After Fred VanVleet departed the Raptors in free agency, Toronto was quick to sign Dennis Schröder to a two-year, $25.4MM contract. Schroder is the only player on the Raptors who has previous experience playing for head coach Darko Rajakovic, and that connection is already paying off, TSN’s Josh Lewenberg writes.
While there was some speculation that Scottie Barnes would assume most of the play-making duties after VanVleet left, respect was high between Schröder and Rajakovic from their time together with the Thunder, where Rajakovic served as an assistant, according to Lewenberg.
“[Schröder]’s an experienced point guard,” Rajakovic said. “We’re a new team, new terminology, new coaching staff. There’s so much new with our team and having somebody who’s been through different teams in that role of a point guard brings a calmness.”
Through his first two games as a Raptor, Schröder has been an effective passer (17 assists), an active defender, and a sound shooter (6-of-13 from deep).
“The relationship with me and Darko is great, and it’s honest,” Schröder said. “Whenever he’s got something to say he tells me, and I’ve got the same thing for him. And I think that’s what we’ve gotta do as a team, as well. When you put your egos to the side – and that’s what we did this summer with the national team – and it’s all about winning, then you can get into arguments and move on from it and get better. I think we’re moving in that direction with this team.”
We have more on the Raptors:
- The Raptors got off to a great defensive start on Wednesday when they held the Timberwolves to 94 points and they have the personnel to be one of the best in the league in that regard, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. According to Koreen, Barnes holds the keys for the Raptors taking the next step on that end. “That’s where my game starts — on the defensive end, being able to go out there and guard anybody, taking pride in it,” the former Rookie of the Year said. “That’s just my mentality going into every game, trying to start off on defense. That leads to great offense with transition and that just leads me to stay on lockdown throughout the game.“
- While Toronto’s defense has been effective, their half-court offense looks subpar through two games, Koreen writes in another piece. The Raptors committed 21 turnovers on Friday and fell to the Bulls in overtime.
- Raptors president Masai Ujiri and new scout Ben Uzoh have a history together, as detailed by ESPN’s Leonard Solms. Ujiri was Denver’s general manager during Uzoh’s playing career and invited him to training camp in 2012. “Our paths were actually very organically separate,” Uzoh said. “It just kind of aligned. We crossed paths initially [during] my rookie year. I was rumored to be traded to his team when he was the GM of the Nuggets… It didn’t happen, but then they signed me to a training camp opportunity. That’s when I kind of got more in touch with him and more of an up close and personal type of connection with him.“
Masai has doomed this team by not signing another point guard or drafting one. Flynn has shown for two years that he is not NBA caliber. Then Gradey Dick the number one pick is not playing at all.
Doomed? This is not a contender with or without an elite PG. They are hoping to build up Barnes and Precious and add to their young core.
To both @tiger and @MB81:
Little too early with Gradey Dick, as it’s only been 2 games. I think the bench depth is good enough not to throw him in the fire too quickly. Although I do agree with your assessment of Flynn. He’s just not consistent enough, and this year is def make-or-break for him.
RE Precious, not sure if he’s still in their plans, as they decided on letting him hit restricted FA next summer. We’ll see what happens. I do like Precious, but the one thing he needs to get better at is consistency, as he can put in some good games, but also tends to disappear.
Dick had 16 points in 28 minutes yesterday, literally the third game of the year lol
Looks like the Lakers are going to regret signing Vincent over Schroder.
Vincent is a way better fit than Schroeder on a LeBron team. The Lakers don’t need playmaking. The Raptors do.