- Raptors guard Fred VanVleet (right knee injury management) will miss the team’s game against Philadelphia on Sunday, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. VanVleet played nearly 47 minutes against the Lakers in an overtime game on Friday. He leads the team in minutes per game (38.2) and is in the midst of his first All-Star campaign.
- Rivers indicated that he might consider resting some of his players, particularly with a tough back-to-back looming for the Sixers Sunday and Monday against the Raptors and Heat, per Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. That wraps up a stretch of six games in nine days with two back-to-backs and a pair of one-game road trips. “You’d rather have this at the beginning of the year,” Rivers said. “But every team, at some point, goes through a stretch like this.”
- A crucial mistake in Friday’s loss to the Lakers should be a learning experience for Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes, states Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Although Barnes had a great game with 31 points and 17 rebounds, his late inbounds pass was intercepted by Russell Westbrook, who hit a three-pointer to send the game to overtime. “It wasn’t just him,” Fred VanVleet said. “He really gave us a chance to be in the game, dominated both ends of the floor, had a couple unfortunate plays but … I’ve certainly had my share of them (and) it sucks in the moment but all you can do for those times is grow and get better at it, and Scottie will do that.”
Rookie Scottie Barnes may be the fulcrum on which the Raptors‘ future balances, according to Michael Grange of Sportnet. Barnes was stellar during the team’s current five-game winning streak, with all the victories coming on the road.
Barnes is an extremely versatile player who epitomizes the positionless nature of the modern NBA. With long arms and a relentless motor, the 20-year-old has an uncanny knack for the ball.
“If you’re a guy who has a nose for the basketball that means usually you have good anticipation about what’s coming ahead of time, before it happens,” head coach Nick Nurse said of Barnes. “Guys that seem to end up where the ball ends up, that takes, I think, an anticipation or a thinking ahead or just playing a lot. I know he’s 20 but we’ve talked about all the stories of they could never get him out of the gym, he was always playing pickup in multiple age groups … he’s played a lot I think to acquire that sense.”
Barnes is one of the leading candidates for Rookie of the Year; through 61 games (35.6 MPG), all starts, he’s averaging 15.3 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.2 SPG and 0.8 BPG on .490/.316/.732 shooting.
At 39-30, Toronto currently has the same record as Cleveland, but the Cavs hold the tiebreaker for the sixth seed in the East.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- Fred VanVleet‘s maturity makes him the emotional leader of the Raptors, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic. “Obviously me being the leader and the point guard out there, it’s my job to be the calming presence. Sometimes I do a good job of that, sometimes I don’t. But for the most part, I’m glad with his team’s disposition and whether things are good or bad or up or down, we’ve done a great job of sticking together,” VanVleet said. “I think it just speaks to our chemistry. … We’re (able to have) honest, open communication. And that helps a lot. There are a lot of runs in a game and different things throughout the season, and you got to be able to just stay even-keeled throughout.” The first-time All-Star and 2019 NBA champion has been struggling with a knee injury, but he’s still serving as a mentor and leader for the young Toronto squad, as Koreen details.
- OG Anunoby will miss at least one more week due to his fractured right ring finger, which still isn’t fully healed, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. He’ll be reevaluated again next week.
- Malachi Flynn had a small tear in his left hamstring, per Lewenberg (Twitter link). Flynn suffered the injury two weeks ago and was ruled out indefinitely, but the hamstring is almost healed and Nurse says Flynn might be back in about a week.
- Count Lakers head coach Frank Vogel as an admirer of Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, as Grange relays (via Twitter). “He’s one of the best players in the league in my opinion,” Vogel said of Siakam. The 27-year-old is having an outstanding season, averaging 22.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 5.1 APG, and 1.3 SPG on .486/.358/.744 shooting through 56 games (37.6 MPG) this season.
- Raptors forward OG Anunoby‘s fractured finger is “getting better every day”, according to coach Nick Nurse, but it’s still not fully healed. Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. Anunoby, who has been out since February 16, was limited in practice on Wednesday and won’t play on Friday.
The Knicks had several opportunities to trade Alec Burks ahead of last month’s deadline, but the deals fell apart because New York kept pressing for additional draft assets, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.
Among the proposals was a three-way trade involving the Lakers and Raptors that would have sent Burks and Cam Reddish to L.A., Talen Horton-Tucker and Nerlens Noel to Toronto, and Goran Dragic and the Raptors’ 2022 first-round pick to New York, sources tell Fischer.
Those talks reportedly collapsed because the Knicks insisted on getting more draft picks, which doesn’t surprise one unidentified Eastern Conference executive who spoke to Fischer.
“They are always trying to squeeze out an extra second-round pick here and an extra second-round pick there,” the executive said.
Since the failed trade, Reddish has been lost for the season with a separated shoulder, while Dragic – traded instead to San Antonio – reached a buyout with the Spurs and signed with the cross-town Nets. The Knicks are still without a reliable point guard and are expected to pursue one in free agency this summer, with the Mavericks’ Jalen Brunson likely to be a prime target.
Burks has been filling in at point guard after injuries to Kemba Walker and Derrick Rose, but New York approached the deadline searching for an alternative. Burks, who will turn 31 this summer, is under contract for a little more than $10MM next season and the Knicks hold a team option on his $10.49MM salary for 2023/24.
6:32pm: Brooks has signed his contract, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports.
12:46pm: The Raptors will bring back guard Armoni Brooks on a second 10-day contract, reports Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). Brooks’ first 10-day deal with the team ran through Tuesday before expiring overnight.
Brooks, 23, appeared in four games during his first 10 days with Toronto, averaging 8.3 minutes per contest. His impact was limited — he scored just three points on 1-of-6 shooting with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 33 total minutes.
Still, the Raptors apparently liked what they saw enough to commit to Brooks for at least 10 more days. Once Brooks’ second 10-day deal expires, the team will have to either sign him for the rest of the season or let him walk, since players can’t sign more than two standard 10-day contracts with the same club in a single season.
A former Rocket who was waived by Houston in February, Brooks will once again occupy the 15th spot on Toronto’s standard roster, so no corresponding roster move or hardship exception is necessary to complete the signing. He’ll earn $85,578 on the deal.
Assuming the Raptors re-sign Brooks prior to Wednesday’s game vs. the Clippers, his new contract will run through March 25, covering the club’s next five games.
Raptors forward OG Anunoby, who has been sidelined since the All-Star break due to a fractured right ring finger, was reevaluated on Monday, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).
“It’s kinda the same,” head coach Nick Nurse said of Anunoby’s finger injury. “It’s not fully healed. He’s got a decision to make.”
According to Nurse, the plan is for Anunoby to practice on Tuesday and see how he feels — the team will know more at that point about his status. Nurse’s comment about Anunoby having a “decision” to make suggests that playing through the injury before it has fully healed could be an option if the pain isn’t too bad.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- As Eric Koreen writes for The Athletic, Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes are both technically forwards, but their versatile skill sets allows them to function as de facto point guards at times, and they’re developing intriguing chemistry together. “I think we have kind of like similar skill sets, and we always feel like we have a mismatch every time down the floor,” Siakam said over the weekend.
- Noting that Toronto enjoyed success in Denver on Saturday with a shooting-deficient lineup made up of Barnes, Khem Birch, Thaddeus Young, Chris Boucher, and Dalano Banton, Eric Koreen explores Nurse’s unconventional rotation decisions, dubbing the Raptors the NBA’s “delightful weirdos.”
- Birch appreciates the Raptors’ willingness to stick with him as a rotation regular and a frequent starter, given how much time he has missed this season due to injuries and illnesses. “Honestly, I feel like with any other team I probably wouldn’t even be playing right now,” said Birch, who has missed 26 of 68 games (link via Doug Smith of The Toronto Star). “The fact that they just have that type of confidence in me despite all the injuries I’ve had, all the setbacks, and I’m still getting minutes tells a lot about how they feel about me, and it gives me a lot of confidence to keep going despite my injury.”
- Nekias Duncan of BasketballNews.com examines the progress that Raptors center Precious Achiuwa has made in his second NBA season and the areas where he still has room to improve.
- The Raptors’ confidence is growing after wins over the Suns and Nuggets, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes. “We’re relentless,” said Pascal Siakam, “and we just want to continue to compete and get better as a team.” Winners of three straight games, Toronto now owns the seventh-best record in the East at 37-30, trailing Cleveland by one game for sixth place.
- Fred VanVleet‘s shooting is much needed for the Raptors, but his value extends beyond that, Eric Koreen of the Athletic writes. “(VanVleet) makes it easier,” Scottie Barnes said. “It opens up a lot more space. He’s a general out there on the floor. So it helps us all when he’s out there on the floor with driving lanes being more open. When he’s there, his presence is just really big for our team.”
Several of the NBA teams that had open roster spots following the trade deadline have since filled them, either with free agent signings, such as DeMarcus Cousins (Nuggets) and DeAndre Jordan (Sixers), or with promoted two-way players, like Caleb Martin (Heat) and Daishen Nix (Rockets).
However, there are still a number of clubs around the league with openings available, either on their standard 15-man roster or among their two-way contract slots.
Here, with the help of our roster counts page, is a look at the teams that have open roster spots as of March 10:
Teams with open 15-man roster spots:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Boston Celtics (2) *
- Charlotte Hornets *
- Cleveland Cavaliers *
- Detroit Pistons
- Indiana Pacers
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans *
- Orlando Magic
- Toronto Raptors *
- Utah Jazz
* The teams marked with an asterisk each technically have full rosters as of today, but are carrying at least one player on a 10-day contract. We’re considering those roster spots “open” because those 10-day deals will soon expire.
Despite a series of signings since last month’s trade deadline, there are still 12 NBA teams that aren’t carrying 15 players on full-season standard contracts. However, four of those clubs have filled their open roster spot(s) with 10-day signings, and a fifth will join that group when the Cavaliers complete their reported 10-day deal with Moses Brown.
The Celtics are one team to watch here. When the second 10-day contracts for Malik Fitts and Kelan Martin expire next Monday night, Boston will either have to sign at least one of them to a rest-of-season contract or add another player within the next two weeks in order to get back to the league-mandated minimum of 14 players on standard deals.
Teams with open two-way spots:
- Houston Rockets
- Phoenix Suns
- Sacramento Kings
Following the trade deadline, five teams had open two-way contract slots. Four of those teams have since filled them — the Suns are the only holdout, having not carried a second two-way player since they released Chandler Hutchison in early January.
The Rockets have had an open two-way slot since they promoted Nix to the 15-man roster nearly a month ago, while the Kings‘ opening has existed since they waived Louis King on February 17.