Toronto Raptors

Barcelona head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius said the club has not had talks with Marc Gasol about joining the team despite rumors the former NBA All-Star has chosen to return to Spain for the end of his basketball career. 

"We have not talked with him. But we don't have to rush: if there will be a real chance, we will go for it," Jasikevicius told Gigantes del Basket.

Spanish journalist Sergi Carmona (h/t Sports Illustrated's Aaron Rose) reported Wednesday Gasol was set to sign with Barcelona.

Gasol has made no formal announcement about his playing status. The 35-year-old played for Barcelona from 2003-2006 before coming to the NBA.

Gasol spent the last season and a half with the Toronto Raptors, winning his first championship in 2019 before a largely disappointing individual season in 2019-20. He averaged 7.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists during the regular season, missing several games due to injury and acclimating to a role where he played just 26.3 minutes per game.

Signs of aging were even more obvious during the NBA's restart in Orlando, with Gasol shooting a ghastly 18.5 percent from three and being played off the court several times during the postseason. The restart was arguably the worst stretch of basketball in Gasol's NBA career.

A move back to Spain would follow a similar end-of-career transition for brother Pau Gasol, who already made plans to join Barcelona. The elder Gasol missed the entire 2019-20 season while recovering from a foot injury. It is not entirely clear whether Pau will be cleared to play for Barcelona next season. 

Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet is one of the top names slated to hit free agency this offseason. 

His current head coach, Nick Nurse, is expecting him to be a Raptor next season. 

Speaking to Sportsnet 590 The Fan's Tim and Sid show on Thursday, Nurse said he'd be "pretty surprised" if VanVleet doesn't return to a Toronto team that originally signed him after he went undrafted out of Wichita State in 2016. 

VanVleet took a noticeable leap in his fourth NBA season while starting a career-high 54 games. 

The guard averaged 17.6 points, 6.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds in 2020, each setting a new high mark for the Rockford, Illinois, native. Those numbers only got better in the postseason as VanVleet recorded 19.6 points, 6.9 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game. 

Yet it was a much shorter playoff run for Toronto than the team would've liked. The defending champions were bounced in Game 7 of the second round to the Boston Celtics. 

Shortly after the Raptors season ended, team president Masai Ujiri made clear he expects to get a new contract with VanVleet settled as soon as possible. 

"Fred is a priority," Ujiri told reporters. "A big-time priority."

VanVleet last signed a two-year, $18 million deal with Toronto in 2018. Given his recent play, a raise is certainly in order.

That may lead to some difficult decisions for Ujiri. 

Along with VanVleet, center Marc Gasol, power forward Serge Ibaka and small forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are set to hit free agency. 

Ujiri said both Gasol and Ibaka will join VanVleet as offseason priorities. The next step is figuring how much money he can allocate to each. 

When the Toronto Raptors signed head coach Nick Nurse to a multiyear contract extension this week, the newly crowned NBA Coach of the Year also became one of the highest-paid coaches in the league, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.

Nurse's deal is reportedly worth around $8 million per year.

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is the highest-paid coach in the NBA, with a deal that pays out $11 million per year, and Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr makes $9.5 million. Erik Spoelstra, who has led the Miami Heat to the Eastern Conference Finals, makes $8.5 million, and Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle makes $8 million, per Essentially Sports. 

Nurse was named Coach of the Year in his sophomore season in the league after the Raptors posted a franchise-record .736 winning percentage in a 53-19 regular season before conceding the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Boston Celtics in seven games. This success came after the departure of Kawhi Leonard in free agency a year after winning the NBA Finals and stars including Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, and Serge Ibaka missing time with injuries. 

In addition to leading the Raptors to their only NBA championship in 2019, Nurse also engineered a franchise-best 15-game winning streak, the longest in Canadian sports history (NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, CFL). 

The 53-year-old collected 90 of 100 first-place votes to earn the Coach of the Year title, the first coach to earn the honor in both the NBA and the G League, where he is the only coach to have led two different teams to a league championship.

In his two seasons in the NBA, he has amassed a 111-43 regular-season record and gone 23-12 in the playoffs. 

 

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri has recently been forced to relive a traumatic encounter with Bay Area police following his club's NBA Finals victory last season and it's caused him notable amounts of stress.

Masai Ujiri's legal team has released this body camera footage of his encounter with a sheriff's deputy as he tried to walk onto the court at Oracle Arena after the Raptors won the 2019 NBA Finals.

(via @diamond83) https://t.co/OJKn8R3NmU

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 19, 2020

Following the release of a video showing Alameda County sheriff's deputy Alan Strickland at the Golden State Warriors' Oracle Arena shoving Ujiri as he tried to celebrate on the court with the Raptors, Ujiri said he's had difficulty sleeping at night. 

"This was very hard for me," Ujiri told reporters. "... When this video came out, I didn't sleep for a few days."

Ujiri said there were two main things that remained on his mind after the video's release. 

At the time of the confrontation, the Toronto executive was hit with false allegations that he instigated the situation and caused harm to the officer. While the video shows that's not what happened, the repeated talking points from police made him wonder if his own memory betrayed him.

"You question yourself and as time goes on you begin to doubt yourself," Ujiri said. "I doubted myself and what really happened there."

Then, after the video became public, Ujiri began to reckon with the fact he was able to push back on the police narrative because of his job, stature and the resources that come with it when many in the Black community cannot do the same. 

"For me, at the end of the day, I'm privileged," Ujiri said. "At the end of the day, I have support. At the end of the day, I'm able to face this square on. And I just started to think about the people that cannot do this. They cannot do what I can do. ... That began to bother me as a person. And I really struggled in the bubble thinking about all of this."

In a statement posted by the Raptors following the video's release, Ujiri expanded on those thoughts.

"What saddens me most about this ordeal is that the only reason why I am getting the justice I deserve in this moment is because of my success," Ujiri wrote. "Because I'm the President of a NBA team, I had access to resources that ensured I could demand and fight for my justice."

Ujiri is currently countersuing Strickland, saying the officer "perpetrated a fraud" by claiming he was injured in the incident. Strickland filed a lawsuit against Ujiri and the Raptors in February, alleging he suffered serious injuries resulting in permanent disability.

 

Toronto Raptors team president Masai Ujiri told reporters Thursday he hasn't held any talks over a potential contract extension despite a report to the contrary.

Ujiri said "it's been a raw time" and that he wouldn't hold any negotiations in public. Those comments came on the heels of a tweet from the New York Times' Marc Stein, who reported Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster were nearing new deals in Toronto. 

The Raptors announced Tuesday they signed head coach Nick Nurse to a new pact. Stein reported that "the strong rumble in the bubble was that Toronto was closing in" on contracts with Ujiri and Webster.

Ujiri took over as Toronto's general manager in 2013, with Webster following him into the front office shortly after. When Jeff Weltman left for the Orlando Magic in 2017, Webster assumed the role of general manager.

Ujiri and Webster's stock has soared following the Raptors' championship run last season.

Some have wondered whether Ujiri in particular might relish a new challenge. The New York Knicks have been long-term admirers, but that speculation fizzled when the franchise brought in Leon Rose as its new president in March.

Webster would have plenty of suitors were he to leave Toronto as well.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported in April the Chicago Bulls wanted to interview Webster for its top executive opening. NBC Sports Chicago's K.C. Johnson followed up to add the Bulls were unlikely to get an interview, and the team ultimately poached Arturas Karnisovas from the Denver Nuggets.

Sorting out the futures of Ujiri and Webster is important ahead of what could be a big offseason for the Raptors.

Many of Toronto's key players are poised to be free agents in 2021, which clears the deck for a run at Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Front-office stability—and retaining the architects of a title team—would be a selling point for Antetokounmpo in the event he seriously considers leaving Milwaukee.

The Toronto Raptors announced Tuesday they have signed head coach Nick Nurse to a multiyear contract extension.

Team president Masai Ujiri provided a statement on the move:

"Our confidence in Nick just continues to grow, and part of that comes from what we've experienced together. The past two seasons have been unlike any other in our team's history—first, winning our championship, and then navigating a global pandemic and committing long-term to the fight against racism and for social justice. Nick has proved that he can coach on the court and lead in life, and we're looking forward to accomplishing great things in the future."

The Raptors promoted Nurse to head coach in 2018 after he spent five years as an assistant under Dwane Casey, who the team fired after the 2017-18 season.

The 53-year-old Iowa native led Toronto to the franchise's first championship in 2019 during his first campaign at the helm.

He has guided the team to a terrific 111-43 regular-season record during his two-year tenure along with a 23-12 mark in the playoffs.

Nurse, a former guard at Northern Iowa, started his coaching career as a student coach with the Panthers program in 1989-90. After a short-lived pro playing career in England, he became a full-time coach in 1991 and served in various capacities across Europe and North America for two decades.

His first major break came in 2007 when he became head coach of the Iowa Energy in the NBA Development League. He spent four years leading the Energy and two more as head coach of the league's Rio Grande Valley Vipers before joining Toronto's staff.

He has found immediate success with the Raptors, including another playoff appearance in 2019-20 following the departure of Kawhi Leonard and the NBA Coach of the Year Award, warranting a new contract extension.

Losing to the Boston Celtics in seven games in the second round of the 2020 postseason did little to hurt the perception surrounding the franchise's future under Nurse.

He has worked his way into the conversation about the NBA's top head coaches. His new deal will keep him in Toronto for the foreseeable future as the franchise attempts to remain in title contention.

Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam said he's willing to shoulder the blame for the team's Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals' deciding game Friday night.

"Obviously, I have to be better," Siakam told reporters. "It was definitely a learning moment for me just learning from this experience and just learning that you've gotta be ready, and I wasn't able to help my teammates. I take a lot of the blame, man."

The 26-year-old New Mexico State product recorded 13 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in the season-ending loss. He made just five of his 12 shots from the field, turned the ball over five times and recorded four personal fouls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcnuPxU1SaQ

Siakam elevated his game during the initial portion of the regular season before the COVID-19 hiatus began in March, which helped the Raptors overcome the offseason departure of Kawhi Leonard. His continued improvement earned him an All-Star selection for the first time in his career.

The Cameroon native wasn't quite the same game-changing presence in the NBA's "bubble." He scored 15 points or less in nine of the 18 games the team played in Orlando, including just 35 combined points over the final three games of the Celtics series.

Raptors teammate Kyle Lowry shared the advice he'd give to Siakam after the late-season struggles.

"When we got swept by the [Washington] Wizards [in 2015] I read every single article," Lowry told reporters. "I read every single thing that was said about me—good, bad, evil, terrible, awesome—and I used it as motivation. And that's what [Siakam] is going to do. That's the advice I would give him."

Siakam signed a four-year, $129.9 million contract extension with Toronto in October. It showed the front office views him as a critical building block for the future, and for most of the regular season, he lived up to or exceeded expectations.

He didn't meet the same standard late in the campaign, but taking Lowry's advice to use it as motivation for the future should help him come back strong when the 2020-21 season tips off.  

The Toronto Raptors outlasted the Boston Celtics 125-122 in double overtime in Game 6 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday to even the series at 3-3. Afterward, a member of the Raptors reportedly made an attention-catching declaration.

According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, a member of the Raptors said, "There's gonna be a fight tonight [at the team hotel]" following the game.

Amick noted there is no evidence that an altercation between the teams occurred at the hotel despite the fact that tensions ran high during the game.

The Raptors and Celtics battled from start to finish, but a Kyle Lowry basket with 11.7 seconds remaining and two free throws from Norman Powell with five seconds left allowed Toronto to remain alive in the series.

Once the final buzzer sounded, players and coaches from both teams gathered on the court and yelled at each other across enemy lines, although cooler heads prevailed.

A Raptors player told Amick it reminded him of the pickup basketball mantra, "You either win, or you fight."

While there were no altercations, the defending NBA champion Raptors showed no shortage of fight with their backs against the wall.

A loss in Game 6 would have ensured a new champion for the 2019-20 season, but Lowry, Powell and Fred VanVleet all came through as the top performers for Toronto.

Meanwhile, the Celtics squandered strong showings from Jaylen Brown (31 points), Jayson Tatum (29 points) and Marcus Smart (23 points) and failed to clinch their third Eastern Conference Finals berth since 2017.

If there is indeed bad blood between the Raptors and Celtics, it could boil over Friday night when they clash in a pivotal Game 7 that will determine who faces the Miami Heat in the next round.

The Toronto Raptors shouldn't be here, tied up at three games apiece with the Boston Celtics and headed to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals after an epic 125-122 double-overtime win on Wednesday.

But it's now clearer than ever that the Raptors aren't at all concerned with what's supposed to happen.

Let's go back a bit before we hit the various instances of expectation defiance Toronto produced in a brutally contested Game 6. Back to the moment Kawhi Leonard, Finals MVP and driving force behind the Raptors' 2019 title, exited for the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency.

Sure, it was always possible that internal development (which the Raptors got from Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, among others) and championship experience could keep them competitive without their transcendent superstar. But it was never likely. And it felt like the longest of long shots that they'd produce a better winning percentage in the regular season without Leonard than they did with him last year.

They did it anyway.

And if we're on the subject of probability, what were the odds Anunoby was going to drain that fateful triple from the left corner at the end of Game 3? That shot came off a cross-court Kyle Lowry inbound pass over human air traffic control tower Tacko Fall with a half-second remaining.

That the ball got to Anunoby in the first place was stunning. That he hit the shot was nothing short of a miracle.

OG Anunoby wins Game 3 for the @Raptors with the #TissotBuzzerBeater! #WeTheNorth #NBAPlayoffs #ThisIsYourTime pic.twitter.com/3ubNiMR7Xc

— NBA (@NBA) September 4, 2020

The rainbow trey shouldn't have fallen. Toronto should have been down 3-0. The series should have been over.

Yet it continued.

Even entering Wednesday's game, the Raptors' prospects were bleak. Boston was plus-35 in the first five games of the series and blew Toronto out in Game 5. The Celtics, unfazed by the Raptors' varied defensive looks, had gotten quality shots all series. Early in Game 6, it was the same story: Boston started the contest by generating one open corner three after another.

Marcus Smart canned three long balls from the corners in the opening frame and missed two more clean looks above the break. Boston found terrific scoring opportunities early and often.

Gradually, though, and with great effort, Toronto kept pushing back—fighting against the Celtics and the elimination that seemed inevitable.

Every step of that arduous process felt improbable.

Serge Ibaka, who wasn't even assured of playing after spraining an ankle in Game 5, hit a trio of three-pointers in a two-minute span after Toronto fell down by 12 points midway through the second quarter. Those buckets keyed a run that cut the deficit to only four points at halftime.

In the third, Fred VanVleet pumped in nine points in 38 seconds, then set up Marc Gasol (who entered the contest 0-of-10 from deep in the series) for a three to complete a 12-2 run in just over a minute, flipping a four-point deficit into a six-point advantage.

VanVleet, you'll recall, was undrafted. If there's anyone most emblematic of Toronto's persistent flouting of odds, he's the guy. Twenty-nine other teams told him he isn't supposed to be here, in the NBA, at all.

Let's not forget Kyle Lowry, either. Though he shook off a mostly undeserved reputation for poor playoff performances during the Raptors' championship run, he came up bigger than anyone, producing 33 points, eight rebounds, six assists and an incalculable number of tide-turning flops, dives and hard-nosed hustle plays.

Flash forward to end of regulation, and the Raps somehow managed to force OT despite failing to score over the final 4:24 of the fourth quarter, and despite catching a run of exceptionally tough whistles.

in a four-second span:

1) The Kemba non-foul call
2) Giving the Raptors the timeout instead of jump ball
3) The foul on OG
4) Which was not in the act of shooting?
5) It took 1.3 seconds off the clock???

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) September 10, 2020

We're running the theme into the ground now, but Toronto shouldn't have won a game in which it selected "Norman Powell Isolation" from its menu of choices to end the first overtime. But it won anyway, in large part because Powell, who predictably couldn't convert the game-winner, fired off 10 points in double OT.

Raptors’ Fred VanVleet on Norman Powell after Game 6 double OT win over Celtics: “He saved us. He saved our season.” pic.twitter.com/9ShLpYNsVB

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) September 10, 2020

FVV isn't wrong, but he neglected to mention Toronto has had a half-dozen saviors (himself included) in this series. Powell was just the latest.

The final breathless sequence of the second overtime featured too many unlikely buckets and emotional swings to count. Toronto finally got the game on its uptempo terms during that chaotic stretch, and all it had to do was endure the previous five games and another 53 minutes of rock-fight basketball to get there.

Lowry appropriately wound up on the floor at the end of it all. His dagger jumper put the Raptors up four with 11.7 seconds left. He attempted the shot over Kemba Walker from just inside the foul line, but fell backward, sliding all the way to the logo at center court.

KYLE LOWRY. ICE COLD 🥶 pic.twitter.com/7t8LGoYWOI

— ESPN (@espn) September 10, 2020

Leave it to Lowry to symbolize the Raptors' series: down (literally) but far from out. 

So now, we head to Game 7 on Friday with almost none of Wednesday's pregame evaluations changing.

Boston has had the edge in play all series. It continues to get better shots, even in defeat, and it might be a touch deeper than the Raptors—no small thing after a contest in which both teams had four starters log more than 50 minutes.

The Celtics will be expected to win. The Celtics should win. They're supposed to.

But we know how the Raptors feel about "supposed to."

When the Toronto Raptors needed to save their season, Norman Powell became the unlikely hero.

Powell scored 10 of his 23 points in the second overtime period of the Raptors' 125-122 win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday to force a Game 7, leading to some brilliantly expletive-laden praise from Kyle Lowry.

"Can I say what I really want to say? F--k, that was great. Thank you, Norm. That was f--king unbelievable. S--t. That was cool. We needed that," Lowry told reporters after the game. (Warning: Tweet contains profanity.)

Raptors’ Kyle Lowry on Norman Powell’s big shots in Game 6 2OT win over Celtics: “Can I say what I really want to say? F—, that was great. Thank you Norm. That was f—ing unbelievable. S—-. That was cool. We needed that.” pic.twitter.com/qMl5dOCcEv

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) September 10, 2020

Fred VanVleet gave a more PG version of Lowry's comments, saying Powell "saved [their] season."

Powell actually had the ball in his hands to win the game in the first overtime but took a questionable step-back three despite being defended by Kemba Walker.

Suffice it to say he more than made up for it, setting the stage for the Raptors to potentially pull off a comeback.