Toronto Raptors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Agent: Pascal Siakam Could Be Back Within Two Weeks

November 2nd, 2021 at 5:59pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Agent Todd Ramasar, who represents Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, told Justin Termine of NBA Today on SiriusXM NBA Radio (Twitter link) that Siakam is set to re-join his teammates on the court within two weeks.

Siakam tore his left labrum in May, and went under the knife to surgically repair the injured shoulder in June. The 27-year-old recently resumed practicing with the club, as well as with its G League affiliate, Raptors 905, as he continues to rehabilitate.

Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca tweets that Siakam’s shoulder needs to be given the green light by his surgeon in Los Angeles. Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca notes (via Twitter) that Siakam’s timeline remains aligned with the Raptors’ original projection for his return following the surgery five months ago.

The 6’9″ forward was a crucial part of Toronto’s 2019 championship-winning team, and is hoping to bounce back following an underwhelming performance for the lottery-bound Raptors in 2020/21. After leading the Raptors to the second round of the NBA playoffs and being named to his first All-Star team in 2020, Siakam appeared to regress on both sides of the ball last season. Toronto finished with a 27-45 record while playing its home games in Tampa, and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2012/13 season.

Veteran team leader Kyle Lowry was shipped to the Heat in an offseason sign-and-trade. The Raptors selected exciting forward Scottie Barnes out of Florida State with the fourth pick in the 2021 draft. In seven games, Barnes is looking like a serious Rookie of the Year contender, averaging 18.1 PPG on 55.1% shooting from the field, along with 8.9 RPG. As a 6’9″ tweener forward, Barnes could be a long-term replacement for the veteran Siakam.

For now, it will be interesting to see how head coach Nick Nurse opts to juggle his starting lineup. He had been starting Barnes and ascendant 6’7″ swingman OG Anunoby at the forward positions, with 6’5″ Gary Trent Jr. starting at shooting guard. One of this triumvirate could head to the bench upon a Siakam return.

Goran Dragic Receives Second Straight DNP-CD

October 30th, 2021 at 3:49pm CST by JD Shaw

Raptors guard Goran Dragic received his second straight DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) on Friday, Michael Grange of Sportsnet tweets. “He’s a very approachable guy, very professional guy,” head coach Nick Nurse said of Dragic. “I talk to him everyday and I pretty much just tell him to stay ready… We’ll see where it goes from there.” Dragic is still viewed as a strong candidate to be traded during the season.

Siakam Weeks Away; Watanabe Suffered Setback

October 29th, 2021 at 9:11pm CST by Rory Maher

Raptors forward Pascal Siakam is progressing from his shoulder injury, but he’s still weeks away from returning, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Grange says the best-case scenario is Siakam might return in mid-November.
In a separate tweet, Grange says that Raptors forward Yuta Watanabe suffered a setback with his calf injury and was unable to practice today.

Barnes/Suggs Debate Resurfaces As Raptors Face Magic

October 29th, 2021 at 8:35am CST by Luke Adams

With the Raptors set to face the Magic for the first time this season on Friday, the Scottie Barnes/Jalen Suggs debate has resurfaced, but fans in Toronto have to be happy with what they’ve seen from Barnes so far, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Barnes, whom the Raptors picked over Suggs at No. 4 in this year’s draft, has averaged 17.0 PPG and 8.2 RPG on 53.7% shooting in his first five NBA games while taking on some challenging defensive assignments.

Fred VanVleet Welcomes Increased Workload

October 28th, 2021 at 8:17am CST by Arthur Hill

Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet was second in the league in minutes played last year and his workload has increased in the early part of this season, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. VanVleet doesn’t mind the extra playing time, saying he spent the summer preparing for it. “I feel good, that’s why you put so much work in during the offseason,” he said. “I spend every hour that I’m not on the court trying to figure out how I can get my body ready for tomorrow. So just being dedicated to the craft and trying to figure out how I can be the best pro I can be.”

Raptors Notes: VanVleet, Ujiri, Flynn, Injuries

October 26th, 2021 at 5:43pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet, one of just three holdovers from Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan era, is trying to lead a rebuilding Raptors squad much the same way DeRozan did alongside Kyle Lowry years ago, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic.

DeRozan paid his first visit to his old club as a Bull, proving that he remains an absolutely clutch scorer to close out games. The Bulls would go on to win, 111-108.

“This is a new dynamic,” DeRozan said of how VanVleet has evolved to become the Raptors’ leader. “The conversations I have with Fred now, (leading a rebuilding team) is a new dynamic in your career that you have to figure out. It’s tough. But every great player goes through it. There’s not too many guys that just have a polished career. It’s another obstacle you can learn from and build on and turn you into a much better player than you even knew you had in you.”

There’s more out of Toronto:

The current Raptors ownership group, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, has a convoluted structure, but it has ultimately enabled team president Masai Ujiri to run the organization as he sees fit, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic. The various factions of the ownership group reportedly disagreed on the terms of Ujiri’s new contract, but that deal eventually got done earlier this year.
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse explained the lack of playing time for guard Malachi Flynn, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN (Twitter link). “There’s a Fred and there’s a Goran (Dragić) and we’ve given (rookie Dalano Banton) a run,” Nurse said. “And Dalano’s the one you should probably be asking me about. He’s played outstanding every minute he’s been out there. You guys should be all over me for not playing him more.” It sounds like it could be an uphill battle for Flynn to crack the club’s point guard rotation.
Injured Raptors forward Pascal Siakam was a full participant in the team’s practice today, and will join the club’s NBAGL affiliate, Raptors 905, to continue to work off the rust in their training camp, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN (via Twitter). Siakam has missed the team’s first three games with a shoulder injury. Small forward Yuta Watanabe also practiced with Toronto today and is considered to be nearing a return for the team, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet. Grange adds that Siakam might be on track to rejoin Toronto earlier than the initially-anticipated target date of mid-to-late November.

Raptors’ Ownership Group Fought Over Masai Ujiri Extension

October 25th, 2021 at 8:29am CST by Luke Adams

Various factions of the Raptors‘ ownership group held divergent opinions on how to handle the contract negotiations with team president Masai Ujiri earlier this year, according to a fascinating report from Christine Dobby and Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Ujiri finalized a new long-term extension with the franchise in August.

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns the Raptors, is controlled in part by Rogers Communications (37.5%), BCE (Bell) Inc. (37.5%), and team governor Larry Tanenbaum‘s Kilmer Group (25%).

Edward Rogers – the former chair of Rogers Communications who has recently been embroiled in a public battle for control of the company with his mother and siblings – opposed the terms of the deal that Tanenbaum and Bell wanted to offer Ujiri, expressing that the compensation was too high and that general manager Bobby Webster was capable of taking over control of the team’s front office if necessary, sources tell The Toronto Star.

According to Dobby and Smith, Rogers explicitly told Ujiri he didn’t think he was worth the salary the rest of the Raptors’ ownership group wanted to offer him, prompting MLSE executives to go into “damage-control mode” and to tell Ujiri to ignore those comments.

Rogers insisted he would only agree to the deal if a dozen terms were met, including 11 relating to Ujiri’s compensation and one that would see Rogers Communications take its 37.5% stake in MLSE and combine it with the Toronto Blue Jays to create a separate company. However, because Tanenbaum holds the title of Raptors governor, he had the authority to make the final call on personnel issues without Rogers’ sign-off, which is the path he chose to complete Ujiri’s deal, according to The Star.

Rogers, who was “furious,” reached out to commissioner Adam Silver, but was told by two league officials that Tanenbaum had the right to make that decision, per Dobby and Smith.

Asked on Sunday about the negotiations, Rogers said he has the “utmost respect” for Ujiri and is happy he remains in his current role.

“Masai understands better than anyone that negotiations test both sides,” Rogers said. “The best deals involve compromise and leave all parties feeling like winners.”

According to Dobby and Smith, Ujiri’s contract with the Raptors includes a $15MM annual salary, with the ability to earn more in incentive pay if the value of the franchise continues to increase. Ujiri also received the new title of vice chairman to go along with his president title.

A league source tells The Toronto Star that another NBA team offered Ujiri a 3% ownership stake, with a salary higher than the $15MM per year he received from the Raptors. Soccer teams in the English Premier League also expressed interest in Ujiri, per Dobby and Smith.

Eastern Notes: Barnes, Embiid, Ball, Caruso, Pistons

October 24th, 2021 at 6:58pm CST by JD Shaw

Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes impressed during his first back-to-back slate on Friday and Saturday, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports writes. Barnes was used as the primary defender against Boston’s Jayson Tatum in game one, then was given the assignment of guarding Dallas’ Luka Doncic in game two.

“It’s a challenge that I’m willing to take each and every night,” Barnes said of guarding the NBA’s top players, according to Lewenberg. “It’s what I look forward to.”

The 6’9″ Barnes was drafted by Toronto with the No. 4 pick in July. He has averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds in 32.7 minutes per game during his first three contests, starting in every outing.

Here are some other notes from the Eastern Conference:

Sixers coach Doc Rivers isn’t concerned by Joel Embiid‘s recent knee injury, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Embiid managed to play in Philadelphia’s loss against Brooklyn on Friday, recording 19 points (6-of-15 shooting) and eight rebounds in nearly 30 minutes of work.
Bulls guards Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso have been bringing chaos defensively, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times examines. The pair’s strong defensive effort is a key reason why Chicago is 3-0 to start the season. “(Ball and Caruso are) so active (defensively) you’ve got to be aware of them,’’ LaVine said, as relayed by Cowley. “Even for guys like me and DeMar DeRozan), it helps us be in the passing lanes more, get some extra rebounds because then guys’ rhythm is off. They’re effort and energy bleeds throughout us as a team.’’
Rod Beard of The Detroit News examines the positives and negatives of the Pistons‘ start to the campaign. Detroit is 0-2 and dropped both contests to Chicago, having been held to 88 points and 82 points, respectively. The Pistons finished with the worst record in the East last season at 20-52.

Atlantic Notes: Lowry, Raptors, Brown, Toppin, Sixers

October 22nd, 2021 at 9:42am CST by Luke Adams

The 2018 trade that sent DeMar DeRozan to San Antonio in a package for Kawhi Leonard ultimately helped make the Raptors champions the following year, but it created some hard feelings at the time, as DeRozan and his good friend Kyle Lowry felt blindsided by the deal. According to Lowry, when he neared free agency earlier this year, that experience helped him and the Raptors avoid a similar situation.

“Sometimes franchises have to do what’s best for them, but I was in a position where I had say and I had…I wouldn’t say power — but I had a little bit of, ‘Listen, it’s not going to be a good look if we don’t collaborate on this together,'” Lowry told Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times. “We all agreed that to be on the same page was the best thing to do, and that was that.

“With DeMar not having the autonomy of having a decision, I think it was just such a different circumstance. It prepared them to not do that to me.”

The Raptors were in touch with Lowry at the trade deadline when they discussed him with a handful of teams. After no deal materialized at that time, the team worked with the veteran guard in the offseason to help steer him to his desired destination (Miami) via sign-and-trade.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Nets guard Bruce Brown was expected to play a key role for the team with Kyrie Irving unavailable indefinitely, but Brown was out of the rotation until garbage time in Tuesday’s opener, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. Head coach Steve Nash doesn’t expect that to be permanent. “He’s definitely going to play for us, he’s definitely going to be a part of what we do,” Nash said. “I just think right now we’re looking at exploring some other things until we understand what we have. With Bruce, I know what we got. … We know what he brings, and he’ll be a big part of this team.”
Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post takes a closer look at Obi Toppin‘s promising sophomore-season debut and what it could mean for the Knicks if Tom Thibodeau becomes comfortable regularly playing the former lottery pick alongside fellow power forward Julius Randle.
Prosper Karangwa, who holds the role of VP of player personnel in the Sixers‘ front office, has been named the general manager of the Delaware Blue Coats, the team’s G League affiliate (Twitter link). Karangwa’s first task will be leading the team through Saturday’s draft — Delaware currently holds the first overall pick.

Ishmail Wainright Signs Two-Way Deal With Suns

October 22nd, 2021 at 6:32am CST by Dana Gauruder

OCTOBER 22: Wainright has officially joined the Suns on a two-way deal, per the team (Twitter link).

OCTOBER 21: Ishmail Wainright is signing a two-way contract with the Suns, his agents Jim Tanner and Deirunas Visockas told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wainright, 27, was in the Raptors’ training camp. Toronto waived him on Saturday. Wainwright had some partial guarantees on his minimum-salary contract with Toronto, as he’ll collect $250K from the Raptors this season and $125K in 2022/23.

Wainright, who went undrafted out of Baylor in 2017, played for a number of international leagues prior to this season. In 2020/21, he suited up for Strasbourg in France, registering 11.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.8 SPG on .485/.320/.726 shooting in 36 games (28.1 MPG). He’s considered a solid defender, and could carve out a niche role with the Suns.

With Wainright joining the defending conference champions, the Magic are the only team with an unfilled two-way spot. Chandler Hutchison holds Phoenix’s other two-way contract.