Though it’ll only have been 103 days since they fell to the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series, when the Toronto Raptors tip-off their 2020-21 campaign Wednesday with an encounter with the New Orleans Pelicans, it’ll feel a lot like the beginning of a new era for the club.
Looking holistically and practically at the Raptors this season, they aren’t that much different. Familiar faces like Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and Norman Powell all still remain with the team.
But the change will be felt emotionally with the club losing two big parts of its championship run in Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol. Plus, there’s a lot of new as well, from the free-agent pickups made to fill the gap at centre and add more depth at the wing, to the rookies who were taken in the draft.
So though the core of the team has remained the same, the ancillary pieces around them have changed enough that this season’s team will have a different feel to it.
Here’s a closer look at the team and what we might expect from them this season, including seven key storylines to watch.
Off-season snapshot
Re-signed: Chris Boucher, Fred VanVleet.
Additions: Aron Baynes (free agency), DeAndre’ Bembry (free agency), Malachi Flynn (No. 29 overall pick in draft), Chris Finch (new assistant coach), Jalen Harris (No. 59 overall pick in draft), Alex Len (free agency), Yuta Watanabe (free agency).
Departures: Nate Bjorkgren (took job to become head coach of Indiana Pacers), Marc Gasol (signed with Los Angeles Lakers), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (signed with Minnesota Timberwolves, but was waived), Serge Ibaka (signed with Los Angeles Clippers).
Raptors roster OG Anunoby Aron Baynes DeAndre’ Bembry Chris Boucher Terence Davis II Malachi Flynn (rookie) Jalen Harris (rookie, two-way) Stanley Johnson Alex Len Kyle Lowry Patrick McCaw Norman Powell Pascal Siakam Matt Thomas Fred VanVleet Yuta Watanabe (two-way) Paul Watson Jr.
Storylines to watch
Siakam’s bounceback: The single biggest factor that will determine success for the Raptors this season will hinge on Siakam finding his old form again.
Beginning the first year of his four-year, $130-million contract extension, Siakam faces extra pressure to perform to expectation and not repeat what we saw from him in the bubble. During training camp, the Raptors all-star was open about his struggles in the bubble and how he had lost some of the passion and joy for the game while in Disney World.
But it’s a new season, and he told reporters he feels a lot better. And while his pre-season was nothing to write home about, that shouldn’t be cause for concern. Siakam is a player who has always come back after every off-season improved, and the Raptors have no choice but to bank on him being the star he was once again.
The front office’s aggression level: A big reason why Toronto was unable to come to an agreement with Ibaka in the off-season appears to have been the fact the Raptors had their eyes firmly on the free-agent class in the summer of 2021. Most notably, Giannis Antetokounmpo was the likely target of Masai Ujiri, Bobby Webster and Co., but obviously he’s now off the table after signing an historic supermax contract extension to remain with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Perhaps even more problematic than that, though, is the fact the vaunted 2021 free agent class has now been stripped bare, with LeBron James, Paul George and Rudy Gobert also signing extensions.
Sure, Kawhi Leonard could still become a free agent — and he’d be a hell of a ‘Plan B’ for the Raptors — but you have to wonder if pinning all hope on landing a big fish in free agency might not be the wisest course of action anymore.
That’s why it’ll be interesting to monitor how aggressive the Raptors prove to be in the trade market this season. Keeping maximum flexibility for the coming off-season may no longer be the plan, meaning the team might be more willing to pursue players with a little more term on their contract. Should that come to pass, we’ll get a clearer picture of how Toronto might want to tackle its immediate future.
How the centres will fare: For better or worse, Baynes will be meticulously compared to the likes of Ibaka and Gasol, and, in some ways, that could actually help to endear him to Raptors faithful.
No, Baynes doesn’t have the smooth pick-and-pop game that Ibaka has, nor is he a high-post play-making savant like Gasol, but what he can do is set brick-wall screens, play strong positional defence and take charges, and even hit the occasional three.
That should be more than good enough for what the Raptors are looking for at centre as the position won’t be an offensive focal point this season.
As for Len and Boucher, there will no doubt be a dropoff in the second unit compared to last year. But, again, all the Raptors need their centres to do is screen hard, crash the glass hard and provide some assistance at the rim, and both Len and Boucher can do that in theory.
There’s going to be a lot of hand-wringing about the position at the start of the season, but things should settle down as we find out just what kind of team this is in the weeks and months to come.
Possibly Lowry’s last hurrah with Raptors: Sad as it may be to think about, but this could be Lowry’s last season in a Raptors uniform.
On an expiring contract that isn’t extension eligible, it’s impossible to rule out the possibility that this will be the greatest player in Raptors history’s last ride with the franchise.
He’ll be turning 35 in late March, and while it looks like he hasn’t missed a beat you have to wonder whether Toronto’s goals and his will align come the off-season.
Big year for OG: There’s big expectation for Anunoby to have a breakout season, and for good reason.
After three seasons that saw him deal with one complication after the next that held him back, it looks like the runway is finally clear for Anunoby to fulfill the promise of his enormous potential.
During training camp and pre-season, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has talked about greater offensive opportunity for Anunoby, so the touches and shots will be there for him this season, plus he’s looked to come back from the off-season with a tighter handle and stronger decision-making skills than before.
Everyone already knows what he can do on defence — a rare player who actually can guard all five positions on the floor — and if his offence can catch up even a little to what he’s doing on the other end of the floor, the Raptors have yet another rising star on their hands.
Small ball: Looking at the Raptors’ roster you see a lot of guards and wing players, but not much in the way of bigs.
This likely means we’ll be seeing a lot of small ball from the Raptors this season, especially because Nurse has talked about possibly utilizing Anunoby at the five a little more.
There’s obvious pacing and shooting advantages to playing small, and Toronto does have the personnel to make sure it doesn’t give up too much on defence. But only one team — the almighty Golden State Warriors at their height between 2014-2019 — had effectively made small ball work as the team’s primary look.
We’ll have to see if the Raptors can find similar success this season.
Flynnsanity: It was only three pre-season games, but first-round pick Flynn looks like he could be pretty special for the Raptors — if we let him get there.
While it’s well and good to be excited for Flynn, it’s probably best to temper expectations for him for the time being. He’s bound to have his ups and downs as all first-year players do, and putting undue pressure on the young man when he’s just trying to find his way will do nothing to help the situation.
He looks like he has a chance, and he needs to be given one.
Reasonable expectations for the Raptors this season
Are the Raptors title favourites? No. But they’re hardly a bunch of scrubs, either.
Boring as it may be to say, Toronto looks every bit the part of a team that’s still good, but maybe not great.
This is a core group that knows how to win and will likely safely secure its eighth straight playoff appearance — probably with the No. 3 or 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
How the Raptors perform in the playoffs from there will likely depend on how the bracket plays out. But this is a team that should see the second round, and anything beyond that is anyone’s guess.
In other words, expect yet another successful season for a team that’s become one of the most consistent, well-run machines in all of pro sports.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
