Thanks, as always, and we’ll be back next week with a road edition from a Chicago-Milwaukee sojourn.
To open up money and a spot for a buyout candidate, could Garrett Temple retire and take a front-office job? I fully believe he has been beneficial to the young players’ assimilation into the league, but a friend with courtside seats tells me he has led the young players in trick-shot games during warm-ups while opposing teams are preparing in a serious manner, then come out of the gate with better first quarters than the Raps. The inference is that Temple has gone too far in keeping the players loose.
No, all of Temple’s contract counts towards the cap and tax so there’s no financial gain. They were able, in rough figures, to deal $6 million owed to Ochai Agbaji for $3 million owed to Chris Paul because the Nets had room in their salary total to fit him in.
As for Temple’s impact, I do know they clown a bit in the layup line (15-foot, high-arcing floaters, for instance) but the real pre-game warm-up comes in the two hours or so before the game when every player has a one-on-one workout session with one of the coaches. It’s really not at all infringing on preparation and I’m pretty sure opposing teams are as light-natured on the five or six minutes of wasted layup line time.
Do you have an opinion on ex G-Leaguers, or perhaps, ex-NBA players returning to college to play basketball?
I am dead against it and am not the least bit surprised that the NCAA cleaned up a mess of their doing (not allowing players to earn some stipend) by screwing it up greatly and creating a lawless wild west.
Hello! Why is it simply understood Chris Paul won’t play for the Raptors? Even at his age, he could be a great help for the second unit. It reminds me of the Jermaine O’Neal situation where it seemed as though it was accepted that he would never play up here.
Also, do you have any further insight into the Paul George suspension? Is it masking a real PED offence? Or, as suggested, was it due to use of a medication aimed to assist with mental health? If the latter, and I tried to do some amateur reading and it seems as though the league may have some SSRI‘s on their prohibited list, then why? Those are the most commonly prescribed medications for anxiety and depression and, to the extent of my understanding, do not enhance physical performance.
Chris Paul, for sure a Hall of Famer, would never, ever have played a minute at 40 years old for this team. His game is done. And I think you might be misremembering Jermaine O’Neal. He wasn’t a good fit but he showed up and played 41 games.
I have no knowledge of the Paul George suspension other than what’s been reported. What I will say is this: If I am a professional athlete and anyone gives me a medication to take for whatever reason, I immediately take to my team doctors and if I don’t trust them, I take to an NBA union-approved physician so they can clear its contents against the league’s list of banned substances.
Hi Doug: Still puzzled as to why the Raptors gave up on Mo Bamba so quickly before he even had a chance to get into a few games. He is playing well for his G-League team.
Mo Bamba showed nothing in practice or games to get another chance and after six teams in eight seasons, his run was over.
They filled that role with Trayce Jackson-Davis, who is young, more affordable and probably more promising.
In listening to the latest Pablo Torre podcast and the evidence he has compiled about the circumventing of the salary cap by the Clippers owner — which also ties into the Toronto market — why has there been no media coverage of this issue especially with the all-star game being hosted by the Clippers this year?
Apart from some articles in September after Pablo’s prior podcasts, there has been general silence by the media in Canada and the U.S. on a fundamental issue of confidence in the management of the league and the impact on fans that there are rules with consequences that define how the league is managed.
Enjoy your mailbag and coverage of the basketball.
There’s been no news on the Clippers story because there’s no news. The league’s investigation is continuing and it’s at its own pace. I will also remind that this situation — the no-show endorsement, etc. — has nothing to do with the 2019 contract Leonard signed to leave the Raptors.
They may be “obvious” breaches to you, but I’m going to wait and see the entirety of the information before I leap to any conclusions.
During 2019 contract talks, Leonard’s camp wanted a trade for Paul George, shares in the Maple
Hey Doug: A couple of things I’ve been wondering about.
For all the talk about a focus on defence in the pre-season and during the season, the Raptors are still only an average to below average defensive team, depending on what metrics you look at.
I’m a Seattle Seahawks fan, and have really enjoyed their coach Mike Macdonald over the two years he’s been leading the team. One of his mantras is ‘Process over Results’. What I think he means by that is, we prepare a certain way to play a certain way. We are clear on what that looks like, so that is our focus. Then we go out and play as close to that as we can, and the results are what the results are. I wonder if you feel this is similar to how Darko Rajakovic thinks? Do you feel the team has a clear vision on what they are, and what their game needs to look like each night?
By the metrics I have available to me, the Raptors at the break are Top 6 overall and Top 11 or 12 in per 100 possessions or per 36 minutes. They are top half dozen in deflections and in the top half on points off turnovers.
They are a better-than-average to below-average defensive team. Still room to get better but unarguably good.
And yes, they know precisely what they have to be and what the staff demands: active hands, aggressive man-to-man coverage and the need to turn defence into transition offence.
Happy all-star long weekend Doug. A breather for you I hope, then the final stretch until the playoffs (fingers crossed!)
1) A bit of bookkeeping: After the Chris Paul deal, how many roster spots are there currently for the Raptors? When is the deadline for the team or Paul to officially decline playing this season?
2) I read rumours of a Walker Kessler deal with Utah that didn’t happen, apparently Bobby Webster decided this was a summertime move. I really like Kessler for Toronto, but am I wrong in assuming that it means that someone else would have to be let go? In my opinion, he’s too good a player to be a third- or fourth-string centre and his age fits well with our current core. What’s your take on this hypothetical deal?
Rajakovic sees NBA MVP and Finals MVP awards in Barnes’ future.
Rajakovic sees NBA MVP and Finals MVP awards in Barnes’ future.
3) Darko’s slightly over-the-top praise of Scottie Barnes got some press. Personally, I prefer a coach who is trying to instill confidence and high standards rather than a coach like Paul Maurice when he coached the Leafs. If the coach doesn’t believe in his guys (A) how can the fans believe in them and (B) he probably shouldn’t be the coach anymore. Maurice, in not so many words, essentially said there was no way they could win the Stanley Cup a few games before the playoffs began and it put the nail in the coffin for me as a fan. Thoughts?
4) Non-Raptor question: At the season’s start, everyone thought Atlanta would be where the Raptors are now. What’s your take on their failure to thrive? While you’re at it, why have the Bulls and Jazz struggled for so long?
Thanks for getting through the wacky week that was. Get ready for the final push for the playoffs!
The Raptors have one roster spot open and they don’t ever have to fill it, if they don’t want to. My guess remains they’ll convert one of their two-way guys in the next few weeks. And Paul, had not he retired a few days ago, would have had to have signed somewhere by March 1 to be playoff eligible. It’s moot now.
Kessler’s interesting but not for the third centre spot the Raptors were looking at filling. Getting him and cutting into the time for Collin Murray-Boyles or Sandro Mamukelashvili makes no sense to me.
I appreciate Darko’s enthusiasm for Barnes and think it’s important in this day and age that coaches connect with players on many levels and that is necessary. But Darko’s verging on too much hyperbole and the message gets lost.
I never believed in Trae Young or the Hawks’ mix, Chicago was too young and small and the Jazz are quite happy to lose again; nothing happened with any of them surprised me in the least.
Hello Doug: I’m scratching my head about Jonathan Mogbo. While I agree with something you wrote recently to the effect that Murray-Boyles has passed Jonathan Mogbo on the depth chart, I can’t understand why his usage is approaching zero. Last season, he averaged 20.4 minutes and 6.2 points per game. This one: 6.3 and 1.4.
— Regards, Brian J. Boake
My opinion is that Mogbo doesn’t give the Raptors any more than any of the four players — Poeltl, Murray-Boyles, Mamukelashvili and Barnes — who play the position. Fifth in the depth chart makes sense, no?
And that answers your second point: He hasn’t earned minutes ahead of any of them.
Hey Doug: Well the Raps more or less did what they really needed to by avoiding the luxury tax and grabbing a big (albeit an undersized one).
I have to ask though: Could they have made a serious offer for Ivica Zubac or even Jusuf Nurkić (once they traded for Jaren Jackson Jr.)?? Seems like the price was low enough to explore the idea.
Also do you see the Raps as buyers on the buyout market if a big comes available (like a Nurkić) or possibly add some three-point shooting?
No interest at all in either of them. They are quite fine with starting centre they have — Jakob Poeltl. If that changes in the summer, fine. It’s the case right now.
The only move substance — and I don’t count 10-day deals as “substance” — is converting one of their two-ways around the start of March.
“We’re not afraid to take challenges,” the coach says of his team’s growth. “We’re not afraid to try new things.”
“We’re not afraid to take challenges,” the coach says of his team’s growth. “We’re not afraid to try new things.”
It was only one game, but Trayce Jackson-Davis left quite the impression. For a team that needs better shooters, controlling the ball is crucial — and his 10 rebounds, eight of them offensive rebounds in just 15 minutes of play — really stood out. Add a steal and a block and 10 points for those 15 minutes and it was a very impressive debut.
Next: Colin Murray-Boyles: I understand Poeltl is out. But he shouldn’t have played against Indiana. His left thumb hasn’t been given time to heal. I realize it left us only with Mamu and Jackson-Davis. But count me as surprised — the Raptors usually understand the need to have their athletes heal properly. Since the injury, he’s tweaked it several times in various games and we’ve seen him grimace in pain. He’s certainly a tough guy — but the call should have been to shut him down until after the all-star game. (The true value of the all-star game seems to be to allow players to heal!)
Lastly: How do we give enough time to Poeltl, Mamu, CMB, and Jackson-Davis? And if we do give them time — who gets cut out?
Murray-Boyles is playing through pain, sure. But they weren’t taking any unnecessary risks.
Given good health for all, Jackson-Davis will play sparingly — foul trouble to others, primarily — and that’s okay because good health for all is not a given.
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