Ujiri staying…for now….OOOOOOOH Grange… | Raptors not buying at deadline (not selling either) | VanVleet in the spotlight
The championship probably didn’t hurt, nor did VanVleet’s ascendance as a starter and potential future all-star. AND1 had discussions with Montrezl Harrell, who still wears their product and is “part of the family”. Otherwise, AND1 only has Phoenix Suns depth guard Jevon Carter on their NBA roster, along with G Leaguer Darly Macon and a few potential WNBA additions for the coming year. In other words, VanVleet was a big fish for AND1 to land as they rebuild.
None of that would matter if VanVleet didn’t fit the “ethos,” a term Gordon and sales and marketing coordinator David Morris come back to often. AND1 feel they can reestablish themselves as players without losing their history and identity, and that requires a certain player and personality type. VanVleet — as tough a guard as there is, adorned with a scar beneath his eye from championship battles and armed with a good handle and deep range on his 3 — fits the ethos to a T.
“We’re looking for those tough, gritty guys. How I look at an AND1 guy is, you know, he’s tough, but I think of it like this: Any guy that we sign in the NBA, you probably can put him in any playground in America, and he still could get busy, he still could dominate,” Gordon said. “You have some guys whose games don’t really translate to the playground, and sometimes it’s just a toughness thing. I could see Fred playing in any playground in the country, and coming in there, playing hard, getting busy. So, that’s kind of like the AND1 ethos. We like those tough guards. So that was the whole thing that kind of drew us to him.”
Somewhat ironically, there’s one other element of VanVleet’s game — clearly not borrowed from his days studying the mixtapes — that AND1 appreciates.
“The best thing about Fred is the game does the talking,” Morris said. “He doesn’t do all that showboating. Nothing like that.”
Stress over Masai Ujiri’s future with Raptors just beginning – Sportsnet.ca
Given that the Rogers side of the ownership group haven’t been as directly tied in with the day-to-day operations of the team, it makes sense that Ujiri might be looking for reassurances that the new-look board of directors will share his vision and passion, neither of which come cheap.
For the first time since Ujiri came to work in Toronto there is some uncertainty.
In that same vein, the status of Tanenbaum could be worth watching.
Tanenbaum is 75 and in robust health, but it’s fair to wonder if his influence within MLSE is forever. Is there a timeline during which a change of control could be required? What would MLSE look like then?
More broadly: after a period of aggressive expansion and a fairy tale championship, you can assume Ujiri would want to feel confident about MLSE’s future ambitions and their willingness to compete in a world where payrolls crack $200-million and beyond.
Do they want to stand out? Not just in the NBA, but beyond?
Suggesting that Ujiri would be satisfied working for a nice Canadian NBA franchise that won a title once and is content to string together a few winning seasons here or there is to suggest you don’t understand the man.
And on that subject, how much do they really value the charitable work he does? Enough to make a donation and provide some back-office logistical support as they do now?
Or enough to help him make it as big as Ujiri wants it to be? To have a presence throughout Africa, rather than a handful of countries? To help grow the sport and move the needle across the continent?
It just so happens that he has also built a very good team, even in the wake of losing Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green in free agency, that has very little “dead money” on the roster — substantial deals attached to players who are not contributing substantially. If you include Pascal Siakam, who is technically still on his rookie deal but signed a maximum-level contract extension in October that will kick in this summer, the Raptors’ top six earners are among their top seven players in minutes per game. (OG Anunoby, still on his rookie contract, is the other member of that top seven.)
The Raptors have very little fat on their books. On Thursday, the Clippers used Maurice Harkless, making more than $11 million but playing fewer than 23 minutes per game, to make a trade for New York’s Marcus Morris, the best rental option to move on deadline day. Back in December, Utah used Dante Exum, who was playing fewer than eight minutes per game but making $9.6 million, to swing a trade for Jordan Clarkson.
“It was an interesting year. … The asking price for some of the guys out there was high,” Raptors general manager Bobby Webster, Ujiri’s top lieutenant, said after the 3 p.m. trade deadline passed. “Anything in a trade, you have to have both sides agree. And I think maybe the asking price this year was higher than normal, or maybe higher for a different group of players.”
In other words: It was a seller’s market, and what those teams were selling was not attractive enough that it would tangibly improve a healthy version of the Raptors. It is fine to say the Raptors should have done everything they could to improve their title chances this season, up to and including trading the enticing-but-struggling Anunoby and/or some of their first-round picks. But the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement requires teams come close to matching salaries, and there is just no Raptor on the roster making a salary that would grease a deal that is superfluous to their needs. And it is not as if any superstars, players who might actually be worth a package of, say, Anunoby, Serge Ibaka and some picks, moved at the deadline that the Raptors missed out on. The Raptors could be active in the buyout market in an attempt to improve their depth or the back end of their rotation, but Webster said the Raptors wanted to wait until they are healthy to assess their greatest needs. Gasol (strained hamstring) and Norman Powell (fractured finger) both figure to be out until after next weekend’s All-Star break.
Toronto Raptors Masai Ujiri Concern-o-Meter V.3: Breathe easy, it’s over – Raptors HQ
How Concerned Should we be about Masai Ujiri Leaving?
Masai Ujiri is not going anywhere! At least, not right now, and not to the Knicks. Thus, the Concern-o-Meter stands at a 1 out of 10 (where 1 is the least concerned, and 10 is highly concerned). Folks, it just can’t go any lower.
And that’s going to be the question. Kyle Lowry and VanVleet will have to score as smaller guards. Gasol will, as he vowed to do the last time he came back from a hamstring pull, have to shoot the ball. Serge Ibaka’s ability to hit mid-range jumpers and finish inside will be key. Norm Powell’s hot streak can’t be a mirage.
And then there is Pascal Siakam, and his challenge may be Herculean. If Toronto meets Philadelphia, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons will provide all-NBA level defence; Embiid was a huge problem for Siakam in last year’s second-round series. Boston has big wings in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and the fierce defence of Marcus Smart. Miami added Andre Iguodala at the deadline, and centre Bam Adebayo has the athleticism and size to give Siakam trouble.
And of course, there is Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee, who is Siakam but two or three years ahead, three inches taller, and maybe 15 pounds heavier. He is an all-universe version of what Siakam would like to be.
So you can see Siakam working on solutions. Lately it’s been a turnaround jumper. He’s just added it, and it’s going in.
“To be honest I’m just like trying it out now,” says Siakam. “I always feel when I’m out there I can always just, like, hit the guy and get to the front of the rim; and sometimes if I’m matched up against a smaller player I feel bad taking the turnaround jumper because I’m way taller than you. But you can’t always do that. And I think it’s always a shot that you can use, and if you perfect it, there’s not really much the defender can do.
“And then at the end of the day, it’s just about making and missing. You just shoot it like you’re shooting a regular shot, and you’re gonna make or you’re gonna miss it.”
And that’s what’s left to build, really build. It’s a team.
Raptors stand pat at trade deadline, as expected – TSN.ca
Factors included a lack of selling teams around the league and impact players on the market, a reluctance from Toronto – and many other clubs – to take on long-term salary in the interest of preserving salary cap space for the loaded free agent class of 2021, and the Raptors’ own situation.
Entering the season, many league observers believed the defending champions would be among the NBA’s most aggressive teams leading up to the deadline. The thinking was that, by then, they could be hosting a fire sale.
With Kawhi Leonard already gone and some big expiring contracts (Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry, who was signed to a one-year extension in training camp) remaining on the roster, February seemed like a reasonable time to begin the rebuild, or retool, that most assumed was coming.
Instead, this Raptors team had other plans. Despite Leonard’s departure and a multitude of injuries to key players, they’ve been one of the league’s first-half feel good stories.
Toronto has won 12 games in a row – a franchise record and the longest active winning streak in the NBA. The latest of which came in dramatic fashion, as they erased a 19-point deficit to come back and beat the Pacers on Wednesday. Through 51 games, they’re 37-14 – one game ahead of last year’s pace – and sit second in the Eastern Conference. They’re resilient, versatile and deep.
Although team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster worked the phones, as usual, there was nothing out there that could entice them to break up their core, or even surrender long-term assets or flexibility. The asking price for impact players around the association was higher than usual this year, according to Webster.
Raptors’ quiet NBA trade deadline shows trust in current roster – Sportsnet.ca
“There’s always a lot of deals and stuff on our board,” Webster said. “We had it all. Big trades, tinkering, stuff around the edges. From that respect, it was a typical trade deadline.”
Just not a transformational one, which was the case for most of the Eastern Conference’s top teams. The Miami Heat certainly improved, adding Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder, and Solomon Hill to a roster that was already capable of hanging with any team in the conference. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers lengthened their bench and upgraded their three-point shooting with Glenn Robinson and Alec Burks. But no other team the Raptors need to worry about made a significant move.
And there wasn’t tremendous incentive to. Milwaukee’s clearly the toast of the conference — either conference, really. What they currently have has been working so well that it wouldn’t make sense to disrupt it. Meanwhile, the teams clustered from No. 2 through No. 6 in the East can all legitimately believe they can beat one another. And they can all legitimately believe they’ve yet to play their best basketball with what they currently have.
That’s certainly the case for the Raptors, who have spent the season in a constant state of fluidity and flux, reinventing themselves again and again in the face of some absurdly bad injury luck. It’s impossible to say what the Raptors even are, other than adaptable. And relentless. And the defence no one wants to see over seven games.
And that’s a pretty good place to be. Considering the action that did take place around the league this week, it’s extremely hard to envision how the Raptors could have taken part in a way that made their roster demonstrably better without sacrificing players currently filling essential roles.
Doing anything of substance likely would’ve required moving a Marc Gasol or a Serge Ibaka or a Norman Powell. And those three have all proven they’re much more valuable contributing to the Raptors on the floor than they would be as capital in acquiring someone else who isn’t familiar with Toronto’s systems and approach. The Raptors front office overextending itself to make a move purely for the sake of it would’ve run the risk of overcooking the special sauce that’s gotten this versatile, resilient roster to where it is today.
All-Star Weekend 2020: Siakam and Lowry join Nick Nurse on Team Giannis – Raptors HQ
All-Star Weekend 2020 may begin on Valentine’s Day this year but there’s already love in the air between Giannis Antetokounmpo and a bevy of Raptors. He, along with fellow team captain LeBron James, just made their respective picks to fill out this year’s All-Star teams heading into the big game — and wouldn’t you know it, joining Nick Nurse and his staff with Giannis will be none other than Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry!
Start your tampering engines!
Before we get into that, let’s explain. The rules for the All-Star selections were simple: the first round was for the team’s starters, the second round for its reserves. LeBron got first pick, with Giannis second, until the remaining 22 players were picked. Not surprisingly, LeBron went with his Lakers teammate Anthony Davis first overall; equally as unsurprising, Giannis went with big man Joel Embiid. So far, so good, nothing really novel to report on.
But that’s when things took a turn for the meta, as Giannis’ next pick was Siakam — or as he calls him, his “second African brother.”
Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images
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