Thursday Tip Off: Raptors Have Chance At Repeat If Kawhi Re-Signs

The Pop and Circumstance of the celebrating NBA champion Toronto Raptors concluded with a (mostly) amazing parade down the downtown core. The focus will quickly shift into the NBA Draft, and with the NBA draft come trades and speculation about a loaded free agency class. The Raptors have a few guys to worry about in whether they will stay or go, and the obviously biggest free agent is Kawhi Leonard NBA Champion Kawhi Leonard, who if the Raptors can re-sign can bring back the biggest peice in an attempt to repeat.

The Raptors 2019-2020 season outlook will heavily determine what Kawhi will determine best for his future, he can decided to stay and already better his Toronto god like status, or he can go home and join the LA Clippers. It’s entirely up to him where he sees his future, but it would be pretty rad if he stayed even for one more year.

The Western Conference is as wide open as it’s been for some time, with the Warriors injured and the dynasty crumbling, teams like Utah and Portland have as good as a chance as anyone to take that next big step. The Raptors have as good as a chance to repeat-or at least make it to the finals- if they have mostly the same core as they did this previous season. Kyle Lowry has one year left on his 3 year deal he signed back in 2016, and Gasol can re-up for one more year if he chooses to do so, so everything that happens to them decides on if Kawhi stays. If Kawhi leaves Kyle Lowry can play out his finale season as a Raptor, or the Raptors can try and trade him at a high value to get some young guys back to jump-start a rebuild. Pascal Siakim is already developing into a stud, and with guys like Freddy and Norm still young and improving, the rebuild wouldn’t be as long as maybe some other teams.

The Celtics are imploding with Kyrie Irving and Al Horford reportedly heading into Brooklyn, the Knicks are going to be as bad as ever, and the 76ers and Nets remain the only stopgaps in another Raptors division title if they keep everyone. The rest of the East remains top heavy like last year, and given how wild the Western Conference is going to be, who knows who will come out of that strong. The Toronto Raptors will have a big summer coming up, and if Kawhi Leonard decides to stay it can really set up another solid chance at an NBA Title for the second consecutive year.

Red Dead Redemption: Kyle Lowry And A Game Away From Glory

One of my favorite video games to play is the Red Dead Redemption series produced by Rockstar. The series told of a gang of outlaws in the late 1800s who were trying to hang on to a dying time in the west, both games were centered on two members of that gang both before and after events in the game. It focused on the characters trying to hold on to who they were, but also trying to redeem themselves and show that they have something left to prove, while also running from the law. This way of still fighting to prove the people, wrong while also re-writing your own story is something Kyle Lowry can relate to.

Kyle Lowy has been on a lot of Raptor teams since joining the team in 2011-12. He was on the Raptors right when Chris Bosh left for the Miami Heat, and already felt responsibility to somehow steer this mess of a team to some sort of direction. That direction for a directionless team led the Raptors to last in the Atlantic Division with a 34-48 record. No playoffs and a real bad salty taste in the mouths of Raptors fans after Bosh left, had the Raptors on a road to more irrelevance than before.

But a couple years later lead by a new management group with Masai Ujiri at the helm, the Toronto Raptors would post one of its highest win totals for the franchise and return back into the NBA Playoffs. Kyle Lowry scored than a career high 17.9 ppg that year, and formed a formidable duo with young shooting guard Demar Derozan. But beating a star studded Brooklyn Nets team would be no easy task, Lowry put his best effort in only his second playoff action, but his floater came up just short as the Nets just about moved on in a Game 7. Lowry fell to the floor and with his hands over his head, Demar coming to help him up.

The next season Toronto would build on its impressive 2013-14 campaign by getting 49 wins in the regular season, good for another finish as the top of their division. This lead to a match up with the lesser talented Washington Wizards, and a real chance to advance further then the year prior. But the Raptors got swept out of the building that year and Kyle Lowry had his worst playoff performance in his career. Only averaging around 12ppg on 31% FG shooting, him and Demar failed to shhow any growth and the narrative soon became about how the Raptors can’t get it done. So another year past and another chance to improve later on.

2015-16 for the Toronto Raptors was at that point there best regular season in team history. They propelled to their first 50+ win season in histroy, Kyle Lowry and Demar Derozan were respected All-Stars, and Dwayne Casey was beginning to look like a legit NBA Head coach. Kyle Lowry had a bounce back post-season scoring 19 ppg, and got some help in a couple of key series from newcomers like Norman Powell. All of that led to a meeting with Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, a place where the Raptors had yet to explore. The Raptors gave it there all but could not get past Lebron and fell in six games, and while it was a step in the right direction for the Raptors, this felt like a big loss for Kyle Lowry.

The Next two years where rough for the Raptors and the fans, as they faced yet again Lebron and the Cavs this time in the Semi finals instead of the Conference Finals. Lowry struggled with consistency in the 17 Post-season, never managing to score over 18 a game, and the building narrative of Lowry and the Raptors not winning when it matters most started to reach its peaking point. Getting swept in back to back years meant big chancges were ahead, both on and off the court. Dwayne Casey was let go just 2 years into his newley signed deal with the team, and also right after winning Coach Of The Year. Then Raptor lifetimer Demar Derozan was traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green in the most blockbuster deal in Raptors and Spurs history. It felt like betrayal for Demar and Casey who felt they were unjustly let go, and Lowry was certainly affected as well.

But here we are one interesting and impact season later and Kyle Lowry is in another unfamiliar spot with this franchise, but this stage is much much bigger than what Raptors fans are used to. With there dramatic win against the juggernaut Warriors on Friday night, the Raptors are up 3-1 in the series (ha) and are a win away from giving the city of Toronto their first NBA title. Lowry would just tell you he is all business heading into Toronto for game 5, but this means a lot to him personally. He has completely flipped that old tired “Lowry can’t help the Raptors win the big one” on its head, and in doing so created a redemption story that needs a title win to cement it. He is much older than he was years past, but his game has adapted to still be a big time factor for his team. The Raptors still rely on the heart-beat of Lowry, game in and game out, and Kyle makes sure you know he is impacting the floor. Whether it is taking the 20 charges he takes during a game, or hitting that big time “fuck you” Lowry pull up three on the break, Kyle Lowry is playing his absolute best this post-season. Lowry is close to capturing the pinnacle of his profession, and in turn is also close to having his own redemption story written in golden fashion. The Toronto Raptors are one win away.

Thursday Tip-Off: My mom Me And The Toronto Raptors

It still feels like a crazy dream you dream only when walking outside on a sunny day with no worries on the mind. Those kind of times where you know it will never happen in your life-time, so it is reason to just dream it to happen without any known consequence. But as Kyle Lowry stole the ball and soul of the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night May 25th, he fed the ball on the break to Kawhi Leonard who quietly but with ferocious intent decided to rip the soul apart. It was the cherry on top of an momentous 4th quarter Raptors run that saw them erase a 15 point deficit mostly with Kawhi Leonard on the bench. The second unit of Fred Van-Vleet, Norman Powell carried the way as the Raptors dug themselves out of a giant hole heading into the later stages of game six. Then Kawhi Leonard ended the Bucks in devastating fashion.

Admist all of this chaos and noise vibrating both in and out of the Scotiabank Arena, there was 26 year old me who is close to experiencing a feeling that is both new and mind-numbing. The Toronto Raptors were seconds away from going to the NBA Finals, the pinnacle of the sport, and a ticket to where only the best of the best can say they have been. Fans were going insane as the streets of Toronto were lit up, and Jurassic Park was turned into a Dance Dance Revolution party. I cried and yelled like I just won the damn lottery all the while banging my hands on the bar-front till they bled Raptors red. Right after hugging every member of the band that had the “daunting” task of keeping everyone in party mode the next bar over, I cried some more because why not.

But some miles and miles away through bodies of relief and finality that took place, there was another Raptors fan who deserves as much of this goodness as I do. She has been a supporter through the years, and has developed an all around love for the NBA. That woman is my mom who has and still is a supporter of the dinos through thick and thin, and has been alongside me for some good and some godawful moments. But what happens this Thursday night at 9pm-as we surround the tv with chicken burgers and (maybe) some beers to boot- will be a feeling that is new to both of us, a new feeling to her that I want to experience with her through it all.

She started her fandom along the times of when Vince Carter called his travel agent, as she hated him with a respected passion for leaving this team high and dry. She would tell me how co-workers of her would keep saying how they to had a bad taste in their mouth, and her classic line of calling a player gross whenever she felt they did something awful felt right then.

My Mom was there during the Chris Bosh area where the sliver of change and hope, -before the same but different thing happened when Bosh left for Miami- would result in a crashing defeat in the hands of Jason Kidd, and Vince Carter of the rival New Jersey Nets. She knows like a lot of Raptors fans know within those formal years, that any kind of constant success would be almost impossible for this franchise. But she still had some hope, and whenever I told her some reality she said I never believed.

Fast Forward to the time of the trade that we all heard and know of, when the Toronto Raptors shook the state of the franchise by dealing long-time Raptor Demar Derozan to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard. She was quite upset that the team gave up on Demar after the previous playoffs didn’t go their way, she is a person of loyalty and she felt the team didn’t show trust by dealing one of the franchise best. Demar was one of her favorites (she would say her boys) so it took a lot of time and convincing on my part that Kawhi is the real deal despite the injury history. My mom didn’t watch all those games all those years with Demar just to see it flushed away, but you give her enough reasons and maybe some luck from a couple bounces off a rim, and she reminds you of the kind of fan she is.

My Mom is a rabid fan of the Raptors and the NBA like all of us, she will clap, jump, scream, and sometimes look away but with the same love and support as someone who keeps watching. She knows that 20 point leads are nothing these days, like all of us know, and she knows that whatever happens that she will still support those players dear to her. When Delon Wright was dealt to the Memphis Grizzles, it felt like it sucked hard because Delon was her favorite. She was there when Delon was a 905 call up on his first game, she asked me about him with a sense of intriguing and interest, and I told her that he’d be a real fun and unique player. Momma knew right then and there she would be a big fan of him, wherever he went.

The NBA Finals tip off this Thursday night at 9pm across a global stage. I will be at home-a new setting for game ones this playoffs for me- and I will be right there with my “sports mom” fan as we watch a new chapter unfold in this wacky team’s story. If the Raptors can pull this off and win the damn thing, if they can sum up almost 25 years worth of some ups with a lot of downs with a title win, my mom will cry and so will I. I know what it means to the city if the Raptors win, she will know what it means to me if the Raptors in, and maybe more importantly I will know what it means to here if the Raptors win, because she sees completion and a feeling of winning known only to few. She loves this Raptors franchise almost as close to loving her kids and gin and tonics, and she loves it when people she cares about are happy and see a golden ticket and the end of an unbelievable journey. So Raptors lets do this together and win for the city, for me and most importantly, my mom because she deserves a god damn parade down Yonge just like everybody else.

James Harden The Solo Act

James Harden is on his way to win his second consecutive Most Valuable Player award, in a year where it seemed that this would be one of the more wide open fields in the NBA in terms of who could win MVP. The Bucks have the Greek Myth in Giannis who has led a changed and challenging Milwaukee Bucks team to near the top of the East, Steph Curry is playing like he did in 2016 despite missing time with injury, Nikola Jokic is a 7 foot do it all big man who has made the Nuggets into legit contenders, and then there is James Harden, who with a record 17 straight games with 30 plus points has reminded everyone that the trophy could be staying in Houston.

But this year wasn’t suppose to be like last year where James Harden pulled his Rockets team to deep in the playoffs on his own, except he was going to have big time help when the Rockets traded Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, Pat Beverly and a protected 2018 top pick for top point guard Chris Paul. But Paul has only played in 26 games this year and is currently sidelined along with help swingman Eric Gordon, and Defensive stall-worth Clint Cappela who will miss up to a month with a thumb injury. Suddenly now James Harden and the Rockets are back to being a James Harden usage heavy kind of team.

It’s Not like James Harden has slowed down at all with all these injuries to other players on the Rockets, he has scored only 20 plus points twice since Paul went down with a hamstring injury, those other games have been games over 30 plus scoring sprinkled on with some 50 plus point games just for fun, and the Rockets have benefited with this stretch winning 9 of their past 14 games. The Rockets are in a wild Western shootout of a conference, sitting at 5th spot and with a stretch of wins could see themselves near the tip top.

Chris Paul will return eventually, along with Eric Gordon and Clint Capella just as the season is starting to pick up and turn into win now time especially in the west. With the Warriors picking up steam, the Nuggets being a near consistent top seed threat, and the Thunder and Blazers remaining a threat it won’t be easy for Harden and the Rockets, and you hope Harden has some gas left come spring.

Irony is something that maybe you can say about this Rockets season, as the year where help in Chris Paul comes to Houston and people thought the burden on Harden’s shoulders would be lightened. It still is James Harden versus everyone else, and with everything unfolding maybe it is also appropriate, because Harden is the MVP and he has to do it his way as he weaves in and out of binding the rules to how he plays, whether it be making sure he gets his free throws every game or completely abandon the mid range game.

In his past two games in which he scored back to back 50 plus points! none of those points were assisted on, so he really is doing this by himself when it was suppose to be him and CP3 leading on the Rockets. Maybe James would have had it no other way, or maybe come playoff time Harden will call for help more than he did. He has a history of being exhausted come playoffs time, but not because of choice but because he has done all he could, and struggles to finish the Mount Everest of beating those godly Warriors. James Harden has been on an amazing run of scoring insane numbers, and has possibly made it clear the MVP is not going anywhere, where there is a will there is a way and with James Harden he is trying his damn hardest to find a way.

The Raptors are really good, but not great yet

A new coach in Nick Nurse taking over a team that traded for a “disgruntled” superstar in Kawhi Leonard, having chemistry right off the bat would seem incredible, especially since they traded away Demar Derozan who has been with the franchise since 2009. But a 12-4 start to the season has the Raptors right on top of the NBA right alongside the Golden State Warriors, still early on but to the common eye they look like the best team in the Eastern Conference. But a lack of consistent shooting, a bench star and general in Fred Van-Vleet struggling to find that form from a year ago, and followed by some late game misses in the clutch, the Toronto Raptors have some noticeable flaws. 

1.  ISO Offence Late Brings Back Bad Memories  

Kawhi Leonard generally is one of the better one on one players in the NBA as he uses his size, strength and length to get tough shots more often than not. So it’s not a horrible thing that they go to Kawhi on isolation as long as they get the right matchup, but two games that came down to the finale shot where the Raptors decided on having Kawhi on isolation, one where the ball bounced off his foot against the PIstons at home, and one where it came down to the finale shot and Leonard just missed a pull up jumper on the baseline. These late game situations are way too familiar for the Raptors fans, and even with Kawhi’s success with isolation plays you would hope they could have had a set up play that maybe even would have given Kawhi a better look at a shot, especially with time to kill late. 

2.Injuries and Inconsistent Play Has Haunted Fred Van-Vleet 

Fred Van Vleet had an awesome sophomore year last year, where he made a name for himself while being the head guy in the Raptors bench unit attack. Averaging at around 8.6 points per game on 42% shooting last year, he came out of nowhere and made his name for the second unit last year. But even with FVV still putting up the same amount of points this year, his shooting has dipped noticeably in 2018  so far and that is half due to his nagging toe injury that makes it hard to do anything. His three point shooting has also gone way down from around 40% to 20% on more attempts, Injuries are one thing but the looks he takes are not great and you can’t really blame that on the foot. 

3. Kyle Lowry has Cooled Off

After a blistering MVP like start from Kyle Lowry, who looked like he was meshing well with new additions in Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard, while seemingly fitting in with Nick Nurses system.Getting the Raptors record for games with 10 plus assists was no fluke, and it showed how Lowry can benefit through a 1b option alongside Kawhi, he can focus on facilitating more and take his shots when he can with more freedom. But with three straight losses against the Pelicans and Pistons at home and now with a heartbreaking overtime loss in Boston, Lowry has looked off of sorts and like years past the team has looked off with him. In the three losses he has shot 10-32 from the field and 2-12 from three, and against the Celtics he forced some bad turnovers late in the game that cost the team. This team may have a top 5 player that they can lean on from time to time in Kawhi Leonard, but Lowry is still the heart and soul of this team, if he struggles it’s hard for the team to compensate, especially when the bench has no groove. 

The Kings Finally Have An Identity

 

The clock turns zero and the Sacramento Kings defeat the San Antonio Spurs 104-99 in a back and forth slugfest. De’Aaron Fox takes the Spurs Dervins Bertans on an iso to close out the game with only seconds left in the shot clock, dribbles one way then steps back and swishes the cherry on top of an amazing cake, and moved the Kings to a fun yet early 8-6 on the season. The Kings used their massive 20-9 advantage in fast-break points to gas out the Spurs, and it led to two huge plays that sealed the win while also confirming a new and finally positive Sacramento Kings style of play. Coach David Joeger has them in a run and gun style that fits the youth of this team, and it follows the popular trend of fast pace, free flowing and three point shooting basketball the NBA is showing.

 

 

The Sacramento Kings are leaded by a three headed threat so far this season ,and it includes Buddy Heild, growing superstar De’Aaron Fox, and a head coach that for now the Kings front office like and want to keep for the long run. David Joeger has the Kings running for second in pace of play in the NBA at 106.75 only behind the lowly Atlanta Hawks. This style of play is common these days with teams pushing the pace more and moving the ball with less iso, most of the NBA teams are averaging around 100 pace points, which means they are averaging the most amount of possessions in a basketball game they can. With the Kings as soon as they grab the rebound they push the ball and score, which means more chances of having the ball back as the game goes on.

 

With De’Aaron Fox the Kings have found a guy who has incredible and endless explosiveness much like the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook, but with more control, but hes the man for the Kings, and in his second season he his taking leaps and jumps that show a future leader and all star spot for Fox. He keeps adding things to his game that better the style of the Kings identity, which is quick first step that runs into a sprint before the defender has any chance to figure out a plan. Fox now has added a reliable three point shot in a three or die league, he is shooting 40 percent 10 points better than what he shot in his rookie year of 30% in 73 games played.

The Sacramento Kings probably won’t be a playoff team this year in a loaded and star studded Western Conference, but this is a start to what could be a playoff team maybe even next year. The Kings have built around their young solid core of De’Aaron Fox, sharpshooter Buddy Heild, the jumping gym that is Willey Cauly-Stein and reliable stretch forward Bogdan Bogdanovic who is coming off an injury but is showing great improvements. The Kings for years have struggled to get out of the basement in the Western Conference, and internally have struggled with management, and disgruntled players. But it seems at least for now the Kings are settled into a real plan that consists of keeping a great coach, building around a star for once in De’Aaron Fox, and a system that both compliments how  the NBA is these days, and also adds their own kinda flavor.

 

 

Vulnerability: Demar Derozan And The Ability To Be Human

I remember watching a certain sports commercial as a kid during a forgettable Raptor game of years past , I was of an age where I didn’t take in stuff as much as I do now and so when a Nike Charles Barkely ad that featured a black and white setting, with Charles dunking in an open gym and telling the audience that he was not a role model. I didn’t think much of it then as I just thought what a weird moment in time that I saw a Charles Barkley ad in the mid 00s, and athletes for me a spry young punk kid thought of these superhumans as just guys who are megapaid and somehow perform these dumb acts of insanity and abnormality. Sure when it all ended they were human beings who went home and called it a day, but we never had the access we do now into their lives off the court or field. I never thought of what guys like Vince Carter or Moe Pete went through off the court when I was younger watching them from home, I just wanted to see how well they would do in consistently bad seasons. But years come and go and with technology becoming the norm of life, we get more availability into some of our favorite players lives, in comes sites like twitter, facebook and instagram (which in the NBA is the go to for pettiness) and all of the sudden fans and media alike get an all access pass into some of what goes on behind the curtain of NBA players, and all other pros in their respected profession. While most of what we get as fans is far greater and far more than what any of us should ever ask for, it gives us at the most rare of times a chance to see how human the worlds best really are. For every slam dunk there is a being that is maybe struggling with more than what we are seen on our 1080p tvs.

 

But in comes Demar Derozan in his eight season out of  USC, and a proud repper of both Comtpon CA and Toronto Ontario. Playing on a franchise best Toronto Raptors team playing their best ball since they drafted Demar, and maybe their best ball ever in team history. Freshly off of singing an extention to stay in Toronto for 5 more years worth 139 million dollars where during the off-season free agency madness, Demar never even gave it a second thought of where he wanted to go. Soon after his buddy Kyle Lowry decided to stick around, even though it seemed he was on his way out, and together followed by the best bench in the NBA would be kicking off (so far) the most impressive regular season in team history. Sitting at 44 wins as they sealed off another big win against a tough team in the Wizards, there is hard work to find any real hard struggles with this team. But that’s on the court, and like I previously said in today’s world it is easier than ever to see how these stars are doing beyond the bright lights and hard floors. Demar has been struggling with his ill father back in LA, and with the All Star Weekend approaching Demar Derozan opened up about his struggles with depression with a tweet that immediately was approached with love and support.

This depression get the best of me…

— DeMar DeRozan (@DeMar_DeRozan) February 17, 2018

 

Although basketball may be considered less of a hard hitting sport than some others, it  is still played by some of the toughest humans out there. Professionals playing in such a high level high intensity athomsphere, they are given these shields of toughness and an almost brush it off attitude when it comes to showing the events they go through past game time. They are taught at an early age as kids to get right back up when you get pushed down, dust off your bruises and get back to the action. In the context of the NBA in this matter though, it shows how progressive the league has gotten when one of its biggest stars opens up about his struggles, and is not met with acts of weakness for being so vulnerable, but for being human in a world where humanity can seem so rare and at times unwanted in certain atmospheres. Twitter can at most times be a venom filled place where you mostly get the worst out of people, but for the NBA and it’s players it gives them a voice that they use far more than just to tweet out their favorite highlight of the night before.  For Raptors All Star Shooting Guard, number 10 Demar Derozan, it gave an option to be a voice for those that go through the same struggles of Depression and anxiety, that they are not alone and even the biggest stars in the biggest setting on the biggest stage can struggle to find themselves. For Demar Derozan his openness and willingness to be honest on such a dangerous platform like Twitter, and to not only be supported back but to be loved on such a big level, shows that vulnerability can be admired almost, and us “normal” beings have something to relate too even if it is something that is not widly popular to bring up in normal conversation, thanks to the stigma that depression can bring with it. Demar is a man of many abilities that is shown on a near daily basis on a hardwood floor with a Toronto Raptors logo on it, but maybe his best ability is his honesty and also his ability to be vulnerable, and an ability to be human in the toughest job field that being human can have.

Pro-Wrestling And Calming Down My Anxiety

It was a cool may 11 Spring night at the Danforth Gerrard area, in Toronto Ontario. I am a pro wrestling fan and have been one for a while now, it’s a tricky and somewhat unnatural thing to be a fan of, and to invest time in your life in watching and being fan can be somewhat intimidating. It’s not something really that can be a thing you can confidently tell people in a group, or a public setting without getting a weird eye stare or some confusion headed back your way. So for years i kinda made it a quiet and unknown thing, because i was never really sure how people would react, and the constant banter back of people saying “you know it’s fake right?”. Yes i do know it is “fake” and predetermined in which it is discussed mostly throughout backstage, sometimes well before the show starts. But me being a fan has nothing to do with the scripts but instead me being a fan of the stories the talented athletes are able to tell inside a ring.

Like I said this was my first time going to a wrestling show that was not wwe, and that it would just be me going. I walked into the arena -when not used as a Ring Of Honor Independent show- is used as a minor midget hockey arena, so space was not existing if you didn’t come early enough. Luckily the views from where i was, high up before you enter your seats, where good enough that I never complained. The place was packed with wrestling fans from all over, and so packed you couldn’t look left or right without bumping shoulders, but it felt comfortable and home warming.  A weird feeling but I felt right at home in a building full of strangers, and it made me feel better about trying to break open a shell.

Anxiety for me was and still is in someways all about living in a shell, and not having enough confidence or action to break out and just be ok being me. Being a wrestling fan-at least in my eyes- is kinda the same thing. You are in a shell with a different kind of crowd that only you as a wrestling fan, can understand and it creates somewhat of a family that can love and sometimes hate such a weird and interesting concept of life. I felt wanted and able to have fun as myself as I and hundreds others were able to watch some of our favorite athletes compete and tell a story, and it helped later that I and others were able to meet the performers afterwards as it gave both the fan in me and the performers a rare chance to connect and hear their stories.

From being able to enjoy myself in an environment like a wrestling event, where I can share the same joy and memories with many others, to having the courage to getting help by a professional therapist on my own, I am more willing to be myself and more willing to be ok with what I am and what I can or can’t do. Anxiety is still an issue for me but I know what to do when it hits, and that is to believe in myself, and remember that one night at the Ted Reeve Arena and remember on the fun I had, and being ok with what I am, and what I was on that cold night.

 

Raptors Adding PJ Tucker Would Help Solve Defensive woes

 

With Demarcus Cousins being shockingly traded by the Sacramento Kings this past weekend, the trade market has woken up and teams are either trying to buy the next big star -the Bulls Jimmy Butler has been subject of trade rumors for weeks now- or adding small rotation pieces, the Kings have been reported to be having a fire sale on basically anyone after trading their franchise centerpiece. Guys like Aaron Afflalo and Darren Collison have been reported to be on the move, and could help teams in playoff spots.

The Raptors have done some moving of their own before the deadline, sending Terrence Ross and a first round draft pick ( the lesser of two first rounders they have because it belonged to the Clippers) to Orlando for star 4 man Serge Ibaka. They needed a starting 4 that can defend and stretch the floor and they got him, for a pretty decent trade off even if Ross is having one of his better seasons.  But the Raptors still need to make a move to help their defense and maybe bench depth after losing Ross.

The Phoenix Suns are one of a few teams that are for sure sellers come Thursdays Trade Deadline. One name that has been thrown around recently, is veteran wing defender PJ Tucker. The former Raptors pick has made a home in Phoenix after being let go by Toronto in 2011, and has made himself into a reliable defensive player with an honest three point shot that while is not an immediate threat, he can hit a few down the stretch and averaged a career best 38% from 3 in 2012-13. Tucker could be a cheap rental, seeing as his contract expires after this year, and it would provide some needed wing depth with some nice defensive skill. Terrence Ross could defend but was a rollercoaster, and that led to most nights of him getting beat off the dribble or off of screens. Tucker may not shoot like Ross, but with the defensive struggles the Raps have shown recently Tucker brings in a much needed aid.

The Suns being sellers at the Deadline would probably also mean that the Raptors would have to part ways with either a young player, a pick, or possibly both. With the addition of Ibaka, the Raptors are a little heavy with bigs. JV is not going anywhere, at least with what the Raptors are targeting and also he has played decently well to really try and dangle to a team like the Suns. Paterson is too valuable to just give away to a team that may not even have him come the off-season, and Sullinger has not played enough and has been too injured that the Suns probably wouldn’t want that hanging over their heads.  They might have to part ways with Noguiera, or maybe get rid of either Siakim or Pertl. They are young with talent just getting better and better, but the Raptors are win now mode and may have to part ways with the future to better the present. The Raptors are in a dogfight for that number 2 spot behind the Cavs, and hopefully with Serge Ibaka and maybe an acquired PJ Tucker, the Raptors can reclaim the 2 spot and hopefully face off the Cavs again the in Eastern Finale.

 

 

The NBA Is The Best League Going

 

The NBA had a bunch of games going on last night, and most of them pitted some of the more elite teams against teams that are struggling or are heavily injured. Teams like Golden State and Cleveland played low seeded teams like Miami and New Orleans, but this is what makes the NBA so great. The Warriors lost on a game winning three by Dion Waiters of all people against the Heat, the Cavs lost to a very game New Orleans Pelicans, and a very good team in Utah lost to OKC on a Westbrook jumper. The NBA is at its best when there is parity, drama and madness, and a Monday made it all happen.

This year is giving us not a great rookie class, but talented sensation Joel Embiid is shining in his debut year in the League, after a couple years being forced to sit out due to injury. He leads all rookies in scoring, second in blocks overall, and leads all rookies in total rebounding. His overall talent and enthusiasm for the game has given the Sixers a spark, and has seemed to rejuvenate Sixers basketball in Philly after years of  disarray and failure. The Sixers being promising and relevant is important for the NBA, and it shows a very bright future.

The NBA signing a new CBA mid-season also showed that they learned from their mistakes from the last lockout in 2013. They were able to get a deal done between the NBA and the NBPA, while also not delaying another season to do so. The NBA also put in the new CBA that they will help with retired players. The NBA will offer retired players health benefits, give them future jobs and also provide them with money so we don’t have another Antoine Walker situation.  From ESPN.

 

Starting on Jan. 1, the NBA and NBPA will equally fund a new health insurance plan, education/career development program and increases in pension benefits for retired players.

The NBA is finally reaching out to it’s retired players, and giving them a continued future and not just one last check before saying goodbye. The NBA showcases some of the best athletes on earth, and if they can’t have a safe and healthy retirement after their body goes down then it is a bad mark on the NBA and a bad mark on the game. The last thing the NBA wants is another player unhealthy or unable to have a livable surroundings, and having this rule in place certifies that every retired player retires happy and healthy.

There may be only two real super teams that fans expect to battle in the finals, that of course being Cleveland and Golden State. But the NBA with all of its extra story-lines and drama provides a layer of excitement and fun, and if there are more games like the ones that happened on Monday night, this might be a very memorable NBA season. This and more proving why the NBA is the best league going,  and with the best athletes around.