Toronto Raptors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors Notes: Young, Porter, Boucher

October 27th, 2022 at 8:24pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Raptors reserve forward Thaddeus Young has seen his role reduced in the early going this season, having been a DNP-CD for a couple games. Head coach Nick Nurse discussed how he saw the vet fitting into the club’s rotation, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (Twitter link).

“He’s gotta stay ready,” Nurse said. “I talked to him immediately after the Miami game and he [said], ‘Coach, I’m ready and I’ll always be ready’ and totally with what we’re doing, all that kind of stuff. I wouldn’t say that I planned on not using him [in] Miami that night, it’s just kinda how it turned out… We’re gonna need him, there’s just no doubt about it… It’s kinda a night-to-night thing.”

There’s more out of Toronto:

Nurse said that Raptors forward Otto Porter Jr. will be unavailable “for a bit” due to undisclosed personal reasons, according to Lewenberg (Twitter link). Nurse suggested that the 6’8″ vet, who signed a two-year, $12.4MM contract with Toronto after winning a title with the Warriors last season, will be part of the team’s rotation once he makes his debut, Lewenberg adds (via Twitter).
Raptors reserve big man Chris Boucher has been a helpful change-of-pace figure for the club as a key backup, writes Lewenberg for TSN.ca. “It’s important for me to bring energy and I think that’s a way to show that I’m ready to the coach and also to myself,” Boucher said. Toronto point guard Fred VanVleet likes the new dimension that his teammate brings to the court: “He just plays with a little bit more energy than the rest of us at times. Fresh legs and just being able to fly around, throw some corner-threes in, [grab] offensive rebounds. He just finds creases that a guy like him is skinny enough to slip through. He’s just a great presence for us out there.”
In case you missed it, the Raptors were projected by Forbes as the NBA’s 11th-most valuable franchise, with an estimated worth of $3.1 billion.

Forbes Releases 2022 NBA Franchise Valuations

October 27th, 2022 at 10:59am CST by Luke Adams

For the first time since Forbes began issuing annual valuations of NBA teams over two decades ago, a team other than the Knicks or Lakers ranks atop the publication’s list of 2022’s most valuable franchises.

According to Mike Ozanian and Justin Teitelbaum of Forbes, the Warriors are now considered the NBA’s most valuable club, with a record-setting valuation of $7 billion following a championship season.

Forbes’ duo explains that the Warriors generated more revenue and operating income in 2021/22 than any other team in NBA history, buoyed by $150MM in arena sponsorships and advertising, along with $250MM from premium seating.

While the Warriors enjoyed the biggest bump in value since Forbes’ most recent round of valuations, every other NBA team saw its valuation rise during that time as well, according to Ozanian and Teitelbaum, who say the average franchise is now valued at $2.86 billion. That’s 15% more than a year ago, despite the fact that the stock market is down 15% over the same time period.

Of the NBA’s 30 teams, only one – the Nets – lost money last season, per Forbes’ report, which states that record-setting sponsorship and advertising revenue ($1.35 billion last season) has put the league back on its “pre-Covid growth trajectory.” Further growth is anticipated going forward, with a new television and media deal to be negotiated in the coming years — it will take effect in 2025.

Although Forbes’ figures are just estimates and often don’t quite match up with the sale prices for franchises that change hands, they’re still useful for getting a sense of the league’s most and least valuable teams.

Here’s Forbes’ full list of NBA franchise valuations for 2022:

Golden State Warriors: $7 billion
New York Knicks: $6.1 billion
Los Angeles Lakers: $5.9 billion
Chicago Bulls: $4.1 billion
Boston Celtics: $4.0 billion
Los Angeles Clippers: $3.9 billion
Brooklyn Nets: $3.5 billion
Dallas Mavericks: $3.3 billion
Houston Rockets: $3.2 billion
Philadelphia 76ers: $3.15 billion
Toronto Raptors: $3.1 billion
Miami Heat: $3 billion
Phoenix Suns: $2.7 billion
Washington Wizards: $2.5 billion
Milwaukee Bucks: $2.3 billion
Portland Trail Blazers: $2.1 billion
Cleveland Cavaliers: $2.05 billion
Sacramento Kings: $2.03 billion
Utah Jazz: $2.025 billion
San Antonio Spurs: $2 billion
Atlanta Hawks: $1.975 billion
Denver Nuggets: $1.93 billion
Detroit Pistons: $1.9 billion
Oklahoma City Thunder: $1.875 billion
Orlando Magic: $1.85 billion
Indiana Pacers: $1.8 billion
Charlotte Hornets: $1.7 billion
Minnesota Timberwolves: $1.67 billion
Memphis Grizzlies: $1.65 billion
New Orleans Pelicans: $1.6 billion

Heat Notes: Robinson, Martin, Yurtseven, Lowry

October 26th, 2022 at 9:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

Coming off a frustrating year, followed by a summer of hearing his name in trade rumors, Heat swingman Duncan Robinson is approaching this season with a “big chip” on his shoulder, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Robinson put together two straight outstanding shooting seasons that earned him a five-year, $90MM contract last summer. The expectations that came with the new deal seemed to affect him, and Robinson was pulled from the starting lineup in March.

“You go through something like I went through last year, you definitely grow from that between the ears for sure,” Robinson said, adding that he became “hardened” by the adversity.

He’s off to a much better start this season, though his playing time is about half of what it used to be. Coming into tonight’s game, Robinson has made 6-of-12 three-point shots and hasn’t committed a turnover in 47 minutes of action.

There’s more on the Heat:

Caleb Martin may consider an appeal of his one-game suspension for fighting with Toronto’s Christian Koloko, Jackson adds in a separate story. Martin sat out Monday’s game, but he could still potentially recover the roughly $45K in salary that it cost him. “It’s tough watching knowing you can contribute to a win,” he said. “Overall I’m feeling like I definitely could have contributed for sure. Especially when you lose, you are going to think that loss is on you. That’s how you learn. I learned from that, make sure I don’t do it again.”
Omer Yurtseven is traveling with the team, but he’s not expected to play during the three-game road trip, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The back-up center has been sidelined with a left ankle impingement, and the coaching staff wants to be with him while he does rehab work. “I think I’m going to be back in less than a week, hopefully,” Yurtseven said. “But I’ve got to sacrifice and I’ve just got to take the pain that comes with it, and that’s what I’m going to do. But hopefully sooner rather than later. But less than a week is my hope.”
Kyle Lowry talks about the team’s early-season frustrations in another Winderman story. Lowry suggests there’s an adjustment period to having Tyler Herro in the starting lineup and trying to get more offense from Bam Adebayo, and says the players need time to get comfortable with the changes. In a mailbag, Winderman notes that last year’s Lowry trade didn’t look good for the Heat on Monday, with Precious Achiuwa grabbing 22 rebounds for the Raptors.

Raptors Notes: Barnes, Koloko, Ujiri, Porter

October 26th, 2022 at 8:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

Scottie Barnes was one of the surprise stories of the 2021/22 season, winning Rookie of the Year honors and helping the Raptors return to the playoffs. In an interview with Steve Aschburner of NBA.com, Barnes said he understands the game even better now after spending a full season in the league.

“I really know the difference in what it takes to win and how hard each and every game is,” Barnes explained. “So it takes a certain amount of effort every night. I’m really trying to stay consistent with the effort I make on the offensive end and the defensive end. Trying to score points and make winning plays. Try to pull out these wins, because it’s hard to win a game in the NBA. Every possession really counts.”

The 21-year-old forward, who returned to the court tonight after an injury scare over the weekend, focused on off-the-dribble moves during the summer to expand his offensive arsenal. Coach Nick Nurse wants Barnes to become more aggressive in trying to score whenever he has a mismatch.

“I’m a natural passer,” Barnes said. “The first thing I look for, I try to make the right play. See who is open. Try to draw the defense. But it’s just … me trying to be more aggressive, they give me the confidence to do that. That allows me to try to find those mismatches in any way possible. Through pick and rolls or out on the floor. It doesn’t really matter who’s on me, I’ve got to try to do what I do.”

There’s more from Toronto:

Rookie center Christian Koloko was looking forward to his first matchup with Sixers star and fellow Cameroon native Joel Embiid tonight (video link). Koloko told reporters he hopes it will inspire youngsters in the African country to see two Cameroonian players face each other in the NBA.
Raptors president Masai Ujiri was fined $35K for approaching the scorer’s table during Saturday’s loss to Miami and “directing inappropriate remarks toward a game official,” the NBA announced (via Twitter).
Otto Porter Jr., who still hasn’t made his debut with the Raptors, missed another game tonight with a strained hamstring, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. Nurse said Porter is getting closer to being ready, and with just one game over the next four days, there’s hope that he will benefit from extra practice time.

Boucher Returns, Achiuwa Thrives In Raptors' Win

October 25th, 2022 at 10:29am CST by Luke Adams

While Chris Boucher would rather have been playing in the Raptors‘ first three games, the veteran forward/center found a silver lining in having to sit out with a hamstring injury, as Doug Smith of The Toronto Star relays.

“To be honest with you, I feel like it was good for me just to see what I can bring to the team, sitting down and watching,” Boucher said on Monday before returning to the Raptors’ lineup in Miami. “If I was playing and we were losing games, I probably wouldn’t see as much.”

Boucher got into quick foul trouble in his season debut on Monday, picking up five fouls in just 12 minutes of action. But he was effective in his limited role, scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in a Raptors victory.

The Raptors got a big night out of Precious Achiuwa against his old team on Monday, as he grabbed 22 rebounds against the Heat. While the team isn’t expecting regular 22-rebound nights from Achiuwa, head coach Nick Nurse wants to see him produce more consistently. “I always say you can play good, like one out of three games, right? It’s got to get bumped up to two out of four, then three out of five,” Nurse said, per Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. “No one is going to play great every night but we got to start making some progression where there’s some consistency there.”

Spurs Notes: Bassey, Jones, Langford

October 24th, 2022 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Charles Bassey‘s representatives spoke to 22 teams after the big man was waived by Philadelphia on October 13, including the Pistons, Cavaliers, Suns, and Raptors, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. However, according to Pompey, most of the teams that reached out to Pompey wanted to sign him to an Exhibit 10 contract and have him play on their G League affiliate this season.

Some of those G League offers might’ve resulted in a promotion to the NBA later this season or in 2023/24, but Bassey didn’t want to settle — he ultimately signed a two-way contract with the Spurs earlier today.

“I didn’t want to wait for the next year for a roster spot,” Bassey said, per Pompey. “That’s too long. The Spurs came hard … Some of the teams wanted to give me a roster spot, but they couldn’t give me one right now. I just didn’t want to go through that (Exhibit 10/G League) route. San Antonio said, ‘We can give you a two-way this year and we’ll see where it goes from there.'”

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Bassey, who lived in San Antonio when he first moved to America from Nigeria in 2015 and still has some family in the city. He also believes the franchise is an ideal fit for him.

“It’s a young organization,” Bassey said. “They are rebuilding. I feel like I’m going to have a great chance to play in a pretty good organization. And it’s a character organization. Everybody does stuff the same. … I feel like I’m going to fit right in.”

Here’s more on the Spurs:

In an in-depth story for The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Orsborn takes a look at how Tre Jones is embracing what he calls a “big opportunity” to start at point guard for the Spurs this season. Jones is averaging 16.3 PPG on 53.1% shooting in his first three games this season, a significant step up from last season’s 6.0 PPG on 49.0% shooting. “When we find guys we think have that potential (to be leaders), we try to help it grow,” head coach Gregg Popovich. “Tre has just got it. Some people don’t, some people do. I remember Coach K (former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski) telling me about what I would like about Tre, and that was one of the major things. He is just a born leader.”
The battle for the Spurs’ 15th regular season spot entering the season was believed to come down to Romeo Langford vs. Joe Wieskamp, with Langford ultimately making the team. Asked what he wants to see from Langford this season, Popovich said he believes the former Indiana standout has the potential to be a “hell of a defender,” per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link).
Here’s more from Popovich on Langford: “He’s got quick feet, he’s really long, he anticipates well, and he’s got a real bounce to him. Offensively, I think confidence is what he needs right now. I think he an become a two-way player. He can score at one end and really shake it up at the defensive end. That’s what I’ve seen from him in the short time I’ve been around him and that’s why we kept him.”

Chris Boucher Cleared To Make Season Debut

October 24th, 2022 at 3:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors big man Chris Boucher has been cleared to make his regular season debut on Monday after missing the team’s first three games due to a hamstring issue, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. Scottie Barnes remains questionable for Monday with an ankle sprain, but the fact that he’ll likely be a game-time decision is a sign that the injury isn’t as serious as the team initially feared it could be, Lewenberg observes.

NBA Suspends Caleb Martin, Nikola Jovic; Fines Christian Koloko

October 23rd, 2022 at 8:44pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA has suspended Heat forward/guard Caleb Martin and rookie power forward Nikola Jovic, in addition to fining Raptors rookie center Christian Koloko for their roles in an on-court altercation during Saturday’s game, the league has announced in a press release (Twitter link).

Koloko was tackled and sent into the crowd by Martin, whom the NBA referred to as the instigator of the fight. In its presser, the league notes that it fined Koloko $15K because he grabbed Martin during the altercation.

Martin and Koloko were both ejected with technical fouls after fighting for rebounding position midway through the third quarter of a 112-109 Miami home win over Toronto yesterday. Jovic left his team’s bench to support Martin during the fracas, resulting in an automatic one-game suspension.

The Raptors will square off against the Heat again on Miami’s home floor, FTX Arena, tomorrow, October 24, during which Jovic and Martin will serve their suspensions.

After signing a new three-year, $20.5MM deal to stay with Miami in the summer, Martin has started off the season slowly on offense as the team’s starting power forward. He is averaging 6.3 PPG on .333/.167/1.000 through three games, plus 5.3 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.3 SPG.

The 6’10” Jovic, selected with the No. 27 pick by Miami this summer, has yet to play for the Heat this season. The 7’1″ Koloko, the No. 33 selection in the 2022 draft out of Arizona, has played sparingly thus far for Toronto, averaging 1.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 0.7 BPG in 15.7 MPG through his first pro contests.

Raptors Notes: Barnes, Nurse, Reserves, Boucher

October 23rd, 2022 at 7:13pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Raptors are hoping that 2022 Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes can take the next step en route to superstardom, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Barnes excelled as a scorer and defender during the 2021/22 season — the goal now is to improve his ceiling as a play-maker and shooter.

“We’ve tried to give him a little bit at a time so it’s not overwhelming and he’s not completely confused out there,” Barnes’ skills trainer and mentor Brian Macon said. “The hardest thing about training Scottie’s game is that he’s going to catch the ball in so many different positions … He might have the ball in the ball screen, he might catch it in the post, he might catch it in the short roll, he might catch it off someone else’s action. So it’s hard, because he does so much on the floor. But I think he’ll have a better plan in every single spot, and he’ll know what he likes and he’ll have more things he can go to.”

There’s more out of Toronto:

With Barnes possibly limited in the short-term future due to a right ankle sprain, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse will have to search for depth on the club’s roster, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic. “You guys know, I’m trying to win each game each night,” Nurse said recently. “That’s the one thing that we’re trying to do. It’s felt like the right thing to do so far by subbing the way we subbed.” Koreen notes that the Raptors seem to be lacking some half-court scoring punch.
Though injuries to Raptors reserves Otto Porter Jr. and Chris Boucher can be partly to blame for the team’s underwhelming bench performance thus far this season, Doug Smith of The Star opines that the team’s remaining backups still need to improve their performances. “The league is all about opportunity and rhythm… especially for guys that are on limited minutes, limited rotation, limited opportunity,” starting point guard Fred VanVleet said. “You just got to know when you are checking in and know the rotation and know the rhythm, know where the shots are coming from, know what you are supposed to do when you are out there.”
Boucher and Barnes are both officially questionable ahead of tomorrow’s contest against the Heat, but Josh Lewenberg of TSN (Twitter link) reports that Nurse anticipates Boucher will be able to make his 2022/23 season debut.

Heat Notes: Martin, Yurtseven, Oladipo, Dedmon

October 23rd, 2022 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Heat forward Caleb Martin and Raptors center Christian Koloko face fines and possible suspensions after being ejected for fighting in Saturday’s game.

According to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, the skirmish happened midway through the third quarter as both players were chasing a rebound. Koloko was knocked over and Martin was whistled for a loose ball foul. Koloko seemed to accidentally swipe Martin in the back of his head on his way down, and Martin angrily stood over Koloko before they began throwing punches.

“I just think that there’s a lot of plays that were kind of leading up to it. It was a chippy game,” Martin said. “That’s typically how the game goes with Toronto. It’s chippy back and forth. But ultimately I just think that emotions were high and the game was a close game. It was back and forth. Overall, I got to be more professional in the way I handle those type of situations.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra credited assistants Malik Allen and Caron Butler for keeping other players on the bench and not escalating the fight, which could have led to multiple suspensions. Koloko, who was playing just his third NBA game, said he didn’t understand what made Martin so angry.

“When he fouled me, he was basically grabbing me and pushing me,” Koloko said. “I don’t know … I’m confused. I don’t know why. I don’t even know him, so I don’t know what was going on in his head. He just stood there looking at me like crazy. I just stood up. I don’t know.”

There’s more from Miami:

Omer Yurtseven is listed as day-to-day with a left ankle impingement, but the Heat haven’t set a timetable for him to return, Chiang writes in a separate story. Yurtseven was competing for the backup center spot heading into training camp, but the injury has kept him out of action since the first preseason game. “They said structurally [it’s fine],” Yurtseven said. “I went to like five different doctors just to make sure everything was fine just to double, triple and quadruple check.”
The Heat also don’t have a timetable for Victor Oladipo, who has missed the first three games with left knee tendinosis, Chiang adds. The team is being careful with Oladipo after he underwent two surgeries on his right knee in a little more than three years. “I wouldn’t say extra cautious. I would say appropriate and measured approach with this,” Spoelstra said. “We’re looking at the long game. This has been about investing in him and his health for two years and we just want to make sure that we’re taking all the necessary steps to get him back out there where there’s not a setback.”
Reserve center Dewayne Dedmon has gotten off to a slow start and could see a reduced role as the season wears on, suggests Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel.