Numerous connections from either side as preseason will get underway.
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Toronto Raptors basketball is again. Sort of.
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The staff’s preseason schedule begins Sunday night time in Montreal in opposition to the Washington Wizards.
The Raptors held an open follow at McGill College on Friday in entrance of followers and media, however did so with out star Scottie Barnes, start line guard Immanuel Quickley, rookie Ja’Kobe Walter, veterans Bruce Brown and Garrett Temple and all the pieces however Temple. have been dominated out for Sunday, head coach Darko Rajakovic advised reporters Saturday in Montreal.
Barnes was a minimum of again with the staff on Saturday after lacking the post-media week for private causes, however Rajakovic needs him to follow extra with the staff earlier than getting ready for a match. Toronto is not going to play once more till a rematch, this time in Washington, on Friday. Quickley is coping with a thumb downside, Walter is coping with a shoulder harm and Brown is recovering from knee surgical procedure. Temple was excused for a private matter however was anticipated to play Saturday, whereas rookie guard Jamal Shead took successful in follow however was anticipated to play in opposition to the Wizards.
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Toronto will even play on the street subsequent Sunday, in opposition to defending NBA champion Boston, earlier than a house rematch in opposition to the Celtics on October 15, the one true “dwelling” exhibition for the Raptors, for the reason that NBA sequence recreation Canada on Sunday in La Belle Province is taken into account a house match. The preseason concludes Oct. 18 in Brooklyn, with the Season 30 opener Oct. 23 in opposition to Cleveland at Scotiabank Area.
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FAMILIAR FACES
Likelihood is Sunday’s beginning facilities will know one another very nicely. Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl backed up new Wizard Jonas Valanciunas earlier than Poeltl was traded to the Spurs within the Kawhi Leonard deal. Valanciunas, top-of-the-line gamers in franchise historical past, was then traded to Memphis for Marc Gasol, finishing Toronto’s championship puzzle.
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Valanciunas arrived from New Orleans in a sign-and-trade deal and signed a brand new three-year deal, however won’t keep there lengthy. We count on little from the Wizards this season. They’re thought-about severe contenders to complete with the worst document within the NBA and to commerce veterans like Valanciunas, Kyle Kuzma, Malcolm Brogdon and Jordan Poole (if anybody really accepts his contract) sooner or later.
Solely Detroit and San Antonio have gained fewer video games than Washington.
the final three seasons. Head coach Brian Keefe took over in January and will get his first teaching job after 14 years as an assistant. Keefe started teaching in Oklahoma Metropolis across the identical time Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic entered the NBA as head of the Thunder’s G-League affiliate in Tulsa. When Keefe returned to the Thunder for a 12 months in 2019-20, one among his fellow assistants was Vin Bhavnani, who’s coming into his second 12 months as an assistant below Rajakovic in Toronto.
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Keefe and Rajakovic earned the highest jobs largely as a result of their expertise in participant improvement as Toronto and Washington rebuild, with the Raptors at present a couple of steps forward of the Wizards.
FRED HELP SHEAD
Fred VanVleet owes lots to the Raptors group and despite the fact that he now performs for the Houston Rockets, he continues to offer again. VanVleet was as soon as in an analogous state of affairs to the one which rookie Shead now finds himself in, an NCAA veteran often called a defensive-minded, profitable participant having to surrender simply to make the roster. VanVleet earned the final spot on the roster on the time and have become a key a part of the title staff, an all-star, the franchise’s chief in objectives and assists, after which a extremely paid addition with the Rockets. In fact, nobody expects Shead to comply with VanVleet’s actual path, however the franchise appears to imagine in him. And VanVleet provided to assist, Shead advised Sportsnet’s Michael Grange in Montreal on Friday.
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“He simply stated ‘no matter you want, contact me,'” Shead stated. VanVleet is aware of Shead as a result of they each performed at Houston final 12 months, with Shead profitable NCAA Defensive Participant of the 12 months for the Cougars and leaving campus because the winningest participant of all time of this program.
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AROUND THE RIM
NBA Canada is internet hosting a 12,000 foot activation referred to as NBA Home in Montreal this weekend. Vince Carter was scheduled to make an look, alongside former teammate Jerome (Junkyard Canine) Williams and Canadian girls’s staff icon Natalie Achonwa… Washington has two youngsters (second total choose Alex Sarr and schemer rookie level guard Bub Carrington), plus a few youngsters (final 12 months’s No. 7 choice Bilal Couilbaly and Swiss-Canadian rookie Kyshawn George). It is a younger group. George’s father, Deon, is from Montreal, so this might be a homecoming of types. Deon George was a Canadian nationwide staff teammate of RJ Barrett’s father, Rowan Barrett (and Canadian hoops legend Steve Nash). One among Nash’s assistants in Brooklyn was Keefe, who now coaches younger Kyshawn George, by an amusing coincidence.
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