Good Morning It’s Basketball - Raptors, working the rapture
Raptors, working the raptureToronto is apparently working the scenes for a Damian Lillard trade. At the end of an offseason in which something ought to give, why now?Good morning. Let’s basketball. Nocturne: Blue and Gold — Old Battersea Bridge; James McNeill Whistler; 1872-5 Marc Stein reporting on the Toronto Raptors’ apparently sincere interest in trading for Damian Lillard:
You may remember that earlier this summer, there was buzz around Pascal Siakam potentially being on the trade market after some weird team-related snubs and, obviously, Toronto’s deeply unsatisfying past four seasons. Yes, it’s been four full seasons since the Raptors stunningly won the 2019 NBA championship. In 2019-20, the title defense without Kawhi Leonard went well … until the bubble, where the No. 2 seed Raptors were knocked out in the second round by the upstart Celtics, who have since eclipsed Toronto as a perennial contender in the conference. That season Siakam was an All-Star and made second team All-NBA. But his jumper didn’t make the trip to Orlando, and he performed especially poorly on offense in the Boston series. The next season, Toronto had to play their home games in Tampa due to COVID-19 border restrictions. Nothing good can come from playing basketball in Tampa. The Raptors went 27-45. In a 72-game season, only two players — Stanley Johnson and Chris Boucher — played in at least 60 games. Siakam did not make All-Anything. Neither did co-star Fred VanVleet. The team did get notable South Floridian Scottie Barnes out of their journey to the Sunshine State. (Bring back the territorial draft?) Returning to Canada without franchise stalwart Kyle Lowry, the Raptors rebounded in 2021-22 to the effect of a 48-win campaign and the No. 5 seed. VanVleet was named an All-Star for the first time ever, Siakam made All-NBA again. And then they were blasted out in the first round by a cursed Sixers squad, destroyed by Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Siakam performed better this time around, but VanVleet was locked up (metaphorically) and Barnes looked like a rookie, as one does. It looked like it could be a moment for change. There were rumo(u)rs to that effect. And yet... Keep reading with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to Good Morning It's Basketball to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.A subscription gets you:
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There should be 2 NBA seasons every year
Monday, September 18, 2023
Time is a construct. We can manipulate it to increase the stakes of the regular season and get more playoff games.
World champions of what?
Monday, September 11, 2023
The United State men's team loses twice more to finish fourth in the World Cup. It's the same old story, and only Olympic loss next summer can lead to the necessary jolt.
How do you get people to watch NBA basketball? Put the Lakers or Warriors on
Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Some scientific evidence proving that the Lakers and Warriors are, in fact, popular.
All of Team USA's problems have been proven real
Monday, September 4, 2023
Plus: Ooh Canada.
Giannis Antetokounmpo's forever threat
Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Giannis makes clear he'll weigh the Bucks' future around him when deciding on an extension. Even if he signs, the pressure won't end there.
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