Draft workout notes: A.J. Hammons, Michael Gbinije, and more | Raptors Republic
With so few top players coming in, it’s hard to get a handle on who the Raptors may prefer at nine. Of the three main mock drafts, two have the Raptors taking Jakob Poeltl and one Henry Ellenson, but the bigger takeaway from those mocks is that the top eight seems pretty set. That’s something the Raptors seem pretty confident in, too, with a growing sense of at least the group they’ll be selecting from.
NBA Draft Notebook: Raptors work out potential second-rounders | Sportsnet.ca
Gbinije began his collegiate career at Duke, where he didn’t get much playing time, and transferred to Syracuse after his freshman year. He stayed at Syracuse until his senior year in which he broke out with an average of 17.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists on 46 per cent shooting. He is a versatile wing player, projected to go in the middle portion of the second round, who has quality vision and can score from three-point range.
“Defence and pick-and-roll were the two things I wanted to focus on (in today’s workout),” Gbinije told reporters Tuesday.
Williams and Walker aren’t likely to be selected in the draft and could be options for summer league or the Raptors 905 next season.
Toronto Raptors: Trade Options With 1st-Round Picks | Hoops Habit
With his rumored contact between $25 million and $30 million a season, that alone would put the Raptors well over the projected salary cap before filling the holes in the roster left by the departures of Johnson, Biyombo and Thompson.
Despite this reality, there are routes that Ujiri can explore to help get his team to the next level.The emergence of Norman Powell on the wing has helped make Terrence Ross an expendable contract for the team. The Raptors also possess both the ninth and 27th picks in the draft and can use those picks along with anybody on their roster to try and bring in a haul.
DeMar DeRozan And Toronto’s Slightly Crazy, Ultimately Correct Choice | RealGM Analysis
This is why re-signing DeMar DeRozan for yacht cash is a little bit stupid but ultimately the correct decision. Given the choice among the abyss of a protracted rebuild, a couple more playoff seasons, or some zany Plan C panic move, the non-masochist takes some 45 wins and the subdued joy of nightly competence. Further down the road, maybe, Masai Ujiri can try his hand at a full-scale renovation, but the Raptors are just alright as currently constituted. They haven’t gotten to where they want to be, but they’re certainly somewhere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjk6gom1Wys
NBA: Ranking The Top 7 Free Agent Shooting Guards | Sir Charles in Charge
The Toronto Raptors want to bring back DeRozan and for good reason, but the team is strapped for cash and will need to do some maneuvering if they want to bring him back. Teams throughout the league are showing interest in DeRozan. The Lakers have been consistently linked with DeRozan because they are his hometown team but really almost every team in the league would welcome DeRozan on to their squad.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGpD3p3RHOV/
DeMar DeRozan Would Be A Safe Target For Free Agency | Soaring Down South
The simple approach would to build their team around DeRozan through the draft, free agency and keeping essential pieces already on the roster. But, it all depends which direction their own pending free agents (Horford, Kent Bazemore) will go before they could decide how to further improve around DeRozan. The fact that DeRozan has improved his outside shooting makes him a desirable prospect; Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer is both an expert in X’s & O’s and player growth. With coaching and teaching from Budenholzer, the limits that DeRozan could impose as an offensive and defensive player could make him a top ten player in the league.. If the Hawks continuously emphasize team ball-just with a twist, it’s easy to assume that they can become instant title contenders, at the very least, a perennial Eastern Conference Titan. But, that depends on which way the front office wants to go with their overall philosophy for the upcoming season; do they continue to have the no-man-is-bigger approach, or do they buck their line of thinking of the past few years and enlist a superstar player. If the Hawks do choose the latter, it would be ideal and safe to target DeRozan.
NBA Rumors: DeMar DeRozan Opts Out, Sixers Offer Max? | The Sixer Sense
After his performances in the playoffs, however, the hype about DeRozan to Philly wore off. DeRozan, who averaged 23.5 points during the regular season, dipped down to 20.9 per game during the playoffs, had three games with single-digit points, and had six games where he shot below 30 percent from the field.
He was anything but clutch.
The idea of giving DeRozan the max deal seems certainly short-sighted, but there’s a possibility Bryan Colangelo and the Sixers do it anyway, just since they have so much money to spend and seem to desperately want to get out of these losing ways.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGo-yFDRHAs/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGpCZd3RHKH/
NBA: Ranking The Top 7 Free Agent Shooting Guards | Sir Charles in Charge
The Toronto Raptors want to bring back DeRozan and for good reason, but the team is strapped for cash and will need to do some maneuvering if they want to bring him back. Teams throughout the league are showing interest in DeRozan. The Lakers have been consistently linked with DeRozan because they are his hometown team but really almost every team in the league would welcome DeRozan on to their squad.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGp5T7aIyfw/
Joseph emerges as Canada’s basketball stalwart | TSN
Cory Joseph has been representing his country with pride for almost a decade. He debuted for the senior club in the summer of 2011, a couple months after being drafted by the San Antonio Spurs, and hasn’t passed on an opportunity to don the red and white since. When they call, he answers. It’s a big part of his DNA as a player and as a person.
“It’s who he is,” said Jay Triano, Joseph’s longtime head coach with the national team. “He loves playing basketball. He talks a little bit about his experience with San Antonio and listening to Manu [Ginobili] talk about winning [a gold medal at] the Olympics [with Argentina], and Tony Parker winning the European Championships [with France]. That’s something that resonates with him, and he wants to be that guy in the locker room, talking about how great it is to play for his country. So he answers the bell every single time.”
“I grew up watching the [Canadian] National Team with [Steve] Nash and Rick Fox and all of them,” said the 24-year-old point guard. “I was really inspired by those days and I wanted basketball to move [back] in that direction for Canada.”
Raptors Cory Joseph Joins the ToT-cast to Discuss Canada Basketball | Tip of the Tower
Special guest Cory Joseph of the Toronto Raptors then joins us to discuss what it means to be playing back at home, Canada basketball, and his love for Caribbean food.
Raptors Player Review: The almost-lost season of DeMarre Carroll | Raptors HQ
Role Next Season
The Raptors obviously retain Carroll next year, as he’ll be on the second year of his guaranteed 4-year contract.
His role? That’s pretty simple: the Raptors will expect him to do what he did this year, only healthier. Any negatives you could apply to Carroll this season came as the result of injuries – his poor shooting in the playoffs, his disappointing defense, his missed games. The big question mark is whether he can play an entire season healthy. He’ll get the summer to recover, and we’ll have answers next fall. I’m hopeful for a more positive outcome.
Raptors Youth: Norman Powell – What’s his future? | Raptors Rapture
Assuming DeRozan is re-signed and none of the Raptors wings get traded I would expect Powell’s minutes to increase by 2-3mpg. However, I think there is a scenario where Terrence Ross gets traded. Ross has never been consistent and is about to start the first year of a pricey extension. Furthermore, if the Raptors are looking to fill the massive hole at power forward Ross may end up being part of a package that yields one in trade. A potential trade scenario could be Terrence Ross, pick 27, and a future pick for Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets. If Ross gets moved, Powell’s minutes could come in close to 30mpg with Carroll & DeRozan splitting the other 66 minutes on the wing. So Powell would get the opportunity to play significant minutes beside DeRozan or Carroll. Norman Powell may not be one of the big 3 (Lowry, DeRozan, & Valanciunas), but he will get the opportunity to play an important role for the Raptors next season.
How The Raptors Can Be Creative This Offseason | Raptors Rapture
Again, sticking to the hypothetical scenario, a challenge would most likely prevent us from both resigning DeRozan and acquiring Durant, that challenge being we would most likely have to resign DeMar before going after KD (assuming my knowledge on salary cap rules are slightly off). Should that be the case, we would have to do one of two things: move DeRozan or move someone else.
The implications and ramifications of dealing DeRozan is actually staggering. On one hand, he just came off a career year and earned the title of All Star for the second time in his career. He would also become the first Raptor to stay with the Raptors for 8 full seasons (surpassing Jose Calderon at 7 seasons and 45 games before being traded to the Detroit Pistons). On the other hand, the playoffs once again exposed DeRozan as a ball stopping volume shooter without a consistent 3-point shot.
The alternative would be to move another player who wouldn’t impact winning or losing during the regular season as much as DeRozan would. That player would be DeMarre Carroll, who spent the majority of the season nursing multiple injuries. We know we didn’t need Carroll to win 56 games this past season, however his presence was felt in the playoffs.
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