In midst of golden era, Raptors need to invest in the present | Sportsnet.ca
And committing to DeRozan means committing to a then 31-year-old Lowry the following summer. Does pouring all that money and building around a core that doesn’t exactly include the hall-of-famer-in-the-making pedigree we associate with NBA championship teams make sense? It does. The problem in the NBA is that it’s difficult to properly define success. Given the NBA’s history of dynasties or near dynasties it’s easy to lose sight of what the reality is for most “successful” NBA franchises: A slow build to respectability, ideally a habit of 50-win seasons and hopefully some lengthy playoff runs mixed in there. That’s where the Raptors are now, and it’s too late to turn back. No one in their right mind tears down a 50-win team that is still ascending, even if the ceiling might be, at first glance, shy of a clear-cut championship contender.
NBA AM: Who Should Make A Deal? Part 2 | Basketball Insiders
The Raptors have crossed the threshold of mediocrity, but now the franchise must capitalize and win its first playoff series. This would be the year to do it after two consecutive unceremonious first round exits. Toronto has All-Star level talent in the backcourt, depth on the wing and a solid collection of big men at center However, one area of focus for the team could be strengthening their talent at power forward if the opportunity presented itself. The aging Luis Scola and steady Patrick Patterson have been productive, but are up and down most nights. Wing depth is also an area to watch. The team’s marquee free agent signing last summer, DeMarre Carroll, has spent most of the season battling a troublesome knee. Terrence Ross and James Johnson have both had spells of productivity, but are wildly inconsistent on a night to night basis.
Should Raptors Pursue Bulls Center Joakim Noah? | Pro Bball Report
The Raptors would have to build something around their “3&D” stretch-four Patrick Patterson ($6.2 million salary) and the Bulls would have to believe the three-point shooting stroke he found in January is here to stay after a poor first couple of months to the season. The quality or lack thereof of the players Toronto throws in to make the trade math work would determine if the Bulls would have have to part with a second player they’d actually like to keep. Neither team should feel they are getting a sure-thing and both teams would have reasons to back out, but both teams need a change if they want to tip the scales towards a guarantying themselves a second or third place finish in the East and a means to avoid the Cavs until the Eastern Conference Finals.
Raptors Mid-Season Review, in the style of Sean Penn | Raptors HQ
Since that phone call with DeMarre Carroll months ago, the Raptors have improved as he prophesied. The team scores as it needs to, it defends when it wants to. It performs both tasks necessary to winning when stakes are heightened, when the snow outside my window that has hardened today melts away completely. There is promise here. They have wins against Oklahoma City, Cleveland, San Antonio, Miami, Dallas, Washington thrice. Though talent may lack, the heart is strong with these Toronto Raptors. My foible is not to stand with idealized notions, but I cannot help but stand with a team who has marked improvement, as a bear would deep within the British Columbian forests.
Raptors notebook: DeRozan, Lowry holding court in London | Sportsnet.ca
KL: You played three games?
DD: Ya, this will be my third game.
KL: So, one and TWO.
DD: You know what I mean.
KL: No, I don’t.
DD: No, wait…..
KL: If you played two games and you add one …
DD: That’s three games!”
KL: Ya but you said one AND three.
Blogtable: Player who needs (and deserves) to be an All-Star starter? | Hang Time Blog
Toronto is No. 2 in the East and the host of the All-Star Game next month, so how have the Canadians failed to vote for DeMar DeRozan (or Kyle Lowry) ahead of Kyrie Irving, who has played in only 10 games for Cleveland?
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri learns best on the road | ESPN
Ujiri has famously made the most of even the smallest opportunities to kick open doors many would have assumed bolted shut. His spells on court overseas paid little beyond food and lodging, far from the monied superclubs that, in that era, occasionally swiped a prospect from the NBA’s hands. Yet, he says, the odyssey offered other generous compensations. “It is so much of a great experience. You can’t even imagine,” Ujiri said. “It’s the best experience you can ever have, you meet people. You network. You stay in touch with these people and the contacts you make. “It’s almost been my way of learning. These people help you in other areas of the game, whether I was gathering information as a scout which was my background.”
When you first arrived as GM it was well reported that you had a long sit down with Kyle Lowry. He had been a talented but troubled player and now he is an All-Star – did you ever expect him to become this good? Has he exceeded your expectations? MU: I think he’s grown remarkably. He’s always been such a competitive player but Kyle has worked really well for us because he’s become so much better at the things he didn’t do so well. We’ve tried to be better at the things we didn’t do so well too. I think it’s been a good partnership and I think we just have to create a unique environment for him to succeed and we hope he continues to do that. In terms of his game it’s night and day. The kid has given everything that he has. Whether it’s changing his body or whether it’s his personality. Everything. He has done so well in growing as a person. This is somebody that was an All-Star last year and is going to be an All-Star again this year.
From Russia with Love: Sonny Weems’ Long Journey Back to the NBA | VICE Sports
“Russia’s a different world,” Weems said. “Everything is underground. My team, we were treated differently. We had our own plane. You had the president at your game. I haven’t even seen the American president, but I’ve seen the Russian president. “Our fans were different. As far as being compared to Greece, Germany, those fans are crazy. They really take it seriously. Throwing batteries, spitting on you, guys shooting fireworks, smoking cigarettes while you’re playing. It’s crazy.” Talking to guys who had made the jump before helped to prepare him for what to expect. What he didn’t anticipate was how different the NBA had become. “They always said jump-shooting teams weren’t going to win and then you see Golden State,” Weems said. “That’s one thing NBA players really lacked when I was here—only one or two guys on the team could shoot. Now you’ve got ten. Now the game’s really changed.” Since returning to the league with the Suns, Weems has enjoyed observing the number of 3-pointers being taken each night. Teams are now averaging more than five 3-pointers more per game compared to when he left the NBA at the end of the 2010-11 season.
Raptors’ Luis Scola wants more games outside North America | Toronto Sun
“I think this has to be done,” Scola said of the idea of taking the NBA product to as many people as possible. “We have to do these things. The game has to grow in the way the NBA wants it to grow, but there’s not a good time for it. You can put it early, you can put it late, you can put it in the middle, but there’s not a perfect time. It’s just the kind of thing you just go out and do because it needs to be done.” But it can be done better, and Scola has a plan. “I think this should be even bigger,” Scola said Wednesday prior to the last Raptors practice before they take on Orlando in this NBA Global Game at the O2. “We come here and we play one game in one week and that’s great but we’re just making an impact on the 20,000 people that come to that game,” he said. “But that’s just two teams and one week. If we come here with four or five teams and instead of one game we play three or four and maybe we do it in three or four different cities, then we are here for 10 or 12 days but we have played three or four games so we are using the time more wisely.”
Raptors locked in on task at hand in London | Sportsnet.ca
Outside of DeMarre Carroll (knee surgery) and some team-wide jet lag, Toronto is healthy and ready to roll. The Magic, on the other hand, will be down at least one key body. Forward Aaron Gordon rolled his ankle towards the end of Orlando’s practice on Wednesday afternoon and he’s now officially listed as questionable for Thursday’s game. But the Magic did get some good news when they learned guard Elfrid Payton is expecting to return to the lineup against the Raptors. He has missed four straight games with a left-ankle bone bruise. Orlando has lost three of the four games since Payton was sidelined, and five out of six in 2016.
Bismack Biyombo: From DR Congo to the NBA with the Toronto Raptors big man | The Independent
The Raptors, second in the Eastern Conference with 24 wins out of 29, didn’t miss a beat. Despite averaging just 23 minutes per game, Biyombo is leading the team in blocks and is second in rebounds. Head coach Dwayne Casey has already expressed his desire to keep the big man long term. “He does a man’s job as far as rebounding the ball and going and getting it and protecting the paint,” said Casey after Biyombo grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds in a win against the Dallas Mavericks earlier this season.
Toronto Raptors-Orlando Magic: Thursday game preview | Toronto Star
It’s a highly alliterative pairing that rolls off the tongue, and it should be fun to watch this pair of European seven-footers do battle under the basket. Vucevic leads the Magic with 17.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Valanciunas is coming off a strong effort against the 76ers (17 points, nine rebounds.) He has been averaging 12.6 points and eight rebounds over his last five games, getting him more in line with his pre-injury numbers of 12.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. He’s also had at least two blocked shots in each of his last five games.
NBA Preview – Toronto Raptors at Orlando Magic – Jan 14, 2016 | CBSSports.com
A chance of scenery might do the Magic some good after losing five of their first six games in 2016. Orlando (20-18) fell 105-99 to Washington on Saturday before heading across the Atlantic. “This trip could help us or hurt us because it’s a long trip,” guard Evan Fournier said. “Toronto’s a very good team and if we lose the game, it can kind of break our spirit. We really have to take this trip seriously as professionals.”
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