Raptors players lament play-in loss after roller-coaster season concludes

Fred VanVleet thinks it's time for the Toronto Raptors to move on from their 2019 NBA championship. Not necessarily a wholesale personnel change, but come to grips with the fact that they're a different team now.

VanVleet spoke frankly about what went wrong with the Raptors' season on Thursday, a day after Toronto was eliminated from the NBA's post-season by a 109-105 play-in loss to the Chicago Bulls.

"I think we just got to find another identity, whatever that is," said VanVleet, adding that the team has talent and the right defensive schemes, but those plays need to be better executed. "I think for us the devil is going to be in the details and I think that we have to rep that and build that.

VanVleet was one of several players who spoke on Thursday as they had debriefings with head coach Nick Nurse, Toronto's front office and the team's medical staff.

Most of the Raptors were still processing the play-in loss from the night before, which saw Toronto cough up an 18-point lead and shoot only 50 per cent from the free-throw line, when they made it to the OVO Centre's media centre.

WATCH | Raptors relinquish lead, falling to Bulls in play-in game:

But VanVleet, one of the most experienced leaders in Toronto's locker room, already had a plan for how the Raptors could recalibrate for the 2023-24 campaign.

"You've got to start building every single detail offensively and defensively so when you get down to a situation where you need to win a game, those things show," said VanVleet. "As a group, as players, that is my focus.

"Get our habits back right and our details back right and everything else will fall in place accordingly after that."

Head coach Nick Nurse and every player who spoke with media acknowledged that