12:46 p.m.: Raptors trade Powell to Portland for Trent Jr., Hood
12:30 p.m.: Denver trades package for Aaron Gordon
9 a.m.: What should the Raptors do? Here’s what Doug Smith thinks
On this, the most exciting transaction day in pro sports, we’re going to have some fun while keeping the NBA news, the rumours and the reaction all in one safe space. Have a question or want to chat? Use the Conversations tool at the bottom of this blog by registering for free to thestar.com (not available on the Star mobile app). Let’s get started. Deadline is 3 p.m. ET.
2:45 p.m.: Update from the Toronto Star desk — 15 minutes to go and we’re still doomscrolling.
2:30 p.m. (updated): The Atlanta Hawks have traded point guard Rajon Rondo to the Los Angeles Clippers for Lou Williams and two future second-round picks, sources told ESPN.
The Clippers were said to be engaging with the Raptors on point guard Kyle Lowry, as you’ll read below.
2:20 p.m.: New Orleans Pelicans guard Josh Hart tweeted about the Toronto Star NBA trade deadline blog (unconfirmed): “Refreshing my feed every 5 secs.”
I know you all can relate, and we’re happy you’re here.
2:17 p.m.: What’s the hold up on a Kyle Lowry trade?
“The hold up on both teams is the inclusion of Talen Horton-Tucker from the Lakers and Tyler Herro from the Miami Heat,” says Shams Charania of The Athletic.
2:10 p.m.: The Raptors are trading guard Matt Thomas to the Utah Jazz for a future second-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
The trade opens up a roster spot for Toronto, meaning the Raptors could take on an additional player in a potential Lowry trade.
2:00 p.m. (updated): Norman Powell left quite a legacy on the franchise. Fans will never forget how he changed the course of the 2016 Pacers-Raptors playoffs series with a steal and thunderous dunk in Game 5.
My favourite Powell story is the one he penned for the Star just before the 2016 training camp when we asked him to provide advice to incoming rookies Jakob Poetl and Pascal Siakam.
Powell also made sure he contributed to the community.
Days before Christmas, he checked off the wish lists of more than 30 low-income families and providing them with grocery gift cards through the Yonge Street Mission.
For the 2019 Christmas, even thought he was recovering from an injury, he helped spread some holiday cheer on Saturday to the children displaced by a fire at 235 Gosford Blvd.
What’s your favourite Norm Powell memory? Share with us using the conversations tool below.
1:35 p.m.: Fun fact about the Gary Trent Jr. acquisition via Doug Smith — it now means the Raptors have the first Father-Son pairing ever to both play in Toronto.
Gary Trent Sr. played a dozen or so games in the horror of the 16-66 season in 1997-98. He came to Toronto along with Alvin Williams in the Damon Stoudamire deal. (more details on the trade posted below at 10:45 a.m.)
1:25 p.m.: The Golden State Warriors have emerged as a possible trade destination for Philadelphia’s Danny Green, sources tell the New York Times.
1:18 p.m.: While ESPN is reporting that the 76ers are no longer pursuing Lowry, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the Heat remain very much in the mix — while the Lakers and Clippers also have engaged with the Raptors.
Yes, those Clippers.
Former Toronto Star digital desker and friend of the live blog Tanis Fowler tweeted in response to the Clippers report: “OK, FINE. We’ll take Kawhi and Ibaka off your hands.”
1:15. p.m.: Want to share your NBA Trade Deadline takes with us? Use the conversations tool below, we’d love to chat.
1:11 p.m.: FAN ANGLE: Some fans worry that losing Lowry will hurt the Raptors’ optics and erase any clout the franchise accumulated thanks to years of effort from the All-Star guard.
“We’re not going to have an identity anymore if they trade Lowry,” said Emmanuel Dennis, a 23-year-old Scarborough resident.
“Who’s going to be the face of the Raptors now? We’re going to be nobodies again. Even though we have a championship, we’re still getting disrespected. That’s just going to get worse.”
1:05 p.m.: So, who is newest Raptor Gary Trent Jr.? He certainly is the prize of this Norman Powell deal. The 22-year-old, in his third NBA season, has averaged 15 points over 41 games this year. He’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of this season. And we’ll have lots more to come on him.
12:46 p.m.: The Toronto Raptors have traded Norm Powell to the Portland Trailblazers on Thursday ahead of the NBA’s trade deadline, cources confirmed to the Star.
The Raptors received Gary Trent and Rodney Hood in return from Portland.
Powell has spent his entire career with the Raptors after being obtained as part of the most lopsided transaction ever pulled off by team president Masai Ujiri.
The 27-year-old native of San Diego arrived in Toronto on a draft-night trade in 2015 that saw Ujiri ship off Greivis Vasquez to the Milwaukee Bucks for Powell and the draft pick that ultimately became OG Anunoby.
12:44 p.m.: The Oklahoma City Thunder are finalizing trading George Hill to the Philadelphia 76ers, sources tell The Athletic.
Does this take them out of the running for Kyle Lowry?
“This one is intriguing from the Raptors scheme of things,” said Raptors reporter Doug Smith on his live Twitter Spaces chat.
12:42 p.m.: Sacramento Kings are finalizing a deal to send Nemanja Bjelica to the Miami Heat, sources tell ESPN.
12:37 p.m.: Former Raptor Terrence Ross tweeted the official mood of this trade deadline. Stress, anxiety, anticipation. And there’s still more than two hours to go.
12:30 p.m.: Doug Smith said on his live Twitter chat now that he thinks the Sixers would benefit more from a Lowry trade than the Heat.
To join our Twitter Spaces by heading to the Twitter app on your phone. The conversation can be found on the top bar, where Fleets are, surrounded by a purple background. Doug is planning on chatting until 1 p.m. unless news breaks.
12:30 p.m.: Denver is sending Gary Harris, R.J. Hampton and a first-round pick to the Magic for Aaron Gordon, source tells ESPN.
12:20 p.m.: Could be another big trade down the pipe.
The Orlando Magic are progressing on a trade to send Aaron Gordon to the Denver Nuggets, sources tell the Athletic.
That would be the Magic’s third trade of the day, as they appear to be looking to the future.
12:08 p.m.: Doug Smith said on his live Twitter chat now that he heard that up to 20 teams are interested in Norman Powell.
To join our Twitter Spaces by heading to the Twitter app on your phone. The conversation can be found on the top bar, where Fleets are, surrounded by a purple background.
12:05 p.m.: The Star’s business feature writer Richard Warnica points out on Twitter that Lowry will go down as the greatest Raptor of all time and jokes that “there’s no doubt his most astonishing statistical achievement is selling a house for under asking in Toronto in 2021.”
11:50 a.m.: Looks like we have the second big deal of the day, and it involves the Boston Celtics.
Boston finalizing deal to acquire Orlando guard Evan Fournier for two second-round picks, sources tell ESPN. The Celtics had a huge trade exception to use.
11:45 a.m.: This is your 15-minute warning!
At 12 p.m. ET, long-time Raptors reporter Doug Smith will be providing analysis and taking questions ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
His latest take? The Raptors shouldn’t let a recent slide force their hand at the trade deadline.
Join our Twitter Spaces by heading to the Twitter app on your phone. The conversation can be found on the top bar, where Fleets are, surrounded by a purple background.
11:40 a.m.: Kyle Lowry also left his mark on off the court in Toronto with his annual “Lowry Holiday Assists” program.
11:35 a.m.: It’s Kyle Lowry’s 35th birthday today and fans are looking back fondly on his time with the Raptors.
“Lowry was the glue guy on the championship team,” said Dov Kahn, 18, a Toronto-born shooting guard set to play for Fleming College in Peterborough before the pandemic.
“He was the leader; they couldn’t have won a ring without him. His willingness to take a charge and bang bodies in the paint with the really big guys embodies the grittiness of Toronto basketball culture.”
That being said, Kahn isn’t opposed to trading the franchise icon.
“Get the man a statue, he’s the greatest Raptor of all time, but it’s time to rebuild,” he told the Star’s Ben Cohen.
11:15 a.m.: Whoa! The first blockbuster trade of the day, but it doesn’t involve Toronto.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the Chicago Bulls are acquiring centre Nikola Vucevic and Al Farouq Aminu from Orlando for Otto Porter Jr., Wendell Carter Jr., and two first-round picks.
That counts as a Woj bomb.
Vucevic made the all-star team this year, the second time he was honoured. But he did struggle against Marc Gasol when the Raptors eliminated the Magic in the playoffs two years ago.
10:55 a.m.: At 12 p.m. ET, long-time Raptors reporter Doug Smith will be providing analysis and taking questions ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
His latest take? The Raptors shouldn’t let a recent slide force their hand at the trade deadline.
Join our Twitter Spaces by heading to the Twitter app on your phone. The conversation can be found on the top bar, where Fleets are, surrounded by a purple background.
10:45 a.m.: So what’s the biggest trade on deadline day the Raptors have made? It’s got to be obtaining Marc Gasol from Memphis for Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright and C.J. Miles, right?
But, and if you expand dealine deals to include trades in the days leading up to the deadline, you got to include the Damon Stoudamire trade in the discussion as one of the biggest in franchise history.
On Feb. 13, 1998, the Raptors traded Carlos Rogers, Damon Stoudamire and Walt Williams to the Portland Trail Blazers for Kenny Anderson, Gary Trent, Alvin Williams, two first-round picks and a second-round pick.
The Raptors had to deal a reportedly unhappy Stoudamire, the franchise’s first star a.k.a. Mighty Mouse.
If Masai Ujiri does make a deal, will he land a young player that can have as much of an impact as Williams?
10:20 a.m.: ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Denver is acquiring Cleveland centre JaVale McGee for Isaiah Hartenstein and two future protected second-round picks.
If this deal made your heart pound, then you definitely are an NBA trade deadline fanatic.
10 a.m.: What level of “NBA trade deadline fanatic” are you?
Have you typed the words “Kyle Lowry” into your favourite search engine more than 17 times in the last six weeks?
Have you turned your “Woj Bomb” Twitter notifications on?
Are you glued to our live blog and absolutely loving it?
If you answered yes or no to any of these questions, you’ve come to the right place!
9 a.m.: What does the Star’s Doug Smith think the Raptors should do? Doug puts on his GM cap in this story prior to the victory Wednesday over the Nuggets.
What they must do, however, is disassociate the last 10 games from the next two years. Overreacting to what’s going on now is a dangerous route to take and it would be ill-advised for Ujiri or Webster to blink this week in the light of a losing streak.
Draft picks are nice but dealing either of those two players to legitimate title contenders will yield picks in the late 20s, and there’s never a ton of value there. Moving them for young players sounds great but the Raptors are already to committed to a young core of VanVleet, OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam. Why would they trade into any of those settled positions?
12 a.m.: We already had one trade overnight! Involving two former Raptor point guards, no less. The Detroit Pistons are trading Delon Wright to the Sacramento Kings for Cory Joseph and two second-round picks, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
11 p.m. Wednesday: Drake even interrupted Lowry’s postgame conference with a phone call.
10:30 p.m. Wednesday: If Kyle Lowry played his last game with the Raptors, he went out with a bang.
Shrugging off a gruesome nine-game losing streak with one of their most impressive performances of the season, the Raptors routed the Denver Nuggets 135-111 on a night awash in emotion.
Lowry finished with eight points and nine assists before checking out with about five minutes left. He finished with an individual plus-42 on the night that was the second-best in Toronto franchise history behind a plus-46 from Mark Jackson.
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The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.
The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.
Trends of the Week
The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.
In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.
When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.
Upsets of the Week
The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.
Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.
NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.
Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.
The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.
Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.
Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.
Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.
Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).
Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.
Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.
Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.
Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.
The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).
The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.
The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.
