The Toronto Raptors Awards Draft

The Toronto Raptors Awards Draft

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the pull-up trade podcast. The podcast co-hosted by myself, Samson Folk, and of course joined by the Trey Travan Heath that pulls up and joined by my partner in crime in the Calgary Blogs. Uh or I was probably his partner in crime in the Calgary Blogs, but the producer of this podcast, mostly in title rather than in activity, is Fandy Arhaney. We’re here to talk about the Raptors awards draft. We do this every every year. We choose awards that we think they could potentially win. It’s been really bad the past couple years cuz they’ve actually had no awards. So, we’re batting zero for everything. This might be a year where they win something. There’s real potential. Trey, we haven’t talked to you in a while. Uh, how you feeling? And for all the new subscribers who like the vlogs, uh, this is Trey. He co-hosts a large majority of the podcast on this year platform. You will be seeing him often. Yes, absolutely. I hope so. But I’m doing good. I I like seeing I felt like like the Squidward meme, just watching you guys have your little bromance. Do your do your little do your little thing as I’m just slaving away under the man. But but I’m I’m doing good. I’m ready for the for the season. I’m ready for them to stop playing in the West Coast, though. But yeah, these games are late, man. Just so everybody knows, S will have coverage. You would have seen it already of the game tonight against Sacramento, but this is recorded before the Sacramento game because we don’t want to record a podcast at midnight. S, uh, anything quickly before we move on to the actual draft. Uh, I hate to be that schlub that always does this. Like, comment, subscribe, do the things you guys do to make sure. Yeah, man. You know, thank you very much. Just here for the plugs. Hype hype the video. This is a new feature. Yeah. Give it. I bet you’re not even using your hype, but they’re valuable. We appreciate them. Uh, and also, we have exciting news coming up that might allow you to get to a Raptors game just because you’re a listener of this podcast. So, stay tuned with us. As I said, like everything, it’s the awards draft. Now, everything is in play here. basically all the awards. There’s the social media or so sorry social justice award. Social media award Edwards. There’s a there’s a social justice award. There’s a citizenship award. There’s a teammate award. The NBA gives these out. These are in play for us and there’s all like all NBA selections, all defense, MVP, whatever you want. We’re going to start with you, Trey. We’re each making three selections. So, nine awards we’re predicting that will be handed out to Raptors this season. What is your opening selection for this team? I’m going to start I’m going to go a little bolder. I’m going to say Scotty Barnes. Um, second team all defense. Oh, I thought you were going to say all. Yeah, you you call yourself bold for that. I wasn’t bold. That’s how many how many all defensive teams does he have? He literally has none. Okay. uh in the spirit of the the podcast, give us the case. I I think he he was playing at that level for the second half of the the NBA season. You saw it in in the first preseason game. Their defense is dependent upon his activity, the chaos that he brings and that’s going to lead to stocks that’s going to lead to the Raptors defense on and offs being really having big swings with him on the court. You kind of saw that last year um too. And I think the Raptors defense is going to be like a top 15 defense in the NBA just based on the way that they play, the way that they create turnovers, and he’s going to get the credit for it, which is deserving. Just to bolster your point over there, the Raptors last season were better at forcing misses with Scotty on the court. They were better at rebounding the ball with Scotty on the court. They were better at turning teams over with Scotty on the court. They were better at not fouling with Scotty on the court. All the onoffs love him defensively. Uh all the impact metrics love him defensively. He gets a bunch of stocks. His impact is seen not just in the eye test where if you want film reviews of Scotty’s defense, you can find it on this channel here going piece by piece why he fits in their scheme and why he improves it. But the catchall stats, the classic stats, all of it. Love Scotty Barnes as a defender. This I don’t know if this is the most likely one because there’s kind of a colinearity here that if he gets all team second all if he makes the all defense team the second version of it then he’s probably an allar. You know what I I’m going to bail you out here. It is kind of a mouthful to do the all defensive second team thing. Yeah, I hear you. Mu Kawashi I can get that but I can’t get all NBA second team defense. I don’t even know if I sequenced that correctly. S uh do you are you for or against this selection? Oh yeah, I’m I’m for it. Um yeah, I think this is totally feasible, especially if the Raptors expect to be as good on defense as they as they want to be. Um the top 15 in defensive efficiency, defensive rating. I could see that happening. Scotty will be a big catalyst to that. Uh I remember last year, I looked this up, but he was one of nine players to average a steal and a block per game. And basically every single one of those nine players, even though it’s just a very barebones stat, one of those every single one of those nine players is like either a perennial defensive player of the year candidate, has won a defensive player of the year before, or a pretty consistent alldefense member. So that’s the level of player that Scotty is on. Also, and I know nobody’s going to have heard this stat before, but there’s two players in the history of the NBA through their first four seasons who have averaged 15,5 and five with one steal and one block. It’s Michael Jordan and it’s Scotty Barnes. Uh, I’m going to take the second award. All right, I there’s an easy one to take with Brandon Ingram, but for the sake of everything going on here, there’s only so many selections. Clutch player of the year. This seems like that could happen. So, I’ll lay out why I think this could happen. One, the opportunities will be there. Two, we know that clutch shooting is some of it is a function of how you score and a guy like Demar had terrible clutch shooting seasons and then had great ones. Sometimes it’s just a function of it swinging back in your favor. If there’s stats that say Ingram is bad, maybe it swings back. If there’s stats that say he’s good, then it stays the same. only optimism over here, but his shotmaking kit is incredibly vast. He can get a shot off comfortably in a lot of different types. He’ll get the possessions. The Raptors probably are going to be in a lot of close games because they’re scrappy as hell. And they need to win. They’re going to play guys. They’re going to go for it. I think that this is like huge opportunity meets potential. And of course, there’s potential for all-star status and stuff with Brandon, but clutch player of the year, I think, would be a really fun one and would kind of deliver on how people saw Brandon skill set fitting with the Raptors. Clutch player of the year, I think, would be an absolute blast. Uh, you guys Yeah, we were just commending you for your clutch player of the year choice cuz that wasn’t even in my brain as an option. But you Yeah, just bravo. That’s That’s good stuff. That’s good stuff right there. This is entirely too much gas for the award selection. I I We need We have to even it out and go to Trey. What do you think of the selection? Brandon Ingram, clutch player of the year. I I think it’s it’s super possible. I think especially like how you saw how their clutch minutes went. Like the Raptors just there’s a humongous void for someone that can handle the ball and score within tight spaces. So, he’s going to get a bulk load of those possessions. If you think the Raptors are going to win a lot of games, it’s could he’s going to help them win those games in the fourth quarter. So, it’s very possible. Hell yeah. S, what’s the third selection here? I feel like I’m probably going to be conventional compared to your picks, you and Trey’s picks. Um, I’m going to go with Brandon Ingram allstar selection because I think that’s a very narrative-based selection in the first place. It only happens for the first halfish of the season, like 30 35 games until votes are submitted. So hopefully, you know, BI has a solid strong start 35 games into the year. Um, and I also think it is there is some points per game bias when it comes to allars. And with BI, if you look at him over the last basically four, five, six seasons of his career, he’s been a 20 plus point per game score. if he is again a 20 plus point per game score for the Raptors and they’re winning and he’s healthy and he’s playing games and I think the assist will probably go up just by the process of this Raptors team as we’ve talked about in the past being an assist farm. Uh I’m going to go ahead and say Brandon Ingram all-star. Feel like that’s an easy one. Can I put you on the spot for this? Not choosing Scotty as an all-star before Brandon. Yes. would if Scotty had not scored one point in a preseason game, would you have gone Scotty? That’s what I’m wondering. It’s a fair question. Honestly, it is. Um maybe, maybe, perhaps. Yeah. I think that does impact it a little bit. But I also I think even generally if there is if there is love for this Raptors team 40 games in, people will look and say, “Well, Brandon Ingram is on this Toronto Raptor team.” that is clearly why they are doing as well as we hoped and so I think narratives kind of drive towards BI versus Scotty um when it comes to all-star stuff in my opinion. Yeah, I think it’s it’s a pretty easy case to make as you said the narrative base there’s potential the Raptors they’re gunning for like a top six seed. Yeah, there’s potential not not really for a top six seed that isn’t super topheavy to have two allstars, but I mean it it potentially could be there. Brandon, if he’s healthy, I mean, the the motion would be going his way because it’s what, as you said, it’s what’s changed. And there could be a real thing where there’s like the the Fron versus Paulo kind of thing here where it’s like Paulo has more of the scoring. He’s a little bit more aesthetically pleasing. Scotty and Fron are the more the guys who clearly have the the leg up in the impact metrics. It might bear out. Of course, not a onetoone comparison, but it might bear out like that where Fronn for Orlando fans. Orlando fans say he’s the guy. Yeah. And national media looks at Paulo and dubs him as like that’s the guy except for some avant guard or like offbeat stuff. Uh but Ingram, I mean, we’ve all talked about and done work about why he could play well here and why the platform is here. He scored four points off cuts in game one of the preseason. He was floating and formed up for a three. Just the the theory and the hypothesis of how this might might meld and work. You could see I guess proof of concept. Trey, how where are you on all this? I I think it’s super possible. Like I don’t think the Raptors will get two Allstars, which is why I pick Scotty all defense. Typically the All-Star just goes to the best scoring player on on the team, whoever averages the most points. And I think that’s going to be BI this season and he’ll get credit for the the win jump that they’re likely going to see. I just hope Alpin Shangun isn’t there, man. That’s perennial. Listen, if they’re doing international versus US, you know, that whole thing that changes the the dynamic a little bit. I watched that man go ban forb with with Jiannisko, one of the best players in the world. Some people say, dude, the advertising brain, the marketing brain is so funny, man. Uh, well, this is Serpentine, I think. So, we’re coming back to you, Trey. You got to pick another award. I I’m going to go a little a little unconventional. I’m going to say Darko Rayakovic, coach of the year. Dude, I’m loving these hot takes, man. For number two, there’s a good chance if we think they’re as good as they’re going to be, that means they’re going to have a significant game jump. So, that’s anywhere between 13 to maybe 17 games in terms of in terms of jumping. So, he’s going to be a candidate. The Raptors have increased in their in their talent. And honestly, in terms of like their win production because of their injury luck, they could have squeezed anywhere between like 37 to like 40 games last season. So, I I think he’s going to be get credit for obviously the win jump and how the team has improved post um like their rebuild era. And it’s I think in terms of teams, they’re going to be probably in the top three in terms of improvement from last year to this year. Okay. I’ll also point out, so for new listeners and people who don’t understand the terminology I’m about to use, stick with us throughout the season. I will explain these concepts more in depth. But Darko is a guy who plays a future facing style of basketball. That’s what he asks of his team. As Trey lays out a huge win jump, people start looking at players, yes, but they always look at the coach. Not only is Darko running a tag up scheme, which is there was like only six teams that did it in the NBA last year. It’s cutting edge. It’s one of the highest pressing teams. They were fourth in ball pressure last year. They’ll they might even jump higher this year. They’re a team that plays into the turnover differential. They’re a team that their expected field goal percentage is really high because they shoot quote unquote from the right places. They pass a lot. His sets are a huge part of the offense. They build out advantages for their players. If the Raptors are good pun and it might be led by this podcast, but pundits are going to start pointing out how Darko’s fingerprints are over everything. It’s always on players, of course, but I agree with you, Trey. There’s a real potential for this. If the Raptors are good and if they’re that a little bit better than like the modest expectations, he’ll be he’ll be in play there. S, you said you love the hot take. How come? The only reason because like the Athletic did a thing a couple of years ago and they did it last season where it was like what coach would you like to play for and he was near the bottom of the league and I I don’t I think that was unfair to have him near the bottom of the league. Bro, it’s cuz they didn’t know who he was. I agree. I agree. That’s why it’s a hot take because I think it’s part of like okay who gets attributed for the success of this team immediately? I think people will think of the players more than the coach. That being said, if there is a 13- win jump, if there’s like a 17- win jump that he’s going to be in the conversation for it, you think of like Orlando last year with Jamal Mosley. I think Jamal Mosley ended up uh either top three, I want to say Detroit is another one last year with JB Bickerstaff where he went from a losing situation, not a losing situation, but a situation where he lost his job in Cleveland to go to Detroit, flipped that team around. That was again narrativebased voting is something that’s intriguing here for Darko. The narrative is people didn’t think you were that good of a coach. Now you’re proving them wrong and that’s why, you know, he’s he might get some awards. That’s not necessarily a hot take. It’s just it’s just like it’s hard to see the jump there, but it could possibly happen. That’s that’s pretty good color background as well too because he he was the second European-born head coach ever hired in the NBA. This is not and like not to mention the politics of like how much of America is like get out of my country. So there’s like there’s natural push back for many different people to like what this guy from Serbia well you know that’s not how NBA players talk but you get my my meaning. It’s there is definitely like overcoming it in the international city of Toronto. I see that as well. S, we’re going back to you, brother. Yeah, man. What’s it going to be? Um, so I I think this is one that could viably happen too. Uh, Colum Murray Bole’s all rookie first team. Yeah. So, I one I think it’s an opportunity thing. It’s clear that they’re going to have him in the rotation in some capacity at least to start the year. I think he will earn his keep as the year progresses. I think the advanced numbers, even though they don’t love rookies in general, will probably favor him a little bit. Um, I think he will get some cool box scores that will be on NBA Sentel and Central where it’s like Colin Murray Boils just had five steals, five blocks in a game. Holy, you know, like that type of stuff sort of matters for these type of things in terms of other people paying attention to you. Um, and ultimately I just think he will be an impact player on a team that’s trying to win. That will get him all rookie votes. So, Colin Murray Boils, all rookie first team. He’s the the box score numbers. He’s going to have like the stat sheet stuff. Yeah. In the same way we made that prediction last year like maybe Jonathan Mo could sneak on all rookie second team or something because he’s but it just he didn’t get enough playing time the Raptor it just didn’t work out that way. CMBB definitely has a a road map to this and he has looked really good. He looked great at training camp. Everybody’s constantly talking about him. People were wondering if he might be a guy. I think actually s when you did your projected rotation, you left him out of the top 10 initially, right? When you mapped it all out, probably how training camp went. If you could change it, would you? 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cuz it’s it feels solidified a little bit, right? He he has asserted himself, his physicality, which is a huge part of adjusting the NBA. He’s talking crazy to the vets, man. He’s like, “You like get you’re in my world, buddy. You don’t have a shot, dude. Get out of here.” RJ’s talking about like, “You have to escape him. Get away.” Is frustrated. So, the hope is that he’s able to, you know, put that onto other players around the league and as he said, improve his teammates. I’ve obviously huge CMBB booster. The video of us reacting to him getting drafted. I did a lot of work on CMBB. He was a top five player in the draft for me. I love him as a first team all rookie player. If the opportunity is there for minutes, I think he can do it quite handily. Uh Trey, it’s not Derek Queen, but he’s a fun big boy. You know, he’s good. I I I only had him a few spots lower than you. Yeah. It’s funny how that works, right? I’m like, “Oh, I’m I’m not as high as you. I have him like seven.” I I think he’s just like in the exercise we had like with the tears like he’s too good defensively not to play and he fits what they’re trying to do especially out of their bigs. He can make all of the reads from from the mid post. He’s he’s actually I was very surprised of how willing of a driver he was in that preseason game and how he utilized his quickness and his dribble to get around and be a really good mover. if that translates in the regular season, they’re gonna find a way in order to for him to play minutes. He’ll be able to play with Scotty, he’ll be able to play with with um with YaKob. And I think in terms of rookies, typically like defensively is the reason why their impact stats just aren’t very good. It’s hard to keep them on the floor, but he’s going to be led with defense. And oftent times, I feel I think the Raptors bench is going to be one of the best in the NBA, and I think it’s going to be led by him being great defensively. I love that. Nice. That’s some gas, dude. That that I I started getting a little goosebumpies on that one, man. I’m I’m not sure if I buy it, but I like the cell, dude. There’s some There was some heart in there. I’ll just I’ll add to this all rookie case, by the way. So, like Cooper, yeah, you know, Dylan Harper might be able to, although we’ll see how the minutes shake out for the Spurs. Um Trey Johnson I think in Washington has a good chance but after that I it feels pretty open you know what I mean for for guys who opportunity-wise playing time-wise usage etc. Um that’s why I think CNB makes sense for all rookie first team. Yeah. And also even as someone who gasses his driving and really likes it, we do need to see it against someone who isn’t Nicolic. Like I I need I need it so bad against someone who’s not Nicolic. And I think he’s going to take threes this year, too, which creates a big swing factor because the fact that the Raptors are asking him to take threes, I think speaks to the fact that they intend for him to play quite a bit. Jonathan Mobile wasn’t taking that many threes. They’re like, “Listen, J Mo, you know, it might not be your year. Work on it quietly and try and work on some other things.” And also, CNB is actually quite excellent at running through delay actions and a lot of the above the break handoff stuff. the swim move with the ball in hand and then advance it further down the line and then go impromptu to another screen like that type of dynamic playmaking. Uh he’s outside of Yakob probably the best on the roster at it. So there’s a lot of avenues for him to find impact. Uh I’ll go. It’s crazy that this is selection number six in this draft, but Scotty Barnes Allstar. Uh listen, the onepoint game. I hated watching how he operated offensively in the first preseason game. Fingers crossed in three hours when they play Sacramento. It goes better. Uh, but I’ll say this. I spent way too much time hypothesizing on how Scotty can use his skills and be properly cemented in this team and how that can be massive impact to give up on it after, you know, a one-point game in the preseason where for all intents and purposes, I think he was just kind of screwing around. Just everything was a jumper because it’s there’s two ways to do this, man. I mean, Scotty’s been an all-star in the past. He’s clearly a very strong defender. He clearly has a lot of utility on offense if implemented properly. There’s two paths. One, he can try and rely solely on being like a finesse wing as if he were Paul George or something like that, which is kind of what he gets into sometimes, which he shouldn’t be doing. or he can mix in the finesse sometimes and rely on physicality a little bit more, be an impact offensive player and do a little bit more of the dirty work and return to all-star status. Um, I I’m an optimist. You have to hope that he’s going to do the things that will support his team, help his team, and help himself. Uh, not just be a guy who takes fadeaway midis. I I refuse to be that cynical to think that it’s going that way. He’s He’s been an all-star before. It’s not crazy to think he’s better now defensively. It’s not crazy to think he might get there. It’s one-point game. Nobody likes it. It’s preseason, though. I don’t want to totally let him off the hook cuz people went to Vancouver excited to watch him play and he did that. But, you know, I think he could make an All-Star game. Fellas, do I have the the support? I I think if he doesn’t make the All-Star team, like it’s a disappointment based on just how the East is in terms of their forwards. You have guys like Jason Tatum that aren’t even going to be there. So, just free spots available. Yep. And if the Raptors are going to be good, it’s going to be led by his impact. He has to at least be in a position where the Raptors are so good, we only can reward one of these guys and he gets left off just because they give it to Brandon Ingram. He exactly. Yeah, that’s that’s kind of how I think it’s going going to go. But in terms I’m not worried about his overall scoring just because the Raptors are going to create lots of turnovers. He’s going to be led with that. He’s going to get much easier buckets and it won’t have to rely on the the midi jumpers. It’s just preseason. I’m taking it lightly. But I I think he’s going to be he’s going to I know ESPN put him as the 30th best player in the NBA. I think he’s actually going to earn that spot this season. Well, if I can just double down on this too for listeners, Trey dislocated his ankle and when we were in Las Vegas, he said I asked him beforehand. It was his first time returning to the court cuz we’re going to the Tarcanian runs. And I remember him saying like, “Yeah, I’m just going to take it easy, man. You know, I’m just going to get some shots up.” And this is Trey. You know, he’s a good basketball player, but he’s just a guy who plays with his friends. the the competition, the spirit of the game caught him within 14 seconds. I was on opposite team. I saw him get the ball and I was like, “Okay, he’s going to put a jumper up cuz he told me he’s going to take it easy.” I saw him pump, throw ahead, dribble, gather, and crash into like three guys fresh off a dislocated ankle. I mean, if Trey can do it, Scotty can reinccorporate that physicality. Like, I believe in him, man. Yeah, there’s that video going around uh of of Scotty versus Sabonis and him taking him off the dribble and attacking and then finishing left through contact. I don’t I don’t know why he he he would to he would do that to Sabonis this year, too. He should do that to Sabonis tonight. Well, he’s just not guarded by Sabonis anymore. Yeah. Yeah. Is Oh, vaunted perimeter defender Demon Sabonis. Look at him move. Yeah. And even and even still, he didn’t blow by him. It was a contested layup at the rim. Like, yeah, he could he could manage it this year, I’m sure. Yeah, I agree with you guys, by the way, for for the most part on like Scotty being able to figure this out. Uh, I think in general, if you think look at the first preseason game there, the starters, even though we didn’t get to see the starters fully with Yakob, they kind of looked out of whack. They they were trying to figure out where everybody was going to be positioned. And I think Scotty did not stand to benefit from that specific situation. like the screening and figuring out where to be in certain actions, it just wasn’t there. Um, that’s why they play preseason games, you know. Please put a please please screen. Yeah, man. I know. I that that’s actually probably one of them. I I know Samson’s tweeted about this too, but like the the screening just to kind of slip and get middle that has to change. Laying someone out is something that Scotty needs to do. He has to be a physical player both on and off the ball. That’s the way Scotty becomes a successful offensive player. And also sometimes you can slip. Sometimes sometimes you can slip, but they’re not really there. It can’t be every time. Yeah. It’s especially if you’re not slipping south or north to the three-point line like Yeah. Yeah. It’s it’s a it’s a tool in the tool box. It’s not the toolbox, you know? Like you have to be able to do a bunch of different things when when the Raptors earn the right for teams to pick up pick them up high. Maybe he can he can slip a screen. But at no at no point is anyone slipping every anyone stepping up on an RJ Barrett pick and roll possession. Please screen. That’s such a good point, too. Yeah, because the the screens that he’s slipping are with Brandon Ingram, who has gravity, who is obviously a very strong scoreer, but this isn’t Tyrese Halbertton getting blitzed 29 ft from the rim and the slip is like, wow, the the seas have parted. This is this is 22 feet from the rim and it’s still kind of clogged. And the way to unclog it sometimes is get that body on someone, make something happen. Scotty Barnes Allstar. I guess it goes back to me again and I’ll leave some room citizenship award. For those who don’t know, this is basically the good guy award and I for the third year in a row will be selecting Garrett Temple for the good guy award. This is this is the award for the guy who’s part of the community who’s always doing things for the betterment of the locality that he occupies. All that kind of stuff. Garrett Temple has been like the man, the superstar human being since he stepped in. Everybody loves him. The team, the organization, the players, the coaches, the people around it. And of course, when podcasters, uh, what’s his geography, the making of Saints, when we participate in that because he donates to teachers unions. I mean, how can you not? We got to gas this guy. The citizenship award. Is anybody on this team to you guys in better running for the good guy award? Basically better? No. But I think Jamal has a decent shot at this. No way. No. No way. How are you going to debate this? What is the debate about? No. Nobody on the Minnesota Timberwolves. You know who’s a great guy? That Jamal Shed. He’s He’s a great dude. Not a soul knows him. Oh, that’s true. That’s fair. Oh, this is a joke for everybody listening. By the way, Jamal, as a as a final note, he comes across as like incredible. He he has the same level of everybody loves him as Garrett does. He’s just not been in the league for seven years. So, this isn’t the uh this isn’t the community assist award, right? I’m just clarifying. This is the teammate award that you have. This is the citizenship award. This is this is the community. This is the community Okay. Okay. Yeah. So, I think I think Jamal got a chance at that. Yeah. You know. Yeah. Of course. Great guy. Yeah. Launch pad, man. You know, sure. We’ll see what happens. But, uh, Trey, I think it goes to you. The eighth the eighth pick in the awards draft. Just want to say the Jays are up one nothing. Vladimir Agüero again. Homer. Oh, okay. All right. Hell yeah. Still still counts the same. That man hates the Yankees. That man hates the Yankees more than anybody. for a regional basketball podcast. The amount of Moneyball references myself and Trey go to is it’s sick, man. It’s sick. Oh, and Barger got a hit. So, what is it right now? Oh, it’s the Okay, it didn’t end up happening. Anyway, okay. Uh Trey, your pick. I’m going to go another bold one. I’m going outside the NBA. I’m I’m saying Chamsh G-League MVP. Oh. Oh, I like that. I like that. All right. Wait, before you go on, does his undisclosed injury status worry you at all? I’m not a doctor, so But the worst thing I hate on Twitter is people that you see like, “Alex MD, he’s he’s done for six months, but when you look at the footage, it looks like his legs snapped in half. He’s finished.” I hate that. Absolutely. Well, you know the thing and just I don’t know what the motive is for it other than like the attention economy but a lot of we have doctor friends who you know you ask them like well what do you think and they’d be like well I’d have to assess the person to actually say but there’s a lot of people who are like uh I do my assessing from the computer screen actually and I’m going to do it but it’s it doesn’t make sense to me cuz you’re just like assessing it through video just so people can like react didn’t talk about it and no like you might be a doctor but nobody here is a doctor and it’s just like I also does that provide you with business like if you’re a physiootherapist who’s like yeah he popped his uh Achilles right there does that this assessment is brought to you by DraftKings I think it does cuz people I know in like at least the football sense like people will have like will give you can pay for like assessments so it helps you out in fantasy football so they’re like he’s gonna be gone for three weeks Oh wow. Better prepare stuff like that. Also, that’s crazy. You know, s Trey and I wouldn’t know about this because we don’t pay for Twitter verification, but um there might there might be there might be a benefit to the amount of money you get for like let’s say Kyrie tears his ACL. There’s a video and you go, “Yeah, I’m a doctor. I think he tore his ACL.” And you get like $6 for posting that. Yeah. Oh, just like 5,000 likes in the finals. They’re like, “I think Tari Halburn’s very hurts.” Just like 80 tweets like, “All right, thanks, brother.” Yeah. Um, okay. Uh, wait, sorry. Make the case or Shante. I I don’t think he’s going to get a lot of NBA minutes. I’m I’m just going to assume that he’s going to play in the G-League. I I think there’s a really good chance, very high chance he leads the the G- League in blocks. Um, the Raptors are going to have a bunch of you’re gonna have a bunch of young guys come up and down that that roster um throughout the whole year. So, I think they’re going to their G-League team is going to be very good, too. And you kind of see things coming together for him. And Summer League was a humongous success for him, especially in terms of his timing and pacing, especially offensively. His physical tools are far greater than the large majority of the G-League. And I think that’s going to pop out, allow him to play a lot faster, and the numbers should follow. And also, I’ll let S finish right after I say this, but the G- League season starts later. He has time to sort out his undisclosed injury, but S, you’re the closest to. You cover him as part of, you know, your work with the 905 quite closely. What’s What’s your thoughts? Yeah, that would be awesome. I think he was already one of the best defensive players last year uh in the G-League from what I watched. It was It’s all about the offense for him and and touch and feel. I also think there will be better guards this season for the 905. Chucky Hepern will be be playing for the 905. Elijah Martin will be playing for the 905. Uh AJ might be playing for the 905. We’ll see. Um I think that will help set him up a little bit more for lob situations to finish in and around the basket more. He’s working with Sergy Baka. It seems like he’s working on his touch and feel. That would be cool. Um yeah, I think I think there’s a pretty good case for this to happen. Ori to get MVP. Just one thing before we move to your final selection s have we not just as like a community of Raptors analyst fans been saying that the guard play at the 905 was going to be like quote unquote good this year for four years. Yeah cuz you know what it was like we expected Jamal Shed to play more minutes for the 905 this year. They got really hurt and so he got thrown he got thrusted into the act. greatest of all time, Maris Noel as he also fits there too. Yes, absolutely. Um, so yeah, it was just it’s one of those things where the team was bad enough where they could filter through 905 guys, but I think the fact that they are trying to win this year means there would be less volatility to the team. Usually the good G-League teams are the ones that aren’t constantly changing and switching up their roster. So it’s OKC is really good typically. Cleveland is really good typically. Like those are teams that don’t need G-League guys to come up to their roster, you know. Also, Jeff Dton, Javon Freeman, Liberty, those were two of like the better guards. Yeah. Yeah. These are great G-League guards, but I I don’t watch enough in the 905 to really know. What is your final suggestion, man? What’s the last pick of this draft? Um, this is this is a fun one. I’m just going to throw it out there just to kind of get the ball rolling. Uh, six man of the year, Grady Dick. Yeah, because I think again scoring big part of this and if Grady has a good shooting year, you know, Malik Beasley was a part of the conversation last year for six man of the year just because he shot the absolute lights out. If Grady has a really good shooting year, which by the way did not happen in his first preseason game. I’m also chalking that up to he will be okay offensively. Um, yeah, if he if he just shoots the ball well and he averages like 12 points off of the bench or like 13 14 points off of the bench just because he’s shooting well, uh, really big boost on the offensive end for this team. I could see six man of the year for Grady Dick. Although, I feel like you can you can pick out a couple of different six-man of the year candidates for this Raptors team, but I think Grady’s the most likely just because three-point shooting means more points potentially. So, November 30th The Raptors play the Knicks. I The last time I spoke to Mike Brown, he floated Grady as the leader of the most improved player race. He did. Yes. And that gave him some motion. November 30th, I need Mike Brown to put Grady’s name out there for six man of the year just to get people talking about it, to get a little motion. It’s tough. Yeah. Like I look at this team and I don’t see a sixman of the year on this team. I don’t I don’t see that. Grady, even if he has a good year, like a good year for our our I guess taste. And we like Grady. Yeah. Oh, that’s a tough one to win. Yeah. This is probably the biggest, but it’s we’re at number nine. Yeah. It’s It’s time to stretch. Can I Can I give you the other one I had considered on top of this? It was uh RJ Barrett most improved, but we also said that last year. Yeah, he would have to he would have to be efficient in scoring and maybe be second in the team in scoring. That was kind of my thought process. It’s like maybe it’s him and BI. That that’s the I have a question. Has anyone ever won most improved player while having a dip in their like slash line? Because he would have to do close to 216 and five. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I understand that like I I just wrote the piece the other day. I think and R.J. his fit was very seamless in what they were doing in the first game preseason. For sure. He helps a lot of what they want to do. He offensively papers over a lot of their weaknesses, but most improve would be like he got to go for 24 or something. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like if the shooting is better this year, so that helps. I don’t know. Yeah. It’s number nine. It’s tough to find the ninth one outside of being like, “Oh, CNB second team all rookie,” which I think what we were having to do in past years. You know what I mean? Like, well, I don’t know what to pick. Um, I think we didn’t pick an AllNBA. I’m just thinking of this right now. We didn’t pick an AllNBA. Yeah, that’s that’s fine. It’s tough. It is tough. Yeah. Although it’s it’s in it’s in play. Yeah. It’s not it’s not out of play. It’s in play. Um, but uh, Trey, obviously make the case for Grady while you think. I spent too much time poo pooing it. I just did. By the way, anybody listening, I did an interview with Grady the other day. I like Grady’s game a lot. I think he can have a good year. I believe in him as a player, but uh, Trey, how do you feel about six man of the year? I think um there’s there’s I think he there’s a possibility he gets some buzz around it just because the Raptors swing number should swing upwards when he’s on the court just because he’s essential to giving the the entire team spacing. He’s the best shooter on the team still give or take with him. Are we I feel like is better. This happened last year. Do you did the same thing last year. Yeah, I would say Grady just because Emanuel Emanuel Quickley can’t get off shots within in the same he was one of the best pullup shooters in in the league. So I feel like can can you take a side step and hit a shot, please? I feel like Bernie Sanders right now, man. The it’s everything’s changing around me. I’m staying in the same place. Last year I said quickly and you along with me Trey were like it’s obviously quickly and and was like Grady but now you two have flip-flopped. Yes. Yeah. Wow. I mean it’s weird how changes like that. I it would be awesome if it was Grady but I think I think you got to like trust the numbers that you’ve seen in Quickly. I don’t know. Yeah. I think Quickly is the better shooter. I think Quickly is the better shooter. I feel like Grady can get off far more shots in far different angles. He’s taking significantly harder threes because he’s willing to play within the flow of the offense. So, I think the numbers like don’t add enough color. But stop trying to fit out and fit in, be part of something greater. You know what I mean? I but in terms of like his his six-man um like possibility like he’s going to be a part of the reason why the Raptors I think the Raptors bench is going to to be good. He’s also going to get I think a few possessions where they throw him the ball and ask him to score. The the Raptors are very few players that that aren’t that aren’t flow players that can’t actually take the ball and do something with it. So, he’s going to get that opportunity. And if he shoots a super high clip, if we see that 40 plus um three-point shooter shooting season, I wouldn’t be shocked if he averages like 16 off the bench and his impact numbers are really good because of the shooting jump. He helps with the starters, the the offensive boost. That’s basically that was my pitch is like he can carry and lead an offense, so the swing there is higher. Um, what I urge people to look at when Grady’s on the floor, see how many actions the Raptors involve him in. They basically involve him in everything because he drags and pulls the defense. Uh, he hasn’t delivered with the percentages, but the league really views him as an a very strong shooter and it helps open up things for other players. Um, as a viewer, that’s a fun little thing you can pay attention to, but you can expect lots of breakdowns on this kind of stuff from the three men you’re listening to here. Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe. Of course, before we get out of here, hype the video. S any thoughts before we get out? Uh, no. I’m going to be that guy again. Like, comment, subscri Yeah, nothing, man. It’s good to good to do this every year. Hopefully, we actually uh some of these actually happen. That would be nice to to finally have awards that we can track because it’s been tough the last couple of years to track this because every year it’s been like ah no awards. It has been tough. Trey, anything before we all get out of here to watch the Blue Jays. I I think this is the year we finally get one. Like if none of these hit, the Raptors probably sucked. And if they suck again, it’s going to be a bad time for us. Especially since because I see some, you know, I see some fans say like this is a good draft. If they suck, it’s not so bad. No, it’s bad, man. It would be bad. It would be so bad if they suck. That would be terrible. God, it’d be disastrous. It’s one of those things like if they suck, then it’s not just they’re tanking, they’re trading a bunch of people. They’re they’re ripping this thing down to the stud. This is like Yeah. If you see the cheese and there’s a bit of mold on the outside and you think, “I’ll just cut that off.” And then the cheese is still good, but then you cut and it’s just more mold. The whole thing is mold. It’s just none of it works. I They’re at an inflection point like similar to like Kyle Kyle and Demar post um Rudy Gay trade. If you suck during that stretch and period of time like they get traded New York. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, they we would have might maybe maybe bamboozled them again, but we would be three seasons removed from evil evil. Fred Van Vleet is the ruiner of the team. Yeah, we’d be two and a half seasons removed from Pascal is what’s stopping Scotty who just made an all-star game with him from succeeding. we would be the rearview mirror and not that those guys would have fixed the outlook of this team, but just that maybe the analysis of what was working on the team uh from higherups or from wherever was not necessarily accurate. It would be it’d be disheartening. It it’d be tough. There’d be a sweeping change literally from president all the way all the way down to man 15 to be good. It would be a bad year to be doing two podcasts a week on this team. It would be a bad year to be doing two podcasts a week on this team. Yeah, I saw I saw like ESPN had them uh predicted at 40 wins and the ninth seed. Um and I just I feel like that’s low, man. Well, that’s much different than the 32 wins Vegas opened them at way back when. There’s been there’s been momentum around this team and belief has piled on over time and I I just hope that gets rewarded. Um, Trey, thank you for hopping on. I will see you in a few days. Uh, s the very same. Love you fellas, listeners. Make sure to like, comment, subscribe, hype. Uh, we’re going to have you supported this whole season. All the stuff you want to hear about the Raptors, all the in-depth analysis, all the news, we’ll have it right here. Pull up Trey Podcast. Thank you for tuning in. And whether you got into this in the morning or at night, have a blessed day. Leave your award selections in the comments and goodbye.

Samson Folk & Trevon Heath are joined by producer Es for their annual awards draft.

0:00 – Introductions

1:55 – The Awards Draft

2:45 – Scottie All-Defense

5:55 – Ingram Clutch Player of the Year

8:05 – Brandon Ingram All-Star

12:00 – Darko Coach of the Year

16:05 – CMB All Rookie

21:25 – Scottie Barnes All-Star

27:48 – Garrett Temple good guy award

30:25 – Ulrich Chomche G League MVP

35:23 – Gradey Dick 6th Man of the Year

41:55 – The Raptors HAVE to be good

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