Raptors reunion with Vince Carter looks unlikely this season

It’s been nothing sort of a stellar campaign for Toronto Raptors fans, but at least one beautiful, glorious dream won’t be coming true this season.

Vince Carter reportedly will not be suiting up in a Raptors uniform in the imminent future.

With the team boasting an extra roster spot while clearing financial space at the deadline, it was being floated that Toronto was seriously considering re-uniting with arguably the best player in franchise history — if the Sacramento Kings chose to by him out.

The team, however, has apparently changed it’s tune — though how much of the singing was coming from Raptors fans compared to the team itself is up for debate — on potentially signing Carter in time for a deep playoff run this season.

TSN’s Josh Lewenberg explained that the team, though still interested in possibly joining forces with Carter at some point down the line, believes that this season “isn’t the right time” to insert Carter’s skillset (or the circus-like attention he’ll possibly bring) into a Raptors lineup that is battling for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

“After speaking with a few team sources, I can confirm that they’ve had internal dialogue and debate about the idea of bringing Vince Carter back … but they’ve decided now is not the right time,” Lewenberg explained. “And I think the consensus seems to be there’s so much going on right now, and they want this season to be about this team, their accomplishments and their playoff push and not the sideshow that I think would come with a Vince Carter return.”

The 41-year-old, who averaged 23.4 points while shooting 44.6 percent from field in 403 games with the Raptors, becomes a free agent this summer and hasn’t indicated any intention of retiring any time soon.

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