Posts Tagged ‘Raptors’

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Valanciunas Closer to Joining Raptors

May 29, 2012  ·  5:37PM





Jonas Valanciunas has started negotiations on the release agreement with his team in Lithuania, sources said, an important step in the 2011 lottery pick finally being able to join the Raptors.

While it has been expected all along that Valanciunas would be in the NBA in 2012-13 after a final season in his native country, news of talks with Lietuvos Rytas are a comforting development for Toronto fans who missed having their center of the future in 2011-12.

The release agreement is part of the process before Valanciunas can pay the $2.4-million buyout to the team in Lithuania and sign in Toronto. The Raptors are allowed to pay $550,000 of that.

There is no timetable for Valanciunas to join the Raptors and end the uncertainty that started last June, when NBA teams became concerned about the absence of a buyout in his contract, creating the possibility he would have to play in Europe for multiple seasons. That never happened. Toronto took him fifth overall in an investment for the future and quickly, and thankfully, saw Valanciunas sign a new deal in Lithuania that allowed him to get out of the deal in the 2012 offseason.

One non-Toronto executive called Valanciunas “a future franchise center” before the 2011 draft. While not every team shared the belief that he would be a star, there was a strong belief the 7-foot, 240-pounder would have a long and successful NBA career and that the Raptors made a sound choice despite the wait.

“I have no doubt that is the right pick or was the right pick for us,” Bryan Colangelo, the president and general manager, told NBA.com in March. “But it certainly wasn’t one that would gather instant gratification. There were other players on the board… that our fans and perhaps the media wanted us to take because they might come in and be an immediate-impact pick, if you will. But we made a long-term decision. We drafted a 19-year-old center prospect and despite the pressure of picking a so-called sexy pick or someone that might be a more-popular pick, we made the pick that we felt was the best decision, long term and short term, for the franchise because it fit right into this building process that we’re going through right now.”

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Posted in 2011 NBA Draft / Comments (33) /

Pacers Get Barbosa

March 15, 2012  ·  11:24AM






HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – The Indiana Pacers, looking to augment their reserves for the stretch run, will acquire veteran guard Leandro Barbosa from the Toronto Raptors for a second-round pick, according to a league source.

Barbosa, 29, is averaging 12.2 points per game this season in 42 games off the bench for the Raptors. He has been with Toronto the last two seasons after spending his first seven seasons with the Suns. The Pacers are $14 million under the cap and wanted to be a conduit for potential trades before today’s 3 p.m. trade deadline. Barbosa will play both a key role in Indiana’s guard rotation, which includes starters Darren Collison and Paul George.

The Associated Press also reports that the Pacers received veteran guard Anthony Carter in the deal, too.

Yahoo! Sports first reported the trade.

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Posted in 2012 Trade Deadline / Comments (96) /

DeRozan Puts History Behind Him

January 3, 2012  ·  11:08AM

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NEW YORK – There was no worse 3-point shooter in the league last season than DeMar DeRozan. Of the 200 players who attempted at least 50 threes, DeRozan shot them at, by far, the worst percentage. In fact, nobody in NBA history has shot threes worse than DeRozan did last season.

Lowest season 3-point percentage, minimum 50 attempts, NBA history

Player Season Team 3PM 3PA 3P%
DeMar DeRozan 2010-11 TOR 5 52 9.6%
Dennis Johnson 1986-87 BOS 7 62 11.3%
Michael Jordan 1987-88 CHI 7 53 13.2%
Dennis Johnson 1988-89 BOS 7 50 14.0%
Greg Anthony 1991-92 NYK 8 55 14.5%

But DeRozan put in his work in the extended postseason, and through five games, he’s already hit as many threes as he did last year. DeRozan hit both of his threes Monday night in New York, putting him at 5-for-8 on the season. And unless he misses his next 44 attempts, that 5-for-52 season will be a distant memory.

“I think last year, I wasn’t comfortable with it,” DeRozan said after his Raptors held off the Knicks for their second win of the season. “I was timid about shooting it. When I shoot it now, I shoot it with confidence, like I know it’s going in.”

That confidence is the result of a ton of work in Los Angeles this summer. DeRozan said that, five or six days a week in the offseason, he’d follow up his weight and skill work with a night session where he’d make 250 mid-range jumpers and 250 threes.

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Posted in NBA.com/Stats / Comment (1) /

Four Teams Pursuing Warriors’ Williams

December 13, 2011  ·  4:20PM

– For the latest updates check out: NBA.com’s Free Agent Tracker

The Bobcats, Raptors, Trail Blazers and Rockets are the four teams in hottest pursuit of unrestricted free agent swingman Reggie Williams, according to a league source. Williams became unrestricted over the weekend when his former team, the Warriors, rescinded its qualifying offer to him in order to clear room for a four-year, $43 million offer sheet Golden State made to Clippers center DeAndre Jordan. The Clippers matched the sheet on Jordan Monday.

The 25-year-old Williams is one of the better shooters still available in free agency. He made 42 percent of his three-pointers at Golden State last season, averaging 9.2 points, mainly off the bench, for the Warriors. The two-time NCAA scoring champ from VMI burst onto the NBA scene out of the Developmental League in 2010, averaging 15 points in 24 games for the Warriors after being called up. He worked out for the Bobcats in Charlotte on Sunday.

The Blazers are also interested in free agent guard Jamal Crawford, who is being pursued by the Pacers, Knicks and Timberwolves.

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Posted in Free Agency 2011, HT News / Comments (12) /

In the Name of the Father

May 20, 2011  ·  5:57PM

CHICAGO – He is a prospect and a legacy and a former Bullets ball boy and a son. Absolutely a son. That is especially true these days.

Nolan Smith is heading from Duke to the NBA, possibly as a first-round pick and definitely with his father’s memory close in ways the tattoo of Derek Smith on Nolan’s right arm does not do justice. The elder Smith was a national champion at Louisville in 1980 and a nine-year pro with the Warriors, Clippers, Kings, 76ers and Celtics. Later he was an assistant coach with the Bullets, a job he held at the time a massive heart attack took his life at age 34 in 1996.

And now Nolan is about a month away from the June 23 draft that will allow him to follow Derek into the NBA.

“Getting to that day will be an emotional day,” Nolan said at the pre-draft camp here. “It will feel like I did something that I started because of him.”

Finishing his Duke career advanced the feelings. Being here and going through drills in front of a crowd of executives and scouts, some of whom knew his father, brought the emotions even closer. Now, he will travel the country as the final step before the draft, and the thoughts will likely grow more prominent still.

His will be no ordinary draft night. Smith would have been one of the interesting names to track anyway – a name player from a name program, with his stock rising after a senior season largely spent moving from shooting guard to the point to replace an injured Kyrie Irving. The personal impact of the instant, though, will make it extraordinary.

“It’s going to be an incredible moment to spend with my family,” Nolan said. “Just to feel like I’ve reached the ultimate level and to definitely reflect back on everything that I’ve been through. My dad isn’t here to witness it. But I know that he’s looking down on me and it’s going to be a great moment.”

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Posted in 2011 NBA Draft / Comments (9) /

NBA Green Week’s King

April 4, 2011  ·  11:43AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – We’re not ashamed to admit that we are suckers for anything that produces bright-colored sneakers and apparel on the basketball court.

It’s one of the reasons we absolutely love All-Star Weekend, St. Patrick’s Day and especially NBA Green Week, when the green headbands, wristbands, knee and elbow sleeves and wicked kicks come out of the closet.

But NBA Green Week is about more than just making a fashion statement for teams like the Raptors (video above), Rockets, Trail Blazers, Nets and Mavericks, whose Guard The Planet initiative is one of our faves here at the hideout. And for Bernard King, the scoring machine and four-time All-Star during his 16-season NBA career, it’s about so much more.

King is the co-owner of BK&T Energy Solutions, a LEED accredited company that helps clients save money by reducing their energy consumption. For putting some serious substance with the style we’ve decided to crown BK as the King of NBA Green Week here at the hideout.

If there was a Mardi Gras style parade, which doesn’t sound like a bad idea, King would be on the biggest float. Because he’s not just talking about the environmental awareness movement, he is a part of the movement!

And now, a little throwback love for the King of NBA Green Week:

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Posted in Uncategorized / Comments (16) /

London Trip Does Wonders For Nets

March 15, 2011  ·  10:12AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – When Nets coach Avery Johnson was gushing about his team’s London excursion and how important it was for them to get that unique time away from their normal surroundings, it would have been easy to assume it was just a coach trying to say all the right things for the benefit of his audience.

But Johnson wasn’t just putting on a show for those of us media members in attendance. He was serious about the opportunity that historic trip to London — for two “home” games against the Toronto Raptors at 02 Arena, the first NBA regular-season games played on European soil — provided his new-look team. All-Star point guard Deron Williams was just days into his tenure with the Nets after coming over in a deal with the Jazz at the trade deadline.

Something clicked for the Nets over there, because they haven’t lost a game since that first win over the Raptors in London. They’ve rattled off five straight wins, including last night’s stunner over the Celtics in Newark.

There has even been mention of the playoffs (don’t laugh, the Nets have not been mathematically eliminated yet), chatter that would have seemed ridiculous weeks ago when the Nets were neck-deep in the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes.

Now they’ve won five straight for the first time since  January of 2008. Johnson was stoked to knock off the struggling Raptors in back-to-back games in London, the second a triple-overtime thriller that seemed like anything but a battle of teams with win totals in the teens. So you’d expect him to be fired up after guiding his team to a win over the mighty Celtics.

“The last couple of games, obviously, we beat two teams that were under .500 (Golden State and the L.A. Clippers),” Johnson told Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger. “But now you’ve got the team that’s basically the best team in the East coming in, and it’s exciting. I’m excited for our guys.”

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Posted in HT Without Borders / Comments (8) /

Let’s Do This Again!

March 5, 2011  ·  10:04PM

LONDON – You know you’re a hit when the coach whose team lost back-to-back regular season games walks out of the building touting how much his team learned from their experience.

What the Nets and Raptors did Saturday night, though, goes above and beyond what anyone expected, even from a celebrated guest like the NBA. Two teams with a combined 35 wins before the night started, played the craziest (in a good way) and best regular season game of this NBA season.

That they did on the back-end of a historic, back-t-back set — the first regular season games played on European soil — only made it that much sweeter for the sellout crowd that piled into the splendid 02 Arena on this magnificent cities’ eastern edge. And yes, that would be the same crowd that rose to its feet in unison and gave both teams a standing ovation before the final 12.6 seconds of the third and final overtime was played.

“Hats off to the NBA … because I think it’s a huge success,” exhausted Nets coach Avery Johnson said of the European experiment. “This is one of the best wins I’ve been a part of … If you look at this crowd, the last two nights, I didn’t see an empty seat in the building. They were into the game and we provided them to two thrilling nights of basketball.”

Indeed!

And fans from all over the continent found their way here for the weekend. I know this because I had the pleasure of shaking hands and taking pictures with many of them before, during and after both games. They came from all over. Sweden, Germany, Holland, France, Spain, Italy and Russia, just to name a few, were all represented. There were men, women and children. Fans of the teams specifically but mostly fans of the NBA game. They wanted to be a part of the experience.

Still, none of us expected to see the triple overtime thriller we all witnessed on this night.

“Hopefully, every time we come through London we’re the home team here,” said Nets power forward Kris Humphries, who showed off with 38 points and 35 rebounds in two games, much to the delight of the crowd. “It feels good. It’s been great here, a great experience. Thanks to all the people that made this happen.”

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Posted in HT Without Borders / Comments (12) /

Nets, Raptors Truly Going Global

March 4, 2011  ·  8:36AM

LONDON – New Jersey’s team? Sure.

But the Nets fancy themselves as so much more these days. They’re quickly becoming the world’s team in the NBA, having played preseason games in China this season, after conducting a basketball clinic in Russia, home of their billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov. Now they’re just hours away from making history as part of the first NBA regular season games to be played on soil outside of North America, tonight and Saturday here at London’s O2 Arena.

They’ve seen the Kremlin, the Great Wall and now Buckingham Palace all before St. Patrick’s Day, cementing the Nets as true citizens of the world.

“Hey, we’re a global team,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “And I don’t think it’s the last time [you'll see us do this]. But Prokhorov has added that dynamic to our franchise. It was great to go to Russia and spend some time with him. It was great to go to China and play two preseason games and give back to that community. And now here we are in London, pretty much with the same game plan. This is where we are right now and there is really nothing to complain about. [NBA Commissioner] David Stern had this vision a long time ago and now to see it happening is great for our fans, especially for our fans abroad.”

Their counterparts staring back at them in this historical contest?

The Toronto Raptors, who truly embody the spirit of the league’s Basketball Without Borders mantra, boasting six players on their roster that hail from foreign lands. Raptors coach Jay Triano participated in BWB Africa last summer in Dakar, Senegal.

“I’m not sure you could have picked two better teams to represent the league when you look at it from that standpoint,” said Raptors’ big man Solomon Alabi. A native of Nigeria, Alabi is one of three Raptors to participate in the Basketball Without Borders program before joining the league as players. Andrea Bargnani (Italy) and Alexis Ajinca (France) are the others.

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Posted in HT Without Borders / Comments (19) /

Raptors Expecting Diverse Turnout

March 3, 2011  ·  3:07PM

LONDON – The location doesn’t matter to Raptors point guard Jose Calderon.

London. Paris. Berlin. Barcelona. Athens.

Wherever NBA teams play, he said, the game’s true fans will follow. That’s why he’s expecting a raucous and robust crowd for Friday’s Nets-Raptors game here at the 02 Arena, the front end of a weekend doubleheader that wraps up Saturday with a rematch of Friday’s contest.

Calderon has heard from friends and family back home in Spain who have made plans to make the trek here to see not only him but also the first NBA regular season games played somewhere other than North America.

“It’s exciting for us because this is the first time the NBA has done this,” Calderon said. “This is close to my house. For the people who cannot afford to fly to the U.S. or to Toronto, this is as good as you can get. If you love NBA basketball better, there is nothing better. For these kind of games, wherever you put the game, it’s going to be packed. And it won’t just be people from London. I know a lot of people in Spain and I know there are people coming from there and people coming from Italy to support [Raptors big man] Andrea [Bargnani]. If you are a NBA fan and you can come to London, it’s a nice city and it’s great to visit and you have the games. So it’s an excuse to enjoy both.”

Calderon joked that this wasn’t even a distant dream of his as recently as two seasons ago. Like most everyone else, the idea of two teams making the trip from the U.S. here seemed like a logistical nightmare.

“I’m excited to be a part of this and to be doing something different,” Calderon said. “And I don’t think it matters what two teams you brought over here and where you had them play. If there are two teams from the NBA playing a game anywhere near you, people are going to be excited about it. That’s why we all want to go out there and put on a good show.”

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Posted in HT Without Borders / Comments (3) /

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