New plan: Trade Lowry for DeRozan. DeRozan RT’s “I got us”. Spurs win title.
Raptors: One trade the Toronto Raptors need to make in the offseason
With that being said, the Raptors should trade franchise icon Kyle Lowry this offseason, give the keys to Fred VanVleet, and get younger. Lowry is 34 and will make $30 million in 2020-21, after which he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The Raptors would be wise to trade the All-Star so they can get something in return instead of risking losing him for nothing in free agency.
VanVleet was averaging 17.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists for the Raptors before play was suspended. Toronto has to re-sign the guard no matter what it costs since they were the ones who discovered FVV and developed him into the player he has become.
It would hurt the Raptors faithful to watch VanVleet thrive somewhere else after he made his niche on the NBA in Toronto.
VanVleet was making $9 million this season. As an unrestricted free agent, he is expected to get a huge payday. The Raptors, after getting off Lowry’s contract, will have more money to offer VanVleet.
Lowry is arguably the best player in Raptors franchise history. He has career averages of 17.6 points and 7.1 assists with Toronto. It would be sad and shocking for the Toronto faithful to see Lowry get traded, but it makes sense given the timeline the team is on right now, with Siakam, Norman Powell, OG Anunoby, Chris Boucher and VanVleet serving as the team’s core moving forward.
Raptors throttle 76ers to open NBA 2K League season
After a six-week delay, the 2020 NBA 2K League season tipped off Tuesday night, and it didn’t take 2019 runner-up 76ers GC to learn it is a different season, indeed.
A season after going 11-5 and earning the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, 76ers GC were throttled twice by Raptors Uprising GC, getting swept 79-56 and 103-67. What’s more, some players on Raptors Uprising used the 76ers to post some eye-popping numbers.
Kenneth “KennyGotWork” Hailey followed-up his 26-point performance in the opener with 61 points in the second game. And while KennyGotWork handled much of the scoring for the Raptors, Gerald “Sick One” Knapp handled the rest with a pair of triple-doubles (18 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists in Game 1, 12-14-13 in Game 2).
76ers GC lost to T-Wolves Gaming in a thrilling finals last season, taking the champs to the full five games in a series that included a technical delay of more than three hours.
The foundation of the brothers Pau and Marc Gasol has charged against the Community of Madrid for the children’s menus of Telepizza and Rodilla that the regional government has enabled before the closure of the children’s dining rooms for “the negative consequences” that can lead to the health of the children of the region. “The promotion of healthy lifestyle habits should be an essential element in reducing social inequalities, ” the foundation details in a public statement.
In this situation, the Gasol Foundation has shown “enormous concern” for these menus and for the declarations of the Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who defended last Thursday that it is “not a problem for a child to be given pizza.”
In response to this, the Catalan brothers’ foundation points out that “prolonged exposure” to this type of “unhealthy” diet will contribute “to the deterioration of health among the most vulnerable families , whose subsequent recovery will become increasingly complicated ”
To support these claims, the Gasol Foundation uses the Community of Madrid study of prevalence of child malnutrition, which places obesity or overweight among children between 2 and 14 years old at 29.7%, and the PASOS 2019 study, which states that 34.9% of children between the ages of 8 and 16 are overweight or obese , and they put themselves “at the disposal” of the autonomous government to provide “healthy eating” to these minors because, they point out, obesity is “a pandemic silent “that affects the most vulnerable population
The coronavirus has swept the entire globe over the past several months, and sadly, the NBA has not been immune. A number of prominent figures around the league have caught the virus, including Kevin Durant, Rudy Gobert and James Dolan. While they all made full recoveries, family members of other players have not been as lucky. Jacqueline Cruz, the mother of Karl-Anthony Towns, died after a battle with COVID-19, as did the mother and brother of former NBA player Sebastian Telfair.
Tony Parker had to face that fear head-on. As he revealed in an interview with Marc Spears of The Undefeated Monday, multiple members of his family caught the disease in France. Fortunately, they have all recovered.
“I’ve been in San Antonio this whole time,” Parker said. “I got really close to my family, really close, because my father-in-law caught it in Paris. My sister-in-law caught it, too. We were worried the first two or three weeks to make sure they would be OK. Now, they are OK. They did some testing and now they’re negative. It puts a lot of stress on my family. You never know with a new virus like this. Everybody reacts differently. That is why I am very thankful that nothing happened to my sister-in-law and father-in-law.”
Memo to the NBA, NHL: Quitting the current season is not an option | Sporting News
Whenever that is, however, there is no excuse for contesting any season but the one already underway. Even in the unlikely event teams did not again take the court until 2021, they should do so in order to complete the 2019-20 season.
Some league executives and agents, according to CNBC, are pushing for the league to cancel what remains of the suspended season and instead focus on a successful launch to the 2020-21 season. This is the worst possible approach, and the reasoning being posited for cancellation is proof.
Why call off this season?
Money, of course.
CNBC reports some teams believe the revenue available if games were contested and some media rights recovered isn’t sufficient to justify resumption of the season. One surmises not everyone in the league would agree with this. CNBC also cited one player agent who said he is surprised NBA commissioner Adam Sliver hasn’t canceled “because he always errs on the side of caution and doing what’s right.”
Ranking the top 74 jerseys in NBA history
40. Toronto Raptors (Black and purple)
Seasons worn: 1999-2003Notable players in this look: Vince Carter, Antonio Davis, Alvin Williams, Morris Peterson
To distance themselves from the cartoonish yet classic “Barney” dinosaur jerseys, the Raptors went with a more conservative look. But it still had its flair from the two-toned purple front and black back, to the tall and skinny font to the neat silver notches on
14. Toronto Raptors (Original Dino)
Seasons worn: 1995-99Notable players in this look: Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Damon Stoudamire, Marcus Camby
Widely mocked at the time of their initial release, the Raptors’ Dino sets slowly became one of the more beloved jerseys in the NBA. The large dinosaur logo on the chest with the pinstripes was a bit too much at first, but it’s all love now. — Lopez
3 storylines to follow as Raptors Uprising GC embark on third season – Sportsnet.ca
Raptors Uprising GC, Toronto’s NBA 2K League team, will begin their third season Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ET with a matchup against 76ers GC on Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet NOW.
While the Uprising were one of the original 17 teams when the league launched in 2018, the 2K League has since expanded to 23 squads, comprised of 22 teams affiliated to real-life NBA clubs and one team from Shanghai, China called the Gen.G Tigers.
In their first two seasons, the Uprising have been an OK squad, making the playoffs in the inaugural season after a furious 7-1 end to the season, but then getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs and missing the post-season entirely last season with an 8-8 record and a 12th-place finish.
Toronto mayor says talks underway with Blue Jays, Raptors on return to play | CBC Sports
Toronto Mayor John Tory said Tuesday that there have been preliminary talks with Major League Baseball’s Blue Jays and the NBA’s Raptors about a return to action as restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic begin to ease.
Tory said the city is working with the Ontario provincial government on decision-making regarding the Raptors, and that “things are moving forward quite nicely.” Tory did not provide details on the discussions, but the NBA is currently planning to allow teams to open practice facilities starting Friday, though government clearance would be required.
“I expect there will be some news to report on that in a way again that is going to be consistent in making sure our team and our players [will not] be put at a competitive disadvantage,” Tory said. “But at the same time respecting completely the imperatives we have with regard to public health and stopping the spread of COVID-19.”
Tory said he has discussed the possibility of the Blue Jays eventually being able to play games “here or elsewhere” at some point, but added the talks were at a preliminary level.
The majority of players on the Blue Jays and Raptors are currently outside Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said non-residents entering the country would “at a strict minimum” need to follow quarantine protocols.
A representative from the federal government could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. Representatives from the Blue Jays and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment — owner of the Raptors — also did not immediately respond to emails from The Canadian Press.
Vince Carter Best Ever Toronto Raptor Over Kyle Lowry? Legend Reveals Why | Heavy.com
Is Kyle Lowry the best Toronto Raptors player to ever live?
Some would say Kawhi Leonard is. He was the star of the Raptors’ NBA Finals Championship run last season.
Some might say Chris Bosh or DeMar DeRozan.
Others may say Vince Carter. A winner of the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest in 2000, VC put the Raptors on the map.
Many might even say Kyle Lowry. Lowry was traded to the Raptors from the Houston Rockets on July 11, 2012, in a deal for Gary Forbes and a future first round pick.
Vince Carter seems to think Lowry is the best Raptor ever. “For sure,” he told the Toronto Sun’s Ryan Wolstat.
“He’s done a lot, he’s accomplished a lot. He’s been through the ups and downs and he’s been to the mountaintop, so that propels him right there.
“Obviously the longer he plays here the more he’s going to accomplish wonderful feats like this. It’s well deserved. He loves to play, he’s a competitor, obviously. I’m just glad I was able to see it. I’ll talk junk to him later.”
Appearing on the Scoop B Radio Podcast, former Villanova University standout, John Celestand weighed in on Lowry’s place as a Raptor great. “I think Kyle Lowry would have to win another ring in Toronto for him to eclipse Vince Carter,” he said.
