From Victoria to Hawaii to Portland, the Toronto Raptors continue their preseason trip up and down the west coast Thursday when they take on the Trail Blazers. It’s funny how being in a really awesome city can seem like much less of a big deal when the team was just in two of the more beautiful places on earth. Shout out to Portland, though, one of the best beer cities out there, a food truck haven, and the owners of a pretty damn fun basketball team .
As always when these sides meet, it’ll be a battle of elite offensive backcourts. It’s just a preseason game, sure, but seeing those four trade buckets in the first and third quarters should be a lot of fun. And the two sides are working on some similar tweaks to their approach – Portland is trying to fully integrate Jusuf Nurkic and maximize his role, while Toronto is looking to better integrate all of their supporting pieces, including Jonas Valanciunas (who has looked better than almost any other Raptor so far in the preseason). Nurkic and Valanciunas could be a lot of fun, too. These teams match up such that their two regular season meetings should rank pretty highly on must-see lists.
Tonight will be much more about the potential depth pieces for each side. There are questions without clear answers, important reps to get in, new principles to make patterns. The Raptors are firing up boat loads of threes and hitting few of them, and they could probably use a good night from outside to make sure buy-in to the new paradigm remains high. The talk of improved ball movement has looked to be legitimate, at least on intention, but poor shooting has muted assist numbers, too.
“You’re gonna have nights like that until we get adjusted to the style of play,” head coach Dwane Casey said after Tuesday’s loss. Trust the process, and all of that.
The game tips off at 10 p.m. (Eastern) on TSN.
—
To help set the stage for the last game, I reached out to Steve Dewald of Blazer’s Edge.
Blake Murphy: It’s the Blazers and the Raptors, so we more or less have to discuss the “best backcourts in the NBA” thing. Oh, we don’t? Well, thank god. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are, of course, awesome, as are Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. While the Raptors’ duo spends the preseason trying to help build a more multi-faceted offensive style, what are the points of emphasis for the Blazers’ young guards entering 2017-18?
Steve Dewald: Just like previous years, defense will remain the focus for the Lillard-McCollum backcourt. Lillard has lost some weight over the summer, and he is hoping that his decreased size will help him navigate screens better when guarding the pick-and-roll. McCollum appears to be closer to playing competent defense, but he has to improve his consistency.
A more realistic goal for the duo is learning to maximize Jusuf Nurkic’s time on the court. The trio was only able to play a limited amount of games together last season, so it will be imperative that they gel quickly before the start of the season. Finding the right balance of using Nurkic as a decoy and a target will dictate just how deadly this offense can be.
Blake Murphy: Nurkic called Voodoo Doughnuts over-rated. Will he be thoroughly booed at the home opener for that?
Steve Dewald: Definitely trying to get me in trouble with this one. I might be crazy, but his criticism of Voodoo Doughnuts might make Blazers fans like him even more. No true Portlander has time to wait with the tourists for Voodoo, which has led to some residents labeling the institution as a spot for non-locals. As long as the Bosnian Beast doesn’t give Pine State Biscuits a bad review, he is good in my book.
Blake Murphy: Portland would seem to have at least three starting spots locked down, and maybe four if Al-Farouq Aminu can safely be considered the starting four instead of in the battle for the two forward spots. Evan Turner, Moe Harkless, and maybe some dark horses figure to push for that spot and, conversely, a large second-unit role. Who do you prefer as a starting five, and who do you see actually winning the job?
Steve Dewald: The forward spots are completely up for grabs, but I agree that Aminu will find a way to capture one of them. Evan Turner is the highest paid of the group, but his lack of shooting puts serious limits on his upside with the starting rotation. Given Portland’s lack of depth at point guard, Turner is probably more equipped to direct the second unit.
Harkless—who isn’t a great outside shooter himself—is able to complement the players in the starting lineup on both ends of the floor. He can relieve Lillard and McCollum of a tough assignment on defense, and he isn’t dependent on having the ball in his hands on offense.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Portland makes changes to their starting lineup throughout the season, but I am putting my money on Harkless for right now.
Blake Murphy: Noah Vonleh somehow just turned 22, despite three years in the NBA (maybe Bruno Caboclo is The Brazilian Noah Vonleh?) and the feeling that I’ve been excited for his breakout for two seasons now. How big a role does he figure to play this year? Will it be a little more consistent than the last two, where he saw fairly regular minutes but was in and out of the starting lineup? Will my long-term belief in him finally materialize in a meaningful impact for Portland?
Steve Dewald: Vonleh’s season has already endured a setback before the preseason, as it looks like a shoulder injury will cost him the first few weeks of the regular season. The former Indiana standout looked like he was ready to thrive next to Nurkic in the frontcourt, but he will likely return to a rotation that has younger options ahead of him. The Blazers drafted two players that can play power forward in the first round of the NBA Draft, and Caleb Swanigan is looking like he might be a steal.
Vonleh’s contract situation doesn’t make things any easier, as he is headed for restricted free agency this summer. With the Blazers already hurting for cash, President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey will likely focus on getting a deal done with Nurkic first.
—
Raptors updates
The Raptors struggled some in their second preseason outing, down Kyle Lowry and Norman Powell. Lowry was just resting and should be back here, though the strategy of getting him a game off certainly suggests the same might be coming for DeMar DeRozan or Serge Ibaka at some point over the next three games. Powell would have played were it a regular season game, according to Casey, so there’d seem to be a good chance he returns from an ankle strain here.
Delon Wright and Fred VanVleet looked competent in Lowry’s absence but K.J. McDaniels had a tough go in Powell’s slot, so it’s possible another wing gets a longer look here. The Raptors stayed consistent in giving Bruno Caboclo and Pascal Siakam the backup forward minutes, which makes sense given their relative inexperience and the need to find out what they can contribute this year. Lucas Nogueira and Jakob Poeltl have traded the backup center spot, with each looking better against third-stringers than primary players (shocker). Nogueira has been a little better overall, and so I’d expect him to get the next shot at that spot. If Powell plays, there’s a case to be made they should at least see how he looks with the starters. C.J. Miles seems like a nice fit through two exhibitions, even without his shot falling.
Assuming relative health and no rest, here’s how the rotation might look:
PG: Kyle Lowry, Delon Wright, Fred VanVleet, Lorenzo Brown
SG: DeMar DeRozan, (Norman Powell), K.J. McDaniels, Andy Rautins
SF: C.J. Miles, Bruno Caboclo, Alfonzo McKinnie, (OG Anunoby)
PF: Serge Ibaka, Pascal Siakam, Kyle Wiltjer
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Lucas Nogueira, Jakob Poeltl, Kennedy Meeks
TBD: OG Anunoby, Norman Powell
INJ: Malcolm Miller
Check back in the pre-game news and notes for firm updates on the starting small forward and the status of Powell and OG Anunoby, who is yet to appear in an official preseason game.
As usual, we’ll track the minutes and battles in this space, noting how the playing time is breaking down over the five games. It doesn’t necessarily mean someone is ahead because they’ve played more, it’s simply meant as a refresher.
Known commodities: DeRozan 44, Ibaka 39, Valanciunas 34, Lowry 20
Competition 1: Miles 43, Powell 20
Competition 2: Nogueira 32, Poeltl 23
Competition 3 (maybe?): Wright 46, VanVleet 31
Competition 4: McKinnie 22, Rautins 13, McDaniels 12, Wiltjer 8, Meeks 3
The LeBron Stoppers: Siakam 45, Caboclo 34, Anunoby 0
Two-Ways: Brown 12, Miller 0
Note: There was a box score error in the opener that may have exact minutes for Lowry/DeRozan/Powell/Wright a little off.
Trail Blazers updates
As Steve and I discussed above, the Blazers have a lot of questions to answer in camp, and some of them may end up with only temporary answers heading into the season. Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic are locked in and are varying degrees of awesome. After that, it’s wide open – Evan Turner and old friend Ed Davis got the starting nods Tuesday, but Moe Harkless, Al-Farouq Aminu, and heck, even Caleb Swanigan might have a claim to start at least one preseason game. (Hot take: Since all preseason is garbage time and Jake Layman is the garbage time efficiency king, starting Jake Layman is the best path to winning preseason games). So, who knows how Terry Stotts will trot them out Thursday? One thing’s clear, at least: Archie Goodwin isn’t going to touch the floor after playing negative minutes in the opener:
I know Archie Goodwin is bad but this seems like an excessive measure pic.twitter.com/pjUDvXwHzj
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) October 5, 2017
Shabazz Napier missed Tuesday’s preseason game with a hamstring injury but returned to practice Wednesday. C.J. Wilcox has also been dealing with a knee injury and is yet to play in the preseason. Noah Vonleh, as Steve mentioned earlier, suffered a shoulder strain last week and is expected to miss about a month.
PG: Damian Lillard, (Shabazz Napier), Isaiah Briscoe
SG: C.J. McCollum, Pat Connaughton, (C.J. Wilcox), Archie Goodwin
SF: Evan Turner, Moe Harkless, Jake Layman
PF: Ed Davis, Al-Farouq Aminu, Caleb Swanigan
C: Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins, Meyers Leonard
TBD: Shabazz Napier, C.J. Wilcox
INJ: Noah Vonleh
The line
The preseason lines remain off the board.
