Inside the making of The Bubble: An Open Gym Documentary – The Athletic
Ujiri is, of course, a prominent presence in the documentary. He’s always been a key figure in Open Gym, letting down a well-guarded wall he holds up publicly until the moment appropriately strikes. The second episode includes footage from the 2013 draft, Ujiri’s first as the Raptors’ general manager. It’s presented as a way of introducing Bobby Webster, Ujiri’s first hire with the team and now its general manager, and Ujiri’s partner on the ground in Orlando. Really, though, it’s a sly wink from Landicho to a Raptors audience that’s hungry for Giannis Antetokounmpo’s potential 2021 free agency; the scene depicts Ujiri and Webster trying to trade into the lottery to select Antetokounmpo, ultimately coming up short when the Oklahoma City Thunder opt to select Steven Adams rather than trade out.
Raptors’ Pascal Siakam showing signs of pre-bubble self at training camp – Sportsnet
Known as a player who’s been able to add to his game every off-season, though he had a little less time than usual, Siakam got to work with trainer Rico Hines and, according to his coach, has polished up his game even more now.
“I would say that he’s fine-tuned some of his go-to things,” Nurse said. “Looks to me like he’s got a little bit more of a physicality to some of his moves and then getting space and getting back. Got a little bit of a shake, turnaround thing that I haven’t maybe seen a ton of that looks a little bit cleaned up as well and smoother and more skillful.”
And beyond just the individual skills he’s worked on, the addition of Chris Finch to Nurse’s coaching staff also figures to help Siakam this coming season.
Touted as a brilliant offensive mind, Finch mentioned in a media scrum last week that he was looking to find more opportunities for Siakam within the offence to both score and distribute, and by the sounds of things, the Raptors have already begun testing some of these concepts in camp.
“We’ve been trying to experiment with some different ways to get him the ball, and shots, and downhill a little bit more, instead of just having the ball,” Nurse said. “So moving him off ball into position, so I’d imagine that’s gonna free him up and get him some easy baskets. It looks good so far, some of those things we’re doing.”
Added Siakam of working with Finch: “Obviously, [he’s] new, and [I’m] trying to understand his concepts, and some of the things that he does. Obviously it’s still early. We’re going to figure it out and we’re going to have a lot of conversations and try to figure it out.”
The nitty gritty and specifics of the offensive concepts will come in time. For now, however, seeing and hearing Siakam more like the player he was before the bubble is good news all around.
New Raptors coach may hold key to getting more out of Pascal Siakam | The Star
If Finch can unlock more facets of Siakam’s game it will be more than beneficial to the Raptors overall. There are likely to be more frontcourt shots, more playmaking opportunities available for Siakam depending on what Nurse and Finch come up with.
And the coaches have been working long hours scheming and dreaming and drawing up experiments in their minds.
“The beautiful thing about having Chris is he’s worked with a number of different guys. From, I don’t know, Zion (Williamson) to AD (Anthony Davis) to (Nikola) Jokic, lots of different guys that are great scorers in the league,” Nurse said.
“So yeah, just talk to him about little tweaks to things … we worked together a lot so a lot of what we do is similar, but just again, talk to him about specifics of how he got certain guys the ball and some of these things we can incorporate to our other players, not just Pascal, but other guys as well.”
But it’s Siakam who is a priority for the Raptors because he’s going to continue to be their go-to guy on offence in crunch time. If there are new and improved ways to get him the ball, different spots on the floor he can attack the basket from, everyone will benefit.
“I would say that we’ve been trying to experiment with some different ways to get him the ball, and shots, and downhill a little bit more, instead of just having the ball,” Nurse said. “So moving him off the ball into position … I’d imagine that’s gonna free him up and get him some easy baskets. It looks good so far, some of those things we’re doing.”
Who will the Toronto Raptors’ 7th and 8th men be for 2020-21? – Raptors HQ
The 7th Man Candidates
Chris Boucher
After signing a career-altering two-year contract with the Raptors, it’s obvious the team has plans for him in the short term. While there are immense limits to Boucher’s ability — he doesn’t have much of a handle, he’s probably never going to be a bruising body — there are some astounding physical skills there too.For one, Boucher can cover a lot of ground, and as a result he’s able to defend a lot of different forwards and wings. It was not uncommon last season to see Boucher hunt for a block at the rim and then run out to the three-point line to credibly challenge — or outright block — a shot. For two, and this is not nothing, Boucher is utterly unafraid to do anything on the court. This is at times something of a curse (e.g. he tries to do too much), but it is also a blessing: whatever happens to Boucher — a missed shot, an attempt sent back in his face, etc. — he’s ready to pick himself up and try again. If nothing else, it’s the mindset of a consistent rotation player in the NBA.
Alex Len
Len is insurance for both Boucher, who may or may not be the main frontcourt reserve for the Raptors this coming season, and for Aron Baynes, who still has to prove he can stay healthy for the majority of the season. For the most part, despite being younger than Boucher, Len is what he is at this point, which is why we’re discussing here at all.For a more specific Raptors’ frame of reference, the comparison is obvious: he’s like Jonas Valanciunas — a big body who will set screens, rebound well, and flirt with a three-point shot. My money is on Len not becoming the seventh man if the Raptors maintain perfect health (largely because of an overall ethos to downsize). But we can bank on some injuries — or, god forbid, COVID-related absences — which means Len will likely move up the depth chart. Say what you will about the modern NBA, but being big and strong still counts for something.
Matt Thomas
Maybe this is optimistic, but I think right now Thomas has more utility to the Raptors than the other guard options listed below. He’s proven himself to be an absolutely deadly shooter, of course. But more than that, Thomas has shown he can and should be allowed to expand on his game. That means handling the rock a little more, maybe play-making a little more, and most definitely being used as a defense-warping decoy a lot more.Assuming the Raptors are once again going to struggle to create on offense (which could be a big assumption depending on which version of Pascal Siakam we get this season), Toronto could always benefit from letting Thomas bomb away. Also, the questions on the defensive end for Thomas have mostly been satisfied: yes, he’s not a lockdown defender, but he’s more than capable — and the team knows how to accommodate him in general. I say let him play!
Terence Davis
Under normal circumstances, this would be a no-brainer pick, as Davis’ rookie season showed him to be a player with tantalizing potential still to be developed. But the situation here is bad — there’s just no other way to say it, and the Raptors would be best served by cutting Davis loose. Instead, they continue to tread dangerously by waiting out a legal process that will likely give them the wiggle room they want (whether they state it or not) to keep Davis on the roster. He’s a talented player, for sure, but to retain him now undoes a lot of the progressive goodwill the organization has acquired over the years. So yeah, sure, TD could be the Raptors’ seventh man, but we’re not particularly excited about that fact.
That Raptors development pipeline may have another success story on the way | Toronto Sun
This past summer he spent a good chunk of the shortened off-season training with Pascal Siakam. The two share the same agent while developmental guru and Sacramento Kings assistant coach Rico Hines has been working with both of them since their college days.
Watson turns 26 over Christmas so time may not necessarily be on his side, but timing certainly is.
He’s coming off his best season of G-League play, most of it with the Raptors 905 where he shot 42% from distance erasing one of the few potential weaknesses in his game.
On a two-way contract with the Raptors, Watson was with them in the Bubble in Orlando and had one of those career-altering moments in a game right at the end of the regular season schedule.
With positioning all locked up, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse rested his regulars for the most part which meant guys like Watson had a huge opportunity staring them in the face in terms of minutes available to them.
Watson took full advantage of the situation playing 27 minutes, putting up 22 points and six rebounds in a 117-109 win over the Denver Nuggets.
It wasn’t a meaningful game in terms of importance in the standings but it was important in that it got Nurse’s attention
“He did pop in the bubble a little bit,” Nurse said. “He’s got a long, athletic, defensive kind of makeup, shooting’s really improved. He really improved it last year with 905. He looked great in some of our mini camp stuff we did before getting here this summer. Went out to see him two times out working out when he was working out with Pascal. Worked really hard. You could noticeably see an uptick in improvement, just in, again, mindset, the way he’s moving out there, the confidence that he has attacking, and all those kind of things. So yeah, looks good.”
Coming into a year in which there are actual openings on the roster is particularly fine timing on Watson Jr.’s part.
Alex Len talks battling COVID-19, joining the Raptors – The Athletic
Nick Nurse frequently mentioned the importance of having willing shooters all over the floor. Of the nine Raptors who played at least 1,000 minutes in the regular season, only Rondae Hollis-Jefferson averaged fewer than four 3-point attempts per 36 minutes. On the other hand, minus the post offence, Len gives the Raptors a player-type they haven’t really had since Jonas Valanciunas was traded.
“I’m not sure on the shooting part quite yet,” Nurse said about Len’s role. “I would say that my initial thought is we probably want him underneath the basket in the dunker (spot), rolling hard on screens, being a force on the offensive boards. He’s a big target. We’ve never really had the pick-and-roll lob threat … just throwing it up at the rim, the guy’s at the rim, finishing it off. I see that (with Len).
“(He is) really getting his hands on a lot of offensive rebounds, too. I would envision that he probably stays in pretty tight (to the basket) at this point. Will he sneak out and will we get him a three now and then? Maybe.”
Whatever Nurse has in mind for Len, it is difficult to imagine him complaining. On the court and certainly off it, he has seen too much for that.
“We’ve got almost three All-Stars,” Len said of his excitement of joining the Raptors. “I think (Fred) VanVleet definitely is an All-Star-calibre player. Maybe they’re gonna make me better. Kyle and Fred, if I get them down the court (by grabbing a rebound), they’re gonna make the right decisions. I’ve just got to fit in with this group of guys.”
Don’t Sleep on Norman Powell This Year in Fantasy Basketball – Fake Teams
Out of everyone in the NBA last year who averaged at least 10 field goal attempts per game (125 players total), only EIGHT players had a better True Shooting percentage than Norm Powell: John Collins, Hassan Whiteside, JJ Redick, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jonas Valanciunas, Davis Bertans, Maestro Damian Lillard, and James Harden. You could argue that the bigs shouldn’t count because of their interior scoring, meaning that Powell would be among the very best wing shooters in the NBA last season.
The ninth player on that list of best TS% while taking 10 shots a game? Khris Middleton.
Now ask yourself how many players on that list above are highly rostered in fantasy?
Norman Powell is possibly an elite shooter, and he suddenly finds himself on a team surrounded by other good shooters (everyone except Boucher is a 35+ 3PT% shooter), and with lots of minutes to grab. While opposing teams are busy dealing with Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry, and VanVleet, players like Powell, Davis, and Anunoby (who’s developing into a beast) should tend to get open shots and more opportunities.
Yet another bonus for Powell in fantasy: The man can play defense. If you look at every player who played at least 30 games last year, Powell’s 104.6 defensive rating is tied for 11th best in the NBA with Marcus Smart. (Kawhi Leonard was next at 104.7.) Now, that doesn’t mean that Powell is the 11th best defender in the NBA, and defensive rating is extremely team and context dependent, but that list includes elite defenders like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Siakam, Lowry, Middleton, Eric Bledsoe, Jayson Tatum. It’s not all noise.
Norman Powell is a good defender, was one of the most efficient shooters in the NBA last season, and his role is due to get bigger for the Raptors. For a “sleeper,” he seems like a pretty safe bet to me.
Send me any Raptors related content that I may have missed: rapsfan@raptorsrepublic.com
