For the first time in a long time, I sat across from the highest ranking Toronto Raptors decision maker without hearing the words “We will win again in Toronto.” There was no plea for confidence from the fanbase. No urgent reminders of the status of the city or franchise. Bobby Webster’s media availability was, in my estimation, fairly emotionless and pragmatic.
Even as the temperature around the team continues to rise and expectations grow — because money has been spent, and the talent level seems high enough — Webster still cautioned against expectation, and continued to circle back to learning opportunities and info gathering.
“We won 30 games last year, so there’s no illusion of ‘we need this number of wins or this playoff seed.” Webster said. “Darko’s great at this. Win the day. 1 percent better. No finish line. You have to build the team that way. If you have a specific goal in mind, a specific win (total), I don’t know if that’s sort of the best way to build. Especially with a young group.” Webster didn’t opt to put expectations on the roster. Instead, putting a light call to action among the roster to elevate themselves. “These guys, when they lock in, that day to day improvement is what ends up resulting in being in the playoffs or being in the play-in.”
Although, Webster did make sure to express some concrete optimism: “We think this summer has been incredible for these guys. Brandon’s healthy. We have a starting group that we really haven’t ever seen play together. Darko’s in year 3. I think we have a lot of things in our favor. Things that suggest we’ll be competitive, but we haven’t put that full season together yet and I think that’s the challenge for this group.”
“The talent level is high, but we still have to see the fit. I think that’s probably what everyone has been waiting to see, and has been waiting awhile. We’re waiting right there with you.”
- Bobby Webster
Speaking of Brandon Ingram, by the way, he’s incredibly important to the Raptors this season. It’s been written and talked about a lot here at RR, and Webster got an opportunity to weigh in on a healthy Ingram today. “Brandon’s healthy. There haven’t been any limitations so far. It was an ankle sprain, which is different than having surgery or something like that. We’ll see how preseason goes, we’ll see how he responds to playing 32, 35 minutes a night. Maybe the jury is out there, but no current plans for (load management) with Brandon.”
Personally when I was at Summer League catching up with the players they all gushed about how good Ingram looked while returning to the team and more involvement with it.
Webster continued on what Ingram can bring to the Raptors:
“The shot creation is obviously clear, right? He’s one of the few guys who can go get his own shot, but also can go get a pretty efficient shot on his own. I think that’s something that we’ve lacked a bit in prior years.”
“He’s like a hooper’s hooper. I think people that watch him and people who have seen film on him see his high, high level of skill. 3-level scorer. Not all that interested in what’s going on off the court. Not all that interested in what people say about him. We had another guy that was sort of like that. But, this guy he just loves playing basketball and it’s fun to watch him warm up. It’s fun to watch him play. We’re excited to see him.”
Webster did very little to provide piles of hope. He didn’t try to sell anyone on anything. He took each question in stride and offered what seemed like fairly sober and honest accounts of how he views the situations. Whether it was accounting for the league changing or where the Raptors hope to be, patience was always cautioned.
Even when he was asked something a tad bit controversial — maybe, I don’t know — about RJ Barrett and trade rumors, he ignored that aspect entirely and centered his answer around what the franchise wants to see from Barrett in terms of improvement and how they can help him succeed.
“I think with RJ we’ve talked a lot about his efficiency. And so, his catch and shoot continuing to improve. Getting to the free throw line. We don’t expect him to see as many double teams, as much attention, so now he gets to attack some closeouts on the weak side and all the things he’s really good at: getting to the rim, catch and shoot. So, I think the more you see that and the more efficient he is the more valuable he’ll be. And then listen, we push him on the other end too for defensive rebounding, and he knows that.”
And despite echoing how talented he thinks Collin Murray-Boyles is: “He’s a high level talent. I think his defensive instincts and versatility is really special and it stood out to us in the draft.” he also once again cautioned patience: “Very rarely do you see a rookie come in and impact the game in a positive way. I think the way he can do it, is with his defense. That probably would be the incentive for the coaches put him in the game.”
He hit the notes about the changing league and echoed the common sentiment around good contracts: “If you want long-term viability and success, you’re probably going to have to have a deeper team, and have some guys on some reasonably priced deals to actually fit in those max guys.” Notably, it’s hard to find great contracts, even good ones, on this current Raptors roster.
If this presser/availability was an indication of anything, it’s that Webster is eager to learn about the team that he helped build, in part, and inherited, in part. Also, as a kicker, he said the chance the roster is the same to end the season is “zero”. Which could be meaningless, as there’s always a bit of change on an NBA team across a season – sometimes big changes, sometimes it’s toggling two-way players and 10-day contracts.
All in all, Webster is waiting to see. Just like we are.
Have a blessed day.
