There is no question Monday’s Media Day might have been upstaged by a couple of announcements prior to it. First it was confirmed that Toronto will indeed host the 2016 All-Star Game as part of their 20th season in the NBA. The news that NBA will takes its mid-season showcase outside of the United States for the first time ever is big. That almost seemed to be upstaged by another announcement that Toronto’s own Drake will serve as a global ambassador for the Toronto Raptors.
What exactly does that mean? It really wasn’t exactly spelled out. It does include Drake being a big part of the organization of the All-Star Weekend in 2016. It also includes his involvement in the re-branding of the Raptors. Which will not include a name change as many had been thinking could happen. In 2016 the Raptors will still have the same name but a brand new look and perhaps colour scheme.
These seem like normal things that an outsider from the entertainment world would make sense to be a part of as it was done with the Nets with their move to Brooklyn in which Jay-Z played a major role. He was a minority owner of the franchise though at the time. Drake is not becoming a partner in MLSE anytime soon.
The elephant in the room is what if anything Drake brings to the table in terms of recruiting NBA superstars to come play ball in his city of Toronto. It has been a constant storyline in the history of this franchise of having trouble not only recruiting free-agents to come to Toronto but keeping their own stars.
I am not exactly on the pulse of pop culture but I am not blind to the fact Drake obviously is someone who is cool or whatever the kids call cool today. He is friends with some pretty elite NBA Superstars at the top of that list Lebron James. In fact Drake has been seen around the Heat just as much as the Raptors at times. What exactly Drake can do that people have failed to do for 18 years remains unclear.
After all despite what some have been led to believe NBA Players love Toronto as a place to come party. It is clearly one of the best road stops in the NBA. Liking a city and living in a city is where the problem lies. Can Drake bridge that gap and help players understand that Toronto is a great place to call home? He can’t change Canadian Tax Laws…He can’t make crossing the border any easier.
What he can do is make Toronto seem cool and a place to be. Another even younger Toronto native has expressed his desire to play in Toronto named Andrew Wiggins who most likely will be at the 2016 All-Star Weekend wearing a NBA Jersey for some team.
That said Raptor after Raptor that came to the media scrums were asked about both Drake being a part of the Raptors and the fact there is a large faction that may want to see them fail to get a shot at Wiggins. The answers on both were far from surprising. They all gave their endorsement to the idea of Drake being involved and were more concerned about winning than Wiggins.
Masai Ujiri does not have Drake as his assistant general manager although at times you wondered with all this talk of Drake. He ultimately is the man that will have to decide the future and if he wants to take his lottery ticket or allow this group to stay together. He is not really committed to anything at this point. He has positive things to say about the current group he has but is not exactly willing to wait forever. The Raptors started last season at 4-13 prior to the Rudy Gay trade and even after were only a borderline .500 team. Safe to say that will not be good enough this year.
Dwane Casey’s position seems fairly clear given his contract status he has to win. Kyle Lowry in a contract year regardless of the Raptors’ future and his with the team has to perform for his own personal career. Rudy Gay sits with an option to become a free agent in a market place that could be starving for a top star talent to enter it. He however must play to level he did to earn his monstrous current contract to even consider it.
What it comes down to is there are a lot of people looking for the same goal to make the Raptors a winner but the road to get there is different from depending on where you sit in all of this. The wild-card to the whole equation might be the positive left from the Colangelo era in Jonas Valanciunas. He even knows who Drake is but more importantly the NBA all knows who he is thanks to a breakout performance in Las Vegas this summer.
It wouldn’t be the Raptors without more questions than answers at the end of the day. They have been at the bottom for years and now can the climb to the top of the world like Drake? It is hard to make a hit record but 18 years in Toronto have proven it much harder to build a winner on the basketball court.
Will Drake have a real impact or is he just latest celebrity to adopt a team and become part of the narrative? Like Jack Nicholson has done for years with the Lakers and Spike Lee for a long time with the Knicks. Better it be Drake than Justin Bieber I suppose.
At the end of the day if you love it or hate it Drake is here. But really there is not a downside to this move by MLSE that I can think of. If Drake ends up doing very little it was a well intentioned attempt to use someone that wants to help. This isn’t like giving Master P a tryout to play for the team in exhibition games. As long as Drake isn’t caught keeping Amir Johnson up late in the Raptors practice gym all should be ok.
9/30/13
This Week In Raptorland Is Back For Another Season
We are back for another season of This Week in Raptorland. I am down covering media day on Monday and will have stuff from that in the next episode. In this first episode myself and our new co-host John Chick talk about the outlook for the Toronto Raptors as this season is about to get underway.
John rights for CBC on the NBA and the Raptors and is as I stated an old friend of mine. I want to thank Josh Lewenberg for all his work last season on the podcast. I wish Josh all the best as his career grows with TSN. It is good to be back for another season. This year we are going try and keep the podcast down to 30-45 minute look at the Raptors and NBA each week. Will nail down a day that you can expect once the official season is underway.
John rights for CBC on the NBA and the Raptors and is as I stated an old friend of mine. I want to thank Josh Lewenberg for all his work last season on the podcast. I wish Josh all the best as his career grows with TSN. It is good to be back for another season. This year we are going try and keep the podcast down to 30-45 minute look at the Raptors and NBA each week. Will nail down a day that you can expect once the official season is underway.
9/27/13
Amir Johnson Is The Toronto Raptors Unconventional Face Of The Franchise
When you think of someone as the “Face of a Franchise” that person is often the best player on the team. If your talking about the Toronto Raptors that would be Rudy Gay currently. However his future with the Raptors seems to be up in the air. He also almost seems like he is not really a Raptor at this point.
DeMar DeRozan was hoped to be this face for the franchise but it is becoming clearer that he is not to that level. He is a good player and can be a part of success but as we have seen at times when he is the focus of attention on the floor as the number one option it doesn’t seem to click.
Jonas Valanciunas seems like a candidate to be the future face of this franchise. He has exciting upside and a lot of talent currently. He does have an outgoing and dynamic personality but is still adjusting to the language and culture. Some day he may well be the man but that day isn’t today.
Why does the “Face of Franchise” have to be the best player on the floor? Well it really doesn’t have to be. In the real definition of what a face of franchise should be is who is the player that most represents a franchise to you.
If we use that simple definition of what the term means the answer for the Toronto Raptors is very simple.
Amir Johnson is that guy that you think of first when you think of the Toronto Raptors as a hardcore fan. After all who is more active in the community and with the fan base than this guy? I am not talking in the stuff the Raptors do in terms of PR where the players are asked to do this or that by the organization to do this or that.
I am confident in saying no one told Amir Johnson to start taking out 50 fans to dinner and game ever year with his Roll with Amir Event. No one told Amir Johnson to go buy out stores with Drake’s new album and give them away to people for free. No one said go hire a make-up artist to dress you up like a zombie and go be part of some zombie walk. Go to the UFC and mug for the cameras. Go to Leafs games and go to Blue Jay games. Oh and while your at it if you could wear some of the teams gear that would be great too.
The simple fact of it all is Amir Johnson is the most visible figure in Toronto on the Raptors. He has worked hard to make fans happy with contest after contest and engaging the fan base as much as any player could be expected too and going far beyond that.
This effort has been consistent regardless of his personal performance or the team’s performance as a whole. I have attempted on many occasions to try and understand what is behind these effort by this man. He always responds with a similar answer of that is just who he is.
In a world that is full of a lot of fake people Amir Johnson is a genuine gem in a sea of phoney folks. He has an ability to just connect with people from stars like Drake, to his team, to his fans. He treats everyone like they are important and that even includes some blogger who isn’t always around covering the team.
If you have a conversation with Amir Johnson and don’t feel a little better about him or yourself it is next to impossible. He may not produce the numbers or have the role that you would consider him that natural “Face of the Franchise” but to me when I think Toronto Raptors he is the face that pops in my head.
He embraced this city when yet another superstar turned its back on Toronto. He will always have a special place in Raptors history. I have told him personally that I feel he will be loved in this city long after his days on a basketball court are done. He is a modern version of what Jerome Williams was for this franchise. Even at the height of Vince Carter’s popularity the fans loved the JYD.
Amir Johnson to me is the best example of a pro athlete that truly gets what it is all suppose to be about. Not just how much you make, how much you can do to further your personal career but about the fans that pay the bills at the end of the day.
I look forward to seeing no player more on Media Day on Monday than Amir Johnson.
DeMar DeRozan was hoped to be this face for the franchise but it is becoming clearer that he is not to that level. He is a good player and can be a part of success but as we have seen at times when he is the focus of attention on the floor as the number one option it doesn’t seem to click.
Jonas Valanciunas seems like a candidate to be the future face of this franchise. He has exciting upside and a lot of talent currently. He does have an outgoing and dynamic personality but is still adjusting to the language and culture. Some day he may well be the man but that day isn’t today.
Why does the “Face of Franchise” have to be the best player on the floor? Well it really doesn’t have to be. In the real definition of what a face of franchise should be is who is the player that most represents a franchise to you.
If we use that simple definition of what the term means the answer for the Toronto Raptors is very simple.
Amir Johnson is that guy that you think of first when you think of the Toronto Raptors as a hardcore fan. After all who is more active in the community and with the fan base than this guy? I am not talking in the stuff the Raptors do in terms of PR where the players are asked to do this or that by the organization to do this or that.
I am confident in saying no one told Amir Johnson to start taking out 50 fans to dinner and game ever year with his Roll with Amir Event. No one told Amir Johnson to go buy out stores with Drake’s new album and give them away to people for free. No one said go hire a make-up artist to dress you up like a zombie and go be part of some zombie walk. Go to the UFC and mug for the cameras. Go to Leafs games and go to Blue Jay games. Oh and while your at it if you could wear some of the teams gear that would be great too.
The simple fact of it all is Amir Johnson is the most visible figure in Toronto on the Raptors. He has worked hard to make fans happy with contest after contest and engaging the fan base as much as any player could be expected too and going far beyond that.
This effort has been consistent regardless of his personal performance or the team’s performance as a whole. I have attempted on many occasions to try and understand what is behind these effort by this man. He always responds with a similar answer of that is just who he is.
In a world that is full of a lot of fake people Amir Johnson is a genuine gem in a sea of phoney folks. He has an ability to just connect with people from stars like Drake, to his team, to his fans. He treats everyone like they are important and that even includes some blogger who isn’t always around covering the team.
If you have a conversation with Amir Johnson and don’t feel a little better about him or yourself it is next to impossible. He may not produce the numbers or have the role that you would consider him that natural “Face of the Franchise” but to me when I think Toronto Raptors he is the face that pops in my head.
He embraced this city when yet another superstar turned its back on Toronto. He will always have a special place in Raptors history. I have told him personally that I feel he will be loved in this city long after his days on a basketball court are done. He is a modern version of what Jerome Williams was for this franchise. Even at the height of Vince Carter’s popularity the fans loved the JYD.
Amir Johnson to me is the best example of a pro athlete that truly gets what it is all suppose to be about. Not just how much you make, how much you can do to further your personal career but about the fans that pay the bills at the end of the day.
I look forward to seeing no player more on Media Day on Monday than Amir Johnson.
9/26/13
Week That Was In The NBA
All-Star George signs five-year extension with Pacers
NBA news reports, Pacers Paul George has signed a deal valued between $80 million and $90 million that could ultimately be worth more than $100 million if George hits an escalator clause.
DeMarcus Cousins nears extension
Marc Stein ESPN reports, Two sources told ESPN.com that Cousins could actually have a deal wrapped up before the Kings open training camp next week in Santa Barbara, Calif.
New York City to host NBA All-Star 2015
NBA news reports, New York City has been selected to host NBA All-Star 2015. The 64th NBA All-Star Game will be played at Madison Square Garden. The BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and State Farm All-Star Saturday Night will be held at Barclays Center.
Finally..The NBA's Best Will Be Coming To Toronto in 2016
DNB reports, The NBA All-Star Game is finally coming to Canada and Toronto in 2016. Tim Leiweke when he came in to take over MLSE had one of his priorities for the organization was to land this All-Star game for their twenty year in the league anniversary.
Lakers Kobe Bryant Weeks Away From Training
Pro Bball reports, Lakers fans are slowly coming to accept the fact that Kobe Bryant is not going to start the season on time and his injury really is serious. Bryant remains a “few weeks away” before advancing to full-weight bearing running and then basketball-related activities.
Heat to open training camp in the Bahamas
NBA news reports, the Miami HEAT are holding training camp at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.
Shaq joining Kings ownership group
NBA news reports, the Kings announced Monday that Shaquille O'Neal has acquired a minority stake in the team.
James Johnson Signs With The Atlanta Hawks
Pro Bball reports, Small forward James Johnson, formerly with the Bulls, Raptors and most recently the Kings, has signed what is believed to be a non-guaranteed training camp invite with the Atlanta Hawks.
Canadian Kelly Olynyk Still Slowed By Plantar Fasciitis
Pro Bball reports, Canadian Kelly Olynyk has been slowed down by a plantar fasciitis injury this summer that caused him to miss playing for Team Canada at the FIBA Americas tournament, but the young center says it is getting better. Olynyk was drafted 13th overall by the Boston Celtics in June.
Prosecutors to press forward with Sullinger's assault case
NBA news reports, Prosecutors say they intend to pursue domestic assault charges against Boston Celtics forward Jared Sullinger even though his accuser wants to drop the case.
Lou Williams hopes to be back from injury before All-Star Break
Kris Willis SB Nation reports, Williams hasn't been cleared for full contact yet. Williams indicated with almost a sly grin that he was supposed to say that he is on schedule to return sometime before the All-Star break.
France Wins Gold At Eurobasket
Pro Bball reports, France defeated Lithuania 80-66 to win their first ever European Championship and the Spurs Tony Parker won the 2013 Eurobasket MVP.
Raptors' Amir Johnson bought 2 stores' full stock of Drake's new album to give away to fans
Dan Devine Ball Don’t Lie reports, The willingness to shell out shekels to both support a hometown boy made good and give back to Raptors fans will only further entrench Johnson as one of the Raptors' most popular players.
Al Iannazzone on twitter reported, Cole Aldrich makes 17 players signed for camp. It will be 19 when the #Knicks ink Ike Diogu and Josh Powell.
Stephen Brotherston covers the Toronto Raptors and visiting NBA teams at the ACC. A member of the Professional Basketball Writers Association, Stephen is the editor and publisher of Pro Bball Report. You can follow Stephen on twitter @stevesraptors
9/25/13
Finally..The NBA's Best Will Be Coming To Toronto in 2016
Yesterday, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun broke some pretty exciting news for basketball fans in this country. The NBA All-Star Game is finally coming to Canada and Toronto in 2016. Tim Leiweke when he came in to take over MLSE had one of his priorities for the organization was to land this All-Star game for their twenty year in the league anniversary. It has been something that has been a long time coming as many NBA cities in expansion prior to the Raptors and Grizzlies were given an All-Star Game fairly early in their existence.
People might focus on what this means for the Raptors but it is bigger than just the Raptors. The NBA has been having an influx of Canadian talent in recent years and the fact the NBA’s showcase event will be on Canadian soil will be a big deal for all of these Canadian kids.
At the top on that list is likely a player not even in the NBA yet with Andrew Wiggins. Is it safe to just book him in the Slam Dunk Contest for 2016 now? I mean he is already considered the consensus number one overall pick for next season’s NBA Draft. The thought of him in the Air Canada Centre competing for a slam dunk crown is pretty storybook like in nature.
It is nothing to what it could be if he was doing it sporting Raptors colours. It seems less and less likely that will be a reality. What people have also brought up and it is a solid point this is a chance to sell the city of Toronto to NBA players. However it has never been about players not liking the city of Toronto. I am confident that Toronto as a host to the NBA will be a big hit with players. They love the city and it has always been a favourite stop for teams in the NBA for years.
A great place to party and a great place to live are not always the same thing at the end of the day. I love Toronto personally but for me it is the place I visit not the place I live. I think the NBA players have a very similar view of the city. Changing that mentality will be hard to accomplish with a great weekend bash of partying and fun in Toronto in 2016.
The Raptors two years from now could look completely different so to speculate on who might be an all-star for the Raptors in this game would be fairly silly at this point. What will be interesting is how Toronto reacts to Vince Carter on this weekend.
No I am not expecting Vince to be an All-Star in 2016, in fact who knows if he is even still playing at that point? What I can almost guarantee though is the NBA will make him part of the show that weekend as he is the most recognizable Raptor in the history of this franchise. Will Toronto finally forgive this guy? Who knows but it will be interesting to see.
Bottom line is the best in the NBA and the world are coming to Toronto in 2016 and that is something exciting. While the All-Star Weekend itself has lost its lustre in the last decade it still is a huge event. If you’re hoping to get tickets your best plan is to become famous in the next 2 years. The average person doesn’t really get in the building at All-Star Weekend anywhere close to the action. Still the NBA will be in town like it never has been before.
People might focus on what this means for the Raptors but it is bigger than just the Raptors. The NBA has been having an influx of Canadian talent in recent years and the fact the NBA’s showcase event will be on Canadian soil will be a big deal for all of these Canadian kids.
At the top on that list is likely a player not even in the NBA yet with Andrew Wiggins. Is it safe to just book him in the Slam Dunk Contest for 2016 now? I mean he is already considered the consensus number one overall pick for next season’s NBA Draft. The thought of him in the Air Canada Centre competing for a slam dunk crown is pretty storybook like in nature.
It is nothing to what it could be if he was doing it sporting Raptors colours. It seems less and less likely that will be a reality. What people have also brought up and it is a solid point this is a chance to sell the city of Toronto to NBA players. However it has never been about players not liking the city of Toronto. I am confident that Toronto as a host to the NBA will be a big hit with players. They love the city and it has always been a favourite stop for teams in the NBA for years.
A great place to party and a great place to live are not always the same thing at the end of the day. I love Toronto personally but for me it is the place I visit not the place I live. I think the NBA players have a very similar view of the city. Changing that mentality will be hard to accomplish with a great weekend bash of partying and fun in Toronto in 2016.
The Raptors two years from now could look completely different so to speculate on who might be an all-star for the Raptors in this game would be fairly silly at this point. What will be interesting is how Toronto reacts to Vince Carter on this weekend.
No I am not expecting Vince to be an All-Star in 2016, in fact who knows if he is even still playing at that point? What I can almost guarantee though is the NBA will make him part of the show that weekend as he is the most recognizable Raptor in the history of this franchise. Will Toronto finally forgive this guy? Who knows but it will be interesting to see.
Bottom line is the best in the NBA and the world are coming to Toronto in 2016 and that is something exciting. While the All-Star Weekend itself has lost its lustre in the last decade it still is a huge event. If you’re hoping to get tickets your best plan is to become famous in the next 2 years. The average person doesn’t really get in the building at All-Star Weekend anywhere close to the action. Still the NBA will be in town like it never has been before.
9/24/13
Point Guard as Always Is A Point of Interest In Raptorland
When we take a first glance at this Raptors roster for the upcoming season it seems fairly obvious who the starting five will be with this squad. Jonas Valanciunas will be the starting center, Amir Johnson likely is your starting power forward, and Rudy Gay in at small forward, DeMar DeRozan is your shooting guard and Kyle Lowry at the point. I would think it is safe to say that all five of these guys can be fairly confident entering training camp that they will have there names called for the Raptors first game of the NBA season.
Kyle Lowry seems to be the one with a lot of people behind him that could steal his minutes away. It was a disappointing season for Lowry who was not able to establish himself as the clear starter over Jose Calderon last season. This was what the plan was when the Raptors spent a first round pick to acquire him from Houston.
The Raptors made little if any effort to re-sign Lowry to a contract extension as he enters that last year of it this season. The Raptors did however bring in D.J Augustin and Dwight Buycks and after failing a medical initially have extended a camp invite to Julyan Stone. Combining these factors you could logically assume the Raptors have sent a message to Kyle Lowry.
While there is no question that Lowry should be the started on opening night as long as he is healthy and active on the roster. It will be very interesting to see how these other 3 players perform behind him. The Raptors if they were to gain confidence in two of the three are left with some options when it comes to Lowry.
Obviously it is Lowry’s best personal interest to have a great season in a contract year. If he is able to that the question will be come to the Raptors risk keeping him and hoping to re-sign him in the off-season. Point guards considered to be starters do not come cheap on the free-agent market. So would the Raptors consider moving Lowry at the deadline?
One factor will be the confidence they have in the guys playing behind him. Another might be Rudy Gay as the two are close friends and Gay has an option at the end of the season which he too could become a free agent. Given the amount his contract is for that would be highly unlikely, Taking that into account what happens with Lowry may in fact be a positive or negative in Rudy Gay and his desire to remain in Toronto.
Gay himself is coming off a rather down season in his career in terms of numbers. Depending on what the Raptors record ends up looking like it is not out of the question that you could see him move as well as a Lowry.
At the end of the day, Lowry is the without question best player the Raptors have at the position but if he is not the long term answer it would seem wise to try and get something for him. What will make the choice easier or harder will be the performance of the three men that enter camp behind him on the depth chart. They also will be no doubt battling with each other as well as it seems highly unlikely the Raptors would enter the season with four point guards on the roster.
As camp is set to begin as it has been for many seasons in the past the point guard position should have a lot of focus and attention.
Kyle Lowry seems to be the one with a lot of people behind him that could steal his minutes away. It was a disappointing season for Lowry who was not able to establish himself as the clear starter over Jose Calderon last season. This was what the plan was when the Raptors spent a first round pick to acquire him from Houston.
The Raptors made little if any effort to re-sign Lowry to a contract extension as he enters that last year of it this season. The Raptors did however bring in D.J Augustin and Dwight Buycks and after failing a medical initially have extended a camp invite to Julyan Stone. Combining these factors you could logically assume the Raptors have sent a message to Kyle Lowry.
While there is no question that Lowry should be the started on opening night as long as he is healthy and active on the roster. It will be very interesting to see how these other 3 players perform behind him. The Raptors if they were to gain confidence in two of the three are left with some options when it comes to Lowry.
Obviously it is Lowry’s best personal interest to have a great season in a contract year. If he is able to that the question will be come to the Raptors risk keeping him and hoping to re-sign him in the off-season. Point guards considered to be starters do not come cheap on the free-agent market. So would the Raptors consider moving Lowry at the deadline?
One factor will be the confidence they have in the guys playing behind him. Another might be Rudy Gay as the two are close friends and Gay has an option at the end of the season which he too could become a free agent. Given the amount his contract is for that would be highly unlikely, Taking that into account what happens with Lowry may in fact be a positive or negative in Rudy Gay and his desire to remain in Toronto.
Gay himself is coming off a rather down season in his career in terms of numbers. Depending on what the Raptors record ends up looking like it is not out of the question that you could see him move as well as a Lowry.
At the end of the day, Lowry is the without question best player the Raptors have at the position but if he is not the long term answer it would seem wise to try and get something for him. What will make the choice easier or harder will be the performance of the three men that enter camp behind him on the depth chart. They also will be no doubt battling with each other as well as it seems highly unlikely the Raptors would enter the season with four point guards on the roster.
As camp is set to begin as it has been for many seasons in the past the point guard position should have a lot of focus and attention.
9/23/13
What exactly are we rooting for this season with the Raptors?
A week from today the Raptors will have Media Day and another season will be underway. Aside from that I am not sure what to expect or more importantly what to root for in terms of this franchises future. Even the most optimistic but logical Raptors fan can only at best hope for this team to finish in sixth. In a season where other NBA Franchises have all but started a marketing campaign to land the number one pick and Andrew Wiggins.
It has been a significant off-season in terms of change for the Raptors in the front office. In terms of the on court product the major change is Andrea Bargnani is finally gone. The Raptors have added a lot of depth pieces for the most part this off-season. Tyler Hansbrough, D.J Augustin, Steve Novak and others. This team is dependant on the pieces that made up this roster last season.
Dwane Casey did survive the shake-up in the front office but you have to wonder what he would have to do to keep his job after this season? Make the playoff would seem to be obvious answer. Which leads to the confusion I have this season and the future. If the Raptors do make the playoffs is that really a good thing? It would be if you can envision this group developing and getting better over time. What I see as the best outlook for this current group is to be the Atlanta Hawks had been in the last decade or so.
A team that makes the playoffs but really have very little expectations beyond the occasional chance to advance to the second round of the playoffs. If you go back and remember what we have heard from Masai Ujiri and more importantly Tim Leiweke have painted a much different vision for this franchises future.
Aside from Jonas Valanciunas I fail to see the Raptors player that has this huge amount of potential let to achieve. Raptors have a lot of guys that are at best a step below all-star level talents. You could say that about Rudy Gay, Demar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry at there very best are borderline all-star talents.
I find myself entering a season wondering what exactly I am rooting for and what is best for the long term future of this franchise?
At least the steps have been made to eliminate the failure of the past as move forward by eliminating the last connections to the Chris Bosh era with Bargnani and Calderon being in the past. It took far too long to do that and the Raptors now are truly in a phase of rebuilding. This current group has a two year window to prove if they belong in the future of this franchise going forward.
It is just unfortunate the Raptors are not in a true position to bottom out with Andrew Wiggins being available in the upcoming draft. He really could be a difference maker for this franchise in the long term. This is a case of unfortunate timing. A Canadian superstar that wants to be a Raptor and the Raptors may end up with a ticket to a first round playoff exit instead of the NBA lottery.
It doesn’t exactly inspire you for this upcoming season does it?
It has been a significant off-season in terms of change for the Raptors in the front office. In terms of the on court product the major change is Andrea Bargnani is finally gone. The Raptors have added a lot of depth pieces for the most part this off-season. Tyler Hansbrough, D.J Augustin, Steve Novak and others. This team is dependant on the pieces that made up this roster last season.
Dwane Casey did survive the shake-up in the front office but you have to wonder what he would have to do to keep his job after this season? Make the playoff would seem to be obvious answer. Which leads to the confusion I have this season and the future. If the Raptors do make the playoffs is that really a good thing? It would be if you can envision this group developing and getting better over time. What I see as the best outlook for this current group is to be the Atlanta Hawks had been in the last decade or so.
A team that makes the playoffs but really have very little expectations beyond the occasional chance to advance to the second round of the playoffs. If you go back and remember what we have heard from Masai Ujiri and more importantly Tim Leiweke have painted a much different vision for this franchises future.
Aside from Jonas Valanciunas I fail to see the Raptors player that has this huge amount of potential let to achieve. Raptors have a lot of guys that are at best a step below all-star level talents. You could say that about Rudy Gay, Demar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry at there very best are borderline all-star talents.
I find myself entering a season wondering what exactly I am rooting for and what is best for the long term future of this franchise?
At least the steps have been made to eliminate the failure of the past as move forward by eliminating the last connections to the Chris Bosh era with Bargnani and Calderon being in the past. It took far too long to do that and the Raptors now are truly in a phase of rebuilding. This current group has a two year window to prove if they belong in the future of this franchise going forward.
It is just unfortunate the Raptors are not in a true position to bottom out with Andrew Wiggins being available in the upcoming draft. He really could be a difference maker for this franchise in the long term. This is a case of unfortunate timing. A Canadian superstar that wants to be a Raptor and the Raptors may end up with a ticket to a first round playoff exit instead of the NBA lottery.
It doesn’t exactly inspire you for this upcoming season does it?
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