- Though the Raptors are currently the No. 13 seed in the East with a disappointing 2-8 record, newly re-signed 6’1″ guard Fred VanVleet continues to contribute to the level of his $85MM contract, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. VanVleet has been the club’s most steady offensive presence, averaging a career-high 20.9 PPG through his first 10 games. “I think the game is just really slow for him right now and that’s a good thing,” fellow starting guard Kyle Lowry said. VanVleet is also averaging a career-high 9.0 three-point attempts per night.
The NBA G League held its draft for the 2020/21 season on Monday afternoon.
In a typical year, the G League draft lasts four rounds and teams are only required to make two selections. However, this year’s draft was just three rounds and teams weren’t required to make any picks.
Because only 17 of 28 NBA G League affiliates (plus the G League Ignite) are participating in the revamped season at Walt Disney World in Florida, and because teams aren’t permitted to bring extra players to training camp for health and safety reasons, roster spots will be at a premium in the NBAGL this season, and the draft reflected that. Only 25 players were selected.
With the first overall pick, the Greensboro Swarm – the Hornets‘ affiliate – nabbed former Wizard Admiral Schofield. The 42nd overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, Schofield averaged 3.0 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 33 games (11.2 MPG) as a rookie before being traded to the Thunder during the offseason. Oklahoma City waived him last month.
With the second overall pick, which they acquired in a trade earlier in the day, the Memphis Hustle selected former Baylor standout Freddie Gillespie, who had been in camp with the Mavericks. Gillespie recently spoke to JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors about his desire to make it to the NBA and his plans to begin his professional career in the G League. He’s now in position to suit up for the Grizzlies‘ affiliate.
Here are the full 2020/21 G League draft results:
Round One:
- Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): Admiral Schofield (Tennessee)
- Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies): Freddie Gillespie (Baylor)
- Canton Charge (Cavaliers): Antonio Blakeney (LSU)
- Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves): Allonzo Trier (Arizona)
- Lakeland Magic (Magic): Tahjere McCall (Tennessee State)
- Canton Charge: Anthony Lamb (Vermont)
- Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder): Zavier Simpson (Michigan)
- Lakeland Magic: DJ Hogg (Texas A&M)
- Westchester Knicks (Knicks): Justin Patton (Creighton)
- Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets): Armoni Brooks (Houston)
- Raptors 905 (Raptors): Kevon Harris (Stephen F. Austin)
- Rio Grande Valley Vipers: Jarron Cumberland (Cincinnati)
- Oklahoma City Blue: Vince Edwards (Purdue)
- Austin Spurs (Spurs): Jonathan Kasibabu (Fairfield)
- Raptors 905: Gary Payton II (Oregon State)
- Memphis Hustle: Anthony Cowan Jr. (Maryland)
- Iowa Wolves: Dakarai Tucker (Utah)
- Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz): No pick
- N/A
Round Two:
- Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): Jemerrio Jones (New Mexico State)
- Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers): Oshae Brissett (Syracuse)
- Westchester Knicks: No pick
- Iowa Wolves: No pick
- Long Island Nets (Nets): No pick
- Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario (Clippers): No pick
- Fort Wayne Mad Ants: Quincy McKnight (Seton Hall)
- Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario (Clippers): No pick
- Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): Selom Mawugbe (Azusa Pacific)
- Raptors 905: No pick
- Memphis Hustle: No pick
- Austin Spurs: Anthony Mathis (Oregon)
- Erie BayHawks (Pelicans): No pick
- Greensboro Swarm: No pick
- Austin Spurs: Kaleb Johnson (Georgetown)
- Santa Cruz Warriors: No pick
- Memphis Hustle: No pick
- Oklahoma City Blue: Rob Edwards (Arizona State)
- Salt Lake City Stars: No pick
Round Three:
- Greensboro Swarm: No pick
- Erie BayHawks: No pick
- Westchester Knicks: No pick
- Delaware Blue Coats: Braxton Key (Virginia)
- No picks from 43-57
The teams that didn’t make any picks will fill their rosters with affiliate players and returning rights players, meaning they didn’t need to draft anyone and/or didn’t have the open spots to do so.
As Jonathan Givony of ESPN and Blake Murphy of The Athletic noted (via Twitter), NBAGL teams overwhelmingly opted for youth, passing on most of the notable veteran NBA players in the draft pool. That group included Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers, Lance Stephenson, Emeka Okafor, and Shabazz Muhammad, among others.
Former Nets first-rounder Dzanan Musa removed his name from the draft pool before the event began, per Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link).
The smaller lineups that Raptors coach Nick Nurse experimented with Friday could become permanent, writes Steven Loung of Sportsnet. Toronto picked up just its second win of the season as center Alex Len started for the first time since joining the team, taking the place of Aron Baynes. However most of the playing time in the middle went to Chris Boucher, with OG Anunoby filling in there as well.
Baynes has been “underachieving” since signing with the Raptors in the offseason, according to Loung. The veteran center is averaging just 5.3 points and 5.7 rebounds through his first seven games. Nurse liked how the smaller group responded and indicated that he may stick with it.
“I think the biggest thing is playing small, it does a number of things for us, but the biggest thing it does for us is it enables us to switch all the pick-and-rolls which, late in games, that’s going down pretty much at both ends, it’s pick-and-roll basketball,” Nurse said. “And then secondly, it almost puts OG and Pascal (Siakam) in the handling and screening situations, which, you know, OG is a good screener and finisher in that stuff.”
There’s more on the Raptors:
- Friday marked the second start of the season for shooting guard Norman Powell, Loung adds in the same story. Powell scored 22 points while filling in for Kyle Lowry, who missed the game for personal reasons. “Yeah, I would. I would,” Nurse responded when asked whether he would consider making Powell a full-time starter. “He’s had two really good games as a starter and I would hate to count how many not-so-good games coming off the bench. So I would consider that at this point.”
- Lowry’s absence gave rookie point guard Malachi Flynn his first chance at extended playing time, notes Chris O’Leary of NBA.com. Flynn, who showed promise during the preseason, responded with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes. “I’m going to stay confident regardless, but having a game like this definitely helps,” Flynn said. “So just continue to have that mindset of being confident and hopefully have more games like this.”
- The Raptors won’t have fans at their temporary home in Tampa, Florida, until at least February 5, according to The Associated Press. Vinik Sports Group, which owns Amalie Arena, made the announcement today because COVID-19 cases in the region have “risen sharply.”
Longtime NBA shooting guard Nik Stauskas will sign a G League contract for the 2020/21 season and become the designated veteran player for the NBAGL affiliate of his hometown Raptors, Raptors 905, per Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link).
Drafted by the Kings with the No. 8 pick out Michigan in 2014, the 6’6″ Stauskas also suited up for the Sixers, Nets, Trail Blazers and Cavaliers in a five-year NBA tenure. The 27-year-old holds career averages of 6.8 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 1.5 APG across 335 games. He has shot 35.3% on 3.3 three-point attempts per game.
Stauskas spent the 2019/20 season with the Spanish EuroLeague club Kirolbet Baskonia. He converted 42.2% of his three-point attempts in 22 games for Baskonia. Stauskas was on the Bucks’ training camp roster this December.
As we previously relayed, a recent rule tweak will enable each G League team to designate an “NBA Vet Selection” with five or more years of NBA experience. Such a player can be inked directly, meaning a club will not need to deal with the G League’s waiver wire.
- Raptors president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster apparently frustrated free agent center/power forward Serge Ibaka when the club offered him a number below what he was hoping for in an attempt to leave some cap space to re-sign starting center Marc Gasol, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet. Toronto bumped its one-year offer from $12MM to $14MM, but Ibaka apparently also did not want to continue being a backup to Gasol. Both players wound up departing for cheaper deals with Los Angeles title contenders, and the 1-5 (as of this writing) Raptors appear to be missing the two-way skill set of their championship frontcourt tandem.
The Raptors are struggling to cope with a slow start, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Fred VanVleet, who opted to re-sign with the club, admits that the 1-5 start has been tough to take.
“This is probably uncharted territory for most of us,” VanVleet said. “Just speaking for myself, I’ve never been a part of something like this. … There’s a boatload of problems and we’ve got to find ways to solve them.”
Pascal Siakam and free agent signee Aron Baynes have performed poorly in the early going.
“I think [Siakam] is gonna work himself back into it a little bit more, and I think we don’t worry about it,” Kyle Lowry said. “We can’t worry about him too much. We’ve got to figure it out and all of us come together.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Stanley Johnson has displaced Matt Thomas in the Raptors’ rotation, Bontemps tweets. Coach Nick Nurse wants more size on the wing and has been disappointed in the play of both Thomas and Terence Davis. Johnson, noted for his defense, played 11 scoreless minutes but contributed two assists and three steals in 11 minutes against Boston on Monday. Davis held his rotation spot, scoring 13 points in 17 minutes. Johnson exercised a $3.8MM player option prior to the season and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
- Julius Randle has been the Knicks’ top player in their 4-3 start, and he gives plenty of credit to new coach Tom Thibodeau, according to Steve Popper of Newsday. Randle said Thibodeau’s attention to detail has created a greater focus. “Thibs every day is on us,” he said. “He’s a great leader for us and given us a game plan we believe in every day and we’re coming into every game focused and locked into the game plan of what we need to do.”
- The Nets are below .500 and won’t have Kevin Durant for as many as four games. But coach Steve Nash sees a silver lining, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. “Plenty to clean up,” Nash said. “It’s early. We can’t lose our minds over it, and we can’t get overly frustrated. … And you know what? It’s good for us. It’s good to get a little tension. We’ve got to get comfortable being uncomfortable, so here we are.”
- The Raptors are looking at Chris Boucher as the primary backup at power forward to Pascal Siakam, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes. Normally used at center despite being 6’9”, Boucher has recently played alongside centers Aron Baynes and Alex Len. “We really need some depth there, so it’s good to see that he’s been able to make a transition, kind of on a need basis,” coach Nick Nurse said. “Now it might be something we can count on.”
- Raptors star Pascal Siakam continued his struggles in the team’s 120-116 loss to New Orleans on Saturday, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star writes. Siakam finished with just 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting, fouling out in less than 25 minutes. “He struggled, no doubt about it,” coach Nick Nurse said. “I thought he had a few decent plays and a few good drives in there, but he obviously struggled. Half-count off rhythm there at both ends a little bit, which is getting him in foul trouble and not letting him be able to finish some plays at the offensive end as well.”
- The Raptors have played better with Norman Powell in the starting lineup but it creates other issues, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes. In 90 career starts, Powell has averaged 13.3 PPG while shooting 41% from 3-point range. Toronto could go small by taking Aron Baynes out of the lineup but that would affect the second unit and reduce Alex Len‘s playing time, Smith adds.
The Raptors don’t expect Pascal Siakam‘s one-game benching to become an ongoing issue, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN. Coach Nick Nurse elected to hold Siakam out of Thursday’s game after he went straight to the locker room rather than the bench after fouling out with 25.6 seconds remaining Tuesday night.
Nurse called it “a disciplinary thing for an internal matter,” and Siakam accepted the decision, a source tells Lewenberg. Because it wasn’t technically a suspension, Siakam won’t lose any money.
“I don’t think anybody’s happy to see him not play, but that was the decision that came down, so you roll with it,” Fred VanVleet said. “We’re all in this together and everybody makes mistakes. This is something that’s not gonna linger around us. P was great. He was great, he handled it very well, he was a great energy for us on the bench tonight even though he wasn’t playing, and we can’t wait to get him back out there with us.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Backup center Alex Len said there was “definitely tension in the locker room” after the Raptors lost their first three games, which indicates problems that go beyond one incident with Siakam, notes Blake Murphy of The Athletic. Toronto picked up its first win Thursday night after blowing double-digit leads in each of the three losses.
- Jaylen Brown is ready to take on a larger role with the Celtics‘ offense after Gordon Hayward‘s departure in free agency, observes Tom Westerholm of Boston.com. “I’m definitely trying to accept the challenge, and I’m excited about this year in general for our group,” said Brown, who had a career-high 42 points Wednesday night. “I think we still have a great group. We have a lot to learn, I have a lot to learn but I think we are all embracing that challenge. Personally, for me, to be in a new and different role with more responsibility, I love and I want to handle that great responsibility to make sure I get other guys involved, all my teammates and try to be the best leader I can possibly be.”
- Sixers guard Ben Simmons hit his third career three-pointer Thursday night and is becoming more comfortable with the shot, according to Ky Carlin of Yahoo Sports. “I’ve seen him make it in practice and I know he can knock it down,” said teammate Seth Curry. “Especially from the corner so it’s just a matter of him doing it in a game and stepping into it with confidence. It didn’t look like there was too much hesitation on the shot and I expected it to go in.”