Toronto Raptors

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The playoff race in the NBA East is intense. But the Toronto Raptors are a contender, with the help of Kawhi Leonard. But will he stay in Toronto beyond this season? Howard Beck says that depends on how far he can lead them.

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The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they renamed their training facility the OVO Athletic Centre as part of a collaboration with rapper Drake, who owns the October's Very Own brand.

Toronto posted a video about the change, highlighted by giving a key to the building to Drake:

The Toronto-born superstar first signed on as a team ambassador in 2013 and expanded the partnership in January 2018 with the introduction of OVO-inspired jerseys.

Raptors president Masai Ujiri called Drake the "King of Toronto" during last year's announcement.

"Over the past four years, the Raptors' relationship with Drake has always ultimately been about celebrating this city and the people that make it unique. We have something very special happening in Toronto and Drake is a big part of that. We’re looking forward to this opportunity to continue working together to inspire and support young people, to showcase this great city around the world and to grow the game of basketball."

Drake added: "So for us, my biggest thing that I'm most proud of in this partnership is the million dollars that we're gonna be giving to the city to re-do these courts and hopefully create an amazing atmosphere for anyone in that community to come out and either play casual basketball or, you know, potentially breed the next generation of Canadian basketball superstars."

The Raptors are also enjoying a strong season on the court with a 48-20 record that ranks second in the Eastern Conference.

They are one of just two NBA teams, joining the Milwaukee Bucks, to clinch a berth in the 2019 playoffs.   

The term load management has been mocked around the NBA this season, but Toronto Raptors All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard is not laughing.

Leonard praised how the Raptors have managed his health in his first season up north, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports.

"We've been doing a great job of making sure that nothing flares up or gets out of control. It's just been great. I'm just happy that I'm able to play. ... It's amazing. I feel good and we have something to look forward to."

Leonard has played in just 49 games for Toronto this season but has made the most of his playing time, leading the team with 27 points per game. 

Leonard is coming off a season that saw him play only nine games for the San Antonio Spurs due to a lingering quad injury. The Spurs' handling of his injury was widely criticized, and Leonard sought help from outside medical personnel. At the time, then-Spurs point guard Tony Parker publicly said he had dealt with a similar injury that was "100 times worse" and took only eight months to rehab.

With the Raptors presumably intent on locking Leonard up long-term after his current contract expires, establishing a positive relationship regarding his health is paramount given the distrust Leonard felt toward the Spurs. Leonard isn't set to become an unrestricted free agent until 2020 but can exercise his player option following this season.

When active this season, the 27-year-old is averaging more minutes per game (34.3) than in any of his other eight seasons. In 2016-17, Leonard played in a career-high 74 games and averaged 33.4 minutes per game, preceding his disastrous 2017-18 campaign. The Raptors seem to be focused on efficiently maximizing Leonard's usage rate by balancing more minutes with fewer games. 

Part of that plan has included restricting Leonard on back-to-backs throughout the regular season, and it has worked out well for the Raptors. With 14 games remaining in the regular season, Toronto (48-20) is three games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The two-time Defensive Player of the Year should be at his best for the Raptors' postseason run. 

The Toronto Raptors clinched a berth in the 2019 NBA playoffs Saturday thanks to the Charlotte Hornets' 131-114 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Toronto (47-19) becomes just the second team in the NBA to secure a spot in the 16-team field. Milwaukee (50-16) previously locked up a spot and currently owns a three-game lead for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Raptors have spent the entire regular season at or near the top of the East, so officially claiming a berth in the postseason doesn't come as a surprise. They'll spend the rest of the campaign trying to wrangle the top seed away from the Bucks.

That said, the biggest question is how Toronto will fare in the playoffs after retooling its roster in the offseason, highlighted by the arrival of Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs.

There were mixed reactions when the Raptors dealt fan favorite DeMar DeRozan along with Jakob Poeltl and a first-round pick in the 2019 draft to the Spurs in exchange for Leonard and Danny Green.

In December, Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry admitted to ESPN's Rachel Nichols on The Jump (via Michelle R. Martinelli of For The Win) even he needed to overcome some emotions after watching his longtime backcourt mate leave the team.

"I felt betrayed because he felt betrayed because that's my guy, that's my best friend," Lowry said. "So yeah, I felt some type of way on a personal side. It's a harsh business. It's a great business, but sometimes moves are made that you're like, 'Ugh, wow, that sucks.'"

Toronto reached the conference finals in 2016 and was eliminated in the conference semifinals each of the past two seasons. All three times the Raptors fell short against LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers.

Now, with James out of the East and their own roster retooled with Leonard as the foundation, the Raptors will be expected to make the first NBA Finals appearance in team history.

Anything less would be a disappointment, especially with Leonard holding a player option that could make him an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

Toronto Raptors guard Jeremy Lin hopes to one day see more Asian American players in the NBA. 

In an interview with Cary Chow of The Undefeated, Lin talked about the dichotomy of being the only active player of Asian descent in the league:

"At times it kind of sucks. At other times it’s amazing. Amazing because you get to challenge everyone’s viewpoints and perspectives. I’m rooting for so many more Asians to come in. Last year, when I was with Brooklyn and we had Ding [Yanyuhang] on the summer league team, I was like, 'Dude, please make the team. We’d have so much fun together during the season.'"

Upon making his NBA debut in 2010 with the Golden State Warriors, Lin became the first Asian-American player since Rex Walters. 

Walters, whose mother is Japanese, played for three teams in seven seasons from 1993-2000. He said in a 2011 interview with Rick Quan that Lin was continuing to create opportunities for more Asian-American athletes.

"I consider myself Japanese American. I just don't always—I don't look it. People are always surprised. Now we've got a guy like Jeremy Lin breaking barriers, I'd like to think I played a small part in that."

Lin noted in his interview that his experience in the NBA has been an eye-opening experience:

"When I was growing up playing basketball, I didn’t see much color. I didn’t really think it made a difference. After I went through Linsanity, I learned the world wasn’t quite ready or didn’t know how to handle Asian-Americans, Asian-Americans in sports, Asian-American masculinity and a lot of different Asian-American issues."

Lin became the first NBA player to come out of Harvard since Ed Smith in 1953-54. The 30-year-old is now in his ninth season after going undrafted out of college. At the height of "Linsanity" during the 2011-12 season, New York Knicks games in Taiwan—where his family emigrated from—regularly generated 3 million viewers on television. 

Lin now plays for the Raptors after being bought out by the Atlanta Hawks. He's averaging 10.7 points and 3.5 assists in 53 games this season. 

The Toronto Raptors signed shooting guard Jodie Meeks to a 10-day contract Tuesday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The 31-year-old is entering his 10th NBA season and has averaged 9.3 points on 41.8 percent shooting in 22.6 minutes per game for his career. He most recently posted 6.3 points per game in 77 games off the Washington Wizards bench in 2017-18.

On April 13, Meeks was suspended 25 games for violating the NBA/NBPA anti-drug program. Per Wojnarowski, Meeks tested positive for "banned compounds ipamorelin and growth-hormone-releasing peptide-2."

The ex-Kentucky star released a statement declaring his innocence. He eventually appealed, but the suspension was not reduced or expunged.

On October 15, the Wizards traded Meeks to the Milwaukee Bucks, who waived him November 24.

The 6'4" guard lives primarily outside the arc. According to Basketball Reference, 53.4 percent of Meeks' 399 field-goal attempts from the 2017-18 season were three-pointers.

Meeks' value is largely based around his ability to get hot in a reserve role. Otherwise, he was 70th among 88 qualified shooting guards in defensive plus-minus last season, per ESPN. In addition, Meeks has only posted 2.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.8 steals for his career.

Meeks struggled from the outside last season as he made just 34.3 percent of his threes, which was his lowest mark since his rookie season in 2009-10.

That being said, Meeks had a two-year stretch from 2015-17 when he hit 41.1 percent of his threes. It's possible the veteran will find more success with a change of scenery.

If Meeks reverts to the form he exhibited just a couple years ago, he should provide Toronto with some solid shooting depth off the bench.

Jeremy Lin made a seismic leap up the NBA standings when he received a buyout from the 19-38 Atlanta Hawks before signing with the 43-16 Toronto Raptors.

Lin, who has never been on a team that has won a playoff series during his nine-year career, spoke to Eric Koreen and Blake Murphy of The Athletic and other reporters about the playoffs and why he wanted to join Toronto.

Lin had eight points, five assists and five rebounds in Toronto's 129-120 win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. 

The Raps won their sixth straight contest and are now only one game behind the Milwaukee Bucks for first place in the Eastern Conference.

Barring a massive letdown, Lin should be advancing to the second round of the NBA playoffs for the first time in his career. Toronto has a 4.5-game cushion on third-place Indiana in the East, so it will likely have a first-round date with a team that is currently below .500.

Only six East teams have winning records, with the 30-29 Brooklyn Nets living on the edge. Toronto is also a dominant 24-5 at the Air Canada Center and would have home-court advantage over every East team other than the Bucks.

From a roster perspective, the Raptors now have one of the deepest backcourts in the league. All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry and defensive stalwart Danny Green make up the starters, and Fred VanVleet is one of the better backup guards in the league when healthy.

The ex-Wichita State star is recovering from a thumb injury and will be out for at least three weeks. When he returns, the Raps can call and/on him or Lin to provide minutes off the bench.

Toronto has a four-game homestand after the All-Star break, starting with the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, February 22.

The Toronto Raptors will be without Kawhi Leonard against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night as the three-time All-Star deals with a sore knee, the team announced.

Per ESPN, it's not clear when the 27-year-old suffered the injury or what his recovery timetable is expected to be.

Leonard played 34 minutes against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night, dropping 30 points and eight assists in a 127-125 victory.

The Raptors have been careful not to overwork Leonard after he appeared in just nine games last season. He's routinely been held out of the second game of back-to-backs. 

Leonard has also dealt with minor injuries early in the year. He missed two games against the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors in December with an ailing hip. 

It's a testament to Toronto's depth and head coach Nick Nurse's ability to maximize his talent that the team hasn't skipped a beat without its best player. The reigning Atlantic Division champions (42-16) are tied for the most wins in the NBA, although they trail the Milwaukee Bucks (42-14) by one game for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Jeremy Lin plans to sign with the Toronto Raptors once his buyout agreement with the Atlanta Hawks is completed.

Agents Jim Tanner and Roger Montgomery informed ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski of the decision.

Lin, 30, is making $12.5 million in the final season of his contract. He's averaging 10.7 points and 3.5 assists in 51 games for the Hawks after coming over via an offseason trade from the Brooklyn Nets.

The Raptors will be Lin's eighth NBA team in nine NBA seasons. He has never stayed with an organization for more than two years and could be a short-term rental in Toronto. The Raptors will not have Lin's Bird rights when he hits unrestricted free agency this summer.

From a basketball standpoint, though, this is an ideal marriage that could put the Raptors over the top in the Eastern Conference and send Lin into free agency as a coveted asset. He will pick up ball-handling duties in second units behind Kyle Lowry, and the Lin/Fred VanVleet pairing should be fine. Both players have tended to work best with the ball in their hands, but they're each capable shooters who can knock down open threes.

The Raptors, one game behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the top spot in the East, also had room in their rotation after trading Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright and CJ Miles to Memphis for Marc Gasol before Thursday's deadline. Wright and Miles were averaging around 32 minutes per game combined off the bench, so Toronto needed to find a player or two to soak up those minutes. Lin has averaged 19.7 minutes this season, his second-lowest since his rookie year.

The degree to which Lin fits will determine his playoff minutes, given the shortening of rotations in May and June. Lin has played in just 17 postseason games in his career.

Former Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore is reportedly planning to sign with the Toronto Raptors.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, McLemore is looking to sign a 10-day contract with the Raptors once he officially clears waivers.

McLemore was waived in the wake of a busy trade deadline in Sacramento that left the team in need of a roster spot. That left the 2013 seventh overall pick as the odd man out just over six months after being re-acquired by the team.

The 25-year-old spent the first four years of his career with the Kings before moving on to the Memphis Grizzlies for the 2017-18 campaign. In his his first season back in California's capital, he was averaging just 3.9 points on 39.1 percent shooting in 8.3 minutes per game over 19 appearances.

Although his overall numbers may not have jumped off the page, he was averaging a career-high 41.5 percent from three-point range this season, albeit in a limited sample size (41 attempts).

McLemore is still just 25 years old, so he still has some time to further his development. He appears to be a depth piece for the Raptors, one who can provide some offense off the bench.

After trading Delon Wright to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the Marc Gasol deal, the Raptors have a need for some depth behind Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet at point guard.

McLemore likely won't see much playing time, but he could find his way into the shooting guard rotation along with Danny Green, Norman Powell and Patrick McCaw.