Raptors reserve forward Thaddeus Young has seen his role reduced in the early going this season, having been a DNP-CD for a couple games. Head coach Nick Nurse discussed how he saw the vet fitting into the club’s rotation, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (Twitter link).
“He’s gotta stay ready,” Nurse said. “I talked to him immediately after the Miami game and he [said], ‘Coach, I’m ready and I’ll always be ready’ and totally with what we’re doing, all that kind of stuff. I wouldn’t say that I planned on not using him [in] Miami that night, it’s just kinda how it turned out… We’re gonna need him, there’s just no doubt about it… It’s kinda a night-to-night thing.”
There’s more out of Toronto:
- Nurse said that Raptors forward Otto Porter Jr. will be unavailable “for a bit” due to undisclosed personal reasons, according to Lewenberg (Twitter link). Nurse suggested that the 6’8″ vet, who signed a two-year, $12.4MM contract with Toronto after winning a title with the Warriors last season, will be part of the team’s rotation once he makes his debut, Lewenberg adds (via Twitter).
- Raptors reserve big man Chris Boucher has been a helpful change-of-pace figure for the club as a key backup, writes Lewenberg for TSN.ca. “It’s important for me to bring energy and I think that’s a way to show that I’m ready to the coach and also to myself,” Boucher said. Toronto point guard Fred VanVleet likes the new dimension that his teammate brings to the court: “He just plays with a little bit more energy than the rest of us at times. Fresh legs and just being able to fly around, throw some corner-threes in, [grab] offensive rebounds. He just finds creases that a guy like him is skinny enough to slip through. He’s just a great presence for us out there.”
- In case you missed it, the Raptors were projected by Forbes as the NBA’s 11th-most valuable franchise, with an estimated worth of $3.1 billion.
Raptors should send Thad to a contender who needs a veteran presence, he really deserves to play.
Except that the Raps are a really good/fringe contender team, and Young wouldn’t play much more on a team considered to be a real title contender.
I think the idea that the Raptors are a contender this year is wishful thinking – but I also think Thad’s skillset is Draymond-like except he adds really top notch mentorship and tramwork. Thus he would be a good depth add for a team that is likely to go deep in the playoffs but has a lot of young players – maybe Memphis e.g.
Yeah sort of a strange statement. If he could play more minutes for a “contender”, he’d play more minutes for his current team.
That’s funny. I think they should trade him to use as salary matching for a useful player on the floor instead of just in the locker room.
If the raps trade for a “star” or even another rotation guard I would imagine that Thad and Khem would likely be the salary matching players and the raps would sprinkle some picks depending on how good a player in return is.
Waiting to see which team really falters and might become a seller…..KD’s nets look bad to start the season
Miami is looking to ” get Young”.