Toronto Raptors Articles - Page 81

The Toronto Raptors won their first NBA championship back in June. A month later, the core of their team was dismantled, as Kawhi Leonard decided to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers and Danny Green opted to join the Los Angeles Lakers. At Lakers media day on Friday, Green reflected on Leonard’s decision to link […]

The Toronto Raptors face a completely different challenge, fresh off their first championship celebration in 24 years of existence. Veteran players like Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka are currently in expiring contracts, with their future unknown as all of them are 30 years or older and bound for one last sizable contract before […]

Norman Powell of the Toronto Raptors admits that the departure of Kawhi Leonard left a big void in their team. However, he is still confident that their current crop of players have the capacity to defend the title. Speaking with Jeff Blair, Stephen Brunt, & Richard Deitsch of Prime Time Sports, Powell noted how people […]

The Toronto Raptors have engaged in preliminary talks with Pascal Siakam’s representatives for an extension, but there’s no indication a deal is imminent, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN. Siakam is eligible for a contract extension. If he doesn’t sign one before the upcoming season starts, he’ll enter restricted free agency next summer. The Raptors […]

Golden State Warriors big man Kevon Looney showed his mettle in last season’s NBA Finals when he carried on for his side despite a costal cartilage fracture in his rib cage. Looney looked back on what was a very memorable series for him, as he recounted how things transpired after he sustained the injury in […]

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri says trading DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs last summer in the blockbuster Kawhi Leonard trade was “devastating” for him. DeRozan spent the first nine years of his NBA career with the Raptors. The All-Star made it known many times he wanted to spend his entire career in Toronto. […]

Toronto Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri believes that a ‘plenty part’ of Kawhi Leonard wanted to stay in Toronto. Ujiri laid out the key factors that might have attracted Leonard to stay with the Raptors. Apart from winning, the medical staff and the fans played a key role. Per Michael Hoad of Yahoo […]

Toronto Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri is confident his team can win another title even without Kawhi Leonard. Ujiri, who orchestrated the risky trade for Leonard in the summer of 2018, was asked if the Raptors can still win it all without their best player. The former NBA Executive of the Year didn’t […]

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown can still vividly remember watching Kawhi Leonard’s rim-bouncing game-winner that ultimately ripped the hearts of his players as the Toronto Raptors moved on to win in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The moment is still crisp, as Leonard created separation on the right side of the floor and flung a […]

Yahoo Sports insider Chris Haynes — who was the first to break the news that Kawhi Leonard was signing with the Los Angeles Clippers — says Leonard was never going to re-sign with the Toronto Raptors. Haynes says going back home to Los Angeles was always the goal for Leonard, who signed a three-year deal […]

Klay Thompson was at the peak of his professional career at a time of need in the NBA Finals. The Golden State Warriors, who had the dire need to get Kevin Durant back against the Toronto Raptors, were clinging to every bit of hope — requiring Thompson to be at his very best, something he […]

During their six-year partnership with the Toronto Raptors, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan established one of the finest bromances in the NBA. From epic photobombs and cameos to humorous interviews, Toronto’s fun-loving tandem had plenty of chemistry both on and off the floor. However, that chemistry did not result in playoff glory. The Raptors were […]

Grammy-winning hip-hop artist Drake appears to be extremely serious about improving his acumen on the basketball court. As it turns out, it’s not all about talking smack from the sidelines for the Toronto Raptors brand ambassador, as he also seems to have a genuine desire to continue working on his own game. Recently, a video […]

The Toronto Raptors will enter a key stretch of their franchise core-building, as young Pascal Siakam, the NBA’s Most Improved Player last season, is due for an extension of his rookie contract. NBA executives are divided on whether the 25-year-old is deserving of a max extension or not, as some believe he’s worth the risk, […]

Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has told guard OG Anunoby several times that his tough 2018-19 season was out of his control. Anunoby played in 67 games during the regular season, but missed the entire 2019 playoffs as a result of undergoing an emergency appendectomy. Via Blake Murphy of The Athletic: “I’ve had several […]

Former Miami Heat star Chris Bosh says he’s “proud” of what he was able to accomplish in his NBA career. Bosh, who had to end his playing career prematurely due to blood clots, says his contributions with the Toronto Raptors and Heat will “live on forever.” “The story’s there. I was able to have big […]

Brittni Donaldson is now the NBA’s 10th female assistant coach after joining Nick Nurse and his Raptors staff for the upcoming season. The 26-year-old is already familiar with the team, serving as a data analyst for the last two seasons. Now, with a new promotion under her belt, she’s ready to take the next step […]

JJ Redick was in the middle of the mayhem when Kawhi Leonard knocked down the series-clinching buzzer-beater that propelled the Toronto Raptors over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of Eastern Conference Semifinals. Redick appeared on Zach Lowe’s podcast and vividly described what it was like to be in that moment and the aftermath that […]

Toronto Raptors center Marc Gasol has had one of the most successful 2019 for an NBA player. Next on the agenda, however, is a brand-spanking-new nickname: “Beer Papi.” The 34-year-old big man from Spain helped the Raptors win the franchise’s first NBA Finals in June, defeating the dynasty Golden State Warriors in six games. Despite […]

Marc Gasol has enjoyed a successful summer, to say the least. In June, the 34-year-old center won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors, besting the Golden State Warriors in 4-2 fashion. Then, over the last couple of weeks, Gasol took part in the FIBA World Cup, where he and the Spanish side earned the […]

Veteran center Marc Gasol is having a great 2019. So far, he’s won an NBA title with the Toronto Raptors, and just recently, he helped Spain to a gold medal finish in the FIBA World Cup. Fellow Spaniard Jose Calderon believes that Gasol’s success is a testament to his unselfishness and team-first mentality as a […]

Jamal Crawford is one of the more high-profile players left on the open market. Crawford, 39, is coming off his 19th NBA season and has played for eight teams (Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Phoenix Suns). With NBA training camp around […]

Toronto Raptors center Marc Gasol has had plenty of opportunities to hoist championship trophies as of late. After Gasol helped to lead the Raptors to their first NBA championship in franchise history, he started for a Spanish team that defeated Argentina to win the gold medal at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. In fact, Gasol […]

Marc Gasol has done just about everything on the international stage. After winning the 2019 FIBA World Cup gold medal, Gasol has multiple World Cup titles and a pair of Olympic silver medals as a member of Spain. The one thing he does not have is an Olympic gold medal. With the 2020 Olympics in […]

Safe to say that Marc Gasol has already had a tremendous 2019. After being traded from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Toronto Raptors in February, Gasol became a key cog of the first championship roster in Raptors history. On Sunday morning, Gasol compounded his success on the international stage, winning the FIBA World Cup final […]

Marc Gasol won his first NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors this past season. Consequently, the 34-year old center had the longest campaign of his 11-year NBA career. While Gasol could have used the summer to rest his aging body after grinding it out all the way through mid-June, the three-time All-Star still opted to […]

Marc Gasol has a chance to make it two-of-two tomorrow night if Spain manages to defeat Argentina and bag the 2019 FIBA World Cup championship. While the possibility “doubling up” on the championships is very much within reach, the Toronto Raptors center doesn’t seem to be too caught up with it. “I just cherish every […]

It’s been a wonderful summer for Canadian sports fans. The Toronto Raptors won their first NBA Championship in June and Bianca Andreescu became the first Canadian to win a tennis Grand Slam this September. Andreescu won the US Open by beating tennis legend Serena Williams in straight sets. The second set went down to the […]

Following Spain’s 95-88 victory against Australia in the semifinals of the FIBA World Cup, Toronto Raptors big man Marc Gasol is in a unique position to potentially hold the NBA title and the World Cup trophy simultaneously. When asked about this prospect, the 34-year-old veteran admitted that it is indeed a tremendous opportunity for him, […]

In August 2012, as Kawhi Leonard was coming off a promising yet nondescript rookie season in which he averaged 7.9 points per game, Gregg Popovich raised eyebrows by submitting that his team’s quiet, unassuming wing would eventually take up the mantle of Tim Duncan as “the face” of the San Antonio Spurs: “I think he’s […]

Chris Bosh’s departure from the Toronto Raptors didn’t exactly endear him to basketball fans north of the border. Nearly a decade after he spurned the Raptors to join Dwyane Wade and LeBron James with the Miami Heat, though, the 11-time All-Star’s relationship with his former team is clearly much, much improved. During a Monday appearance […]

Toronto Raptors team president Masai Ujiri is a supporter of the league’s recent initiative to strike a better balance when it comes to gender equality within the NBA. The NBA is a male-dominant league, but it does not mean that more women can’t be involved. This is exactly what Ujiri attested to when recently asked […]

When Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse considered and eventually accepted the head coaching job for the Canada men’s national basketball team, he was expecting to have a number of NBA players at his disposal in the FIBA World Cup. On the contrary though, he ended up with only two: Khem Birch of the Orlando Magic […]

The Toronto Raptors are coming off the best season in franchise history in 2018-19, after bringing a championship outside the United States for the first time in history. Of course, once the 2019 NBA Playoffs were finished, Raptors star and Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard vamoosed for Los Angeles to become a member of the Clippers […]

The 2018-19 NBA season was unquestionably the greatest year in the history of the Toronto Raptors franchise. What began with a controversial trade to send beloved franchise hero DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for mercurial superstar Kawhi Leonard ended in glory. Leonard embarked on one of the greatest postseason runs in […]

The entire country of Canada was on Cloud Nine when their beloved Toronto Raptors won their first NBA championship this past season. However, the Raptors’ success did not spill over into the 2019 FIBA World Cup as Team Canada had a very underwhelming run in the tournament. Canada did not field in its best potential […]

Orlando Magic big man Khem Birch is happy to play for Canada in the FIBA World Cup. After all, it’s not everyday that he gets to work under a champion coach like Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors. In an interview with Montreal Gazette’s Mike Ganter, Birch said he is lucky that some players withdrew […]

Barely more than a year removed from being promoted to head coach of the Toronto Raptors, Nick Nurse is already taking the lead in helping develop Canada’s national program. The championship-winning coach is currently roaming the sidelines for Team Canada at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, his first tournament as coach of our neighbors to […]

The Toronto Raptors are coming off their best season in franchise history, as they won their first NBA championship behind the strength of a magnificent playoff performance by Kawhi Leonard. Of course, Leonard is no longer around, as he signed with the Los Angeles Clippers this summer. So, the Raptors went from champions to playoff […]