If you were being asked to suddenly relocate temporarily for work, say for six months or so, what is the minimum amount of notice you would expect to have from your boss?
Anything short of two weeks would seem ridiculous, wouldn’t it?
Like, when you factor in the need to find a place to live and what to do with your old place; decide whether it makes sense to bring the family or not; let alone the simple logistics of packing or shipping a car or anything else that shows up on a to-do list in advance of a big move, two weeks would seem the bare minimum — an amount of time that was suitable only because a month or longer wasn’t an option.
That’s where the Toronto Raptors will be as of Tuesday morning – two weeks out from training camp, but without any assurance where that will be.
The rest of the NBA, unworried about such existential concerns, is continuing on without them.
The trade moratorium was lifted Monday afternoon, the draft is Wednesday night and the negotiating window for free agents opens on Friday at 6 p.m., with signings able to take place on Sunday.
It promises to be a hectic week and the process has already been kickstarted.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have continued with their grand plan to accumulate every draft pick in every draft, as they have reportedly reached an agreement to trade Chris Paul to the Phoenix Suns.
The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly bolstered their title defence aspirations by agreeing to trade Danny Green to the Oklahoma City Thunder for playmaker Dennis Schroeder. In both deals the Thunder acquired a first-round pick, giving OKC roughly a bajillion of them in the next six drafts.
Players are picking up their options – yes, shocking as it may seem, Stanley Johnson picked up his option of the final year of his deal with Toronto, wisely judging that it was unlikely that anyone was going to pay him $3.8 million in this tight-knit market to play the 150 minutes the sparsely-used forward was on the floor for last season.
Players are declining their options, too – Robin Lopez is now a free agent after playing one season alongside his brother in Milwaukee. If the Raptors’ front office had a sense of humour they could sign the wild-haired Lopez and former Serge Ibaka sparring partner to deals, just to see what would happen in training camp.
There is no doubt Raptors president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster are on top of things as they try to work out what to do with their pending free agents – Fred VanVleet, Marc Gasol, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Ibaka – as well as doing the math on whether it makes sense to sign OG Anunoby to a rookie extension before the season starts, or wait sign him as a restricted free agent next summer.
But at the same time, they’ve got to field calls from various agents and in some cases from the players themselves with a simple yet pressing question:
Where is training camp, and where are we playing this season?
“I don’t know what to tell [my client]” said an agent for one Raptors player. “He’s pretty particular about his living arrangements and likes to have all that stuff figured out well in advance but right now the team isn’t saying anything and so we just have to wait. I’m going to hire a realtor in Tampa tomorrow just in case.”
Based on multiple sources it seems like an arrangement where the Raptors play their games in Tampa at Amalie Arena (home of the Tampa Bay Lightning) and train in the community nearby – the University of South Florida has hosted NBA teams for training camps in the past, as an example – is the leading option if the Raptors can’t get the necessary exemptions from quarantine requirements to travel freely across the border.
But even late last week Fort Lauderdale and Nashville were mentioned as options to agents asking about where their clients might be headed.
The Raptors continue to say that their first option is to train in Toronto at their OVO practice facility and play games at Scotiabank Arena.
They have been working in parallel on options B, C and D, but time is running short.
Several agents representing Raptors players contacted by Sportsnet said they’ve received little to no insight from the team about where their clients may be headed in the short- or long-term.
“It’s a little surprising,” said one. “You would think they would say, ‘We really want to be in Toronto but just in case, familiarize yourself with Tampa – or wherever – just in case.”
Even with Ujiri’s close relationship with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, there doesn’t seem to be much obvious traction being gained on the possibility of playing in Toronto this season.
“It’s a very protocol driven process,” said one team official. “It’s ‘Send us your proposal and we’ll evaluate it’ and that’s about it.”
Ultimately the decision for who gets to be exempted from the quarantine requirements at the border is made by Health Canada.
When I reached out to the office of Health Minister Patty Hajdu, the response was clear as mud:
“The Government of Canada’s priority is to protect the health and safety of Canadians. The resumption of sports events in Canada must be undertaken in adherence to Canada’s plan to mitigate the importation and spread of COVID-19. Like other countries, Canada is working on plans for a measured resumption of sports, including, both professional and amateur sporting events.
“The Government is open to reviewing proposals from the Toronto Raptors that includes a comprehensive public health plan agreed to by the Public Health Agency of Canada and obtaining written support from provincial or territorial public health officials.”
In the meantime, Ujiri has done some subtle prodding through the media – an interview with the CBC here, an op-ed in the Toronto Star there – to get his position out there and perhaps make it easier (optically at least) for the government to grant the required exceptions and exemptions even as the second wave of COVID-19 keeps rising on both sides of the border with no crest in sight.
After all the NHL, MLB and MLS – not to mention the CHL and other lesser leagues that operate in both Canada and the US – will be watching with interest.
One way or the other, a precedent could be set.
Those are big picture issues. But for the player trying to figure out whether they need to rent an apartment in Toronto or Tampa or the Raptors staffer waiting to find out if they have to leave their family behind for months at a time – again – they just want to know: Where are we going and when.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
