Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

Morning Coffee – Mon, Nov 18

JV not getting a ring...classy... | Ujiri to Knicks laughable | Slow news day, sorry

JV not getting a ring…classy… | Ujiri to Knicks laughable | Slow news day, sorry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr9mB1jasqE

Raptors gather valuable clues along the road | The Star

The immediate benefits of the long road trip that just ended for the Raptors are obvious.

They won more than they lost, got rid of a long and difficult journey in the first month of the regular season, and stayed very much in touch with the other teams near the top of the NBA’s Eastern Conference.

That is all well and good, and should leave them with a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment, but the true measure of what they just did will come long into the future.

“I would say we’re … we’ve got to be pretty satisfied and, you know, on the plus side of it, we grew a little bit,” coach Nick Nurse told reporters after the 3-2 trip ended with a 110-102 loss in Dallas on Saturday night. “We got a look at some guys and we know how we can use them here, and going into the future when guys do start filtering back in.”

The overriding accomplishment for the Raptors from the road swing is that they not only opened the eyes of some observers, but their own as well. It was after the second game in Los Angeles, albeit a loss to the Clippers, that it really sunk in. It was affirmed when they won in Portland despite the absence of Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, OG Anunoby and Patrick McCaw because of injuries — fully half of the eight-man rotation they wanted to use from the start of the season.

This team always plays hard, and it’s a testament to their mental toughness that they don’t care who’s in the lineup or out of it. They work to get the job done.

“It’s not what we intended to do. You want to get them all, but overall, just happy at the play,” Fred VanVleet said Saturday after the loss. “We didn’t lay down for anybody.”

Report: Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, and C.J. Miles will not receive Toronto Raptors championship rings – Raptors HQ

Obviously, it feels somehow incorrect for Valanciunas to not receive a championship ring. He laboured for the Raptors for 6.5 seasons, doing everything the organization asked of him — get bigger, run faster, play smarter, shoot from three, come off the bench — in order to help them succeed. Yes, Gasol was the centre the team truly needed to get over the hump, but that’s no black mark on Valanciunas’ resume. He tried his best.

The cases for Wright and Miles are a little trickier. On the one hand, Delon was in his fourth season in Toronto, and appeared in 49 games that year, making steady contributions throughout. He didn’t really raise the Raptors’ ceiling all that much, but someone had to play those 18-20 minutes a night. On the other hand, Miles was in just year two and also in the midst of a pronounced slump; there’s no nice way to say this but at the time of the Gasol trade, Miles was merely included to make the salary numbers work. It’s harsh, but that’s the NBA.

What this discourse reveals is exactly the line of thinking Webster and the Raptors used when deciding who gets a ring and who doesn’t: either every discarded player from 2018-19 gets one, or none of them do. And as Ganter reveals in his report, Webster was obviously uncomfortable about the whole situation because, well, he probably didn’t want to have to talk to anyone about not getting a ring. “No, I mean you could easily start that and then where does it stop, right?,” Webster said. “They are no right lines here so I think it just kind of it is what it is.”

This will all likely be drawn as a bad PR move for the Raptors, and in truth, I get it. It wouldn’t have cost much for the billion dollar MLSE organization to spend a few bucks and toss a ring over to Valanciunas — who was reportedly excited about the idea — or even Wright and Miles. It would have made for a nice feel-good story during a long regular season.

That said, I also understand Webster’s concern here. How far back do the Raptors have to go in judging someone’s contributions to their 2019 championship victory? The 14 active players on the roster got a ring, Jordan Loyd got one despite being playoff ineligible (he still made contributions during the postseason), the coaches and staff all got one — even if some were not the same top tier rings the players received. No one is questioning any of those decisions.

Raptors won’t give Valanciunas, Wright and Miles championship rings | Toronto Sun

“Its not an easy decision,” Webster began, “but, to be honest I think it’s standard. I mean we did our homework, we talked to teams and I think – I don’t remember – there was maybe one scenario where a team offered one. I think it was Anderson Varejao in Golden State but I think it

was a really unique circumstance.”

It was clearly an uncomfortable discussion for Webster to be having.

“It’s obviously not a feel-good thing but I think that’s the way the league is,” he said.

Management with some input from the players made the decision on who was entitled to a ring.

Webster was asked if the team had considered making an exception, like the Warriors did for Varejao, for Valanciunas, clearly the longest serving member of that trio at 61/2 seasons.

”I think Varejao was just different,” Webster said. “ I think they had to waive him for a roster reason. I don’t think they wanted to trade him. I forget but it was a little bit different. We obviously thought about it but at the end of the day it’s who was on the court June 13th. That’s kind of how we decided it.”

Miles will be the first to make his return to Toronto with the Wizards in Dec. 20. Wright follows him two days later. Valanciunas is not in Toronto until March 30 with the Grizzlies.

Webster said there were no plans to let the players know in advance that the rings would not be coming.

“No I mean you could easily start that and then where does it stop, right?,” he said. “They are no right lines here so I think it just kind of it is what it is.”

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