DRAKE - From Rapper to Raptor, NBA team hires Drake

 According to USATODAY,  Drake has been spotted often at Toronto Raptors games for the past few years, but now the hip-hop star and the team are taking things to a new level. The Canadian-born star will sign on with the franchise to help with a variety of initiatives from the 2016 All-Star game to helping with the planned team’s image makeover heading into the 2014-15 season, the Globe and Mail andToronto Star reported.

The Raptors averaged a mid-league rank of 91.6% capacity at home games last year, but attracted a near-league low 84.8% attendance when they were on the road.

More on his new role and Toronto’s plan for an image change from the Toronto Star:

The hip-hop star will also launch a clothing line in conjunction with the team. Most intriguingly, he is being asked to consult on a complete redesign of the club’s image to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the franchise in the 2014-15 season.

According to sources at MLSE, everything about the team is on the table . . . aside from the name. Give up your Huskies dreams. MLSE and Drake are sticking with dinosaurs.

Going forward, this will be more than a business arrangement.

It would be wrong to call what comes next a renaissance. That would imply that the Raptors have a legacy to build on. After 18 years, all they have is one playoff series win and Vinsanity to draw from. That’s it.

It’s within Drake’s power to change that.

While the partnership is already garnering a lot of comparisons to what Jay-Z did for the Brooklyn Nets over the past few years, the idea of celebrities working to help a brand revamp its image is nothing new. And many haven’t been nearly as successful as Jay-Z and Brooklyn were — take, for example, Alicia Keys and BlackBerry (though the Raptors, to be fair, probably won’t end up laying off a large amount of its workforce anytime soon). But at the very least, a partnership with Drake can at least help some of the Raptors’ players save some money on his new album.

Or, if he lives up to the expectations of his rap-turned-NBA guru predecessors, be a wild success that sends thousands of more people buying up Raptors jerseys or actually going to see them when they come into town.

More from the Toronto Star:

The potential is so exciting, they’re already starting to worry about it in the tower over the ACC.

“We just hope he doesn’t want to be an agent,” one key MLSE figure said,joking.

And also not joking at all.