And….WE’RE BACK! Training camp and a Japanese pre-season is on tap.
How will the Raptors replace Kawhi Leonard’s offensive usage? – The Athletic
One way the Raptors may be able to make up some of the difference is leaning more on Kyle Lowry and Marc Gasol. While those are the two oldest players on the team, they both also have a recent history of carrying more of an offensive load than they did in Toronto last year.
Prior to the trade deadline, Gasol had been using 37 percent more possessions than he did with the Raptors (a 22.3-percent usage rate compared to 16.3), which also came with a slightly higher assist rate and lower turnover rate. The Raptors won’t want to task Gasol with as heavy a scoring burden as he had in Memphis, where he was a little less efficient than in Toronto and where the Grizzlies struggled as a team on offence. The Raptors can, however, shift more playmaking duty back to Gasol and ask him to be a little more aggressive in looking for his own shot within the flow of that role.
Lowry is a tougher ask because his usage has been on a four-year decline. Some of that has been an adjustment to a new offence and then a new co-star and some of it has been a recognition that his two best skills at this point are 3-point shooting and playmaking. Lowry still has enough in the tank as a scorer to push his usage rate back above the league average and could see his career-high assist rate from last year push even higher with more pick-and-roll responsibility. For years, teammates have shot the ball better off Lowry passes than on average, and the Raptors will probably move back to being a bit more pick-and-roll oriented this coming season.
Beyond Lowry and Gasol, Siakam and Fred VanVleet can expand their playmaking roles, too. Putting the ball in Siakam’s hands is a good way to make up for the Giannis Antetokounmpo/Ben Simmons treatment he may receive in a larger offensive role; teams can’t ignore him on the perimeter or stick a centre on him with nearly as much ease if he’s the primary creator and are operating pick-and-roll and dribble hand-offs. With VanVleet, the Raptors need to see if he can handle league average usage and if his trouble in the pick-and-roll last year was a fault of his own – over-dribbling and poor finishing at the rim – or of inconsistent and misshapen lineups requiring too much self-creation from him.
A side-benefit to bigs like Gasol and Siakam taking up more of the ball-handling is that it opens up the Raptors for more creative offence to help get around their lack of shooting. Lowry and VanVleet are the team’s best non-Matt Thomas shooters and would be off the ball in those scenarios, while Norman Powell, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Terence Davis are all adept cutters who can work well off passing bigs. Hollis-Jefferson can even function as the screener in funkier lineups, as he’s a solid screen-setter and passer.
The net result of the offensive changes will likely be a bit less isolation play – Siakam figures to be the primary user in those situations – in favour of more pick-and-roll and more cutting. Productive passing brings a turnover cost, and the Raptors might have to embrace a bit more risk in their offensive profile to produce at a league average level. Aesthetically, additional passing, cutting around the bigs and pick-and-roll play-making may be a little prettier possession to possession, even if its less effective. (I say “may” because there is an inherent entertainment value in Leonard-style bully-ball.)
Klay Thompson comments just the start of Raptors’ winter of disrespect – Sportsnet.ca
Would the Raptors have had their epic parade and Marc Gasol his epic hangover if Durant hadn’t torn his Achilles tendon in his first game back after missing six weeks with a calf strain?
That he had 11 points in the 12 minutes he did play in the series and the Warriors were up by five early in the second quarter of Game 5 when he crumpled to the floor at Scotiabank Arena might bolster the argument.
Even Stephen Curry got in on the act, sporting a box-and-one hoodie with “Respect the Game” written in small script, which could only be a reference to the unusual defence – Curry famously introduced “janky” into the lexicon as a not-so-favourable adjective at the time – Raptors head coach Nick Nurse pulled out to limit the Warriors star in the fourth quarter of Game 3.
The Raptors not only needed injuries to knock off the two-time defending champs — they also needed gimmicks, was the message.
According to the culture, the Raptors’ win was a blip that can be looked over as we look ahead.
When the trailer for NBA2K20 was released this past August, sharp-eyed Raptors fans were quick to notice that the defending champions got barely a moment’s screen time in the 89-second video – and that was when the Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard was dunking on his old team.
Harsh.
But this is the territory the Raptors are traversing, although comforted by their championship rings and all the shots with the Larry OB on the ’gram.
Raptors Podcast: Behind the scenes with Open Gym
On this week’s episode, Open Gym producer Jeff Landicho joins the show to discuss a storybook year in covering the Raptors.
- Celebrating seven seasons of Open Gym
- The challenge of covering Kawhi Leonard
- Emotions at the trade deadline with Jonas Valanciunas and Delon Wright
- Shooting “The Shot” and the commotion around it
- The ups and downs of the Finals
- Producing the championship parade episode of Open Gym
How will Raptors respond to disrespect as defending champs? – TSN.ca
Matt Cauz beings today’s edition of Game Day with his Opening Thought focused on the Toronto Raptors and their role in the NBA as this season’s defending champs. Matt brings up the lack of respect they’re getting as the team that holds the title, and we play what Norman Powell had to say to the issue yesterday on OverDrive.
Toronto Raptors: Klay Thompson’s comments are just the beginning – Tip of the Tower
In fairness to Thompson, he was off to a phenomenal start in Game 6 and his injury definitely helped the Raptors seal the deal although Kyle Lowry played a part in that too. The problem is not that Thompson is trying to make an excuse, it’s the belief that the Raptors were somehow lucky to come away with the win.
This further proves the belief some have that if Kevin Durant was healthy Toronto would have stood no chance. Maybe things would have been different but to say with certainty that the Raptors were lucky is disrespectful considering they gave the Warriors the toughest fight they’ve had since they lost to LeBron James without Durant.
It’s interesting how nobody was denoting the Warriors title wins when LeBron was trying to will the Cavs with most of his supporting cast hurt.
At the same time, the best way for the Raptors to show that last season was no fluke is to go out and win again which is something Masai Ujiri believes they can do without Kawhi. He even went as far to say that he 100 per cent believes the Raptors can win another title.
“I look at what this team has done and what we can learn from it. We learned how to win. And Kawhi taught us that. He brought us into that space,” Ujiri told CBC’s Adrienne Arsenault.
As long as the man in charge believes his team has a chance and the players back him up on the court, that should matter more than the opinion of a player who lost a chance to win another championship because of an unfortunate injury.
Lewenberg discusses life after Kawhi, Siakam’s development – Video – TSN
With training camp on the horizon, the Raptors will have a different look this season without NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. Josh Lewenberg joins Kayla Grey to look at the pressing issues facing the team heading into the new season for the defending NBA Champions.
Should Siakam get a max contract from the Raptors? – Video – TSN
OverDrive guest hosts Mark Roe, Steve Simmons and Dave Feschuk debate if Pascal Siakam deserves a max contract and how the Raptors approach the upcoming season having lost the production from Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.
The story behind the legend of Toronto Raptors’ Matt Thomas – Yahoo!
Despite having the reputation of being one of the best shooters in the country, Matt knew he needed to improve on the other end of the court if he wanted to stay on the floor. Naz Mitrou-Long was a teammate at Iowa State and Matt’s roommate during his senior season. “He was getting knocked for his defense the first two years,” Naz says. “So between his sophomore and junior year, he took it upon himself everyday in the gym to get better.”
Matt spent more time in the weight room and sought out the strength coach to work on specific drills to improve his lateral movement. In his junior season, Matt worked his way back into the starting lineup and had his best season at Iowa State, averaging 11.0 points and 2.5 3s per game on 43.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc. He also became a reliable player on defense. T.J. Olzelberger was an assistant coach at Iowa State. “He’s the guy we would put on the opposing team’s best perimeter player,” T.J. says.
Naz also noticed a more confident player on the court. “The confidence comes from the work,” Naz says. “He’s a perfectionist on and off the court. A big difference between pro and college guys is that pros have their routine down. Matt already had that in college.”
In his senior season, Matt made 89 3s, which tied for fifth-best in school history. His 254 career 3s is the third-most in history. He finished his career as a Cyclone as a 40.1 percent shooter from beyond the arc, the sixth-best percentage in school history.
Steve Prohm, head coach of Iowa State, believed then and still does now, that Matt will settle into an NBA role. “You look at guys like Steve Kerr or John Paxson,” Steve says. “Why can’t Matt Thomas be that at some point?”
NBA Trade RumorsL What’s Ahead for the Toronto Raptors | Heavy.com
It’s possible, of course, that injuries will hit, players will disappoint or things will generally go sideways for the Raptors. Toronto could reconsider its push to the playoffs, decide to tank the rest of the season and position itself for the best possible lottery pick it can find. That’s when Lowry, Gasol and Ibaka could hit the trade block.
Or they could be included as part of an in-season blockbuster to bolster the Raptors as they stand. Toronto has been linked to Washington star Bradley Beal since last season and though no substantive talks have taken place—the Wizards are still angling to keep Beal, who has not requested a trade—that could change.
Ujiri would like to be able to sell the Raptors to free agents with the team’s impending acre of cap space, but he’s keenly aware of the difficulties of getting players to come to Toronto without first trading for those players. Beal would be an ideal fit alongside Siakam and if a package of future draft picks and expiring contracts would make such a deal possible, the Raptors naturally would go for it.
Those aggressive star-caliber deals will have to wait. Toronto suffered a big blow in losing Leonard this summer. But they’re still in position to earn a solid playoff spot in the East and as long as that remains the case, there’s no fire sale planned.
Five thoughts on the 2019-20 NBA preseason: Toronto Raptors storylines to watch – Raptors HQ
What’s Toronto’s Starting Lineup?
We can lock Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam in here, right? What about the other three spots?
As the start of the 2018-29 season, the Raptors unleashed their “platoon centre” approach by starting either Serge Ibaka or Jonas Valanciunas, depending on the opposition. By the end of last season, Valanciunas had been traded for Gasol and Gasol had emerged as the starter, with Ibaka coming off the bench. That optimized the Raptors roster, which needed to see Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam also start in the frontcourt.
With Leonard gone, Toronto’s three best frontcourt players are Gasol, Ibaka and Siakam… but can you start all three of them? Will Nick Nurse go with a matchup-based approach again? It might make sense to go big against, say, Philly or Orlando. But against smaller teams, does one of the “projects” start at SF? If so, who? Both Hollis-Jefferson and Johnson have shown defensive flashes, but neither has proven themselves on the offensive end.
And if one of them starts at the three, does that leave Norman Powell to start at the two-guard spot? Or will Toronto really roll out it’s two-PG lineup from the tip? (That leaves the whole question of who the backup PG is.) Would Nick Nurse roll out a super-small Powell-VanVleet-Lowry lineup!?
Nurse has a lot of options, and the preseason should give us an opportunity to see him try them all out.
Send me any Raptors related content: rapsfan@raptorsrepublic.com
