Having already received clearance to play their home games in Toronto in 2021/22 after spending last season in Tampa, the Raptors are now waiting to see whether the Ontario provincial goverment will allow them to play in front of full-capacity crowds at Scotiabank Arena, writes Kevin McGran of The Toronto Star.
Both the Raptors and the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs – who share Scotiabank Arena – intend to only allow fully vaccinated individuals to attend games. They’re expecting to get an answer from government officials this week, per McGran.
“With a fully vaccinated venue, it is our belief that we can safely host a full capacity event,” MLSE spokesperson Dave Haggith said. “With tickets on sale, we are planning for eventual full capacity in 2021 and our ticketing rollout has built-in flexibility so we are ready for potential scenarios.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- With the Ben Simmons situation still unresolved, Rich Hofmann of The Athletic examines what the Sixers‘ rotation might look like in 2021/22 both with Simmons and without him. Tyrese Maxey, Shake Milton, and Furkan Korkmaz would receive the biggest minutes boosts if Simmons holds out and hasn’t yet been traded.
- Jared Dubin of FiveThirtyEight considers what past trades of All-Stars can tell us about the Simmons situation. As Dubin outlines, pieces-and-picks packages are typically the most common returns for All-Star players, while the Sixers are seeking a star-for-star deal, increasing the degree of difficulty.
- Al Horford‘s return to the Celtics means the team will be able to comfortably run out lineups featuring two big men again. Jared Weiss of The Athletic explains why that’s a good thing for Boston.
Maxey and Milton better take big advantage of the opportunity. Both have a lot of as-yet unreleased potential. Korkmaz has already hit his ceiling. It would be sweet if Simmons essentially lost his job and sat home until they can find someone stupid enough to take him and his cry babying on.
Those two guys are both in a similar situation right now to that of Kevin Porter and Jalen Green in Houston since the team decided to bench Wall.
They all know they must seize the opportunity they’ve been given to excel.
Agree with Maxey Milton and Korkmaz
Highly disagree with Simmons. When you play in such a disfunctional organization as Philly who’s President and coach publicly call out one of your star players and then throw him out with the bath water and expect a kings random in return, you either are stupid or arrogant/egotistical.
You would owe them nothing—hope he sits out, the longer the better.
Would love to have Simons in an organization that’s known for player development—my team of course the Toronto Raps, Miami or San Antonio
Come to think of it, San Antonio may be the perfect spot for Ben Simmons. They stress defense over 3-point shooting as much as any other team in the NBA. So his skill set would probably fit better there than anywhere else. Matching salaries wouldn’t be very difficult if the Spurs are willing to send out multiple players since seven of their players all make between $7M and $15M a year.
Point taken but that “SAS Play the Right Way/ Beautiful Basketball” seems to look a lil better with Duncan than without out him – as would any team or system.
SA doesn’t do anything different Player Development-wise than most teams, most teams just didn’t have Duncan.
Give me a break with that crap. Granted, Doc definitely said some very regrettable things after the game 7 loss, but how many years has everyone in the organization, along with the fans, stood behind Ben? Every year it’s the same story with Simmons. Maybe for once he needs to look in the mirror and see where the true fault lies, but that will never happen since he seemingly only cares about the lifestyle of a young, rich professional athlete rather that actually improving on the part of his game that has now drawn national ridicule.
The way you explain it, it does seem like Philly’s brain trust screwed up big time. Still, it’s hard to believe Doc Rivers, who took our Celtics to a title, participated. Of course Doc did leave the Celtics, maybe in a huff, & I still never understood why. Net, net, I get the sense that Philly just can’t get it all together.
Milton has hit his ceiling also. He isn’t good.
Will Toronto enforce the rule for opposing teams as well? In NYC, I believe they are enforcing it for the Nets and the Knicks, but are only requiring testing for opposing teams. The issue could also be whether Canada allows unvaccinated people to cross the border. Teams could be forced to leave some players behind.
I think the venues in SF and NY have certain restrictions for unvaccinated players, but if the travel restrictions prohibit them from entering Canada then I imagine they should be that much more motivated to get the shot(s).
How would you even guess what the Sixers rotation would look like without Simmons until you know what they got back in the trade? I’d say more likely those guys will get LESS burn after a trade than before one.
Milton and Korkmaz, yes (at least I really hope) Maxey looks like he really has a lot of potential. I don’t think his minutes are going to get eaten into
I think Simmons is going to shock basketball and shoot when he plays again. Philly is toast Embriid can’t do it all.
There seems to be a lot of talk about trading Simmons (and Thybulle) for Wall since both teams are having a hard time finding trade partners. Of course Houston would need to attach the necessary draft picks required to satisfy the Sixers demands.