, “You don’t give up if you don’t.”

There is, after all, that stat about the number of No. 1 picks in the past 35 years who have won championships with the NBA team that drafted them. The correct answer is four: Kyrie Irving, Tim Duncan, David Robinson and LeBron James (who gets an asterisk because he left and went back to Cleveland).

Toronto’s roster stands in stark contrast to the Philadelphia team they ousted in the East semifinals. The Sixers embraced “The Process,” a grim plunge into the deep end of the lottery tank in search of the very best Draft spots. They got hits such as Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, as well as several misses.

That, and Toronto’s counter approach, are remembering next month when the 2019 Draft heads toward pick No. 4, after top prospects Zion Williamson, Ja Morant and R.J. Barrett presumably have gone in the top three picks.

So while “Ratpros” isn’t likely to stick with anyone or anywhere except at the tips of my fingers, it does conjure a gritty team built on bumpy roads and in dark alley. Might not even be surprising if the Raptors took it as a compliment.

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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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