that summer, as well as to acquire Marc Gasol before the trade deadline. Toronto also saw the breakout of Pascal Siakam, the 27th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, who won the NBA Most Improved Player that year. In the 2019 playoffs, the Raptors won their first Eastern Conference title and advanced to their first NBA Finals, where they won their first NBA championship. Franchise history Background On November 1, 1946, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, in what was the first game played in NBA history (as the Basketball Association of America). However, the Huskies folded after the initial 1946–47 season. Toronto did not host another NBA game until the 1970s, when the Buffalo Braves (predecessor to the Los Angeles Clippers) played a total of 16 regular season games at Maple Leaf Gardens from 1971 to 1975. Interest to move or expand an NBA franchise to Toronto grew during the late-1980s; with former NBA commissioner David Stern later describing the expansion to Toronto as a "safe step," given the market size and the likelihood of success in the city. The NBA organized two exhibition games in 1989 and 1992 with an attendance of over 25,000 people each, both in the newly built SkyDome. The NBA began to seriously considers expansion into Toronto after they received an unsolicited application fee from the Palestra Group, headed by Larry Tanenbaum. The Palestra Group was one of several seeking an NBA franchise, with Professional Basketball Franchise (Canada) Inc. (PBF) formally submitting an application for a Toronto-based team on April 23, 1993. Later that year, in July, the NBA Expansion Committee visited various existing and proposed stadium sites along with the bid contenders. On September 30, 1993, the committee recommended conditionally awarding PBF the franchise. Creation The team was formalized on November 4, 1993, when the NBA Board of Governors endorsed the decision of Expansion Committee and awarded its 28th franchise to a group headed by Toronto businessman John Bitove for a then-record expansion fee of US$125 million. Bitove and Allan Slaight of Slaight Communications each owned 44 per cent, with the Bank of Nova Scotia (10 per cent), David Peterson (1 per cent), and Phil Granovsky (1 per cent) being minority partners. Wagering on NBA games in Ontario nearly cost Toronto the expansion franchise, due to strict league rules at the time that prohibited