Toronto Raptors

Okay, let’s get this out of the way before the deluge of “what’s going on with the Raptors” calls, e-mails and texts begin. Have fun. - Q: Greetings, Mr. Smith. How long do you think it will take for the NBA to dub Toronto's/Texas's big Myck "El Kabongo"? Or maybe just "Quickdraw"? "Baba Louie"? Maybe a Top Five list of your all-time coolest NBA nicknames? Thanks for the great blog! David M., Ottawa A: Wow, so many to choose from, it’s virtually impossible. But I’ll do it because that’s what we do, with one codicil: Nothing with “Big” in it can count, those are simply too easy; if we had to pick just one I’m going with The Big Dipper because, well, because it’s Wilt. So here are five and you Irregulars go at the others: Chocolate Thunder Darryl Dawkins. Magic Johnson. Pistol Pete Maravich. Clyde The Glide Drexler And how about Dollar Bill Bradley? Yeah, I can live with that as an interesting list off the top of my head. - Q: Hi Doug, I know you're often trying to highlight women's sports (which is a very good idea, at least in my estimation), so have you seen this? Andrea Blackwell is a family friend, and quite an amazing athlete (she'd kick our butts on the golf course, for example). Did you ever get to see Andrea play? Ken M A: I had the pleasure of seeing Andrea play for Canada at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, a disappointing tournament for a lot of reasons (and I believe you’re quite familiar with all of that) and since I was actually on the voting panel for induction into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame this year, I’m quite glad she made it. And think any Canadian athlete – female or male – whose Olympic appearances span the era from 1984 in L.A. to 1996 in Atlanta – deserves every honour she or he can get. It’s just truly too bad that the Canadian women’s team, ranked third in the world I believe, didn’t get to Seoul; that group could very well have won a medal. A true regret. - Q: Hello Doug, Since you are watching drills at the combine, I thought I would ask if anyone really turned your head at one of these events. Is there an opportunity for someone to really stand out? Thanks, Niels. A: I didn’t sit and watch the five hours of workouts each of the two days, unfortunately, because I needed time to do interviews for the Olynyk and Kabongo pieces as well as shmooze some NBA types and some sources for the Raptors story that came out of there. But two names I did hear an awful lot were Shane Larkin and Tim Hardaway, Jr., and Cody Zeller caught some eyes as well. - Q: I asked a similar question last week but it didn't make the cut. In light of Wiggins' comment about T-Mac in his prime being a better player than Vince, I've decided to re-phrase the question and ask it again. Who is the best player to ever wear a Raptors Jersey regardless of when and where they played their best years Who is the best player to play his best years in a Raptors Jersey. Who is the best "Leader" the Raptors have ever had. Who is the best player on the Raptors right now. Thanks! Jeff, Saint John A: Hakeem Olajuwon, Alvin Williams, Charles Oakley and probably, today, Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan would be tied. -   Doug I do not want to rewrite history so correct me if I am wrong (probable) but wasn't there some talk in BC’s first year, (fairly decent) that this wasn't Colangelo’s team but it belonged to the previous GM. If the Raps hire a new GM and have a successful season, we will have that all over again I believe. I guess I am just saying that for a new GM, if the team is successful - it was Bryan’s team. If they are not successful, then new GM will get the "lousy manager" treatment. If I were an established GM, I would say no. This is too much of a lose/lose situation. They don't have much cap room to go looking for FAs and they have a re

On Friday we learned from Doug Smith that the Raptors have until Monday to decide whether or not to pick up Bryan Colangelo’s option for next season. Smith also reported that Tim Leiweke and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment have hired a search firm to narrow down a list of potential Colangelo successors. Two names mentioned in that report were Pacers General Manager Kevin Pritchard and Thunder Vice President and Assistant GM Troy Weaver. Saturday morning, Adrian Wojnarowski hit us with something that most Raptors fans surely considered once or twice when news emerged that Colangelo’s days may be numbered, and that’s that Toronto is reportedly targeting Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri. As most of you are probably aware, Ujiri spent three years working under Colangelo in Toronto before being hired by the Nuggets, where he went on to handle the Carmelo Anthony situation better than Colangelo handled the Chris Bosh situation, to oversee a 50+ win team, and eventually took home the NBA’s Executive Of the Year award for this season’s performance. I’d argue that Ujiri winning the award had more to do with his first two years on the job than this year, but nonetheless, we’re talking about a young basketball executive who has enjoyed nothing but success in his first three years on the job. Wojnarowski, citing league sources, writes that Ujiri is the top choice of executive recruiting firm Korn/Ferry International, who MLSE hired to conduct the search. The 42-year-old, who became the first African-born General Manager in North American professional sports when Denver hired him in 2010, will see his current contract with the Nuggets expire this summer. According to Woj, Ujiri turned down the 76ers job last year and he’s “one of the NBA’s lower paid GMs,” but he also mentions that “Tim Leiweke has expressed a desire to make a serious financial and organizational commitment to an elite executive to turn around the franchise.” While I can definitely understand why it would be tough for Ujiri to leave Denver when the Nuggets are much closer to contention than the Raptors are, you’d have to think that between his familiarity with Toronto and the Raptors, and the potential for a raise, MLSE would be one of the organizations that could at least make him consider a move. On a final note from the Wojnarowski report, the Yahoo! Sports writer states that Colangelo “could stay with the franchise under a new top basketball official.” I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Colangelo wouldn’t stick around to take the ego hit of working under his former Assistant GM, but that’s just me.

This according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Ujiri’s contract expires this summer in Denver and apparently Leiweke has expressed interested in bringing him back to Toronto. Thoughts?

Looks like it’s going to be a nice day in these parts for the long weekend, hope it is wherever you’re going to be. Here’s some stuff to get you started, there’s a bit more for tomorrow (you can still get in on the fun if you want) and I’ll have some time after Mighty Navy Tigers practice and a couple of NBA West preview things get written to putter around so feel free to send some more. - Q: I was reading a Raps article that had various clips of turning points in the season...While watching the Bobcat's clip from early in the season I was struck, not by the non-called foul, but how quickly Bargnani's star has fallen. I mean here he was, early in the season, the go to guy for the last second shot. Last season he averaged something crazy like 26 points a game before getting injured. He had plays called for him every time down the floor. I'm wondering at which point in the last two seasons did Bargnani's stock start to fall... was it after his injury last year? This year? After his second injury this year? I know BC has said he has value, and I'm not getting into the Amnesty debate.... but there has been an obvious drop from Star and game closer to "Boo'ed at home/non-option on offense" Any thoughts on when this declined started and why his star fell so quickly? Jeff A: Well, he got hurt and came back to pretty much a different team with his role changed and it took some getting used to. And when he did – or at least did a bit – he got hurt again and then Rudy Gay arrived and things changed all over again. It was a different team and he was asked to do different things; not sure “star has fallen” is the right phrase, “things changed” might be more apt. - Q: Hi Doug...Why do so many fans spend ridiculous sums to wear the uniform of some conglomerate's team? Wouldn't a cheap hat do the trick? How about a small pin with the team logo? Remember Bill, the spaceman, Lee's theory about the great snow ball? 100,000 years from now ( or maybe 10) when the earth is a great snowball hurtling through space, who gives a rats' tail about all those "little things" that we presently consider so important. ( Like the Leafs latest loss) Carpe Diem Bob E, Kanata A: I can honestly say I don't believe I have ever purchased a jersey of any player or team in any sport for myself so I don't get it myself. I'd go for hats, though. And I seldom sweat the small stuff, hardly worth it. - Q: Hi Doug, I've been thinking about Ed Davis. Given what you know of him, do you think he's happy to be a bit player on a team doing so well? Or do you think he just wishes he got more playing time? It's been a shame to hear that he's riding the pine in Memphis -- that's got to slow his development. At the same time, it's got to feel good to be doing so well in the playoffs. And another thing: it sure seems like the Grizzlies are better off without Rudy Gay. Were they just using him wrong? Do you think the Raptors will be able to plug him into their system a little better and reap the benefits? Thanks, and keep up the hard work! Tim A: I'm sure he'd want to be playing more, if he didn't he wouldn't be normal. But at some point when he gets a playoff cheque he'll feel all right. I guess you could say they're better off because of where they are but if Russell Westbrook doesn't get hurt and the Thunder knock off the Grizzlies, we're not having this conversation, are we? - Q: Hello Doug! Well, it's that time of year again - no, not a certain someone's Birth Month. And seriously, it requires an entire month to celebrate you??? I'll bet once upon a time it was a single day. And, I remember when it was a week. Now, an entire month is required to glorify Our Favourite Beat Grunt? Wow. Soon you'll be demanding an extension to a full year and then it'll jus

We’ve been waiting for what we thought was imminent news on the job status of Bryan Colangelo for a couple of weeks now, and on Friday afternoon, some finally trickled through. First, citing multiple NBA sources, Doug Smith reported in the Toronto Star that Tim Leiweke and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment have “hired a head-hunting firm to whittle down a list of possible replacements” for Colangelo. In addition, Smith reports that the Raptors have until Monday to decide whether or not to pick up the 2013-14 option year on Colangelo’s contract. Later on Friday, Michael Grange confirmed the news… As per @smithraps I can confirm MLSE has engaged search firm for GM hunt and has until Monday to pick up option on Colangelo’s option — Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) May 17, 2013 So there you have it. Whether it’s a deadline date that was already in the contract, a drop dead date that Leiweke came up with or Colangelo has asked for, or one that both parties have agreed to, Bryan’s fate will be decided by Monday one way or another. I’ve held firm that Colangelo’s failures (a five-year playoff drought without cap space or a 2013 lottery pick to show for it) simply would have made it ridiculous to extend him, but I did think that from a stability standpoint and the fact that an incoming GM would have his hands tied by the current salary cap situation, Bryan’s option would be picked up and 2013-14 would serve as a make or break year for he and Dwane Casey. Then, if Leiweke and the board wanted to go in another direction at this time next year, the next general manager would have a little more flexibility in initiating change. With these latest developments, however, it’s hard to imagine Colangelo being back for another stab in the dark. I suppose it’s possible that MLSE concludes Colangelo is still the best option after conducting a search, but it seems unlikely, doesn’t it? Between the initial Phil Jackson rumours, the length of time it has taken for Leiweke to make a decision on Colangelo and the fact that MLSE is apparently already looking for a possible replacement, Bryan’s time in Toronto appears to be reaching its end. Many Raptors fans will likely be encouraged by the potential change in direction, and that’s fair, but a word of caution I’d give you is that there’s no guarantee a Colangelo replacement would like/keep the same current Raptors you like or that he would look to move the current Raptors you assume anybody other than B.C. would move. In addition, while I do have a significant amount of blind faith in Tim Leiweke, this is still the Raptors we’re talking about, so until something actually does happen, don’t just assume it will. For now, we wait…again. I’ll be around to write about and react to any breaking Colangelo news over the next few days. Until then, enjoy the long weekend. *** UPDATE: One thing I failed to mention above is that Smith wrote in his report that “Two names being tossed around NBA circles” are Kevin Pritchard and Troy Weaver. Pritchard is the current General Manager of the Pacers (since last June) and served as Trail Blazers GM from 2007 until 2010, while Weaver is the current Vice President and Assistant GM of the Thunder, where he has worked under Sam Presti for five years. We’re still too early in the process to know enough (and really, we don’t even know that Colangelo is finished yet), but at first glance, if those were the two names out there, I’d prefer Weaver. I’m not knocking Pritchard, saying that the Raptors have to hire a first time GM or saying that they should hire a younger guy, but I do think this perceived need for a “proven” NBA executive is wildly exaggerated. Do Masai Ujiri, Sam Presti or Daryl Morey look lost to you in their first full fledged GM jobs? Exactly. It’s time to think outside of the b

Our usual Friday of little things that may or may not matter and sorry we’re a bit late, sleep got in the way until 7 a.m. my time. - So what’s this draft combine like? Well, we finally got to find out first hand and it’s like a festival of basketball and front office schmoozefest. For the past few years, the prying eyes of the media were shut out of the actual workouts, the facility wasn’t big enough to hold us all, the teams and front office personnel wanted some privacy and we’d all wait at a hotel for the players to come back to do media interviews in some stuffy ballroom. Not any more. The gym’s huge – three full courts – and the players are broken up into five groups of about 10. Each group goes through about an hour of workouts – shooting drills, sprints, rebounding drills, agility tests – and then we get them for 20 minutes or so in a backroom; has to be about 150 credentialed media here so it’s a real circus, everyone’s trying to talk to their locals or the guys their teams might draft so getting private time with any of the athletes is basically impossible. That’s the toughest part of it, if you’re in a group of 10 writers or broadcasters talking to a player, you really have to work to get your questions answered, knowing full well that the stuff you’re seeking will end up in someone else’s story or report. That seems to be the way the business is going, unfortunately, and you really have to put in time to get to know people so that maybe – maybe – you can get a private moment walking out of a gym if you need it for a specific question you want answered. The chance for one-on-ones runs from slim to none, which is why a lot of the stuff you’ll read will sound eerily similar. - Oh yeah, the best part of the day? The wandering around amid 100 or so NBA executives, coaches and scouts, stopping here for a minute and there for a minute and catching any little piece of gossip you can. And, believe me, the HOTH are right at the front of everyone’s mind given the uncertainty surrounding the team. Off the top of my head, there were half a dozen GMs and a more than a dozen other front office types who sought me out to try and find out what was going on. The overwhelming sentiment? Bryan should be treated a bit better, some decisions should have been made before this camp began and it’s a tough situation for all. - I have no idea precisely why this came into my head this morning but it did. Gotta make some of you happy, I hope. - Oh, who’s here for the Raptors? Don’t think I missed anyone and saw Bryan, Ed Stefanski, Wayne Embry, Marc Eversley, Alex McKechnie and my man Alvin Williams, all huddled on the sideline scoping things out. No one from the coaching staff, which isn’t unusual for a team without a pick and, actually, the only coach I saw was Mike D’Antoni. - Gotta love guys who can bluff. On a stool in the lobby down from three guys who are watching late afternoon TV when ESPN shows the story about David Beckham retires. There’s a line about the number of caps Beckham’s won and one guy has no clue what that means and asks his buddies. The guy at the end of the table, sounding like Sammy Soccer who knows everything immediately pipes up, with absolute authority: “It’s the number of playoff games he’s been in, championships and playoff games. Games for England.” The guy who didn’t know nods, “ah, okay, that’s what I thought.” I order another. - Mail? Kind of lost a bunch of yesterday hanging around with cronies so I’m a little bit behind but here’s a last call to get me through the weekend. You know the drill, it’s askdoug@thestar.ca and we’re open for business. - So in the run of business at this combine, teams go through an interview process with a handful of players they fancy. They have their psychologists and doctors and front office personnel around to chat, ask questions, poke and probe physically and mentally an

Throughout the NBA playoffs, where we Raptor fans are left to wallow, Raptors Republic brings you the 100 Words Series. Calling on RR writers and other Raptor scribes from around the internet and MSM, we’ll provide the Republic with 100-word takes on players, coaches, management and announcers. Look for these two or three times a week, continuing today with John Lucas. The mission I charged the contributors with was simple: you have 100 words (prose, poetry, song, whatever) to discuss said player. Blake Murphy, Raptors Republic I realize this whole thing is a terribly weak post, but everything I have to say about JL3 can be summed up with this graphic: He shoots too much and he’s not particularly good at it. If he was just a three-baller, fine, but he doesn’t play that way. The other holes in his game (passing, ruining basketballs by over-dribbling them, defense) make it so that it’s tough to accept him as a backup point guard. It’s likely the team will look to upgrade that spot this summer, as they should. Eric Koreen, The National Post Dresses well. Garrett Hinchey, Raptors Republic I’ve always had a soft spot for this little guy – yes, he’s a 3rd point guard who was given the backup role. Yes, he’s EXTREMELY undersized for the position. And, yes, his NBA-calibre skills basically consist of 3-point shooting and a reasonable handle. But, when he heats up, there’s nothing like watching a 5 foot 10 point guard take over your team’s offense, even for a couple minutes. And there’s certainly nobody questioning the man’s compete level. So yes, John Lucas the Third, you are an extremely flawed basketball player. But you’re our extremely flawed basketball player. And I’ll take 10 hard-fought minutes of subpar floor generalship followed by a mini heat check over watching Alan Anderson go 2 for 18 any day. PhD Steve, Raptors Republic John Lucas 3, a haiku I don’t know this guy Since he never gets to play Jerome Moiso?

Well it has been some time since we dusted off the photoshop machine, but waking up to Rob Ford’s cocaine news inspired us. Seems the big guy is a fan of blow and there is a video out now to show it. Seems fitting the next move after getting kicked out of office will be the movies. How about a remake of Blow without Johnny Depp? Keep Penelope Cruz of course, she is hot. Anyways, here is how it may look. We hope you did not eat breakfast yet.

Throughout the NBA playoffs, where we Raptor fans are left to wallow, Raptors Republic brings you the 100 Words Series. Calling on RR writers and other Raptor scribes from around the internet and MSM, we’ll provide the Republic with 100-word takes on players, coaches, management and announcers. Look for these two or three times a week, continuing today with Jonas Valanciunas. The mission I charged the contributors with was simple: you have 100 words (prose, poetry, song, whatever) to discuss said player. Adam Francis, Raptors HQ My expectation for Jonas Valanciunas this past season was as follows; about six points and six rebounds a night, some solid defence, and some signs of improvement on O by season’s end. Interestingly, the inverse happened with Jonas’ offensive game being a step ahead of what most expected, with his defence and rebounding taking the bulk of the season to begin to shine through. But he averaged about 9 points, 6 boards and a block a game as a rookie, and seemed to get better

With the Grizzlies booking the franchise’s first trip to the Conference Finals on Wednesday night, much of the talk was about how obviously improved the team is in a post-Rudy Gay world. Gay’s supporters and Raptors diehards can point to the fact that the Thunder would have been the favoured team in the West semifinal series had Russell Westbrook been healthy, but the fact remains that the Grizzlies have a better record since trading Rudy and that the team’s two most successful post-seasons came with Gay either injured or long gone. Had Gay taken advantage of his talents more in Memphis, there’s no doubt that a team focusing on the frontcourt of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph with an inside-out game that included Gay and Mike Conley as weapons could have been better than the current edition of the Grizz. Unfortunately, Gay seemed content with being an inefficient chucker on too many nights in Memphis and Lionel Hollins seemed content with living and usually dying by that ill advised Rudy