There was a lot of chatter going into this season’s trade deadline of the Toronto Raptors pursuing a big man. Instead, they doubled down on playing small(er) ball.
The Raptors ended up trading Goran Dragic, who had been away from the team since the end of November for personal reasons, and a protected 2022 first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for Thaddeus Young, Drew Eubanks and a 2022 second-round pick (via the Pistons).
The Raptors are taking a calculated risk in swapping their first-round pick for Detroit’s second-round pick, and they’ve since waived Eubanks, who was included in the trade primarily to match salaries. Like Dragic, Young will be an unrestricted free agent at the season’s end, potentially making him a 30ish game rental, but he’s a fascinating addition to one of the funkiest teams in the league, and he’s someone the Raptors have apparently pursued in the past.
“I think he’s a known commodity around the NBA,” Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said of Young. “I think for us, we followed him for a while. We’ve made a few attempts to get him via trades in prior years.
“We felt like this was a good situation where we’re bringing him into Toronto and he’s at a point in his career where we think he really complements the core and doesn’t necessarily — he kind of complements more than tries to kind of substitute what they’re doing. And I think that was part of the philosophy for us, was maintaining and respecting what this group is doing and how can we add to it?”
Young didn’t play all that much with the Spurs this season, but he’s coming off of one of the better seasons of his career. In 68 games (23 starts) with the Bulls, he averaged 12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals to go along with a career-best 4.3 assists. Standing at 6-foot-8 with a 7-foot wingspan, he fits the Raptors mould of rangy wings, and he should be able to play alongside Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam in the frontcourt as a forward or small ball center.
The appeal with Young is his versatility. He’s not much of a 3-point shooter (33.0 percent on 1.4 3-point attempts per game in his career), but he can do a little bit of everything on both ends of the court.
While he’s built like a power forward, Young looked like a traditional big man on paper last season, generating the bulk of his offense out of the post, in pick-and-rolls, on cuts and off of putbacks. His long arms help him get his shot off in the paint, he has a soft touch around the basket and he moves well without the ball in his hands.
Young’s go-to is a lefty hook shot, and he’ll get defenders off balance with well-timed pump fakes.
The Bulls actually ran a decent amount of their offense through Young last season. According to NBA.com, he averaged 5.2 elbow touches per game, the sixth-most in the league. He averaged an additional 4.4 post-up touches per game, ranking him 18th in the league behind a group of mostly 7-footers.
Particularly when he caught the ball at the elbows, Young looked to pass more than score.
There’s an argument to be made that the Raptors were in greater need of shooting or size than more playmaking at the trade deadline, but it certainly doesn’t hurt having another player who can make plays. Toronto’s second unit, which currently ranks dead last in scoring, should benefit from his quick and smart decision-making when he’s the centerpiece of bench-heavy lineups, and he could ease some of the burden on the starting five, which has become shockingly large as of late.
When he does play with some of the starters, it’s easy to imagine Young running handoffs with Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet like he did with Zach LaVine last season…
…or diming up Barnes, Anunoby and Siakam on backdoor cuts when the defense overplays.
Young is also a good playmaker out of the short roll, giving VanVleet, Trent and Siakam another pick-and-roll partner.
Spacing might be a little cramped when Young shares the court with two of Barnes, Anunoby, Siakam, Khem Birch and Precious Achiuwa, but the Raptors should have enough shooting to cover for some of his limitations and make the most of his passing chops.
Young is an even cleaner fit with the Raptors defensively. He guarded mostly power forwards and centers last season, but he has the versatility to defend small forwards and some guards, as well as the length to wreak havoc on the perimeter.
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse runs a pretty demanding defensive scheme, but he doesn’t anticipate it being much of an adjustment for Young.
“I think my favorite thing is he’s going to be versatile on the defensive end,” Nurse said. “So we won’t have to really change any of the things that we’re doing once he picks them up and have some time with us. He ought to be able to execute all the things we want him to at that end.”
In addition to everything he brings on the court, Young is a well-respected veteran who should be a good addition to Toronto’s locker room. It helps that he already has a relationship with Anunoby, who attended Young’s AAU team in Memphis and leaned on him for advice early in his career.
Even if it does cost the Raptors several spots in the upcoming draft, it’s not hard to see why they were drawn to Young.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
