As Raptors 905 came off the Hershey Centre floor following a victory over the Long Island Nets on Friday, Edy Tavares reached out to high-five a young girl, his enormous hand dwarfing her tiny paw. As the child stared at her hand in amazement, Tavares walked through the doors and into the hallway leading to the team’s locker room, his work done after a fine showing in the two-game tournament.
As Tavares turned left, a glance right revealed several member of the Toronto Raptors organization discussing how to unwind from a third marathon day in a row at the D-League Showcase. Chinese food was suggested, some staffers and executives were declared in or out (for reasons ranging from other plans to being too old for any longer a day), and the group eventually splintered as head coach Jerry Stackhouse emerged to speak to the media. There was clear fatigue on the group, but the exhaustion still maintained an air of excitement. Not only had the 905 gone 2-0 in the tournament that no longer declares an official winner, and won the marquee Friday night game on ESPNU, the first three days of the D-League’s marquee annual event had gone off as well as anyone could have expected.
During another marquee prospect event, this July’s Las Vegas Summer League, the Raptors found out they’d been given the nod to host the Showcase. Mississauga would host all 22 D-League teams for 22 games over five days, playing home to countless scouts, executives, and news-breakers, some existing in plain sight and others in the shadows. On the heels of the 2016 NBA All-Star Game, it was yet another opportunity for the Raptors to build organizational equity, to prove themselves among the best-run franchises in the league, and to ingratiate themselves to potential players, staff, and perhaps most importantly, agents.
“The fact that we had the All-Star game and have a new franchise, MLSE as a company felt it would be a good opportunity to continue to build basketball in Canada,” 905 general manager Dan Tolzman said Wednesday. “We jumped at the opportunity to put in a bid. Everything I think we sold the league on being able to do, I think we’re delivering.t’s a big part of, I hate to say, getting the Raptors’ name out there. When we can put on a good event where other teams come in and they’re like, ‘Man, this is the way things should go,” we kind of take pride in that. And I think MLSE is so good at doing big events like this, and doing it the way we feel it should be done. As a company, they like taking on challenges like this.”
By all accounts, the 905 organization delivered. The tournament went smoothly for the most part, save for a brief power issue on the weekend, and visitors, whether it be scouts or executives or former players, was enjoying the city and the environment. It’s a lot of basketball crammed into a few days, which puts quite the strain on the resources of a D-League organization, but the 905 and D-League stepped up and delivered. Short of some minor concern about sparse attendance, an issue that’s as much about the league and marketing as it is the 905, there was hardly a concern heard all weekend.
“It’s that MLSE standard. If we’re gonna deliver World Juniors, if we’re gonna deliver All-Star, and now back to back, we’ve just delivered first-class, quality NBA events,” 905 director of team operations John Wiggins, who along with basketball operations manager Shelby Weaver received heaps of praise from others in the organization, said Monday. “We got the direction from Masai directly, which said ‘Look, we’re gonna be great hosts.’ I think there’s a platinum-level standard that says when you come here, we take care of you. I think that goes across the board, from Mississauga to Toronto, when you’re dealing with the Raptors organization.
“That’s what we wanted to make sure we impressed on everybody.”
The Raptors are hoping to hear that they’ll be awarded the 2018 Showcase, which is a conversation that will take place with the league sometime in the near future. That was the goal here, and NBA.com reports that the D-League is hoping to lock down a permanent site or rotating sites to stabilize the event moving forward. That could help with growth, planning, and most importantly, attendance. That the 905 can add a second court to Hershey Centre (either at the adjacent SportZone or over the practice ice surface across the hallway) is a major point in their favor as the D-League pushes closer to 30 teams. The exact future of the event and its importance is somewhat unclear thanks to the new changes in the collective bargaining agreement – feelings around the league appear to be mixed on what the two “hybrid” roster spots will do for the frequency of 10-day contracts – but the 905 surely impressed enough to remain in the conversation for future events.
That is important. All-Star Weekend being a major success was important. The Showcase succeeding is important. The Raptors being considered a trusted NBA franchise is important. It is difficult to quantify the value of events like these, or to quantify organizational equity in general. But everything matters, and the more things the Raptors do well, the more reasons there are for talent and agents and the league to be in Toronto, the more the Raptors appear to be a best-practice organization, the better off they’ll be.
This has already, slowly and subtly, made an impact on the on-court NBA product. It extends beyond just Norman Powell improving last year, or Delon Wright being able to have a conditioning stint, or getting Jerry Stackhouse more experience behind the bench. Players and agents talk. Axel Toupane, who has some NBA experience, says that word gets out about the quality of the D-League organization. Making an impression on agents can go a long way toward convincing a player to come in for camp, or sign as an undrafted free agent, like in the case of Fred VanVleet. These small victories can snowball, and they can eventually help the parent club in a more tangible way. Getting in the conversation as a premiere franchise like the San Antonio Spurs is meaningful, and while it might not help land a superstar free agent given the team’s salary cap situation, it probably helps you land a Bismack Biyombo or a Jared Sullinger or the next underpriced free agent reclamation project.
“I think it pays off in that people see what kind of first-class organization MLSE and the Raptors are,” Tolzman said. “It builds us as a commodity.”
If nothing else, it’s better to be a smart, strong, well-run organization than a bad one. The 905 are continuing to do their part to that end, and the Showcase stands as another example of the benchmark environment the Raptors are trying to build.
