Toronto Raptors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Gobert, Turner, Ingles, Mitchell, VanVleet Fined By NBA

November 12th, 2021 at 7:22pm CST by Rory Maher

As we noted earlier today, there was a mild dustup between Rudy Gobert and Myles Turner in the Jazz‘s 111-100 loss to the Pacers last night. Both players were ejected, as were Joe Ingles and Donovan Mitchell.

The NBA has announced (Twitter link) that all four players have been fined for the incident, but avoided suspensions.

Gobert was dinged $35K for initiating the altercation, Turner $25K for escalating, Ingles $30K for pushing a referee, and Mitchell $20K for escalating via verbally taunting.

In a separate tweet, the league also announced that Fred VanVleet of the Raptors was fined $15K for making an obscene gesture at the end of the team’s win against the Sixers last night. VanVleet recreated an old Sam Cassell celebration, which has earned imitators fines in the past.

VanVleet Wants "All The Awards"; Bonga Accepts G League Assignment

November 10th, 2021 at 9:34am CST by Luke Adams

Besides wanting to get back to the playoffs, Raptors guard Fred VanVleet has a series of individual goals that he’d like to achieve, as he said on The Raptors Show with Will Lou (link via Sportsnet.ca).“I definitely would like to be an All-Star,” VanVleet said. “I want to win all the awards. I want to be All-Defensive … Those are all goals that I have. The good thing for me is that I probably won’t achieve any of those if we aren’t a good team or a top team.”
Raptors forward Isaac Bonga has accepted a G League assignment, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter links). Because he’s in his fourth NBA season, Bonga had to sign off on being sent to the NBAGL. The 22-year-old has only logged seven minutes across three games in Toronto so far, but should get a chance to play a starring role for the Raptors 905 when they open their season on Thursday.

Raptors Notes: Siakam, Barnes, Ujiri, Rebuild

November 8th, 2021 at 9:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, who returned from shoulder surgery on Sunday vs. Brooklyn, was limited to 25 minutes and admitted he felt some fatigue in his first game action since May.

“It was tough,” Siakam said, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. “After my first three minutes I think I needed some gas or something. My legs were heavy and I think I couldn’t breathe at one point, but it was expected.”

While getting Siakam back in the lineup makes the Raptors a more well-rounded and dangerous team in the long term, there may be some growing pains in the short term, writes Steven Loung of Sportsnet.ca. The 27-year-old is one of the club’s go-to scoring options, meaning the players that stepped up in his absence will have to adjust – or readjust – to new roles.

“Everybody else is kind of affected by him coming back,” point guard Fred VanVleet said. “He’s going to play heavy minutes and have the ball and he’s going to be a big part of the offense. So, offensively, I think it’s just finding our rhythm and spacing and the flow and learning how to play with Pascal. For me it was great. I missed playing with him. The other guys who were playing with him for the first time, there will probably be a little bit of a learning curve.”

Here’s more on the Raptors:

Count Nets superstar Kevin Durant among those who have come away impressed with what they’ve seen from Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes. “You’ve got a lot of guys who love to compete and love to win, but what’s more rare about Scottie Barnes is his IQ for the game, his length, his enthusiasm for the game. All of that stuff shines bright when you watch him play,” Durant said after Sunday’s game (link via Sportsnet.ca). “He knows how to play the right way and he’s only going to get better.”
In a Q&A with Louisa Thomas of The New Yorker, Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri spoke about his desire to grow the game of basketball in Africa, the Raptors’ experience in Tampa, and why he decided to sign an extension with the franchise, among other topics.
The Raptors look ahead of schedule in their rebuilding process, in the view of William Lou of Sportsnet.ca.
In case you missed it, our Offseason in Review story on the Raptors was published earlier today.

2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Toronto Raptors

November 8th, 2021 at 3:50pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2021 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s offseason moves and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Toronto Raptors.

Free agent signings:

Note: Exhibit 9 and 10 deals aren’t included here.

Gary Trent Jr.: Three years, $51.84MM. Third-year player option. Includes $750K in unlikely incentives. Re-signed as restricted free agent using Bird rights.
Khem Birch: Three years, $20MM. Re-signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk: Two years, minimum salary. Second-year player option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Ishmail Wainright: Two years, minimum salary. First year partially guaranteed ($250K). Second year partially guaranteed ($125K). Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Note: Wainright was later waived.
Isaac Bonga: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($200K). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Sam Dekker: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($350K). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Justin Champagnie: Two-way contract.

Trades:

Acquired Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa from the Heat in exchange for Kyle Lowry (sign-and-trade).

Draft picks:

1-4: Scottie Barnes
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $33,064,660).
2-46: Dalano Banton
- Signed to two-year, minimum-salary contract. Second year partially guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
2-47: David Johnson
- Signed to two-way contract.

Contract extensions:

None

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

Signed president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri to contract extension and promoted him to vice chairman.
Hired Nate Bjorkgren, Earl Watson, and Trevor Gleeson as assistant coaches; lost assistant coaches Sergio Scariolo and Jama Mahlalela.
Being investigated by NBA for possible gun-jumping violation in Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade.
Received clearance to resume playing home games in Toronto after spending 2020/21 season in Tampa.

Salary cap situation:

Remained over the cap and below the tax line.
Carrying approximately $136.3MM in salary.
Hard-capped at $143MM.
$3,186,000 of non-taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($6.35MM used on Khem Birch).
Full bi-annual exception ($3,732,000) still available.
Three traded player exceptions available, including one worth $4.8MM.

The Raptors’ offseason:

Kawhi Leonard left Toronto during the 2019 offseason and both Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka departed a year later, but it wasn’t until 2021 that it felt like the Raptors began a new era in earnest. Having gone 53-19 in 2019/20, a year after winning its title, the team fell off a cliff in a ’20/21 season spent far from home.

The Raptors’ slide down the standings can be blamed on a handful of factors that go beyond having to play their home games in Tampa — injury issues and a midseason COVID-19 outbreak didn’t help matters, and the club’s inability to adequately replace Gasol’s and Ibaka’s production at center played a part. Regardless of the reason for it, Toronto’s ’20/21 collapse opened the door for president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri to retool the roster.

That retooling process began with a 10-28 finish to the season, which bumped the Raptors to seventh place in the NBA’s lottery standings. Some good fortune on lottery night resulted in the team climbing a few spots higher and securing the No. 4 overall pick. While that selection didn’t give the Raps an opportunity to draft Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green, or Evan Mobley, it put them in a great position to nab a potential All-Star from what was considered a four-player top tier.

However, the Raptors disagreed with the conventional wisdom that slotted Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs alongside those top three prospects. Ujiri and company passed on Suggs in favor of Scottie Barnes, a promising young forward who was viewed as a talented, versatile defender whose offensive game remained quite raw.

It might take years to determine with certainty whether the Raptors made the right call by taking Barnes over Suggs, but fans disappointed by the selection on July 29 have to like the early returns — the 20-year-old Barnes has averaged 16.6 PPG and 8.7 RPG on 52.4% shooting in his first nine NBA games, and his defense has been as good as advertised, if not better.

As one potential cornerstone arrived in Toronto, another departed. After earning six All-Star nods and a title during his nine years with the Raptors, Kyle Lowry decided to move on and maximize his remaining years by joining a team closer to title contention. Toronto accommodated a sign-and-trade deal that sent Lowry to Miami.

If the Heat hadn’t been confident in the Raptors’ willingness to play ball on a sign-and-trade, they could’ve declined Goran Dragic‘s team option and made some other small moves that allowed them to open up the cap space necessary to sign Lowry outright. In that scenario, the Raptors would’ve been able to create some cap room of their own rather than taking on Dragic’s expiring $19MM+ contract in the Lowry sign-and-trade.

Operating over the cap allowed Toronto to acquire Precious Achiuwa along with Dragic in exchange for Lowry, then to use part of the mid-level exception to re-sign Khem Birch. If the Raptors had instead gone under the cap and simply let Lowry walk, they could have made a competitive offer for a big man like Richaun Holmes (they could’ve outbid the Kings), then tried to re-sign Birch using the room exception (their offer would’ve been limited to about two years and $10MM, rather than $20MM over three years).

Of course, there’s no guarantee that Holmes would’ve wanted to come to Toronto or that Birch would’ve accepted a little less to remain with the Raptors, but it’s an intriguing “what if.” The Raps made a big bet on Achiuwa, and perhaps are counting on Dragic to maintain enough value to make him a useful trade chip rather than just a buyout candidate.

Outside of the Lowry sign-and-trade and the Barnes pick, the Raptors’ most notable transaction was re-signing restricted free agent Gary Trent Jr. to a three-year, $51MM+ contract that includes a third-year player option.

The terms of that deal were a little surprising. Of the reliable rotation players available in free agency this offseason, few – if any – were younger than Trent (22), so Toronto’s decision to negotiate a contract that allows him to reach unrestricted free agency at age 24 was curious. It will be interesting to see whether or not that deal ultimately works out better for the Raptors than a longer-term commitment would’ve.

The Raptors filled out their roster with minimum-salary players and second-round picks. Among those, the most noteworthy additions were Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, a solid sharpshooter who had a down year but had still made 36.2% of his career 3-pointers entering this season, and Dalano Banton, a second-round pick out of Nebraska whom ESPN’s Jonathan Givony described as “one of the more unique players in college basketball” due to his combination of size (6’9″) and play-making abilities.

Finally, you could make a case that the biggest news of the Raptors’ offseason wasn’t related to player movement at all — it was the extension and promotion the organization awarded Ujiri. The cost was significant – Ujiri will reportedly earn a $15MM salary and can receive incentives based on the franchise’s value continuing to increase – but it looks like a worthwhile investment for one of the most talented executives in the sport.

The Raptors’ season:

Even with Leonard, Lowry, Gasol, and Ibaka gone, the Raptors still have a couple key pieces from their 2019 title team still on the roster, in Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam. OG Anunoby, who didn’t contribute to that championship run for health reasons, has taken a huge step forward over the last couple years, Trent is a reliable rotation player, and Barnes looks ready to contribute immediately.

If the Raptors can get decent production out of some combination of Achiuwa, Birch, and Boucher up front, and a few of the reserves step up and provide consistent minutes, there’s enough talent here to make Toronto a playoff team.

Still, this roster as constructed doesn’t look like a great bet to make a run in the postseason, so the priorities this season should be developing Barnes and assessing how the club’s top three forwards (Siakam, Anunoby, and Barnes) fit together. While earning at least a play-in spot is certainly a realistic and achievable goal, the Raptors are probably still at least a year or two away from making any real noise in the East.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac was used in the creation of this post.

Raptors Notes: Dekker, Bonga, Siakam, Barnes

November 6th, 2021 at 5:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Raptors‘ decision to waive Sam Dekker came down to Isaac Bonga having more of the qualities that the organization values, writes Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. Both players were signed to partially guaranteed deals and had agreed to delay their guarantee dates until today, but keeping both would have inhibited Toronto’s ability to get below the luxury tax threshold.

Dekker improved his outside shot while playing in Turkey last season, but Bonga is 6’8″ with a 7-foot wingspan and can play several positions. At 21, he’s five-and-a-half years younger than Dekker and may be a better investment for the future. Even though Dekker only got into one game for the Raptors, coach Nick Nurse said it wasn’t an easy choice on which player to keep.

“It was pretty close all the way,” Nurse said. “Isaac probably just kind of filled the role that we want. He’s got size, he’s kind of a versatile defender, he’s on the offensive glass. He’s kind of a real role-playing guy that we think we can throw in there at any time. He’s good enough to get into games right now, to be honest with you, but we can’t play everybody. … We were real close on it. Sam was awesome. He spent a lot of time with us from the moment, all the way back from when we first looked at him in the sort-of open run situation, and he spent a lot of time working the job. But it’s the tough side of it, man. Tough side. Sorry to see him go.”

There’s more from Toronto:

Bonga has only played seven total minutes this season, but the Raptors believe he can handle a rotation spot, Murphy adds. He got consistent playing time during his two years with the Wizards, and Toronto identified him as a low-cost target in free agency. Murphy believes the best move for Bonga is to get consistent playing time in the G League, but he and the players union would have to sign off on the move because he’s in his fourth NBA season.
Pascal Siakam is ready for his season debut Sunday after recovering from shoulder surgery and he likes what he has seen from the Raptors in their 6-4 start, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. “I wanted to be out there throughout the whole process,” he said, “but I’m excited to be back out there and just be with your teammates and do whatever I can to help.”
Friday’s game with the Cavaliers featured a matchup between two early favorites for Rookie of the Year, and both Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley looked like worthy candidates, according to Steven Loung of Sportsnet.ca. While scoring has a major effect on the voting, Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff notes that Barnes and Mobley are special because of what they provide on defense. “Both of those guys are uniquely framed,” he said, “they’re mobile and agile and it gives them an opportunity to be impactful defensively.”

Pascal Siakam To Return On Sunday

November 6th, 2021 at 1:15pm CST by Rory Maher

NOVEMBER 6: Siakam will return from shoulder surgery on Sunday against the Nets, Nurse said today, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet (Twitter link). He’ll be on a minutes restriction and it’s unclear whether he’ll start.

NOVEMBER 5: Raptors forward Pascal Siakam might return to the team’s lineup next week. Head coach Nick Nurse said that Siakam is “getting closer every day,” according to a series of tweets from Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.

Nurse stated that Siakam has made significant progress in his return from shoulder surgery, noting that he is ahead of schedule. He will likely start out on a minutes restriction. Siakam was in Los Angeles earlier today receiving clearance from the doctor who performed the surgery, but returned to Toronto and was doing some work on the court before the game tonight versus the Cavaliers.

Nurse also said next Wednesday could be a good opportunity to see whether Siakam is ready to play, as there are two days in between Toronto’s matchups with the Nets on Sunday and the Celtics on Wednesday.

All of the information was relayed by Lewenberg.

Siakam was an All-Star for the first time in 2019/20, but struggled with his shot last season. He’ll be looking to return to form for the surging Raptors, who have won five in a row and are now 6-3.

Here’s a couple more Raptors injury notes:

Forward Yuta Watanabe has been inching closer to a return. Nurse said Watanabe’s movement has improved recently in practices but he’s still “probably a little bit away,” per Lewenberg (Twitter link).
Rookie Scottie Barnes, who missed a couple games with a sprained thumb, returned to the starting lineup tonight against the Cavs.

Raptors Waive Sam Dekker

November 6th, 2021 at 10:47am CST by Rory Maher

NOVEMBER 6: The team has officially waived Dekker, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. Bonga’s $1.67MM contract has been fully guaranteed, Lewenberg adds.

NOVEMBER 5: The Raptors are waiving forward Sam Dekker, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. Dekker was on a partially guaranteed deal, so he will still earn $350K, the guaranteed portion of his contract.

Dekker had been in a battle with Isaac Bonga for the 14th spot on the roster. Both players previously agreed to push back their guarantee date to November 6.

Dekker only appeared in one regular season game for the Raptors, logging one minute, though he had some nice performances in the preseason. He last played in the NBA in 2018/19, having spent the past two seasons playing in Europe.

The move allows the Raptors to stay under the luxury tax threshold, as was mentioned in our previous articles.

Assuming he clears waivers, Dekker will become an unrestricted free agent.

As for Bonga, it’s unclear if the Raptors intend to guarantee his minimum salary for 2021/22. It’s possible the two sides could agree to push his guarantee date back. He could even be waived too, though the team would have to get back up to 14 players within two weeks in that scenario. For now, his spot on the roster at least appears safer than Dekker’s.

Dekker Cut Keeps Club $618K Under Tax Line

November 6th, 2021 at 9:29am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors decided to waive Sam Dekker before his $1.7MM contract became fully guaranteed on Saturday. That leaves the club $618,540 below the luxury tax, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. That has an added benefit, since tax distribution for teams below the line projects to be $13MM, Marks adds. That estimate figures to change by the end of the season as more projected taxpayers look to duck below the tax line or reduce their bills.
During the offseason, the Raptors re-signed Khem Birch on a three-year contract and did the same with Gary Trent. Thus far, both players are living up their deals, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports writes. “I always told myself if I ever got the opportunity, I would take advantage of it,” Birch said. “So now that I got a contract, I don’t think it’s time to rest. I think it’s time to take advantage of that and also prove myself.”

Atlantic Notes: Noel, Korkmaz, Harris, Achiuwa

November 4th, 2021 at 6:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Knicks center Nerlens Noel made his season debut on Wednesday and drew some praise from his coach, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Noel had been sidelined by knee and hamstring soreness. He had two points and six rebounds in 18 minutes. “For the first game I thought he gave us some really good minutes,” Tom Thibodeau said. “Good activity. Rim protection. Effort plays. A lot of good things.” Noel re-signed with New York this summer on a three-year, $32MM contract.

We have more on the Atlantic Division:

Furkan Korkmaz has changed agents, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. The Sixers wing will now by represented by Jason Glushon and Dan Tobin. Korkmaz re-signed with the team on a three-year, $15MM contract this summer.
Sixers forward Tobias Harris was placed under the league’s health and safety protocols on Wednesday and he’s experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “He’s doing OK, but not great, honestly,” coach Doc Rivers said. “That’s the most I’m gonna say about it. But it hit him, for sure. A lot of guys have had this and they are mad like, ‘What the hell? I’m fine.’ Tobias is not in that category right now.”
Raptors coach Nick Nurse said that Precious Achiuwa earned the starting nod at center and doesn’t plan on making a change despite inconsistent play, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. “We don’t expect (the young guys) to play great every night,” Nurse said. “It doesn’t mean we’ve got to change the starting lineup. I think we just stick with it and see how it goes.” Achiuwa has gone 5-for-27 from the field in his last three games.

Early NBA Salary Guarantee Dates For 2021/22

November 4th, 2021 at 10:50am CST by Luke Adams

There are currently 30 players on standard NBA contracts whose 2021/22 salaries aren’t yet fully guaranteed. In most cases, those players will receive their full guarantees if they remain under contract through January 7. Because the league-wide salary guarantee date is January 10, a player must clear waivers before that date if a team wants to avoid being on the hook for his full salary.

A handful of players have earlier trigger dates, however. Those players will receive either full guarantees or an increased partial guarantee on certain dates before January 7.

These dates are fairly malleable — if a player and team reach an agreement, they can be pushed back. The Raptors took that route with Isaac Bonga and Sam Dekker, for example. Both players were originally on track to have their full minimum-salary contracts for 2021/22 become guaranteed if they made the team’s opening-night roster. However, they agreed to push their guarantee dates back a few weeks, to November 6.

Those agreements between a player and team aren’t always reported right away, so our list of early salary guarantee dates is a tentative one, based on information from Basketball Insiders, Spotrac, and HoopsHype, as well as our own data.

Here are the salary guarantee dates to watch prior to January 7:

November 6:

Isaac Bonga (Raptors): Partial guarantee ($250,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,729,217).
Sam Dekker (Raptors): Partial guarantee ($350,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,789,256).

December 1:

Chimezie Metu (Kings): Partial guarantee ($881,398) increases to full guarantee ($1,762,796).

December 11:

PJ Dozier (Nuggets): Partial guarantee ($400,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,910,860).

December 15:

DeAndre’ Bembry (Nets): Partial guarantee ($750,000) increases to larger partial guarantee ($1,250,000).
Kenrich Williams (Thunder): Partial guarantee increases to full guarantee ($2,000,000).
- Note: Williams’ partial guarantee is based on a salary of about $11,494 per day. For instance, 30 days into the regular season, he’ll have earned $344,828.