Toronto is just all I’ve known — and all I’ve wanted to know. I never asked for a trade. Maybe this sounds naive, but I felt I could be one of those dudes who spends his whole career on one team. That was my mentality even with the rumors. Like: I helped the Raptors win their first NBA title. So eventually I’ll help them win their second. I always took that as a given, you know?

Toronto made me feel like I belonged from day one. I loved the diversity — I’d go out and I’d see Cameroonians, Ghanaians, Mexicans, Koreans, Jamaicans, Europeans, just all types of people from all types of communities. It made me feel comfortable. [...] It was like, OK, if so many people somewhere are foreign … maybe you’re not feeling as foreign.

Jakob, Fred, Norm, Delon….. man, those were good times. That was such a tight group. Like, we were some underdogs, but we weren’t just “scratching and clawing.” We were coming for heads!! We used to play “5 on 0” at the gym before practice most days. Just the five of us, running the offense against nobody, drive kick swing, drive kick swing, getting those reps in. We really did everything together: work out, hang out, go out, whatever. I think it was our second year, Jak and I went to Cancún during All Star??? He taught me how to shotgun a beer. I didn’t even know it’s a thing!!! It doesn’t make much sense. (I wasn’t good.)

The organization, they were also great about setting us up for success. They just cared about me — like, about Pascal the human. That was the standard. I mean, no joke: Raptors people took me to my driving test!

And I’ll always be a part of this community. That’s what I meant about putting roots down — it isn’t just, you know, “oh I have a house in Toronto.” It’s where I live. It’s where so many of the things I care about are, and where my brothers and sisters are, and where my PS43 Foundation is and will continue to be.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/13256679

I was looking for a relatively quick analysis to experiment with some of the NBA stats APIs, so I examined player performance before and after the Raptors-Knicks trade on 2023-12-30 from a Raptors perspective.

I excluded the shorthanded game they played against the Pistons that day, and compared players' average game scores for the ~31 games prior to and ~7 games after the trade (including the pitiful loss to the Jazz on January 13th).

I chose the Hollinger Game Score to summarize player performance, which can be calculated from a player's box score.

The formula is: PTS + 0.4 * FG - 0.7 * FGA - 0.4*(FTA - FT) + 0.7 * ORB + 0.3 * DRB + STL + 0.7 * AST + 0.7 * BLK - 0.4 * PF - TOV.

Game Score was created to give a rough measure of a player's productivity for a single game. The scale is similar to that of points scored, (40 is an outstanding performance, 10 is an average performance, etc.).

I must say I thought Darko looked a little annoyed with how much the lineup change seemed to improve the team during Wednesday's game (even if it the 5-win Wiz). I haven't seen a press conference with him yet. I'm really looking forward to the Celtics game now, although beating them won' be easy. Hopefully we get at least 10 games with this new starting lineup. 1-0 baby!

"So where are you when you can’t win games and have no reason to lose them? When you won’t commit to your best players and can’t get rid of them? You exist in limbo, in liminal space. Toronto is Schrodinger’s basketball team, both alive and dead. It doesn’t know who it is as a front office or as a playing unit. There is an identity crisis that begins on the basketball court and echoes all the way out. Masai Ujiri latched onto selfishness as a lifeline to explain last season, and then he guaranteed the team would not be selfish this year, and now the Raptors are … this. They may not be selfish, whatever that means, but they surely aren’t good."

The Raptors lost to the LaMelo-less Hornets - and practically trailed them the entire night - on Friday. Sheesh. Per Will Lou on the sportsnet Raptors Reaction podcast afterwards: "I'm warning you: don't get excited about this team." (that quote's from memory, it might be off by a word.)

There has been one positive this year: Scottie Barnes' ascendance towards looking like a perennial all-star player. Is any other player who will still be on this team when Scottie gets there currently on this team? Probably not.

3 of the Raptors' 4 largest contacts are expiring this year - Pascal, Gary, and OG (who has a player option next year, but I don't think he'll pick it up since he's rumoured to fetch much more as a FA). The Raptors' performance as a team this year suggests no reason to keep this team together to me. Some other team in the league will probably offer Pascal and OG close to max contracts - but do we want to? Given their expiring contracts, they're not going to fetch anywhere near as much on the trade market as they would have last year (e.g., 3 first round picks for OG), so it looks like we missed the good times to sell. I don't know how tough Masai's going to be able to be this year in terms of what he gets back - we can't afford to let more contracts expire and get nothing in return (as has happened with several players since the championship!).

Of course, there's no point in tanking this year, since we traded our first round pick last year for Poeltl.

There's a risk in going into a longer-term rebuild or the team not improving next year. Next year is Scottie's last year of his current contract. He will have many suitors, and rightfully so. Why would he want to re-sign with a team that's fighting for a play-in spot and has an offence that the team's own president says is "not fun to watch."

I think Darko needs to change up his lines. I want to see Scottie starting at PG and Gary starting for spacing/shooting alongside Scottie (Dennis would come off the bench). At the trade deadline, we need to do what the Nets did since trading Durant and Kyrie: move a couple big chips for several more smaller, but still high-quality ones that keeps the team competitive. (Raptors probably have the worst bench in the league. Also we NEED shooting!) Longer-term: Don't tie up as many assets in vets who don't play. We have Thad (8 mil) and Garrett Temple (2 mil), and while I'm sure they're great locker room presences - those contracts and roster spots don't help with the depth of our bench.

Speaking of Masai/Bobby, I like them a lot and once had a lot of confidence in them, but their performance since the championship year has not looked very good.

Raps Fam - How are you feeling about the Raptors right now? Who do you think will get traded at the deadline? Pascal, OG, GTJ?

Link to article (post as URL wasn't working): [Joe Wolfond] The Raptors are testing the limits of an offensive philosophy shift

I thought this was a good article. I'm curious what others who've been watching the start of the season are thinking so far and expecting the rest of the way.

Some article snippets:

Toronto is testing the limits of a philosophical shift. Because practically speaking, this is a very similar roster with similar (in some cases starker) limitations to the one that finished bottom six in true shooting and half-court efficiency each of the last two years.

The Raptors are off to a 1-3 start, with the worst offensive rating in the league. While they've offered plenty to feel encouraged about - they continue to thrive in transition, their more conservative base defense has been tremendous, and Barnes appears to have taken a sizable leap on both ends - their half-court offense has been inept enough to undercut most of the positives.

The Raptors can cut, hand off, and reverse the ball to their hearts' content, but what does that amount to if their actions aren't treated as genuine threats by opposing defenses?

How much of that is really about execution, though, and how much of it is about personnel? There are things the Raptors can do better, but at the end of the day bending a set defense is hard to do without high-end ball-handling and movement shooting, both of which are in short supply in guard-poor Toronto. Schroder brings more rim pressure than VanVleet, and his playmaking has been a pleasant surprise, but he's a similarly poor finisher with a lot less off-ball gravity.

"It's hard. That's the art of this job," he says. "We want to create new habits, we want to play to a different identity, but then we have certain players that are really good at doing certain (other) things. So, yes, occasionally it makes sense to look for a mismatch and take advantage of it.

Samson Folk is doing some excellent work at Raptors Republic

I'm looking forward to seeing the boys again and seeing Darko for the first time!

Raptors starting 5: Dennis Schröder, Scottie, OG, Pascal, Poeltl
Injuries: Precious (groin injury), Koloko (respiratory condition)
Venue: Rogers Arena; Vancouver, BC

A statement from an MSG spokesperson added that the lawsuit was filed after the ex-employee "illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to his new position" with the Raptors.

"These files include confidential information such as play frequency reports, a prep book for the 2022-23 season, video scouting files and materials and more," according to the statement. "Given the clear violation of our employment agreement, criminal and civil law, we were left no choice but to take this action.”

According to a source, the Knicks reached out to the Raptors and NBA about the issue before filing the lawsuit.

"MLSE and the Toronto Raptors received a letter from MSG on Thursday of last week bringing this complaint to our attention. MLSE responded promptly, making clear our intention to conduct an internal investigation and to fully cooperate," MLSE and the Raptors said in a statement. "MLSE has not been advised that a lawsuit was being filed or has been filed following its correspondence with MSG. The company strongly denies any involvement in the matters alleged. MLSE and the Toronto Raptors will reserve further comment until this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties."

The lawsuit names Ikechukwu Azotam as the former Knicks employee who “illegally procured and disclosed proprietary information” to members of the Raptors, including new head coach Darko Rajakovic and other members of the coaching staff.

The suit alleges that Azotam signed an agreement as a Knicks employee with a "confidentiality clause requiring him to maintain the secrecy of all confidential or proprietary Knicks information."

Per the lawsuit, Azotam, who worked for the Knicks as an assistant video coordinator and then as a director of video/analytics/player development assistant from 2020-23, was recruited to work for the Raptors in or around June of this year. With Rajakovic serving as a first time head coach, the lawsuit claims the Raptors “conspired to use Azotam’s position as a current Knicks insider to funnel proprietary information to the Raptors to help them organize, plan, and structure the new coaching and video operations staff.”

Azotam informed the Knicks of an offer to work for the Raptors in July, at which time he began “secretly forwarding proprietary information from his Knicks email account to his personal Gmail account, which he then shared with the Raptors Defendants. These materials included scouting reports, play frequency reports, a prep book, and a link to third-party licensed software,” the lawsuit reads.

That's 10 NBA players, I think. I heard Jordi Fernandez, head coach, talking about the team and upcoming tourney during Wednesday's Blue Jays game TV broadcast. He said they had size 1 through 5 and were emphasizing unselfish basketball. The game times aren't great for us because the tourney's in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia. But hot damn, am I ready to cheer on a Team Canada backcourt of SGA and Jamal MF-ing Murray, etc, what a team!!! 😝 No Nick Nurse though, which is interesting but doesn't really surprise me

https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/team/Canada

So this year they have a new type of group ticket package called a 42 game pack. It's basically season seats but with no option to renew.

This is probably because they gave season seats holders the option to take a one year break without paying for their seats, so they have a bunch of seats available.

And I can't imagine demand is high this year.

Ok Raptors fam here…are we having trouble keeping a conversation going because it’s midsummer or because we’re not getting reason to hope for an interesting season ahead?

Personally, I’m seriously wondering if there’s any point to keeping our SN and TSN subscriptions.

Will I really be willing to invest my viewing time in a season that promises to be no better than last and without the exciting of seeing a crop of new players develop? Seriously, a couple of seasons ago I was more invested in watching Banton and the others in 905 games. I just feel weary thinking about taking in the main team in the fall.

How are others feeling?

Take a break from the Siakam trade rumour pile-on and checkout some behind the scenes at Summer League.

The Raptors have saved themselves $1.9 million for next season and opened up a roster spot to fill with someone else on a minimum contract.

In all likelihood, that open spot will go to Jeff Dowtin Jr., who currently remains unsigned, having been tendered a two-way qualifying offer earlier this summer. Throughout the end of last season, the Raptors made it clear they wanted to have Dowtin back with the team this year.

While rumours, speculations and ‘expert’ grading of trade rumours reach a fever pitch around Pascal Siakam, Sports Illustrated is bringing the conversation back around to OG Anunoby with citing a Bleacher Report of report of a possible trade to the Orlando Magic.

Chris Walder’s quippy tweet in reaction to some OG trade scenarios floating about says “Thanks for making the Toronto Raptors infinitely worse.”

Thoughts?

A deep dive on the increasing amount of trade chatter surrounding Toronto Raptors All-Star forward Pascal Siakam. Why now? What's Siakam's market value on a potentially expiring deal? And which trade destination makes the most sense between the Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, L.A. Clippers, or Chicago Bulls?

"I just think it was time for a change in scenery for everybody," said VanVleet. "Ultimately, we weren't able to keep going but on the other end, I had a great offer on the table while I'm still talking to (the Raptors), so now you put them together and you weigh them out and it was really, really, really tough — my stomach was in knots trying to figure it out because it was no wrong choice.

"Those are the hardest choices to make — when there's no wrong way to go. I could've went back for whatever the deal was or I could go start something new, and ultimately I just chose a new setup."