Toronto Raptors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Ujiri, COVID-19 Testing, Injury Policy, P. Gasol

August 19th, 2020 at 4:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Raptors president Masai Ujiri has filed a countersuit in connection with an incident at Oracle Arena last year on the night his team won the NBA title, writes Laura Armstrong of The Toronto Star. The 108-page claim, filed Tuesday in an Oakland court, relates to an altercation with security guard Alan Strickland, who tried to stop Ujiri from going onto the court to celebrate with the Raptors.

The suit includes a body-cam video allegedly showing that Ujiri wasn’t the aggressor in the dispute. Ujiri can be seen trying to pull out his team credentials before Strickland grabs him by the jacket and pushes him backward, according to Armstrong.

“After being shoved and cursed at, Mr. Ujiri did not respond aggressively toward Mr. Strickland,” the lawsuit states. “… Rather than trying to communicate with Mr. Ujiri, Mr. Strickland chose to dismiss Mr. Ujiri’s claim that he was the Raptors’ president and ignore the all-access credential Mr. Ujiri was trying to show him. Mr. Strickland then forcefully shoved Mr. Ujiri a second time.”

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

The NBA’s “bubble environment” at the Disney World complex continues to be a success. The league announced today that the latest round of testing produced no positive results among the 341 players tested (Twitter link).
The league is changing its policy on reporting injuries, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Teams have been told they must be specific about reasons why players are sidelined rather than using general terms such as conditioning, reconditioning, soreness and fatigue. “If a player has been diagnosed with a fracture of any type, the team’s public injury report must disclose the injury even if the player is certain to play in the team’s next game,” the memo states.
If Pau Gasol is going to make a comeback next season, it won’t be with Barcelona, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Team president Josep Maria Bartomeu said his franchise can’t afford Gasol. “He is a person who has helped us a lot, he is an ambassador for Barcelona and represents us in the U.S.,” Bartomeu said. “He is an NBA star, and Barcelona would hardly pay what he asks.” There was speculation of a deal in July, but that later fell through.
Stanton Kidd, who briefly played for the Jazz this season, has signed with Ormanspor in Turkey, Carchia writes in a separate story. The small forward started the season with Utah, but was waived in November after appearing in four games.

Joe Dumars Won’t Be A Candidate In Kings’ Front Office Search

August 19th, 2020 at 11:10am CST by Arthur Hill

Last week’s shakeup left Joe Dumars in charge of the Kings‘ front office, but that’s not a role he wants to keep long-term, according to Sam Amick and Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Dumars has no interest in remaining Sacramento’s head of basketball operations and will not be a candidate in the upcoming search, the authors report. However, he will be included in the hiring process and will interview candidates along with owner Vivek Ranadive. The new GM will have full control of roster moves and will report directly to Ranadive, rather than Dumars.

The Kings haven’t determined what Dumars’ role with the franchise will be once a new GM is selected, which could become a “problematic component,” Amick and Charania add. There’s no timeline to fill the opening, so Dumars and assistant GM Ken Catanella could be making the draft and free agency decisions in October.

Mike Forde of Sportsology is expected to be the leader in the search for GM candidates. He formerly served as senior manager for Chelsea’s soccer franchise in the English Premier League, and his web site lists the Clippers, Spurs, Sixers and Nets as clients. He also worked as an adviser for the Wizards last spring after they fired Ernie Grunfeld as president of basketball operations.

When he hired Dumars, Ranadive reportedly envisioned a power-sharing arrangement in the front office with former GM Vlade Divac. However, Divac wasn’t willing to accept that and opted to resign, followed a day later by assistant GM Peja Stojakovic.

The authors note there is “significant interest” in the position around the league, despite concerns about what Dumars’ ultimate role might be. “A swell of support” has emerged for Knicks GM Scott Perry, who briefly served as VP of basketball operations in Sacramento before leaving for New York. Sources claim Ranadive and Perry are still on good terms and have remained in touch in the nearly three years since Perry’s departure.

Perry helped the Kings get an individual workout with De’Aaron Fox before the 2017 draft and improved the organization’s reputation through his close relationships with agents and executives. Perry still has a year left on his contract, but a source tells the authors he would be interested in returning to Sacramento as long as he’s guaranteed the final decision on personnel moves. The Kings would have to request permission from the Knicks to talk to Perry, which sources tell Amick and Charania they hadn’t done as of Tuesday night.

The authors list Clippers assistant GMs Mark Hughes and Trent Redden as other candidates to watch, along with Raptors GM Bobby Webster, Celtics VP of basketball operations Mike Zarren, Pelicans executive VP of basketball operations Trajan Langdon, Timberwolves executive VP of basketball operations Sachin Gupta, Spurs VP of basketball operations Brent Barry, and Rockets assistant GM Eli Witus.

Latest On Kings’ GM Search

August 18th, 2020 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings appear likely to hire an executive search firm to help them find a new permanent general manager following Vlade Divac‘s departure, league sources tell Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. However, according to Anderson, several names have already been connected to the position as possible targets for Saramento.

Anderson identifies Spurs VP of basketball operations Brent Barry, Raptors general manager Bobby Webster, Knicks GM Scott Perry, Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren, Heat assistant GM Adam Simon, and Clippers assistant GM Trent Redden as executives who may be on the Kings’ preliminary list of candidates.

Sean Cunningham of ABC10, who singled out many of those same execs as ones to watch, mentioned veteran agent Bill Duffy as another possibility (Twitter link). However, Duffy indicated today that he currently has no plans to follow in the footsteps of Bob Myers, Leon Rose, and other agents who have made the move to a team’s front office.

“There’s no truth to me joining an NBA organization,” Duffy told Jason Jones and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). “I’m fully committed to my clients and their success.”

Joe Dumars, who is the Kings’ interim head of basketball operations, will be involved in the search for a new GM, though team owner Vivek Ranadive and COO Matina Kolokotronis are “viewed as the ultimate decision makers,” Anderson writes.

Anderson also notes that it will be interesting to see what sort of role Dumars ultimately retains in the front office, since Divac’s departure stemmed from Ranadive’s desire to have the former Pistons GM take on a larger role and to have the final say on the roster. Sources tell Anderson that some qualified candidates may be reluctant to fill Sacramento’s GM opening if it doesn’t come with full control over the roster.

Raptors’ Brissett Leaves NBA Campus To Undergo Knee Procedure

August 18th, 2020 at 2:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Rookie forward Oshae Brissett has become the second Raptors player to leave the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus for health reasons. The team announced today in a press release that Brissett is returning to Toronto to undergo a medical procedure to clean out loose bodies in his right knee.

Earlier this month, veteran Raptors wing Patrick McCaw left Orlando in order to seek treatment for a reoccurrence of a benign mass on the back of his left knee. Like McCaw, Brissett has been ruled out indefinitely, with no indication of if or when he’ll return to the Disney campus. Toronto is ineligible to sign a free agent to replace either player.

One of Toronto’s two-way players, Brissett appeared in 19 NBA games during his first professional season in 2019/20. Playing primarily garbage-time minutes, he averaged 1.9 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 7.1 MPG. The 22-year-old saw more frequent action for the Raptors 905, recording 14.9 PPG and 6.6 RPG in 30 G League contests (27.8 MPG).

Brissett will be eligible for restricted free agency this offseason, so it’s possible he has played his final game as a Raptor.

Execs Think Brogdon Contract Will Set Market For VanVleet

August 18th, 2020 at 9:47am CST by Luke Adams

Executives around the NBA believe that the four-year, $85MM contract signed by Malcolm Brogdon last summer will set the market for Raptors guard Fred VanVleet this fall, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

Brogdon, who was 26 when he reached free agency in 2019, was coming off a season in which he averaged 15.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 3.2 APG with an impressive .505/.426/.928 shooting line in 64 games for the top-seeded Bucks.

VanVleet’s shooting line in 2019/20 (.413/.390/.848) isn’t as impressive as Brogdon’s was, but the Raptors guard – who will also enter free agency at age 26 – is a strong defender who has enjoyed a career year offensively for the defending champions, with 17.6 PPG and 6.6 APG in 54 games.

As Windhorst points out, the NBA’s economy was healthier a year ago, and the fact that Brogdon was a restricted free agent helped boost his value. The Pacers had to make an aggressive offer to convince Milwaukee to sign-and-trade Brogdon to a division rival rarely than simply matching and retaining him.

However, there are factors working in VanVleet’s favor as well. If Anthony Davis and Brandon Ingram return to their respective teams, the Raptors guard could be the top free agent on the market, and he’d be an intriguing target for certain rebuilding teams with cap room, such as the Knicks and Pistons. Additionally, the Bucks reportedly had some health concerns related to Brogdon’s feet, which won’t apply to VanVleet.

Another strong playoff run could help further increase VanVleet’s free agent value. He got off to a good start on Monday, leading the Raptors to a blowout Game 1 win over Brooklyn with 30 points, 11 assists, and eight three-pointers.

Toronto will have the cap flexibility to necessary to retain VanVleet, but a pricey multiyear contract for the standout guard would cut into the team’s projected room for 2021, when president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri hopes to make a run at Giannis Antetokounmpo. If Giannis is sending strong signals that he intends to sign an extension with the Bucks, it could increase the Raptors’ willingness to pay big long-term money to VanVleet.

NBA Announces All-Bubble Awards

August 15th, 2020 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA announced today that Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has been named the Player of the Seeding Games, earning de facto MVP honors for the league’s restart.

Lillard, who averaged 37.6 PPG and 9.6 APG on .497/.436/.888 shooting in eight seeding games, led the Blazers to a 6-2 record, allowing the team to surpass the Grizzlies for the No. 8 seed in the West. Portland will earn the conference’s final playoff spot if it picks up a win over Memphis today or tomorrow.

Lillard was the unanimous selection among 22 media voters for the bubble’s MVP award. Devin Booker (Suns) received 19 second-place votes, with T.J. Warren (Pacers) picking up two and Luka Doncic (Mavericks) getting the other one. Booker, Warren, Doncic, James Harden (Rockets) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks) all received third-place votes.

Meanwhile, Suns head coach Monty Williams was named the Coach of the Seeding Games, per today’s announcement. The selection comes as no surprise after Williams led Phoenix to an 8-0 record this summer. The Suns narrowly missed out on a spot in the play-in tournament, but were the only club that went undefeated during the seeding games, despite initially being ranked 21st of the 22 teams invited to Orlando.

Williams was a near-unanimous choice, with Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts receiving one first-place vote and finishing second overall in voting. Nets coach Jacque Vaughn and Raptors coach Nick Nurse were among the other top vote-getters.

The NBA also announced All-Seeding Games First and Second Teams, as follows:

First Team:

Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)
Devin Booker (Suns)
Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
James Harden (Rockets)
T.J. Warren (Pacers)

Second Team:

Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
Kawhi Leonard (Clippers)
Kristaps Porzingis (Mavericks)
Caris LeVert (Nets)
Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets)

Lillard, Booker, and Doncic were unanimous First Team selections, with Harden and Warren each receiving 18 of 22 First Team votes. Antetokounmpo received the other eight First Team votes.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Raptors Notes: Anunoby, Ibaka, Watson

August 14th, 2020 at 4:13pm CST by Luke Adams

Two of the Raptors‘ key rotation players, OG Anunoby (right knee soreness) and Serge Ibaka (right knee contusion), sat out again on Friday, but MRIs on their knees came back clean and head coach Nick Nurse believes both players will be ready to go when the playoffs begin on Monday, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link).
Raptors two-way player Paul Watson has had a chance to get some playing time in Orlando and took advantage in the team’s final seeding game on Friday, pouring in 22 points in 27 minutes and impressing Nurse. “He’s pretty good. He can play,” Nurse said of Watson (Twitter link via Blake Murphy of The Athletic). “… He’s gonna be part of our future from what I can see so far.”

Bulls Fire Head Coach Jim Boylen

August 14th, 2020 at 8:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls have parted ways with head coach Jim Boylen, announcing today in a press release that he has been relieved of his duties. A search for the team’s next head coach will begin immediately, according to the release.

“After doing a comprehensive evaluation and giving the process the time it deserved, I ultimately decided that a fresh approach and evolution in leadership was necessary,” new executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said in a statement. “This was a very difficult decision, but it is time for our franchise to take that next step as we move in a new direction and era of Chicago Bulls basketball.”

Boylen, who took the reins from Fred Hoiberg during the 2018/19 season, led the Bulls to an underwhelming 39-84 (.317) record during his brief tenure as head coach and didn’t always see eye-to-eye with his players, including standout guard Zach LaVine.

When Karnisovas took over as Chicago’s new head of basketball operations in the spring, he indicated that he wanted to take some time to evaluate Boylen, though he hasn’t had many opportunities to do so in recent months. The Bulls weren’t invited to the NBA’s 22-team restart in Orlando, and still haven’t approved organized practices or scrimmages for the eight teams left out, leaving those clubs to conduct individual workouts this summer.

Reports dating back to May have suggested that Karnisovas and new GM Marc Eversley were leaning toward making a change, but more recent reports cast doubt on that plan, suggesting that financial factors could motivate the team to stick with Boylen. Given today’s news, it appears Bulls ownership is on board with eating the remainder of Boylen’s modest contract.

Sixers assistant Ime Udoka and Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin have previously been cited as possible candidates to become the Bulls’ next head coach. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link) adds a few more names to that list of potential targets, suggesting that Nuggets assistant Wes Unseld Jr., Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, and former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson are expected to receive consideration as well.

Chicago will be the second team to conduct a formal head coaching search in 2020, joining the Knicks, who hired Tom Thibodeau last month. The Nets also intend to launch a search for a permanent head coach when their season ends, with the Rockets, Pelicans, and Sixers among the other teams worth keeping an eye on.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Raptors’ Adrian Griffin Denies Domestic Abuse Allegations

August 13th, 2020 at 5:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin has vehemently denied allegations of domestic abuse made by his former wife Audrey Griffin on social media.

Audrey posted a message on Thursday morning accusing the Raptors assistant of a number of abuses, including choking her, throwing her into a wall, and dragging her out of the house in below-freezing weather. In her post, she claimed she had “receipts for everything.”

Griffin and the Raptors issued statements this afternoon in response to those accusations, as Blake Murphy of The Athletic relays (via Twitter).

“This morning, accusations were made against me on social media by my former wife that I vehemently deny,” Griffin said. “We are involved in a longstanding legal dispute over alimony and child support arrangements. I am disappointed to have to address false accusations in this way, and I apologize for any distraction this has potentially caused for our team at this important time.”

The Raptors indicated that they were “dismayed” by the allegations and immediately spoke to Griffin, who flatly denied them. “We will support the process as he and his former partner settle these matters,” the team said in its statement.

Griffin, who has interviewed for head coaching jobs in the past and was considered a potential Bulls candidate if they moved on from Jim Boylen, assumed temporary head coaching duties for the Raptors on Wednesday night, with Nick Nurse giving him an opportunity to take the reins. After leading the team to a 125-121 win over Philadelphia, Griffin said he “felt like Cinderella,” as Andrew Lopez of ESPN details.

Seven Of Eight First-Round Playoff Matchups Set

August 13th, 2020 at 6:59am CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 13: Following wins by the Thunder and Clippers on Wednesday night, three Western Conference first-round matchups have now been set, with only the Lakers still awaiting their opponent. Those first-round series are as follows:

Los Angeles Lakers (1) vs. Play-in winner (8)
Los Angeles Clippers (2) vs. Dallas Mavericks (7)
Denver Nuggets (3) vs. Utah Jazz (6)
Oklahoma City Thunder (4/5) vs. Houston Rockets (4/5)

We’ll know by the end of Thursday which two teams out of the Trail Blazers, Grizzlies, Suns, and Spurs will be participating in the play-in tournament in the West, but it may be Sunday before the Lakers know their first-round opponent.

AUGUST 12: As a result of the Pacers’ 108-104 win over Houston this afternoon, the four Eastern Conference matchups for the first round of the postseason have been set. They are as follows:

Milwaukee Bucks (1) vs. Orlando Magic (8)
Toronto Raptors (2) vs. Brooklyn Nets (7)
Boston Celtics (3) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (6)
Miami Heat (4/5) vs. Indiana Pacers (4/5)

Typically, the Heat and Pacers would be continuing to fight for home court advantage in their series, but the unusual nature of this season means claiming the No. 4 seed instead of No. 5 won’t make much of a difference.

Despite the fact that several teams were within two or three games of one another in the standings when the restart began – or were even tied, like the Pacers and Sixers – the first-round matchups in the East look exactly the same as they did when the season was suspended on March 11.

Over in the West, a small number of teams – including the No. 1 Lakers – are locked into their playoff spots, but most matchups remain up in the air. For now, the most likely pairings are Lakers/play-in winner, Clippers/Mavericks, Nuggets/Jazz, and Rockets/Thunder, but one or more of those could change by Friday.