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What trade options the Raptors should consider — and what ones they shouldn’t
Dragic, Achiuwa, a top-10 protected 2022 first-round pick and a 2023 second-round pick to New Orleans for Jonas Valanciunas and Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Grange says: “Valanciunas instantly improves two weaknesses: half-court offence and defensive rebounding. He’s not the same player he was when he left Toronto — his 3-point shooting is at least adequate at 38 per cent over his last three years and he can still get rim-to-rim well.
“Alexander-Walker has yet to find a groove with the Pelicans and his shot selection is … aggressive. But he averaged more than five assists/36 as a rookie, nearly two steals/36 last season and has had some eye-popping games (33/10/4 without a turnover vs. OKC earlier this season; 37 points and eight rebounds vs. Clippers last year) that make you believe there’s more there. It saves the Pelicans money, it adds to their pool of draft assets and in Achiuwa they get an athletic big who can keep pace with Zion if or when he ever gets back to full health.”
I say: Wictory, baby. Valanciunas should remain a positive for the final two years remaining on his deal, and I agree with Grange’s assessment that Alexander-Walker could be a nice Trent Lite developmental flier. The Pelicans are a really hard team to figure, directionally, as they appear to be a Zion away and have a Zion but … yeah. And hey, throw Jose Alvarado in the deal for me, please.
Fred VanVleet has to take difficult shots for the Raptors. This is not a team awash in spacing. It badly needs another playmaker on the perimeter. VanVleet is not the only one who has to try to make something out of nothing at the end of the shot clock, but he is the most frequently called-upon Raptors player.
So it was VanVleet who had to take an off-balance fadeaway jumper in the third quarter Thursday night in the Raptors’ 127-120 overtime win over the Bulls. He missed it, and it did not seem like VanVleet was going to have the type of game he would like to back up the announcement of his first career All-Star spot. He was 2-for-10 at the moment.
On the next possession, he stole the ball from DeMar DeRozan and took it the other way for a layup, plus the foul. Even as VanVleet’s offensive production has waned over the past few weeks, that quality has remained, and it is the quality that has defined his career: He figures out how to make a play, no matter the circumstances. He finds a way to make a difference, and he hopes that gets him noticed.
He did that on the first day of his first training camp, when he was on a non-guaranteed deal just trying to make the team. He knew he had a good first day of camp. Nick Nurse remembered him tightly defending Kyle Lowry full court in practice. After what he called a poor Summer League performance, it was a necessary corrective — especially since the Raptors needed a third point guard, having Cory Joseph and recent first-rounder Delon Wright behind Lowry.
“(I was) staying over there in the Rosemont (Residences), just literally being on my knees praying before I went to bed to make the team, like every night.,” VanVleet said of training camp in 2016. “I was just pouring out everything I got during practice and workouts and things like that and just praying that somebody was seeing it. It’s not really about praying that I’ve done my job. It’s more so for the recognition because I’ve always believed in myself but, you know, I’ve never had someone else believe in me like this.
“That’s the part that makes me nervous. That’s the part that gives me butterflies, I was nervous all day (Thursday before the announcement of the All-Star reserves) because I never know how somebody else is going to perceive it.”
He earned the spot in training camp, and the rest continues to evolve into one of the great underdog stories in NBA history, with a good chunk of it still unwritten. He earned another spot Thursday when the league announced that the Eastern Conference head coaches voted him as one of the seven reserves for the All-Star Game later this month in Cleveland.
VanVleet’s shooting has slumped over the past few weeks, and a 6-for-19 performance against the Bulls isn’t going to help that. In so many ineffable ways, this team is clearly VanVleet’s, even if Masai Ujiri and company continue to build a team of players who are his physical opposite.
His is a great form to take. There is a reason Lowry took pains to shout him out from Miami, while his former teammate DeRozan sought out VanVleet before the game. Sure, everyone appreciates the journey that VanVleet has been on, but the manner in which he has done so is what results in all of the respect from his peers.
Fred VanVleet takes another step in improbable journey with All-Star selection
The Raptors emerged as 127-120 winners in overtime over the Bulls. In a close contest a long three and a long two by VanVleet seemed to split things open as the Raptors went up eight with 4:35 left in the fourth quarter. DeRozan helped the Bulls come back and force overtime with a quick six-point burst and added two more quick buckets early in the extra period. But a pair of threes by OG Anunoby in overtime helped blunt the Bulls’ momentum before VanVleet whipped a cross-court pass on a rope to a wide-open Gary Trent Jr. who cashed it from three for the difference-making blow with 16.5 seconds left.
The win was the Raptors’ fourth straight, improved their record to 27-23 and lifted them into seventh place in the tightly packed Eastern Conference. They finish a difficult stretch of five games in seven nights Friday against Atlanta. The Bulls dropped to 32-19 and into a tie with Miami for first place in the East.
VanVleet had 21 points and nine assists on his big night, while Pascal Siakam — who could easily have been named an all-star with the way he’s been playing since early December — added 25 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Anunoby, Scottie Barnes and Trent Jr. all had 21. Chris Boucher had 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Toronto who took 23 more shots than the Bulls thanks to a 22-12 edge in offensive rebounds and a 17-10 advantage in turnovers.
The Bulls got 28 points, six rebounds and seven assists from DeRozan, while Nikola Vucevic had 30 points and 18 rebounds.
But it was VanVleet’s night. He was one of seven Eastern Conference reserves voted on by the league’s coaches, joining the five starters voted in by fans, media and players announced last week.It’s the ultimate respect.
“That’s what I play for,” he said. “I never sought out to be a fan favourite, certainly respect and admire the passion and obviously the fans are a large part of what we do in this business, but I always sought out to be respected by my peers first and foremost and the coaches right after that.
“That one would have stung a little bit (to be passed over by the coaches) considering the season that I’ve had if they didn’t pick me but… it definitely means a little bit more coming from them.”
VanVleet’s journey never gets old. In the retelling: the underdog kid from Rockford, the small city west of Chicago that is no place for the meek. Raised in a blended family after his father died when he was five. Overlooked and underestimated and yet eventually triumphant, at every level.
Each new chapter builds the legend.
Bulls vs. Raptors final score: Chicago suffers tough 127-120 OT loss – Blog a Bull
After their tough win on Tuesday, the Chicago Bulls started up a brutal portion of their schedule on Thursday up in Toronto, with two back-to-backs in five days and seven games in 10 days coming up. The start of this run didn’t get off to a good start as the Bulls fell in a hard-fought overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors, 127-120.
Chicago battled all game despite getting outplayed for much of it, even getting in position to win after a wild sequence resulted in a Nikola Vucevic basket and a 114-112 Bulls lead with 8.6 seconds to play. But as was the case all night, the Bulls failed to corral the biggest rebound of the contest when Fred VanVleet missed his game-tying attempt, with Scottie Barnes skying in to score on a putback to send the game to overtime. Chicago gave up 22 offensive boards in this game against the relentless Raptors. The Bulls also committed 17 turnovers, and the combination of those turnovers and all those Raptors offensive boards resulted in Toronto taking 23 more shots (113-90).
Chicago had its opportunities in overtime, but two consecutive turnovers by Ayo Dosunmu proved costly. The final nail in the coffin was a blown coverage on Gary Trent Jr., who calmly buried a wide-open 3-pointer to make it a five-point game with 16.5 seconds left. That was all she wrote, making this a real bummer of an outcome on the front end of a back-to-back after such a strong effort to come back.
Vucevic continued his run of strong play with a monster stat line of 30 points, 18 rebounds and four assists. DeMar DeRozan struggled to start as the Raptors consistently doubled him hard, but he still finished with 28 points, with 14 of them coming from the charity stripe. He added seven assists and six rebounds.
Zach LaVine, who was questionable due to back spasms, had 15 points on 10 shot attempts with seven assists. There was a weird moment in the game where he missed a layup and grabbed his back, prompting a timeout. Despite the grimace, he continued to keep playing, but he clearly wasn’t himself and was invisible in overtime.
Ayo had 11 points and eight assists in a solid game outside of his crunch-time gaffes, while Javonte Green had 13 points and a bunch of hustle plays as all five starters scored in double figures. Coby White dropped 16 points off the bench, but he was also a game-worst minus-19 in the box score as the Bulls’ reserves mostly struggled.
Chicago shot 47.8 percent from the field and 12-of-29 from 3-point range. The Bulls also went 22-of-24 at the foul line. The problem was the turnovers and all those second chance opportunities allowed. The Raptors shot just 42.5% from the field, but they still made five more field goals thanks to all their extra opportunities. They did go 14-of-36 from 3-point range, with three crucial triples in overtime.
Toronto Raptors out-muscle Chicago Bulls in OT, 127-120 – Raptors HQ
When the Toronto Raptors are feeling it, you notice.
The team is buzzing around on defense, they’re swarming the offensive glass, and everyone is finding their niche to contribute — even when there’s only one basketball to go around.
Coming into tonight’s game, that last caveat was probably on the minds of Raptors players more than it’d normally be. With Khem Birch returning from a broken nose, Toronto had all eight of their top rotation players for one of the first times all season. Seeing how that would look on the court, while being tested against the Eastern Conference’s top team — the Chicago Bulls — would be interesting to say the least.
Call it a passed test, then. The Raptors went nine deep and amassed 22 offensive rebounds, earning 23 more shots than the Bulls. Through their play on the glass, they simply out-muscled their counterparts, winning 127-120 in overtime.
Three players had five offensive rebounds each for Toronto — Pascal Siakam, Chris Boucher and Precious Achiuwa — a telling stat in a game where the Raptors thrived off having so many more bites at the apple.
The balance in rebounds between players was there in the scoring column too.
Siakam led the way, scoring 17 of his 25 in the first half, adding 13 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. Three other Raptors had 21 points: OG Anunoby (who had two clutch triples in the extra frame), Scottie Barnes and freshly minted All-Star Fred VanVleet.
Absent these top scorers, though, of course, was Gary Trent Jr. Not to worry. While his streak of 30-plus point games came to a sad end on Thursday, he still had some brilliant bookends. Gary scored four of the Raptors’ first six points, then made some OT magic a few hours later.
With his team up two and coming up empty on an offensive possession, Trent Jr. stole the Bulls’ outlet pass, then re-organized himself for an open three — swishing it, putting Toronto up five and sealing the win.
Trent Jr.’s brilliance has been a key reason the Raptors have looked so good over the last couple weeks. Even though his scoring output was less tonight, it was obvious that the Bulls were honouring his shooting threat. While Chicago kept a defender at home on Trent Jr., the other Raptors ran a lot of screening action to free up VanVleet and Siakam. The process worked, as even when those players received pressure, they were able to find passing lanes and set their teammates up.
VanVleet’s night just missing the raucous ovation from a full house it deserved | The Star
You know what should have happened last night? This should have happened last night.
There should have been 20,000 people in the stands unloading and long and deafening standing ovation on Fred VanVleet when it was announced he’d made his first all-star game.
That’s what should have happened and it’s a shame that it didn’t. He deserves it, he deserves all the accolades he gets and it kinda diminished the moment a wee bit.
But the fans did play a little role:
They let VanVleet know officially that he’d made with their chatter right before the anthems.
‘Whatever was left of them, the 500 strong out there, they were loud and you could hear every conversation that’s going on,” he said. “So somebody started screaming right before the anthem or something like that, and that was it.
“I was waiting in the back, I was supposed to (do) an interview, but it was taking too long so I went out to warm up.”
And once he found out, he had himself another solid game in the Raptors’ fourth victory in a row, an overtime gem with the Bulls.
Raptors Fred VanVleet Shows All-Star Stuff vs. Bulls – Sports Illustrated
It’s a good thing Fred VanVleet is a procrastinator.
Normally the Toronto Raptors’ 27-year-old guard would be spending his All-Star break on a beach somewhere hot. It had been his plan last year before he came down with COVID-19 and was forced into isolation for two weeks. This year, though, he decided to wait before making plans.
“I’m going somewhere regardless I can guarantee you that and it won’t be a Toronto beach,” VanVleet joked prior to Thursday’s announcement.
Hopefully, VanVleet and his family enjoy the southern shores of beautiful Lake Erie because the Raptors’ 6-foot-1 lead guard will be heading to Cleveland later this month for his first NBA All-Star Game.
The news broke just moments before tip-off of Toronto’s 127-120 overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls. VanVleet found out when the crowd erupted during pre-game warmups. Once the chanting began, he knew what it meant.
“Just proud, humbled, and honored to be selected first and foremost,” VanVleet said post-game. “To be recognized like that is a special moment for me and my family and all the people that have been part of the journey along the way.”
VanVleet’s mind immediately went to his children. He’s not sure they’ll fully grasp what the honor means, but they’re certainly excited for a trip to Cleveland, he said.
The brief moment of reflection was quickly interrupted by Pascal Siakam who was among the first to run over and congratulate VanVleet whose moment was only slightly dampened by Siakam being left off the team.
Moments later, DeMar DeRozan came over with a big brother hug for his former teammate.
“Some of these things, man, you couldn’t write a better story for me personally,” VanVleet said. “Just the way I feel coming up under DeMar and Kyle (Lowry) and being able to share the floor with DeMar.”
Raptors win again but the focus is on all-star Fred VanVleet | Toronto Sun
The game felt almost secondary.
It wasn’t of course, not for Fred VanVleet. The Raptors point guard is too much of a professional and far too much of a gamer to let anything of an individual nature take away from the team game.
But it didn’t matter that it was the Eastern Conference-leading Chicago Bulls in town, or that it took the Raptors an overtime period to settle this thing — for the record it was a 127-120 win for the home side. The night was VanVleet’s, whether he asked for it or not.
In the aftermath of a fourth straight win by the Raptors, all of them over the past six days, the vast majority of the attention around the team focused on VanVleet earning his first all-star berth in just his sixth season.
It was during the warmups, just before the anthem, that VanVleet was alerted to the good news by a fan screaming from the stands.
And then a steady stream of teammates, led of course by his good friend and potentially fellow all-star Pascal Siakam, who was there with the hug and the congratulations.
Then, in a move that is pure DeMar DeRozan, the starting all-star who will make his fifth appearance in the mid-season classic, made his way down the court from where his Bulls were warming up and hugged his friend and former teammate.
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was still back in the locker room, so he missed all of that, but he seemed to have a pretty good idea the celebration was coming.
“I think he really truly deserved it, not only for what he’s done this year — I know that’s what the award is specifically for — but for historically what he’s done on top of that, and I think, man, it’s an awesome achievement,” Nurse said. “I mean, it’s an in
