Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors are reportedly open to trading back from the No. 4 overall pick in next week's NBA draft.

Sam Vecenie of The Athletic reported the Raptors are not 100 percent locked in on Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs and could consider Florida State forward Scottie Barnes or trade back. A move back in the draft could be geared toward landing Barnes while getting assets in return for moving back a couple of spots.

Barnes is projected as a top-10 selection and could go as high as No. 5 if the Raptors pass on him.

The 2021 draft is seen by many as a four-player class, with Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green, Evan Mobley and Suggs potential future foundational players. There is a clear drop-off after those four among most evaluators, but Barnes is a potential two-way force with length, off-the-dribble skills and a high motor. If he improves his shot, the Florida State produce could be a perfect modern-day forward who can defend four positions.

The Raptors have a strong record with player development and could unearth Barnes' potential, even if he's not as NBA-ready as Suggs, who is widely considered fourth in the Big Four pecking order.

Toronto is heading into a potentially franchise-changing offseason with Kyle Lowry set for unrestricted free agency. If Lowry walks, it could be a sign the Raptors are planning to move forward with an on-the-fly roster retooling around younger players.

The Raps' draft decision may be a peak into their future. 

Agent Warren LeGarie has filed a civil lawsuit against Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, seeking commission for the contract extension he signed last year.

According to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, the breach of contract lawsuit states the following:

Defendant Nurse failed to do certain things required by the representation contract. Among other things, Defendant Nurse failed to abide by the terms of the representation contract, failed to pay Plaintiffs the amounts due under the representation contract, and failed to disclose to Plaintiffs the amount of the employment contract he entered into with the Toronto Raptors for the 2020-2021 through 2023-2024 NBA seasons, thus denying Plaintiffs the opportunity to be paid for commissions wed on Defendant Nurse's employment contract for the 2020-2021 through 2023-2024 NBA seasons.

Nurse, who is now represented by Andy Miller of Klutch Sports, signed a multiyear contract extension with the Raptors last year.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported at the time that the extension was worth $8 million per season.

The lawsuit says that Nurse's extension was for four years and worth $32 million in total.

LeGarie, who has represented several NBA head coaches, assistant coaches and executives, said he entered into an oral agreement with Nurse in 2013. At the time, Nurse was head coach of the G League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers and transitioned into becoming an assistant with the Raptors.

Per LeGarie, the agreement was that he would receive 3 percent commission on any head coaching contracts negotiated and 4 percent commission on any assistant coaching contracts negotiated.

LeGarie's attorney, Hunter Pyle, released a statement on the lawsuit, saying:

[LeGarie] represented Nick Nurse for over seven years and successfully negotiated several contracts for him pursuant to the same agent agreement that is the subject of this lawsuit. Mr. LeGarie employed his considerable experience and relationships in the NBA to help advance the career of Mr. Nurse as he progressed from an assistant to the head coach of the Toronto Raptors. The lawsuit speaks for itself as to the facts and law on the matter. I have nothing more to say about the case at this time.

After spending five seasons as an assistant in Toronto, Nurse was promoted to head coach in 2018.

In three seasons as the Raptors' head coach, Nurse has a 138-88 record and led Toronto to the playoffs twice. That included coaching the Raptors to the first NBA championship in franchise history in 2019.

Nurse, the 2019-20 NBA Coach of the Year, missed the playoffs for the first time as an NBA head coach this season as the Raptors went just 27-45.

The NBA announced Thursday it has dismissed and disqualified Toronto Raptors rookie Jalen Harris for violating terms of the league's anti-drug program.

Harris is eligible to apply for reinstatement after one year.

Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic was the first to report the news.

The 22-year-old from Dallas was selected No. 59 overall by Toronto in last year's draft after starring at Nevada in 2019-20. Harris appeared in 13 games for the Raptors last season, averaging 7.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

The guard was sent to the G League at the end of January where he played seven games while averaging 17.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per night. 

Typically players who are disqualified and dismissed are required to wait no less than two years before applying for reinstatement. That's not the case for first-year players—according to the league's collective bargaining agreement—who may apply after 12 months.

The CBA does not grant such players the right to reinstatement, which is only granted with the approval of the NBA and players association and could come with conditions. That decision is "final, binding and unappealable." 

Should Harris apply for, and receive, reinstatement, the Raptors will have 30 days to decide whether or not to tender a contract offer for a minimum of one year. Harris would become a restricted free agent should he decide not to sign a tender in that situation. If the Raptors do not tender a contract, Harris becomes an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any NBA team that offers him a contract. 

It's unclear if Toronto is interested in bringing Harris back to the franchise should he apply for reinstatement after next season. 

Free agent guard Kyle Lowry is partnering with Canadian artist Corbin Portillo to sell an NFT (non-fungible token) collection of seven moments from the Toronto Raptors 2019 championship parade. 

“It was a perfect opportunity to show some love to Canada,” Lowry told Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. “I would say it was special, it gave us a moment: ‘Do you remember life before COVID?’ That’s really what that’s about.”

A portion of the sell of the NFTs will go to the veteran guard's Lowry Love Foundation. 

The collection comes following a tough two seasons for the Raptors, following the bubble in Orlando last season and the team being forced to play their home games in Tampa Bay this season due to travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. For Lowry, the NFT represents a better time.

“It showed the unity of a nation, of the human race," he said. "It just showed everyone being together at one point, and it was a time and a period that we just lived and had fun and enjoyed those moments. The kids skipping school and workers not really working, it was just awesome."

New Orleans Pelicans point guard Lonzo Ball reportedly has the New York Knicks on his "radar" as he prepares to become a restricted free agent this offseason.

Marc Berman of the New York Post reported Saturday the Knicks are also a preferred destination for Ball's father, LaVar, who'd like to have "all his sons on Broadway."

The Toronto Raptors' Kyle Lowry, an impending unrestricted free agent, is another potential option at the point since he's "wanted to be a Knick" in the past, per Berman.

Ball is coming off the most complete season of his four-year NBA career after averaging a career-high 14.6 points along with 5.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals across 55 appearances for the Pelicans. While he shot just 41.4 percent from the field, he knocked down a rock-solid 37.8 percent of his threes.

His improvement at both ends of the floor allowed him to rank third among all point guards in ESPN's real plus-minus behind only the Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry and Portland Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard.

While New Orleans will have the opportunity to match any offer sheet Ball receives in free agency, his outspoken father has made it clear he'd like his son to get a fresh start elsewhere since before the NBA trade deadline in March.

LaVar said during an appearance on ESPN Radio (via Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News) leading up to the deadline his son "can't stay in New Orleans" because of how the franchise changed his role.

"Lonzo has always been a playmaker. Why are you trying to change him into a defensive specialist to stay in the corner and shoot threes?" LaVar said. "And you're trying to change Zion [Williamson] and Brandon Ingram, who all throughout their career have never been playmakers? They're scorers. Now you want to put the ball in their hand? C'mon man."

It's unclear whether his opinion could change once the Pelicans hire a new head coach after the firing of Stan Van Gundy at season's end, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see New Orleans shake up its roster after falling well short of expectations with a 31-41 record.

Meanwhile, the question when it comes to Lowry is whether the Knicks are the right fit for a 35-year-old six-time All-Star who'll likely be hunting championships during the latter stages of his career.

"He's better suited for a title contender—and that's not the Knicks," an NBA source told Berman.

That said, Lowry averaged 17.2 points, 7.3 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.8 threes in 46 games for the Raptors this season and would represent a major short-term upgrade for New York at the point.

The Knicks have been searching for an offensive general for years, and it's once again the top priority after a year where the team made a lot of progress, led by Julius Randle. The good news for the front office is that there are no shortage of options this summer either via trade, free agency or the draft.

Toronto Raptors star forward Pascal Siakam recently underwent shoulder surgery. 

Per an announcement from the team, Siakam is expected to miss at least five months after having a procedure to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. 

Siakam, 27, had another solid season for the Raptors in 2020-21. He averaged 21.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. 

The Raptors held Siakam out of the final four games of the regular season. He missed a total of 16 games during the 72-game schedule. 

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the 2021-22 NBA regular season is expected to begin on Oct. 19. That means Siakam could miss at least one month of games, depending on how well his rehab goes. 

This is an important offseason in Toronto with Kyle Lowry and Gary Trent Jr. among its notable free agents. Siakam is an important piece for the franchise, so potentially starting next season without him could impact the front office's plans in free agency. 

Toronto Raptors President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri has penned an op-ed about the impact of the Basketball Africa League as it prepares to wrap up its inaugural season. 

In a post for The Athletic, Ujiri praised the league for doing more than just having a positive impact on the sport in the world's second-largest continent:

"The impact of the 12-team, 12-nation BAL will go beyond the lines of the basketball court. Economically, the potential for growth is phenomenal – even for those without an interest in our great game, the commercial opportunities and avenues for investment in advertising, broadcasting, merchandise, and more, will bring transformative money into African economies."

Ujiri began the article by talking about the dreams he had as an adolescent while "walking to the basketball courts at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria." He continued by recalling a moment after the Raptors won the 2019 NBA Finals:

"I was on a stage with Serge Ibaka, from the Republic of Congo, and Pascal Siakam, who draped the flag of his native Cameroon around his shoulders as we celebrated the Toronto Raptors’ first NBA Championship. Three Africans, at the very top of the NBA. That night, their–and my–basketball dreams came true."

The biggest thing that Ujiri has seen from the BAL's first season is "more investment, less charity."

"This is what Africa wants," Ujiri continued. 

One potential benefit to the NBA—and other professional leagues around the world—is the wealth of untapped basketball talent throughout the continent. 

"If you ask anybody in any game what they search hardest for–and find most challenging to locate–they’ll say, without hesitation, that it’s pure talent. Africa is the youngest continent on the planet, with 60 percent of the population under the age of 25," Ujiri wrote. 

The Basketball Africa League was first announced in February 2019 as a joint venture between the NBA and basketball's international governing body, FIBA. It was initially planned to start in March 2020 but had to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A total of 12 teams advanced to the BAL through qualifying tournaments that took place between Oct. and Dec. 2019. 

The season tipped off with group play on May 16. The top two teams in each group at the conclusion of the round-robin stage advanced to the playoffs. 

US Monastir, Patriots, Zamalek and Petro de Luanda advanced to the semifinal round, which will take place on Saturday. The winners of those two games will play in the championship game Sunday. 

Toronto Raptors President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri wants the Raptors to play their home games in Toronto throughout the 2021-22 season.

According to Eric Koreen of The Athletic, Ujiri said: "We have no interest in going anywhere else. I think we make people happy. Sports make people happy, generally."

The Raptors were forced to play their home games in Tampa during the 2020-21 season because of restricted travel between Canada and the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, Ujiri said the Raptors being the only Canadian team in the NBA can be a "pain in the ass" logistically, before adding: "Guess what? That's the business you put yourself in. I don't want to call out anybody, but there's a lot of work we need to address."

Unable to play in their home venue of the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the Raptors struggled mightily this season and missed the playoffs.

Despite boasting a talented roster headed by Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry, the Raptors finished 12th in the Eastern Conference with a disappointing 27-45 record.

That ended the Raptors' streak of seven consecutive seasons with a playoff appearance and marked their first losing season since the 2012-13 campaign.

The Raptors are just two years removed from winning the first NBA championship in franchise history, and there is little doubt that the electric atmosphere in Toronto aided in their championship quest.

Even after losing Kawhi Leonard to the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency, the Raptors were a strong team last season as well, going 53-19 and reaching the second round of the playoffs.

It is difficult to say if a lack of chemistry within the roster or the unfamiliarity of playing home games at Amalie Arena in Tampa contributed more to the Raptors' struggles this season, but given that they returned many of the same players from the previous year, it is fair to speculate that their displacement played a significant role.

If the Raptors can get back to playing in Toronto next season and make some personnel tweaks, they have a legitimate chance to be one of the NBA's top bounce-back candidates.

Masai Ujiri told reporters there's "nothing new" as his contract with the Toronto Raptors is due to expire.

"We just finished, so at some point, get with ownership here and sit down and talk," the Raptors president of basketball operations said. "... We're going to weigh a few of the options and just give this thing some deep thought now as I go through this process."

Ujiri added his final decision will likely hinge on forthcoming discussions with ownership.

One would expect Toronto to make every accommodation necessary to keep him in the front office.

The 50-year-old was the architect of the franchise's first championship in 2019, and his decision to swap fan favorite DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard was pivotal toward making that title happen.

The Raptors have consistently been one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, missing the playoffs this year after making seven straight trips to the postseason.

General manager Bobby Webster is highly regarded, but losing Ujiri would be a major blow.

Sportsnet's Michael Grange reported Monday that "there is a mounting confidence that there is a clear path for Ujiri’s return." One source told Grange the odds of him coming back are 95 percent.

The Raptors are likely headed for a transitional phase.

Toronto was snakebitten throughout 2020-21, and having to play its home games in Tampa, Florida, made things difficult. But this year was indicative of how a reset is inevitable.

The team lost Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol in free agency before trading Norman Powell and Terence Davis midseason. Kyle Lowry is a free agent, and his departure would truly signal the end of an era for the franchise.

Perhaps Ujiri would like to start fresh with a new organization, maybe one closer to a championship. The allure of rebuilding the Raptors to make them a contender once again might be just as tantalizing as well.

With their season officially over, the Toronto Raptors' major focus this offseason will shift to Masai Ujiri's contract. 

Per Michael Grange of Sportsnet, the Raptors have "mounting confidence" they are going to re-sign their president of basketball operations. 

One source close to Raptors ownership group Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment told Grange estimated there's a "95 percent" chance that Ujiri stays. 

Ujiri's deal with the Raptors expires at the end of the playoffs. The 50-year-old said throughout the 2020-21 season that he would discuss a new deal during the offseason. 

"We'll visit this at the end of the season at some point," Ujiri told reporters in March. "We'll be fine. [The] Raptors will be fine."

One player agent who recently met with Ujiri told Grange that they had a recent discussion "about winning and winning another title with the Raptors."

There have been multiple teams in the past that attempted to get Ujiri to leave Toronto.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported in the wake of the Raptors beating the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals that the Washington Wizards were preparing to offer Ujiri a deal "that could approach $10 million annually and deliver him the opportunity for ownership equity" to run their basketball operations. 

Wojnarowski reported in February 2020 that the New York Knicks were targeting Ujiri to run their front office. Leon Rose was eventually hired as team president the following month. 

Ujiri has worked in Toronto's front office since May 2013. He was named NBA Executive of the Year in 2012-13 as general manager and executive vice president of the Denver Nuggets. 

The Raptors made the playoffs in each of Ujiri's first seven seasons, including winning the 2019 NBA title. Their 27-45 mark this season marked their first losing season since 2012-13.