TORONTO – By the time the 2017-18 season came to a disappointing end, it looked like Serge Ibaka had worn out his welcome in Toronto.
The veteran big man was acquired from Orlando a year earlier in the hopes of solidifying the power forward position and helping the Raptors take the next step in the playoffs. Instead, they flamed out again – swept by Cleveland in Round 2 for the second straight year – and Ibaka’s struggles cost him his starting job late in that series.
When Ibaka returned to Toronto the following season, after months of self-reflection and hard work, he was on a mission. Not only did he accept his new role – a full-time shift to centre and a move to the bench – but he embraced and even thrived in it.
Through his inspired play, big personality, and engagement with fans over social media and via his various web series, Ibaka went from being an expendable piece on an underachieving team to an essential, and beloved, part of the Raptors’ championship core. Without his sacrifice, toughness and timely shot making, they don’t win the title in 2019.
It was truly a remarkable turnaround. At one point, as the Raptors looked to get out from under his contract in the summer of 2018, he wasn’t easy to move. Now, in the wake of his departure, what he brought to the team – both on and off the court – won’t be easy to replace.
According to multiple reports late on Saturday night, Ibaka – one of the league’s most coveted unrestricted free agents – agreed to a two-year, $19 million deal with the Los Angeles Clippers. He’ll reportedly have a player option on the second season.
The Raptors met with Ibaka shortly after agreeing to re-sign Fred VanVleet earlier on Saturday. They went into that meeting confident in their chances of retaining the 31-year-old big man.
His decision was a bit of a surprise, given that Toronto would have offered a larger annual salary – nearly double what he got from the Clippers – but on a one-year term. However, Ibaka opted to take the two-year commitment with L.A. and the opportunity to chase another ring with Kawhi Leonard, who he grew close to in Toronto during the championship season.
Unfortunately for the Raptors, losing Ibaka was the cost of juggling different, and in some cases conflicting, priorities going into free agency. Bringing VanVleet back was at the top of that list, and they were able to get it done at a mutually beneficial price – $85 million over four years. They wanted to run it back for 2020-21, with Ibaka and maybe Marc Gasol, but they were also looking long-term and prioritizing cap flexibility for the highly anticipated summer of 2021 free agent sweepstakes.
They were hopeful that Ibaka would be amenable to a big one-year deal but understood there was a possibility he could accept a multi-year offer elsewhere, which is exactly what happened.
Essentially, the Raptors chose the option of keeping a max slot open for next summer over Ibaka, which is entirely defensible on their part, but it’s probably not something that sat well with the 11-year vet.
So, Toronto has work to do. Before they can begin their pursuit of a big-name free agent in 2021 – the star they hope to add to their core of VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, whose contract situation could affect how much they have to spend – they’ll have to do some serious patchwork on their rotation for this coming “bridge” season.
With a guard-heavy roster, they’ll have to re-build their frontcourt, and with the exception of Siakam and Anunoby, they’ll be doing it from scratch. Their starting centre, Gasol, remains available as an unrestricted free agent, but is in demand and has recently been connected to the Lakers and Warriors. Their third centre, Chris Boucher, is a restricted free agent and versatile backup Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is unrestricted, though Toronto is limited in terms of what they can offer him without his Bird rights.
They’ve got two-to-four roster spots to fill and are roughly $20 million under the luxury tax threshold. They’re not projected to be a top tier contender this season, so it’s safe to assume their mandate is to avoid spending into the tax. However, after exceeding the cap to sign VanVleet, they’re only able to use the $9.2 million mid-level exception to add external free agents. They can offer Gasol anything up to the max as his Bird rights holders.
At 35, turning 36 in January, perhaps Gasol is more inclined to accept the type of large one-year offer that Ibaka turned down. Bringing back the veteran Spaniard has its obvious pros and cons. He’s battled injuries, declined offensively, and his workload would have to be managed in his 13th NBA campaign. With that said, he’s still an elite defensive centre, he remains one of the smartest and best passing big men in the league, and his veteran presence has value on a team like the Raptors.
The options that remain available on the free agent market – it wasn’t a strong class to begin with – are limited and underwhelming, although the Raptors have had some recent success with reclamation projects.
Could they bring out the untapped potential in former lottery picks Alex Len or Willie Cauley-Stein? Would they take a chance on a talented but volatile veteran such as Hassan Whiteside or DeMarcus Cousins, who is coming off a torn ACL and another lost season? Is their mid-level exception enough to lure the underrated Aron Baynes away from Phoenix? How about a reunion with former Raptors fan favourite Bismack Biyombo? Would they consider moving somebody like Norman Powell for an expiring big?
These aren’t great options, and whoever is anchoring the paint this season will likely be a significant drop off from the Ibaka and Gasol tandem that helped lead the team to its first championship. Still, the reason the Raptors find themselves in this predicament – in need of a replacement for Ibaka and looking for a stopgap solution at the position – is because they’ve got their eye on what could be the club’s next championship window.
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.
