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Pascal Siakam Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Likely To Miss Start Of 2021/22

June 11th, 2021 at 12:10pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors forward Pascal Siakam underwent successful surgery on his left shoulder in Los Angeles last week to repair a torn labrum, the team announced today in a press release.

According to the Raptors, Siakam sustained the injury during the club’s May 8 game vs. Memphis. Toronto estimates the forward will require approximately five months for recovery and rehabilitation, meaning he likely won’t be available to start the 2021/22 regular season, which begins on October 19.

It’s unclear why it took about a month after Siakam suffered the injury for him to go under the knife. Blake Murphy of The Athletic speculates (via Twitter) that the Raptors and their standout forward tried to go a non-surgical route before deciding that the procedure was necessary.

After earning his first All-Star nod in 2020, Siakam took a slight step back during the last year, struggling last summer in the bubble and then seeing some of his numbers dip during the 2020/21 season. He still averaged 21.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game in 56 contests (35.8 MPG), but his three-point mark declined to just 29.7%, well below his rate in the previous two seasons.

Siakam, one of the Raptors’ cornerstones, remains under contract with Toronto through the 2023/24 season. He’ll earn just over $33MM in ’21/22.

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Free Agent Possibilities For Raptors

June 10th, 2021 at 8:11pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum
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Agile Center Should Be High Priority

June 8th, 2021 at 6:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder
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Raptors Will Have Lots of Competitors For Kyle Lowry

June 5th, 2021 at 5:15pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • The Raptors will have plenty of competition for Kyle Lowry in free agency this summer, with the Lakers, Heat, Knicks and Sixers all expected to pursue him, writes Dave Feschuk of The Toronto Star. He notes that Lowry said, “Money talks, and years talk” in his postseason press conference, indicating the veteran point guard will be looking for a multiyear offer.
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14 NBA Players On Canada’s Preliminary Olympic Qualifying Roster

May 27th, 2021 at 12:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Team Canada has yet to secure a place in the men’s basketball event at the Tokyo Olympics, but the club should have a loaded roster as it looks to lock up a spot in a qualifying tournament next month.

Canada Basketball issued a press release today announcing its 21-player preliminary roster for the Olympic qualifier, and the group includes 14 players who finished the season on NBA contracts. Here’s the full list:

Of the seven players who didn’t play in the NBA this season, one (Bennett) is a former first overall pick, another (Nicholson) was also a first-round selection, and a third (Alexander) has NBA experience. Bell-Haynes has played in the G League, while Doornekamp, Ejim, and Nembhard all have extensive experience representing Canada in past international competitions.

Still, a few noteworthy names are missing from the list. Nuggets guard Jamal Murray is recovering from a torn ACL and won’t be able to participate. Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is also dealing with an injury, announcing on Instagram that rehabbing the plantar fasciitis in his right foot will prevent him from representing Team Canada.

Raptors big man Chris Boucher is a third notable omission. According to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link), Boucher is focused on rehabbing a knee sprain and wants to make sure he’s 100% healthy heading into 2021/22. He also has a somewhat uncertain contract situation — his $7MM salary for next season is non-guaranteed, though I’d be shocked if he’s not retained.

Even without Murray, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Boucher, Canada Basketball is in position to run out a roster stacked with NBA talent and led by former NBA Coach of the Year Nick Nurse.

While the final roster will depend in part on which players are available, none of the 21 players on the preliminary are on teams expected to still be alive for the conference finals. However, a club like Powell’s Mavericks or Barrett’s Knicks could surprise.

Team Canada will compete against Greece, China, Uruguay, Turkey, and the Czech Republic in a qualifying tournament in Victoria, British Columbia between June 29 and July 4. If the club wins that six-team qualifier, it will be part of the 12-team field in Tokyo and would be a legit contender for a medal.

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Murphy Considers Whether Raptors Should Trade Draft Pick(s)

May 26th, 2021 at 9:36am CST by Luke Adams
  • The Raptors‘ own first-round pick is in the lottery for the first time since 2012, prompting Blake Murphy of The Athletic to explore whether the team should consider trading its first-rounder. Murphy also looks at trade possibilities for Toronto’s two second-round selections.
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Latest On NBA’s Lottery Standings, Draft Order

May 21st, 2021 at 8:02am CST by Luke Adams

On Monday, we took an in-depth look at what we knew about the NBA’s 2021 draft lottery standings and projected draft order so far based on the regular season standings, and what was still to be determined based on play-in results, random tiebreakers, and the lottery results.

With the play-in tournament nearly over, we can fill in a few more gaps. Let’s dive in…

Lottery standings

Having been eliminated from playoff contention, the Pacers will be at No. 13 in the lottery standings, giving them a 1% chance at the first overall pick and a 4.8% shot at a top-five selection, per Tankathon.

A tiebreaker will be necessary to determine whether the Spurs or Hornets get the edge in the lottery standings, but they’ll occupy the Nos. 11 and 12 spots in the lottery standings. The winner of the tiebreaker – to be conducted next Tuesday – will have a slightly higher chance of earning the first overall pick (1.8% to 1.7%) and a top-four pick (8.5% to 8.0%).

The No. 14 spot in the lottery will be held by the loser of Friday’s Warriors/Grizzlies play-in game.

Draft order

Having clinched playoff spots, the Wizards and Celtics will draft 15th and 16th, respectively, in the first round.

The winner of tonight’s Warriors/Grizzlies play-in game will draft 17th, while the Lakers will be part of a Tuesday tiebreaker to determine their exact position — they could draft as high as 21st and as low as 23rd.

If the Lakers had missed the postseason, teams like the Heat, Knicks, and Hawks each would have been pushed down one spot in the draft. Since L.A. made it, those teams will stay put, starting with Miami at No. 18.

Notable traded second-round picks

On Monday, we focused on what would happen with 2021’s traded first-round picks. So many of this year’s second-round picks have been traded that we’re not going to run through all of them in this space (you can check our tracker for the full details), but here are a few notable second-round swaps worth flagging:

The Pacers traded their second-round pick to the Nets with 45-60 protection. Because Indiana’s second-rounder is going to land at No. 44, that pick will be sent to Brooklyn rather than being protected.

The Bulls, who will be involved in a first-round tiebreaker with the Pelicans (and Kings) to determine their spots in the lottery standings, also have the ability to swap second-round picks with New Orleans. In the event of a random tiebreaker, the second-round order is always the inverse of the first-round order — for instance, if Team A wins a first-round tiebreaker over Team B, then Team B would get the higher pick in the second round. But in this case, the Bulls could win the first-round tiebreaker, then use their second-round swap to make sure they pick ahead of the Pelicans in both rounds.

Because the Warriors‘ first-round pick will fall in the top 20, Golden State will keep it and will instead have to send the Timberwolves’ second-round pick to the Thunder to complete last year’s Kelly Oubre trade. That pick will be No. 36.

The Suns had agreed to send their second-round pick to the Grizzlies if it landed between 31-35 and to the Nets if it landed between 36-60. It’ll go to Brooklyn, since it’s the No. 59 overall selection. Memphis is simply out of luck, as Phoenix’s obligation to the Grizzlies is now extinguished.

The Bucks will get the first pick of the second round (No. 31), since the Rockets have the ability to swap their second-rounder for Milwaukee’s first-rounder (No. 24).

Other early second-round picks that will change hands include the Pistons‘ No. 32 pick (to the Knicks), the Cavaliers‘ pick at either No. 34 or 35 (to the Pelicans), and the Raptors‘ No. 37 pick (to the Pistons).

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Raptors’ Ujiri Talks Contract Situation, Lowry, Return To Toronto

May 19th, 2021 at 5:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri held his end-of-season press conference on Wednesday, addressing a wide range of topics in the wake of what has been an eventful season for a displaced franchise.

As Tim Bontemps of ESPN details, Ujiri spent some time discussing the challenges the team faced spending the season in Tampa instead of Toronto, and also addressed two major upcoming free agencies: point guard Kyle Lowry‘s and his own. Both Lowry and Ujiri are on expiring contracts.

[RELATED: Growing Confidence Masai Ujiri Will Remain With Raptors?]

In discussing Lowry’s situation, Ujiri stressed that “it’s hard to find a better player than Kyle” and suggested that the 35-year-old is even more valuable to the Raptors than to another team. However, he also spoke about building around younger players and giving them more opportunities, perhaps providing a hint of what next season could look like for the team if Lowry doesn’t return.

As for his own contract situation, Ujiri said he appreciates the freedom he has to go into the luxury tax when the Raptors are in position to win, but that he wants to discuss some other issues with team ownership, such as the infrastructure of the organization (Twitter link via Blake Murphy of The Athletic).

Bontemps’ roundup of the presser is worth checking out in full, but here are a few of the notable quotes from Ujiri on his contract negotiations and the Raptors’ situation going forward:

On factors Ujiri will consider as he approaches contract negotiations with the Raptors:

“Everybody says, ‘blank check, blank check,’ but I’m not as much focused on a blank check. A lot of the things that we’ve done here, we have to move forward as a franchise to compete with the best in the NBA. This is all about winning a championship again.

“… I want to know, ‘So, what’s the next lift? What’s the next five years? What’s the next 10 years? What are we doing to put ourselves in conversation with all the great teams and all the winners?’ That’s what we want to do, and that’s the conversation that I’m going to have with (ownership). And, yes, I’m going to have asks, and I’m going to have a lot of things that I think we need to put forward here to address these things, and I think ownership is open to hear this.”

On his feeling that the Raptors face some disadvantages as the only non-U.S. NBA franchise:

“I think it’s difficult sometimes for the league to always include us in everything because we are the one team that is based outside the U.S. I’m sure sometimes it’s a pain in the ass sometimes for them. But guess what? That is the business you have put yourself in. You have put yourself on a global platform that you have one team in the NBA that is outside the United States and we have to be considered in every single way. There are difficult decisions that have to be made based on this.

“… (NBA commissioner) Adam Silver has been very considerate. … I don’t want to call out anybody here. But there is a lot of work we need to address.”

On his strong desire for the Raptors to return to Toronto for the 2021/22 season:

“So, the situation we are in in Toronto now, I’m hoping that we’re seeing it and we’re hoping that it gets resolved, hopefully soon. And all over Canada, people continue to get vaccinated, and then we go from there. … I don’t want to be selfish on the sports part, and as an NBA worker or executive, I don’t want to be selfish and push our agenda before other people, but yes, timing matters and we would like to be considered, because we do not want — I repeat — we do not want to play anywhere else but Toronto.”

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Atlantic Notes: Lowry, M. James, Embiid, Knicks, Nets

May 18th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked today about his upcoming free agency, Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry mentioned a number of factors that he’ll consider as he makes his decision, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Lowry cited family considerations as one important factor, along with “money” and “years,” as well as his desire to win more championships (Twitter link via Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca).

Perhaps most interestingly, Lowry suggested his future may be tied in part to that of president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri, who is the Raptors’ other key free agent this summer: “I told him this, the only reason I’m still here is because of him. Part of the reason I re-signed here twice is because of him. That is a large part of why I am able to be who I am and gotten to this point.”

Based on Lowry’s comments about prioritizing family and competing for titles, Eric Koreen of The Athletic believes the six-time All-Star is probably more likely to join a new team than to return to the Raptors. However, Lowry also hinted that he may have unfinished business with his current club after a disappointing 2020/21 season spent away from Toronto.

“It does play a factor in it because I enjoy the challenge of people counting me out, counting the team out,” Lowry said. “I enjoy that competitive nature, and I wanna challenge myself and see what I can continue to help do and build. But a lot of things will be factored into this summer and this free agency. The unfinished business thing is part of it, a little bit.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

  • There has been an expectation that Mike James‘ stint with the Nets will be temporary, since he remains under contract with EuroLeague powerhouse CSKA Moscow through 2022/23. However, international reporter Chema de Lucas tweets that James may try to stay in the NBA beyond this season, and Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.com suggests CSKA Moscow would be open to that idea if they can save some money and keep James away from their European rivals.
  • When Joel Embiid suffered a knee injury on March 12 that was later diagnosed as a bone bruise, he initially feared that it would be a season-ender, he tells ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, who published an in-depth feature on the Sixers center. “As soon as I fell, the first thing that I’m thinking is: ‘My season is over,'” Embiid said. Having avoided a major injury such as an ACL tear, the big man returned to action just three weeks later, on April 3.
  • Loosened restrictions on gathering in New York mean that the Knicks and Nets are in position to significantly increase their arena capacities for the postseason, as Steve Popper of Newsday details.
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Growing Confidence Masai Ujiri Will Remain With Raptors?

May 17th, 2021 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri isn’t under contract with the franchise beyond the 2020/21 season, but there’s growing confidence that the two sides will be able to complete a new deal that extends Ujiri’s time in Toronto, says Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.

“Masai doesn’t share a lot; he’s very private and strategic in his own way,” a source close to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the Raptors’ ownership group, told Grange. “But if you were asking, ‘Are they going to sign Masai?’ I would put it at 95 per cent yes.”

Grange cautions that the 95% estimate is just a prediction from one plugged-in insider, but says there have been other positive signals as of late. According to Grange, Ujiri – who has ceded some front office responsibilities to general manager Bobby Webster – has seemed more involved, engaged, and forward-looking in recent weeks. One source says Ujiri has been more active in communicating with players, both in person and via text.

“We talked about winning and winning another title with the Raptors,” one agent who recently met with Ujiri told Grange. “He seems like he’s in a really good place.”

Grange also notes that no front office jobs in marquee markets like Los Angeles and New York seem likely to open this offseason, given how well those teams have performed. The Wizards have reportedly had interest in Ujiri in the past, but it’s unclear whether they’ll be looking to make any front office changes this spring or if they’d be willing to outbid Toronto for the former Executive of the Year.

There has been some speculation around the league that Ujiri may eventually wind up in Seattle if the league approves a new franchise, as Marc Stein of the New York Times reported last month. Longtime sports executive Tim Leiweke, who hired Ujiri as Toronto’s executive vice president and GM in 2013, is involved in Seattle’s expansion efforts.

However, as Grange points out, while the NBA has seemed more open to expansion as of late, it still appears to be multiple years away, and it seems unlikely that Ujiri would take a hiatus while waiting for such an opportunity. Even if running an expansion franchise is something that appeals to him, he and the Raptors may end up working out a shorter-term contract that gives him some flexibility, Grange writes.

“They’re going to try to sign him for as long as they reasonably can, (but) if they have to sign him for less, they’ll sign him for less,” the source close to MLSE told Sportsnet. “They don’t have a lot of leverage. They want him. If he wants (a shorter deal) what are they going to say, no?”

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