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1:02 EST: Gradey Dick is here!
“Another season of growth.” Gradey stresses that he has to learn things. “I’ll never be satisfied until I make the most of my abilities.”
“The big thing is my defense, which I need to get better at. And that’s only going to happen with live play.”
Gradey isn’t sure if he’ll be part of Summer League this season. Has to talk to Darko.
What’s next on Gradey’s mind for a Toronto summer? Caribana.
12:53 EST: Immanuel Quickley is here!
“Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.” Quickley is taking positives away from this season. Is looking to come back better next year.
“I feel like the way our team is set up right now. You (Doug Smith) would fit in our group.” Quickley is exceptionally high on the camaraderie of the team. “This team is built to win.” Quickley mentions how great a coach, Darko is. “When somebody has your back, you’ll do anything for them.”
“I think teams are definitely going to have to change how they guard me.” Quickley mentions how great pull-up shooters change how the defense approaches them, and how he’s looking to emulate that.
“The great thing about playing with great players, is you get to compete, you get to learn, and everyone gets better.” Quickley recalls the talented Kentucky team he was on, and what he thinks about the talent on these Raptors.
“The expectation next year is to make the playoffs, and you take that into the summer the same way you would take a playoff loss.” “There’s still a sense of urgency in what we’re trying to do.”
12:21 EST: RJ Barrett is here! He says he got a lot better on both ends of the floor, and really enjoyed the process of improving as a defender. “That was fun to be able to cheer on everybody’s success.” Barrett says, in regards to the team improving defensively over the course of the season.
“Yeah. Absolutely.” RJ Barrett says he needs a mental break from basketball. “From the Olympic qualifiers, to the season, I’m tired. I’m ready for a little break.”
“The talent we have. Getting BI, having Scottie. We have two guys who have already been All-Stars. Quick and I trying to get there. We have so much.” Barrett says of trying to make the big leap next season. “We know we’re gonna be a good team and gonna be competing.”
“If you wanna win. If you want some players who will be around and be impactful for a long time. Look at the Duke guys man.” RJ Barrett says he’s enjoyed watching college basketball this season.
RJ Barrett has high praise for Coach Darko and his ability to listen and respond to the players, to change gameplans based on feedback. “He’s a little more hands on. When you’re in constant communication with your coach, that builds trust.”
11:55 am EST: Ja’Kobe Walter now. He’s talking about how many times he got hit by screens guarding Tyrese Haliburton, and how he used that to watch film about navigating screens. I love that detail.
He says Darko once said, “you were being weak on the court” to him. It lit a fire under him.
He’s talking a lot about how much he loves to play defence.
11:42 am EST: There was a break. Lunch. We’re back with Jamal Shead. He’s got some love for the city, the country, and the fans.
He says he has a meeting with Darko about what he’s going to work on this summer. Pressed on what he wants to work on this summer, he says, “it’s not about what I want.” He’s got a lot of positives to say about Darko. Calls him smart and charismatic, and really appreciates how much he turned all of Shead’s mistakes into learning moments.
11:02 am EST: Jakob Poeltl accommodates me quite a bit in asking about delay actions and his performance over the year. I’m not going to give it all year, will write about it sometime soon, so stay tuned. But he is very open about his role in the offence, which is wonderful.
“I’m really positive as far as the outlook goes,” says Poeltl when asked about his vision of the future aligning with that of the team. “The front office has shown they want to build on that foundation quickly.”
10:38 am EST: Scottie Barnes is here, begging for a pr staff member to come on stage with him. Seems cheery and jovial and all the good things. He opens his press avail by thanking all the fans. He’s really open today. It’s maybe my favourite avail he’s had, in terms of the quality of info he’s sharing with us. “If you see my face last year through this time, I don’t think probably I was looking the right way,” he says. In the context of saying he understood the process much better this season, and he is very excited about going forward to next year.
“I love our team,” he says. “There’s a lot of great pieces.” He elaborates later about how impressive the rookies were this year.
Barnes admits this year was about experimentation for him. Says it was the first year in which he had the ball in his hands to this extent. He learned a lot about what will work going forward. He says he needs to be “more dominant.” To not shy away from contact.
“I genuinely love these guys,” he says about his teammates. “Being with them every single day, that’s the [worst] part about having the season end early, is that’s [over].”
“For sure get into the playoffs and make a great run,” says Barnes about next season, after chuckling a little about being asked for his expectations for next season.
Another tidbit: He says he had someone help him with confidence in his own public speaking over the last summer.
10:30 am EST: We have Brandon Ingram! He says things are trending up for his ankle. Not a lot of detail about why he so recently had PRP injections. “I’m a fast learner,” he says. “This whole process has been about adaptation.” So he doesn’t think there will be a long acclimation period next season.
“What I didn’t know about the team is how much grit they had on the defensive side,” he says in response to our own excellent Samson Folk.
During his time off the court in Toronto, he says there has been constant communication between himself and the team. That’s good to hear.
10:00 am EST: Morning! I’m at OVO, surrounded by happy, smiling faces. End of the season. Long season. Long season. Happy to be here. We’re getting a buncha players today to chat, so stay tuned, I’ll have some info here throughout the day.
Some injury updates: Scottie Barnes’ contusion on his hand will not affect his offseason. Brandon Ingram should be back in May to start on-court work. Garrett Temple has an MCL sprain on his left knee. Gradey Dick has a bone bruise, which just needs time. He should be able to do on-court work in May. Ja’Kobe Walter and AJ Lawson both have a hip flexor strain, just need time. Jonathan Mogbo is without his face mask. (Doesn’t need it, can wear it by choice.) Ulrich Chomche is ramping up and can be fully ready by Summer League. Jakob Poeltl also with a hand contusion, just needs time, will be fine for the summer.
