Opportunity Key For Rookies Powell, Wright
- DeMarre Carroll‘s injury has given Raptors 2015 second-round pick Norman Powell more of a chance at the NBA level that first-rounder Delon Wright has had, and Powell is playing a much different role in Toronto than he did early this season on assignment with the team’s D-League affiliate, notes Eric Koreen of Sportsnet. Still, Raptors D-League coach Jesse Mermuys sees Powell’s time with Raptors 905 reflected in his play of late. “All he saw was the rim, no matter how many bodies were there,” Mermuys said of Powell’s D-League performance. “We really wanted to try to develop when he got to the paint and got to the rim and there was a crowd, [that he would be] able to make the right play and the simple play, which he dramatically improved in his time. The more time he played and worked at it, it was a pretty rapid improvement, which was a huge sign for him. His ability to improve at that rate is why he is in the position he’s in now.”
DeMarre Carroll’s Return This Season In Doubt
5:40pm: The swingman says he will “ramp up'” his recovery from knee surgery and that he hopes to play in a couple games prior to the end of regular season, tweets Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
12:35pm: Carroll has recently sought second opinions and chatted with the doctor who performed his surgery, and he’ll escalate the intensity of his training if he receives assurance that his knee is OK, Grange writes. The way the knee responds in the next week to 10 days is crucial, as Grange details.
WEDNESDAY, 9:34am: Reports conflict over Carroll’s status, with Sportsnet’s Michael Grange hearing that he’s expected to resume on-court activity as soon as today amid optimism that he’ll be back in games before the end of the regular season (Twitter links). Wolstat insists pessimism still exists on that front (Twitter link). Coach Dwane Casey said Tuesday that he expects Carroll to return this season.
TUESDAY, 1:01pm: Every indication is that DeMarre Carroll has suffered some kind of setback that has cast serious doubt on his ability to return this season, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. The team’s prize offseason acquisition was reportedly likely to return by month’s end from the right knee surgery he had in early January, but Carroll’s status has been shrouded in mystery the past few weeks, as Wolstat details. Some around the league raised the possibility of Carroll missing the rest of the season when he had the surgery, as Wolstat reported then, but the Raptors were confident at that point that he would be back.
Carroll was driving to the basket against assistant coaches and shooting 3-pointers a few weeks ago as he awaited clearance for contact, but the team has been quiet about him since, and he’s been in Atlanta tending to personal business, Wolstat writes. Rookie Norman Powell has impressed in a fill-in role, but he’s far from Carroll’s equal, and Kyle Lowry‘s balky right elbow is clearly affecting his shot and has become a major concern, as Wolstat examines.
Toronto doesn’t have much roster flexibility with 15 players signed through season’s end. The team is devoid of other injuries aside from a minor hand issue for Terrence Ross, so a hardship exception for a 16th roster spot isn’t in play. The deadline for a disabled player exception has long since passed, and no one the team could add at the back end of its roster would realistically make up for the potential loss of Carroll anyway.
The Raptors signed the 3-and-D extraordinaire to a four-year, $58MM contract this past summer after he had a career year with the Hawks last season. Toronto has nonetheless done well without him, going 28-10 since he last played.
Latest On DeMarre Carroll
DeMarre Carroll may not return to action this season from right knee surgery, which underwent in early January, but Raptors coach Dwane Casey still maintains that no final decision has been made regarding the swingman, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca relays in a series of tweets. “I expect him [to return]; I’ve heard nothing else other than that,” Casey told reporters when asked if Carroll would play again this season. Kyle Lowry‘s balky right elbow is also a worry for Toronto, but Casey said the point guard’s injury merely involves a bursa sac and added that there’s no reason to shut him down for that sort of malady, Lewenberg writes. Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun noted previously that Lowry’s elbow issues were affecting his shot and the team was seriously concerned as the season winds down.
Should Raptors Bring Carroll Back This Year?
- DeMarre Carroll has not played since January and the Raptors should consider shutting him down for the rest of the season, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star argues. Smith believes the team has good chemistry at the moment and integrating Carroll into the rotation may keep the team from making a serious run in the playoffs. Carroll’s $13.6MM salary for the 2015/16 campaign, which is the first year of a four-year, $58MM deal, is the highest on the team.
Raptors Hope Bismack Biymobo Exercises Player Option for 2016/17
The Raptors are hoping that Bismack Biyombo will exercise his player option for 2016/17 and remain in Toronto for another season, Steve Simmons of The National Post writes. “I’m going to make it very hard for him,” said GM Masai Ujiri. “I’m going to try and do whatever I can to get it done. There are going to be other people who want this player. My job is to try and get it done.” The center noted that he was happy with the Raptors but added that he hasn’t made a decision regarding his option, Simmons relays. “To be here right now is amazing and it’s a blessing. To tell you the truth, I haven’t thought about [free agency],” said Biyombo. “I love Toronto. I love the fans. I love everything about it. But the focus for me right now is for us to go as far as we can. I don’t see why [I wouldn’t sign here]. But really, I haven’t thought about it.” Biyombo inked a two-year, $5.755MM contract with the team last summer and Toronto only holds his Non-Bird rights, which could make re-signing the 23-year-old difficult if he opts out of his pact.
Thompson, Biyombo Pickups Pay Dividends
Jason Thompson is proving a wise pickup for the Raptors, as his performance amid minor injuries to Jonas Valanciunas and Patrick Patterson shows, opines Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun. The addition, which forced the team to release Anthony Bennett to clear a roster spot, didn’t do Toronto any favors with Bennett’s agency, Excel Sports Management, according to Ganter, who nonetheless believes that having Thompson ready to contribute if needed is worth it. “For me, I just know being in the league eight years, I wanted to let them know I wasn’t coming into here trying to mess things up,” Thompson said. “Obviously this is a very successful team. It’s late in the season. We still have high goals going into the playoffs with a lot of confidence as well so it’s good to see. God forbid anything happens with injuries later down the line, but everyone is ready to go. Even [rookie] Delon [Wright], really played big minutes for us as well. Guys are always ready.”
- Bismack Biyombo is a fitting complement in many ways to a healthy Valanciunas, observes Chris O’Leary of the Toronto Star, who, like Ganter in the second half of his above-linked piece, contends the center has given the team value that far outstrips the two-year, $5.755MM contract he signed in the offseason. It would be a tight squeeze for the Raptors, who’d only have his Non-Bird rights, to re-sign him if he turns down his player option for next season, both scribes argue.
Faith In Dwane Casey Has Paid Off
- Coach Dwane Casey’s tough-minded approach has helped the Raptors become a serious challenger for the Eastern Conference title, according to Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders. Entering tonight, Toronto was 48-21, just a game behind the Cavaliers for the No. 1 seed. It was widely expected that Masai Ujiri would make a coaching change when he took over as GM in 2013, but he stuck with Casey and later retained free agent point guard Kyle Lowry and the pair have become the emotional leaders of the franchise.
Free Agent Scola Fits In With Raptors
- Veteran power forward Luis Scola, who signed with the Raptors in free agency over the offseason, has become a valuable contributor in Toronto, writes Holly MacKenzie of NBA.com. Scola raised some eyebrows around the league with a 17-point first quarter against the Celtics this week. “This is a team that we have a bunch of pieces and they all have their role,” Scola said.
Raptors Recall Bruno Caboclo
- The Raptors have recalled Bruno Caboclo from the team’s D-League affiliate, the Raptors 905, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
Atlantic Notes: Durant, Vaulet, Roberts
The Celtics, who are among many teams dreaming of signing Kevin Durant this summer, would have taken the Texas product first overall in the 2007 draft if the pingpong balls had bounced their way, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com. Instead, Portland landed the top pick and selected Ohio State center Greg Oden, with Durant falling to the Thunder at No. 2. “I was in the draft room, and they would have taken Durant,” said Austin Ainge, son of Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “I did have some inside information there.” Team co-owner Wyc Grousbeck has verified that claim, according to Forsberg.
Boston may be able to make its pitch to Durant more appealing by acquiring another high-level talent first. Forsberg suggested the Celtics may pursue Hawks free agent center/power forward Al Horford, who is also headed toward free agency and whom they reportedly targeted prior to last month’s trade deadline. Boston will have about $34MM in guaranteed salary for next season if it elects not to hang on to Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko. If the salary cap tops $90MM, as some estimates have suggested, the Celtics could have enough room for two elite free agents.
There’s more on the Atlantic Division:
- Durant, who will face the Celtics in Boston tonight for the first time since 2012, had plenty of good things to say about the city, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “I like the city a lot,” Durant told reporters this morning. “It’s cold, but they love sports here. It’s a family atmosphere I feel when I walk around the city, so yeah, I like it a lot.”
- The Nets are hoping they might have “the next Manu Ginobili” in second-round pick Juan Pablo Vaulet, according to NetsDaily. Playing in Argentina, Vaulet missed 19 games with an early-season stress fracture in his ankle, but he is starting to show why Brooklyn and other observers were so high on him during the draft. That includes new Nets GM Sean Marks, who was watching Vaulet closely when he was still with the Spurs’ front office.
- The Raptors‘ D-League affiliate has announced that Ronald Roberts Jr. will miss the rest of the season with a right knee injury, tweets Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor. Three NBA teams had considered signing Roberts to a 10-day contract before the injury, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (Twitter link).