Flop of the year? The Raptors, by a landslide. “It was a collective meltdown,” says minority owner Larry Tanenbaum.

That’s why GM Glen Grunwald, less than a year removed from genius status for keeping his team together, is picking through the ruins, trying to figure out why the team fell apart. That figures to be the easy part.

The Raptors’ No. 1 concern is Vince Carter -- and not just his recovery from knee surgery. Even before his season ended March 19, Carter’s credibility inside the organization had eroded. Yes, he averaged 24.7 points and 5.2 rebounds. But teammates whispered that VC had fallen in love with his jumper, was reluctant to play physically and wouldn’t D up. They cringed every time he made one of his theatrical flops to the floor.

Worse, when a big basket was needed, they felt Carter too often deferred. That’s why few in Toronto were shocked when the Raptors won their first four games after Carter went down.

Carter’s failings exposed other flaws. The players blatantly tuned out Lenny Wilkens, prompting fans and local media to call for his head. PG Alvin Williams struggled as a floor leader. And Antonio Davis became a role player again after moving back to PF in favor of Hakeem Olajuwon, who’s done but has two years left on his $17M deal.

Spending $164M on Olajuwon, Davis, Alvin Williams and Jerome Williams was part of the master plan to keep Carter in Canada. Now the Raptors are bumping against the luxury tax -- expected to be about $52M -- and still have to pony up for emerging PF Keon Clark, a restricted free agent who’s made noise about leaving. With no playoff revenue, it’s hard to see Toronto bringing in a hardliner to replace Wilkens, who has $10M left on his contract, or signing a clubhouse force like the departed Charles Oakley to push Carter.

The good news is that Carter’s March 26 surgery revealed no additional damage to his strained left quad tendon, though team orthopedic surgeon Paul Marks cautioned that he could have lingering pain. That leaves the Raptors hoping that Carter’s surgery buys some patience from the fans, who loudly booed Vince at home games, and that those boos prod their star to respond.

Carter appears to understand. “When I’m home this summer, I can sit and think about all this, all the players who came at me when I was hurt,” he said when his surgery was announced. “I’m going to remember. There’s going to be hell to pay.”

The Raptors hope so.

This article appears in the April 15 issue of ESPN The Magazine.