Raptors roster cracks are showing and it’s on Ujiri, Webster to shore them up – Sportsnet
But failing to bring back Ibaka will go down as one of the executive team’s clear misses.
Ibaka wanted to stay with the Raptors and even coming off a career-year, the veteran understood that it might mean having to settle for a one-year deal as the club was doing everything in their power to avoid taking on commitments that would interfere with their cap space in 2021.
But the Raptors’ first offer – about $12 million for the 2020-21 season – was below what he was expecting and while Toronto came up to $14 million, they were still trying to keep some powder dry to pursue Gasol. That didn’t go over well with Ibaka who, according to multiple sources, resented having to play behind the Spanish international and wasn’t going to sign on for a shared role again. Ibaka quickly pivoted to the Los Angeles Clippers and their two-year deal for $19 million.
In retrospect, the Raptors absolutely could have kept Ibaka without being a tax team or otherwise altering their off-season plans now or in the future.
After the all the dust settled in the off-season the Raptors still ended up with about $3 million in space under the luxury tax threshold and that’s after paying Chris Boucher $6.5 million this season as a restricted free agent – a nice deal for the Montreal native, but larger than any other team was going to offer him.
Ibaka’s presence wouldn’t make the Raptors a championship contender, but his absence has clearly lowered their floor.
The Raptors’ new centres – Aron Baynes and Alex Len, veteran journeymen with minimal upside signed to one-year deals – offer little in the way of offensive punch and Toronto’s 28th-ranked attack is a reflection.
Defences can effectively play 5-on-4 with no need to worry about either of the Raptors’ bigs stretching them out to the three-point line or rolling hard to the rim. Boucher offers a more dynamic option offensively but is so slight he simply can’t help but be overwhelmed on the defensive glass. The Raptors, who rank 27th in defensive rebounding percentage on the season, are even worse when Boucher is on the floor, grabbing just 68.3 per cent of other team’s misses.
To their credit the Raptors are holding themselves accountable, being clear that whatever the potential of the current group is, they’re falling short of it.
“Right now we have nothing, you know, there’s nothing to us, right? We’re just like that team that teams are looking at us like ‘alright let’s go eat.’” said Lowry. “We have to use that to fuel us.”
Pascal Siakam’s strong showing not enough for Raptors – The Athletic
On Wednesday, Pascal Siakam did his best to play the role of Raptors umbrella against the Suns’ shooting. For the first time since the league shut down in March, Siakam looked like the player who played his way to a max extension and All-NBA second-team honours. Reset your optimism with caution, but Siakam looked … back, for lack of a better word. It wasn’t just that shots were falling, either. He looked like a fundamentally different player with a fundamentally different approach — there was a magnet drawing him to the front of the rim instead of seeing him rely on touch in the floater range, he whipped passes out of extra attention and he got the easy points — offensive rebounds, free throws — that have been missing from his profile. The Raptors helped him by having him attack on the move more, the confidence built and Siakam dished out of less advantageous situations.
It was the type of top-scorer performance the Raptors were expecting from him this season, and one they’ve already shown they can scarcely live without.
Siakam’s 32 points on 28 used possessions, nine rebounds and three assists were undone by two countervailing forces: A still-painfully thin Raptors depth chart and a ludicrous shooting night by the opponent. We’ve said that Siakam playing as the team needs masks a lot of the other concerns right now, and that’s true. But the rest of the roster will have to meet him, the point guards and Nick Nurse halfway. The Raptors aren’t going to go far with only four players they can rely on. Meanwhile, the Suns shot 21-of-40 on 3s, a number you’d rarely expect even acknowledging the Raptors’ corner 3 inviting strategy. The Suns were one triple away from the most 3s the Raptors have ever surrendered in a game. That’s a big hole to overcome.
Results aside, this was a positive step forward. The Raptors looked more like themselves, and Siakam looked renewed. Even at 1-6, they can build on those. It is still (wince) early … ish.
Raptors Suns 10 things Siakam breaks out but Phoenix too much – Yahoo!
Seven — Empty: The main issue for the Raptors continues to be the complete lack of production from their centers. Aron Baynes went scoreless for a second-straight game after being benched against the Celtics in the second half, and was generally useless on both ends. Alex Len saw an extended run, and while he’s a bigger presence at the basket, Len also provides very little offensively. It’s effectively a 4-on-5 game with either player on the floor at the moment. Chris Boucher is by far the most capable scorer, in that he’s actually capable of scoring, but he wasn’t focused enough defensively and his activity wasn’t as high as it usually is. Baynes might play better with some more time with the group, but realistically the Raptors are just running into a talent issue. They badly need a starting caliber center after losing two this summer.
After tumultuous 24 hours, Raptors’ return to the court ends in frustration – Sportsnet
The Raptors trailed the entire second half but were able to cut a 15-point Suns fourth quarter lead to six twice in the final minutes but couldn’t get over the hump. Pascal Siakam led all scorers with 32 points – his highest total since he put up 33 in Phoenix in March of last season. He was supported by Kyle Lowry’s 24, OG Anunoby’s 20 and Fred VanVleet’s 13 points and seven assists, while Powell chipped in 13 off the bench.
But outside of that, production was sparse. Starting centre Aron Baynes was scoreless for the second-straight game and the rest of the roster contributed just 13 points.
Meanwhile, the Suns got 42 points from their bench and shot 21-of-40 from three, off-setting the Raptors, who shot 14-of-35 from deep and 50.6 per cent from the floor.
The Raptors started well but once again the game began to slip away in the third quarter as the Suns hit 8-of-10 threes on their way to a season-high 21 triples. The Raptors have now allowed opponents to shoot 52 per cent from deep in the third quarter this season and 57 per cent from the floor – both the worst marks in the league.
But as the Raptors head to Sacramento to play Friday, they have some positives to draw on. Siakam looked as quick and decisive as he has in nearly a year, which translated directly to a season-high 14 trips to the free-throw line and builds on a 22-point outing against Boston on Monday night. The Raptors outscored the Suns in the paint and in transition and held their own on the glass – all points of emphasis.
“We can’t do anything about them ones we already dropped,” said VanVleet as the Raptors try to weather their worst start in 14 years. “If you look at this as an isolated game tonight it’s a lot to build on, a lot of positives. … I liked our swag, our approach and we just got to continue to keep building. This is obviously a different year for many different reasons for all of us and sometimes you got to change the scope of things and your perspective. So, continue to stay positive.”
So sure, at the end of a long, strange, troubling day, the scoreboard told a familiar, frustrating story for Toronto, echoing the theme of a concerning time.
But there was reason for hope too.
As in most things, the only path is to link arms and keep trying.
Recap: The Toronto Raptors get scorched by the Phoenix Suns, lose 123-115 – Raptors HQ
The Suns aren’t the best team in the league, but they’ve got shooters and they definitely took advantage of the various gaps in the Raptors’ defense. And when Toronto’s defense was stout? Well, they made those 3s any way, finishing the evening with 21. Meanwhile, as continues to be the case, the Raptors just don’t have a lot of other options here. We saw how that played out in the fourth, as both teams went to their reserves, but to different effect. While Phoenix saw their lead grow to 15 — with help from a pair of threes from Cameron Payne — the Raptors had to sweat through it. In all, Toronto’s bench was outscored 42-26 on the night and looked hapless for most of their run. To be clear, it’s not that they weren’t working hard; it’s just that it didn’t really matter.
In the final frame, the Raptors shot an anemic 38 from the field and 33 from three. Still, thanks to the return of the starters in a small-ball configuration with Powell, they were able to push the Suns down the stretch. Siakam’s outstanding overall play gave Toronto the confidence to return to that lineup — and it almost worked. The Raptors shrunk the Suns’ lead down to as little as six points a few times, but couldn’t string enough stops and points in the time left to retake the lead. Now, we’re no longer in the business of handing out moral victories here — we left that sentiment in the pre-title era — but tonight’s contest did settle a few things for Toronto.
If the team is going to fail this year, it won’t be because of Siakam, which is nice to know. It’s also confirmed that the Raptors will need to figure out what to do with their starting centre position, as Aron Baynes continues to be a non-factor. They also really do need to figure out who, if anyone, can string together some consistent minutes and actually produce for this team. On a night that saw Toronto get another solid 24-9-6 from Lowry in 38 minutes, 20-and-8 from OG (on 80 percent shooting), 13-and-7 from Fred VanVleet, and the aforementioned line from Siakam — and still lose? That’s a team that needs help. Here’s hoping the Raptors can get it before it’s too late.
Recap: Phoenix Suns win another one, take down Raptors at home, 123-115 – Bright Side Of The Sun
The Suns shot 53 percent from deep as they took down Toronto at home, 123-115.
Once again, the Suns’ offense started in a bit of a funk, but this time they were saved by the offensive rebounding, as the team grabbed the early boards off their own misses as well as a few extra tips and taps. That helped them stay in the game early on.
Chris Paul came out aggressive but missed a couple easy shots inside, and overall Toronto was its usual swarming self on defense.
On the other side, Fred VanVleet, fresh off a monster night against Boston, came in looking to score and did so in a hurry. He made an early triple and got to the basket in transition during the Raptors’ strong start.
VanVleet played the entire first quarter and scored 7 points.
The big flip early in the game came when Mikal Bridges tallied his second foul and the Suns went to Cameron Johnson. While Bridges had made his first, Johnson came out even more aggressive and scored four quick points. Johnson’s entry to the game coincided with the Suns’ offense getting going thanks to all the spacing.
Shortly after, Dario Saric and Cameron Payne checked in and the Suns really started to score. Saric checked in and drove to the lane on his first three offensive possessions, finally getting a bucket on his third try after seemingly getting fouled on the second shot.
Suns sink 21 three-pointers to extend Raptors’ early-season woes | The Star
The Raptors wasted a 32-point effort from Pascal Siakam, who looked much more like himself in his best game of the season. Toronto also got 24 points from Kyle Lowry, 20 from OG Anunoby, and 13 each from Powell and Fred VanVleet. The rest of the team, though, combined for just 13.
“We’re searching for some depth, that’s for sure, we’re trying to find a combination of guys that can help us,” Nurse said. “Again … I thought they had a pretty good stint there in the first half where they kind of held serve pretty good and then in the second half obviously they didn’t, they had a really bad stint and I think Phoenix made four straight threes on us to kind of blow that open.”
Devin Booker had 24 for Phoenix and Jae Crowder made six threes as part of a 21-point outing.
Using a centre-free lineup of Lowry, VanVleet, Powell, Siakam and Anunoby down the stretch, the Raptors got within six with about a minute left but could get no closer.
While some teams around the NBA knelt during the national anthem prior to Wednesday’s games to draw attention to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol earlier in the day and the decision to not lay charges against the Wisconsin police officer who shot and killed Jacob Blake in the summer, the Raptors and Suns joined arms in a midcourt circle while the anthems played.
It was another emotional moment for a sport that has been through many in the past year.
“Honestly, the basketball doesn’t matter,” Lowry said. “Today, what happened at Capitol Hill, is disturbing … If they were people of colour, I think it would have been a whole different situation.”
He fired a broadside at U.S. President Donald Trump.
“That man is a criminal, he should be charged,” Lowry said.
Signs of progress, but Raptors fall to 1-6 with loss in Phoenix | Toronto Sun
Siakam wasn’t the only Raptor to take a leap in this one. OG Anunoby, who has been struggling to find his three-point shot, finished the night with three-of-five from distance, matching Kyle Lowry for the most threes on the team in the game.
But the recurring theme, and one that has hurt the Raptors repeatedly in the early portion of this schedule, is an overall inability to corral the defensive rebound at the end of a defensive stop.
The Suns pulled down eight offensive rebounds resulting in second opportunities that were killers for a Raptors’ defence that is still very much a work in progress.
The Suns were led by Devin Booker with 24 and Jae Crowder with 21, but the offence was spread around nicely for Phoenix on this night, with seven different Suns in double digits in scoring including two off the bench.
The Toronto bench, meanwhile, remains a rather large question mark. Norm Powell gave the Raptors 13 in that second unit, which got nine more from Chris Boucher, but that was pretty much it from the non-starters.
The Suns’ bench had a combined 42 points, easily outpacing Toronto’s subs.
It wasn’t the result any of the Raptors wanted but there was at least progress, something that wasn’t apparent even a game earlier.
“We are going the right way,” Fred VanVleet said after the game. “Like I told the guys, we can’t do anything about them ones we already dropped. If you look at this as an isolated game tonight it’s a lot to build on, a lot of positives.
“I thought we looked like the team we know we are tonight in various ways,” he said. “We made runs, we weathered storms. They made 21 threes and we hung in there. We fought back. We stayed in it all the way until the end of the game and there’s things we can clean up obviously, but I liked our demeanour, I liked our swag, our approach and we just got to continue to keep building.”
Malachi Flynn’s role with Raptors still unclear in short run – The Athletic
The expectation should not have been that Flynn fixed all of the issues, just that he was stable, and he was, in relative terms. Nurse felt differently. After saying he “didn’t learn other than we’ve got to compete harder,” he offered something less than a rousing endorsement of Flynn’s pseudo-debut.
“Well, I think, I mean, he was OK. Right? But I think my bigger thing is that if you want to be honest about it, he didn’t really do much out there, really, right?” Nurse said.
He then once again criticized a number of the other guards struggling in the rotation, saying the coaching staff has to get them playing better. It leaves a question as to whether Flynn will get another shot or if the carousel in that spot will continue.
Something has to give. The team’s reliance on Lowry and VanVleet has been extreme. All four of their core players are averaging 34.8 minutes per-game or more, which might not be sustainable with a compressed schedule where the Raptors will travel more than any other team. Flynn is not a cure-all. His earlier practice reviews may have turned in the opposite direction, too, something that seems to be a league-wide feeling for coaches.
Rookie playing time has dropped around the league, compared to recent seasons. Through Monday’s games, rookies were only playing 72.3 percent of the minutes they did through this point in the season last year.
That would certainly suggest that Nurse isn’t alone in feeling like a short offseason and tight preseason weren’t enough to get his first-round pick up to speed. While there’s some noise with draft class quality and year-to-year injuries, this represents the lowest rookie usage, by minutes played, since the introduction of two-way roster spots expanded the number of rookies in the league. That the league is experiencing far more blowouts this year — the average margin of victory has spiked to 13.1 points-per-game, much higher than recent seasons — and has more active roster spots each night should be leading to greater garbage time opportunities, but for whatever reasons, that is not filtering down to rookies as much.
