Toronto Raptors Articles - Page 159

“I am Toronto” were the words of Toronto Raptors swingman DeMar DeRozan, who put all the offseason theories of potential landing cities to rest with a massive five-year, $139 million deal earlier in July. With rumors surrounding of potentially joining his hometown Los Angeles Lakers before he signed the extension, the Compton native was assertive […]

Former 2013 first round pick Anthony Bennett will try to kickstart his short-lived career, this time with his fourth team in four years — the Brooklyn Nets. The UNLV product has been nothing but disappointing since being drafted first overall by the Cavaliers, starting only three of 128 professional games played in Cleveland, Minnesota, and Toronto. […]

These NBA players just can’t seem to agree with sports writers. Sports Illustrated’s annual Top 100 players list has caused a semi-uproar from NBA players who feel like they have been disrespected by the list. As is typical with these kinds of complaints, no player is naming names of guys they should be ranked ahead […]

The Toronto Raptors have acquired the rights and plan to sign sharp-shooting Baylor alum Brady Heslip, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical. A Toronto native, Heslip played with Pallacanestro Cantu of the Italian Serie A Basketball League in 2015-16, averaging 12.7 points while shooting 45.8 percent in 26.9 minutes of action. He’s also played for the Canadian National […]

What’s the best follow up to a tiring workout? Some prefer getting rest at home while others are content with a good drink while relaxing on the couch. For Lou Williams, it’s being surprised by friends. However, this isn’t like any other surprises as the one, or two, that greeted Williams after hitting the gym […]

EJ Singler may not be a name you are accustomed to hearing, but you should start getting used to it. Singler has been bouncing around from D-League team to D-League team for three years now since he went undrafted in 2013. His older brother, Kyle Singler of the Thunder, is a well-known basketball player on […]

Given the success that the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors have enjoyed, better emphasis on ball movement has been placed by teams now more than ever. The Spurs and Warriors have kept the ball alive most often and it has resulted to wide open looks, especially from long distance. “Wide open” looks have […]

Team president Masai Ujiri of the Toronto Raptors signed a multi-year extension last week. Ujiri will only hold the responsibility of team president now, and has promoted assistant general manager Jeff Weltman to General Manager, and the organization’s cap guru Bobby Webster to assistant general manager. Ujiri will oversee basketball operations, but this is all […]

Free agent big man, Jason Thompson, has reportedly signed a deal to play for Shandong of the Chinese Basketball Association. Source: NBA veteran Jason Thompson, split last season with Warriors and Raptors, finalized a deal in China with Shandong. — David Pick (@IAmDPick) August 29, 2016 The 8-year NBA veteran played his first seven seasons with […]

Bismack Biyombo may no longer be a member of the Toronto Raptors, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still pals with former teammaers Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. Sunday is Biyombo’s birthday and he turned the young age of 24 years old. However, Lowry and DeRozan feel like he’s the old man of their friendship […]

The NBA is always evolving, but when it comes to shooting, it’s expanding. The art has earned appreciation with a new focus on small ball, dominating wing play and a barrage of broken three-point records. Of course, you can thank the Golden State Warriors for much of it. Reaching 73 wins is special. 402 three-pointers […]

The Toronto Raptors are really enjoying the recent success they’ve got. Last season was a breakout for their 21-year franchise. They made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals and were able to host the All-Star Weekend for the first time. They also had new marketing campaigns with the launch of the slogan […]

Fresh off the closing ceremonies in Rio, Team USA wasted no time in showing off their newly acquired hardware on social media. Paul George was especially eager to show his gold medal and with good reason. After overcoming the awful injury he suffered two years ago in an intrasquad scrimmage with Team USA, he’s come […]

Someone had to come out and say it. Team USA assistant coach Jim Boeheim didn’t shy away from it. While the focus of the team’s gold-medal success centers around perennial stars like Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Kyrie Irving, often the unsung heroes don’t get enough credit. Kyle Lowry, the unsung hero “(Kyle Lowry) was […]

Team USA‘s performance at the Rio Olympics received plenty of mixed reviews. Regardless, the team, led by four-time Olympian Carmelo Anthony, got the job done once again. The United States left Brazil with an undefeated 8-0 record and a 96-66 win over Serbia to earn a third consecutive Olympic gold medal. So how well did […]

After being blown out by Australia in Wednesday’s quarterfinal game and out of the Rio Olympics, Lithuania’s head coach, Jonas Kazlauskas could not keep his frustration to himself and expressed disappointment to arguably their most important player, Jonas Valanciunas. A tweet by Donatas Urbonas of 24Sek summarizes how the 61-year-old bench tactician felt towards the 7-foot […]

As expected, Team USA hasn’t lost a game so far in the Rio Olympics. But surprisingly, they have been served with a good scare, not once, but twice. The games against Australia and Serbia were eye openers to the rest of the competition. The United States can be defeated, and although it’s still a very […]

The NBA works hard at making  the most balanced schedule of the four major sports. This year the league opted to use new computer software this year to optimize, and maximize the schedule efficiency as much as possible. ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle ran the new 2016-17 schedule through a simulator, to take tavel, rest, and all factors of […]

After signing one of their key players to a huge contract and adding some free agents to their roster this summer, the Toronto Raptors are now nearing an agreement to keep the services of the executive who helped turn the team into one of the more successful in the NBA today. That would be President of […]

Former Knicks and Nets teammates Shane Larkin and Andrea Bargnani will join Baskonia, or Laboral Kutxa for the next season, according to David Pick. Shane Larkin signed with Baskonia for $900 thousand net. That exceeds his $1.5 million gross contract with Brooklyn. — David Pick (@IAmDPick) August 10, 2016 Shane Larkin signed with Baskonia for […]

Toronto Raptors star and Olympian DeMar DeRozan turned 27 years old Sunday, and celebrated his birthday with his Team USA teammates, even in a round of practice. To no surprise the person just as excited as DeRozan was teammate and friend Kyle Lowry who (always showing appreciation for his friendship), couldn’t contain himself. Lowry decided to take a minute […]

DeMar DeRozan re-signed with the Toronto Raptors in free agency this summer, continuing his career with the only organization he’s known. His teammate Kyle Lowry, who is also playing alongside DeRozan for Team USA, has taken to social media to demonstrate his appreciation for the pair’s bond. It’s likely that Lowry and his team may […]

Members of the USA Basketball team arrived in Rio safely, but are already finding themselves in the news off the court. According to TMZ ,  DeAndre Jordan, DeMarcus Cousins, DeMar DeRozan, and three other players allegedly walked into a building called Termas Monte Carlo on Wednesday night. Termas Monte Carlo has been referred to as a high end brothel, […]

There hasn’t been much drama for Team USA as it has rolled through the competition, winning exhibition games by 40-plus points in preparation for the Rio Olympics. The only thing of interest has been the highlights. The play of the summer so far belongs to DeMar DeRozan, who nearly pulled off a 360-degree dunk over […]

DeMarre Carroll recently revealed that he’s been playing with a rare liver disease throughout his seven seasons in the NBA. The Toronto Raptors forward has kept his condition quiet, but recently spoke out about it at NBPA.com: “I’m basically the first NBA player that played that I know of with a liver disease, and I’m […]

The coolest most unique specialty has come all the way from Milan, Italy. Sakana Sushi Milano, a restaurant in Milan decided to take its sushi recipe and mix it to look like NBA players. Check out the rice and seaweed creations of players including retired legend Tim Duncan, and Toronto Raptors ambassador Drake. Demarcus Cousins https://www.instagram.com/p/BIiiOYdDYu6/   […]

The Orlando Magic may have a problem. After trading for Serge Ibaka with no guarantee that he will re-sign with the team after he becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2017, teams are lining up for his services as early as now. According to the Toronto Star’s Doug Smith, the Toronto Raptors are one […]

It was a rather underwhelming offensive show on Friday night in Chicago when Team USA defeated Venezuela in their exhibition match. Simply put, poor shooting plagued the home team. However, during the dying seconds of the game, Toronto Raptors swingman DeMar DeRozan felt that the crowd needed something to remember as they head back to […]

The exhibition game against Venezuela started slow with Team USA displaying cold shooting from the outside early. It went on to the second half and the result was a rather low scoring game for the Red, White, and Blue as they finished with only 80 points. The crowd was still sent to its feet a […]

The Phoenix Suns have now completed their coaching staff for the coming season. Head coach Earl Watson named  Jay Triano as associate head coach and Tyrone Corbin and Nate Bjorkgren as assistant coaches. Triano is the current national team coach of Canada and was the first ever Canadian-born head coach in NBA history when he was […]

Toronto Raptors guard Demar Derozan almost pulled off the dunk of the year on Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. Late in the fourth quarter, Derozan drove to the basket and surprisingly attempted a 360 dunk, while an opponent tried to block his shot at the rim. Derozan almost completed the dunk but was fouled in the process. Here […]

When DeMar DeRozan decided to re-sign for the Toronto Raptors on a lucrative new five-year deal, one of the first things he did was let his close friends and teammate Kyle Lowry know all about it. Two-time NBA All Star, Lowry was on a trip thousands of miles away from Toronto in Scotland, playing golf […]

Last Friday, we saw the new Team USA Men’s National Basketball team blow past Argentina with a 37-point beating, 111-74, in front of their home crowd in Las Vegas. Yes, even after winning by a very huge margin, head coach Mike Krzyzewski still had to nitpick on his team’s performance. As he told Steve Aschburner of NBA.com, there’s  “terminology […]

Various free agents were linked to the Los Angeles Lakers throughout the 2015-16 season. When it came down to it, no big names traveled to Tinseltown, including DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan was perhaps the most likely free agent to become a Laker. As a Los Angeles native, the Raptors‘ guard had a little more incentive to […]

The continuous improvement of Jonas Valanciunas’ game has meant that the Toronto Raptors center’s name has been uttered more regularly on live television over the last couple of years. On TNT’s NBA coverage, the ever entertaining, and sometimes annoying to others, Charles Barkley has found it a somewhat difficult challenge to pronounce the Lithuanian big man’s […]

Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder has made it clear that the Toronto Raptors are a team that they aren’t worried about playing. Well, Raptors small forward DeMarre Carroll has heard his comments, and has delivered his own response to them in a video by Sportsnet.ca. “It’s a comment from a person who hasn’t really been in […]

It’s been a long road toward gaining respect for the Toronto Raptors. After being sent home in the first round two straight seasons, the Raptors made it to the Eastern Conference finals last year before losing to the eventual champion Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s not enough to make Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder fear you. Via […]

Summer League isn’t just a time for players to try and prove their worth to NBA teams. Officials are in that position as well. Typically, during a summer league game, the three-man referee crew consists of one NBA official and then two other D-League refs. That may explain the way the end of the Timberwolves–Raptors […]

Last week, the Boston Celtics decided to renounce the rights of Jared Sullinger, who promptly came to an agreement to join the Toronto Raptors. According to Sullinger during his press conference on Thursday, it was an easy decision that was made easier after he spoke to his 2015-16 Celtics teammate, Amir Johnson. Sullinger told the […]