The T oronto Raptors are a National Basketball Association team based in Toronto , Ontario . The Raptors are one of the eight teams in The Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The franchise plays at the Air Canada Center in Toronto , Ontario , Canada . The team wears jerseys of red, purple, black and silver. The franchise joined the NBA in 1994 when the league awarded an expansion team franchise to a group headed by Toronto businessman John I, Bitove. Isaiah Thomas was hired as general manager in 1994, he named former assistant coach Brendan Malone as Toronto 's first head coach. The won a coin toss with the Grizzlies for the right to the first pick in the 1995 NBA expansion draft. Each new teams were to select one player from existing NBA team. The Raptors selected guard B.J. Armstrong of the Chicago Bulls. Armstrong was then traded to the Golden state Warriors in exchange for center Victor Alexander and forward Carlos Rogers. The Raptors entered the 2005 NBA Draft with two first rounds picks 7 th and 16 th and two second round picks, 41 st and 58 th .
In the first round they selected Charlie Villanueva and Joey Graham and in second round they selected Roko Ukic out KK Split and Uros Slokar. The Toronto Raptors started the 2005-2006 season with a losing record by losing their first nine games of the season. The Raptors losing streak ended with a surprising win against Miami Heat on November 2005. On January Toronto Raptors set a franchise record for points in a game with a 129-103 win over the Knicks when Charlie Villanueva hit the 3 pointer late in the game. The Raptors also founded themselves on the wrong side of the history, when the Lakers Super Star Kobe Bryant scored his record breaking 81 points against the Raptors. On January 2006 the Raptors had fired GM Babcock, replacing him with senior advisor Wayne Embry on an interim basis. On February Embry completed the trade that his predecessor was well known hesitant on, sending the Jalen Rose, a first round draft pick and cash to the New York Knicks in exchange for one-time Raptor Antonio Davis. The club also has finalized a contract for the successor to Babcock; Suns President/GM Bryan Colangelo.
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