The first D-League of assignments of the season took place last week during Raptors 905 training camp, but the first ones of substance are upon us. Finally!
The Toronto Raptors have assigned Bruno Caboclo and Fred VanVleet to the 905, the team announced late Friday.
I tweeted early Friday that this was likely the plan, as neither player has been getting a ton of run outside of individual work in practice. The organization feels strongly that regular run is an important part of the player development process, and an assignment now allows both players to get in a few full practice sessions with the D-League squad ahead of the Nov. 18 opener, when both are likely to play. It makes even more sense with the Raptors in action Saturday night in Toronto and with a likely day off (or light day) Sunday following a back-to-back, as the 905 will be practicing in full both days.
It’s entirely possible that both players will be recalled Saturday to sit on the bench (and in case of emergency, since the parent club only have 11 healthy bodies without them) and then sent back down immediately following. (We probably won’t do a post for each up/down this year, we’ll try to just keep it to the more meaningful ones, when a player is up or down to stay for a while – last year they got redundant and the team figures to be aggressive once again with the up-and-downs even just for extra practice sessions.)
The 905 have home games Nov. 18, 20, 23, 26, and 29, and Dec. 1 before they hit the road. That means six great opportunities for the youngsters to get run. The Raptors are on the road Nov. 18-25, though, so they’ll have to make a call on whether they want Caboclo (yes) and VanVleet (probably) with the 905 or traveling with the NBA side.
For now, the expectation is not for Pascal Siakam, Jakob Poeltl, and Lucas Nogueira to see immediate time, as the team is too thinned out in the frontcourt. That might happen later, though, especially when both teams are at home and assignments are easy as a result. Delon Wright should also see time on a rehabilitation assignment once he’s cleared for contact some time in December or January.
