Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

Morning Coffee – Tue, Mar 2

17-17 7th | Silver's Apology came late, but it came | Trading Lowry complicated | Second half gon' be choppy

Raptors Have Plenty to Consider in Moving on From Kyle Lowry | Complex CA

The other side of the argument is that it is perhaps time to take the training wheels off to further accelerate the growth of Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, and OG Anunoby. Lowry-led lineups in Toronto have long had a history of masking struggles elsewhere, but at nearly 35 he can only be counted on for so much longer. The Raptors are 6-1 this season in the absence of their veteran leader and while that’s by no means indicative that the team is better off without him, it does lend to the thinking that a post-Lowry era won’t be all doom and gloom. VanVleet has made significant strides as a playmaker and his decision making in the pick-and-roll has been Lowry-esque at times—the student is becoming the master. Siakam has made a leap with his ability to facilitate the offence while Anunoby and Norman Powell have grown more comfortable with greater offensive responsibility. The front office also added some insurance at the point guard position by drafting Malachi Flynn with their first round pick this past draft.

As far as considerations both President Masai Ujiri and GM Bobby Webster have to make, optics and asset management have to be key among them. Which situation is less optimal: casting emotion aside as they did with DeMar DeRozan and Dwane Casey and having a less than amicable split or having a fifth key free agent depart (Leonard, Green, Ibaka, Gasol) with zero return over the course of three off-seasons?

The residual effect of how much loyalty means in Toronto after the DeRozan trade may have faded in the afterglow of a championship, but what message would it send to the remainder of the core if the franchise operated in similar fashion with Lowry? Fool me once… Lowry has cemented his status as the greatest Raptor of all-time with both tenure and a championship. For that reason, the Philadelphia native’s blessings for a trade, whether it be the Sixers or any team, seem a must.

Another difference is the potential scenario in which Lowry leaves “for nothing.” Unlike the past two off-seasons, the Raptors would actually have cap space to benefit from and that’s something worth having. Giannis Antetokounmpo is no longer available but the likes of Victor Oladipo and Richaun Holmes—both under 30—are notable difference makers who can provide impact over a longer term. Toronto’s front office put in the hard yards to line up the books for the 2021 off-season, and it would likely take something out of the ordinary for them to pivot at this stage.

Almost a year to the day Lowry played his most recent game in Toronto, what does appear closer to reality is the time to say thank you and good luck. There have been more of those goodbyes than Raptors fans would like over the last few years, but if there’s any lesson to take from the ones before, it’s that there’s not much value in worrying over what might be when there’s plenty to enjoy about what is.

Jazz to No. 1, Heat climb in NBA Power Rankings: Plus, X-factors for each team – The Athletic

This Week: 13
Last Week: 9

17-17, +2.3 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss to Sixers, Loss at Heat, Win over Rockets, Postponed vs Bulls

The X-Factor role player: Chris Boucher

For the first month of the season, everybody was throwing their Most Improved Player support to Christian Wood in Houston. But he hasn’t played in a very long time, and Boucher has actually done quite a bit to make this a very tough argument for anybody else to be a frontrunner for the award. He’s already one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, and he’s knocking down jumpers at roughly 6-foot-10. He still needs to get a bit stronger and find ways to be more comfortable attacking closeouts off the dribble, but we’re a little over a year away from Boucher getting crazy paid as a free agent. He’s huge for the Raptors’ climb up the East.

Why are they ranked here? A couple of teams surging knock them down a couple of spots, and the only win the Raptors got this week was over a horrendous Houston squad.

NBA Power Rankings – Luka Doncic snaps the Brooklyn Nets’ streak; the Miami Heat stay hot – ESPN

This Week: 13
Last Week: 14
2020-21 record: 17-17

After Sunday’s game against the Bulls got postponed due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, only three teams — the Lakers, Clippers and Nets — have avoided a postponement this season. Toronto’s two contests this week are in jeopardy, as well. If they aren’t played, the Raptors will have to try to fit their remaining 39 games into just 67 days in the second half of the season. — Bontemps

NBA Power Rankings: Jazz hold off Nets, surging Bucks for top spot; Knicks make huge jump; Heat back in top 10 – CBSSports.com

This Week: 14
Last Week: 7

Toronto lost to the 76ers and Heat to start the week before having its coaching staff decimated by health and safety protocols. Pascal Siakam was also held out of Friday’s win over the Rockets before Sunday’s matchup with the Bulls was postponed due to not having enough available players. This is a rough bump in the road for a team that looked like it was starting to put things together. On the bright side, Kyle Lowry was phenomenal in two games this week after returning from a thumb injury, averaging 22 points, nine rebounds and nine assists on 8-for-12 3-point shooting.

Power Rankings, Week 11: Streaking Bucks back in Top 5 | NBA.com

This Week: 14
Last Week: 12

Record: 17-17
Pace: 99.8 (15) OffRtg: 113.1 (9) DefRtg: 110.8 (14) NetRtg: +2.3 (9)

Over their last 20 games, the Raptors have had Kyle Lowry, OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam all available just twice. And Lowry left one of those two games early in the third quarter. They’re 12-8 over that stretch, with seven of the eight losses having been within five points in the last five minutes. Only the Bucks (from 17-7 to 4-8) have seen a bigger drop in clutch winning percentage than the Raptors, who now have as many losses in games that were within five in the last five (they’re 7-12) as they did last season (25-12).

The latest of those 12 losses came Tuesday and Wednesday in games they made interesting after trailing by as many as 21 and 15 points, respectively. They outscored the bigger Sixers by 24 points in the paint, but allowed 10 or more corner 3s (the Sixers had 11) for the third time this season. A night later, the Raptors were a +9 from beyond the arc against the more 3-happy Heat, but were outscored by 21 (61-40) in the paint and from the free throw line.

With the loss to Miami, the Raptors are 5-5 in games played between the seven teams in that 4-10 scrum in the Eastern Conference. That includes two losses to the Celtics in which Boston allowed more than 119 points per 100 possessions. The season series is scheduled to wrap on Thursday, with the Raptors currently dealing with COVID-related absences among both the players and coaches.

Raptors schedule: Lowry rumours headline second-half questions – Yahoo!

Will Nick Nurse prioritize rest over winning every game?
The Raptors come right out of the break with three games in four nights (vs. Atlanta, at Charlotte, at Chicago). The schedule is crammed with just one two-day break between games in March and several sets of three games in four nights and four games in six nights to close the month. In their season-long climb back to .500, the starter minutes have once again crept up. Fred VanVleet leads the team at 36.7 minutes per game, followed by Pascal Siakam (35.8), Kyle Lowry (34.3) and OG Anunoby (33.4). Nurse might not have a choice given where the Raptors are in the standings. As of Monday, they’re tied for fifth in the East with Miami and Boston, but half a game back of the fourth-seed New York Knicks and one game ahead of the 10th-seed Chicago Bulls.

Lewenberg skeptical if Raps’ games will or should be played at this point – Video – TSN

With the Raptors game against the Pistons getting pushed to Wednesday due to positive COVID-19 results and ongoing contract tracing within the organization. Josh Lewenberg explains why he’s still skeptical if the game will get played and also questions if it should be played at all.

Understanding Norm’s Grind | Toronto Raptors

It’s funny in a way, given where we are now in Powell’s NBA career, but that exchange with his friend might have been the first glimpse that Powell would get of what his career would actually be like. From his days at Lincoln High in San Diego, to a four-year stay at UCLA, being a late second-round pick in the 2015 draft and now into Year 6 of his career, Powell has turned a bar that’s been routinely set too low for him into steps up a ladder.

Since he was put into the starting lineup on Jan. 22, Powell has arguably played his best stretch of basketball in that six-year career. Over his last 20 games (18 starts), he’s averaged 21.3 points on 51.7 per cent shooting from the field and 43.5 percent from three. He’s added 3.5 boards, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals in that span.

That high level of play has become so routine that after Powell scored 30 points on Friday night against Houston on 10-15 shooting, he wasn’t a part of the post-game availability.

“I think he’s shooting the ball phenomenally and I think that’s opening up his other game, his driving ability. He’s finishing the ball well.” Kyle Lowry said of Powell’s play over the last month.

“Also his athleticism in the open floor. The way we play, we give him the ball and let him go. He

can weave and attack and get to the basket. He’s strong. I just think his confidence is better, I think he understands what he’s going to be. I think he’s in his own skin, he knows who he is, he knows what he’s going to do and he knows the shots he’s going to take.”

“I’m super happy for him because a lot of the stuff that Norm has got has come against the grain,” said Fred VanVleet, one of Powell’s closest friends on the team. The two sit next to each other on team flights and have gone through figurative and literal turbulence together.

“He becomes an easy target sometimes when things aren’t going his way. It’s great to see him in this zone that he’s in.”

Maybe it’s when you see him take the court as a starter that you think about how far Powell has come in his career. Maybe it’s on a night where he’s torching a team, like when he shot 9-12 from the field and scored 29 in a win over the Bucks. Maybe it’s when you think back to the early days of his career, when minutes or the spark he could provide off of the bench weren’t always a given.

Powell is one of the few people that isn’t surprised about where he’s at right now.

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