Bobby Manning welcomes Samson Folk from Raptors Republic to discuss Boston and Toronto's preseason series, Jayson Tatum after winning a championship and the Celtics' chance to repeat as they're less than one week from beginning their season.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Can you say hard hats, folks?
00:13Hard hats, munch pails, steel tool boots.
00:15Anything short of a championship this year is a fail.
00:17Look at this boomer right here.
00:19You've just got so much talent here.
00:21Somebody said we need to apologize for Jaylen.
00:23Can I call the John?
00:24What are we apologizing for?
00:25What did we say?
00:26What did we do?
00:27Hey, Bobby Manning here.
00:37Welcome to a Wednesday edition of the Garden Report, we'll call it.
00:41We're going to drop this tomorrow after the Raptors and Celtics play for the second time.
00:47So we're coming off the first game.
00:49Samson Folk is here.
00:50I talked to him over at Raptors Republic about this upcoming Toronto season, which I don't
00:57know.
01:00That's kind of how I'm feeling about it.
01:02After watching them the other night, they look a little different once the full squad's
01:06intact.
01:07They didn't play everybody.
01:08But the bigger problem, Samson, is that the Celtics played nobody and built a 30 point
01:12lead in this game and pretty much ran Scotty Barnes, Jaco Perdo, some of the other Raptors
01:19figures off the court there in Boston, moved to 4-0.
01:22What were your impressions of the Celtics?
01:24Even if it was the second unit, third unit Celtics.
01:28So I think there was, there was that piece that was written by Bleacher Report where
01:32they were kind of making an argument for why the Celtics wouldn't win.
01:35And they weren't saying that that's not going to happen, but they're saying if it, if they
01:40lost the championship, this is what it would look like.
01:43And it was harping on a lack of depth.
01:46And then you watch them shellac everybody with their depth.
01:49You watch Peyton Pritchard kind of come into his own as one of the better bench guards
01:53in the NBA.
01:54You look at, you know, Sam Houser, he didn't shoot well against, you know, the Raptors,
01:59but you watch him slide into the defense a little bit more confidently.
02:02His three point shot is obviously a huge weapon to have.
02:05They have a bunch of guys off the bench who maybe if things go right, it turns out well.
02:11The Celtics look great.
02:13And I obviously you can't take for granted anything that their starting lineup can do.
02:18They're the most, one of the most versatile defenses of the past however many years.
02:22They have a ton of fun offensive wrinkles from using Drew in the dunker spot to just
02:26some of their classic drive and kick stuff.
02:29They look awesome, man.
02:30The Celtics are impressive.
02:32And while I mean, personally, I would like a different team to win the championship this
02:36year.
02:37You know, it doesn't have to be the Raptors.
02:38I just like the parody.
02:40But the Celtics, they look like they've, they've quite rightly earned the favorites, I guess
02:45totem pole.
02:46Yeah.
02:47And I've thought about that question too.
02:50I got asked on the radio the other day.
02:52And when I'm going into this year, I'm like, all right, maybe the poor Zingis injury will
02:57be more disruptive than it was a year ago.
03:00He would miss spurts.
03:01The playoffs is a little different because Horford's able to play, you know, 30, 40 minutes
03:05a game to make up for his absence.
03:07So I'm like, all right, maybe that'll be a little more disruptive.
03:10Maybe there's that classic championship hangover.
03:13Guys are tired.
03:14Guys get hurt.
03:15Stuff like that.
03:16Come an awful long run.
03:17Some of the guys play in the Olympics.
03:18Maybe there'll be that fatigue.
03:20And then the only other thing I thought about was everybody was so dedicated to their roles
03:26a year ago, doing all the things they need to do within that role and not playing with
03:30the outside of it and trying to play more team basketball than individual basketball.
03:35Maybe they'll start to crumble just a little bit, whereas this team's not quite as dominant.
03:40And there's that depth question, too, that was there to some degree last year, but they
03:44answered it pretty convincingly.
03:46Pritchard was good last year, Hauser had a great year, Cornette, you know, even played
03:49some playoff minutes for them.
03:51So you just go through all those boxes and I'm always sitting there trying to say like,
03:55oh, could a different threat emerge?
03:57You know, could this go wrong?
03:58Could that go wrong?
03:59Because you don't want to get caught off guard if it does.
04:01But I did that all last year and they just never stopped rolling.
04:05Like they pretty much were the best team in the NBA a year ago, start to finish.
04:09And I know it's just preseason.
04:11I know it's just a glimpse, but all the things we're seeing from them through the preseason
04:15so far doesn't look any different.
04:17This looks like the same team and it pretty much is the same roster that raced to the
04:22finals a year ago, just picking the ball back up and doing what they did last year again.
04:26It wasn't even so much a race to the finals, it was like a leisurely stroll.
04:31They found their place there and their way there, you know, pretty easily.
04:35It is a very similar roster, but when you win the title with like that much resistance,
04:42which was not that much, and you have, you know, stars in Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum
04:47who have really found their own, Jalen Brown, I think really becoming much better as a scorer
04:53over time, becoming more versatile as a playmaker, Jason Tatum, while I think there's some playmaking
04:59limitations, his ability to rebound, to guard up, to fit like any role that's available
05:05to him is a very unique quality of a star.
05:07And then of course he's just going to sleepwalk to 30 points half the time while he's doing
05:12all that kind of stuff.
05:13And then obviously like Porzingis, Drew, Derek, like they have an unbelievable squad and yeah,
05:20it'd be tough to pick against them.
05:23Where you at on Tatum?
05:24You mentioned some playmaking limitations.
05:26I like the strides he made in that department last year, and I thought, you know, during
05:29the finals, he pretty much beat the Mavs passing as much as he did scoring, probably more than
05:34given the shooting struggles he went through in the playoffs.
05:37He played three games to start this preseason, 42% from three, or he may dip down to 40,
05:43but he's 40 plus so far this preseason, new form, and you go through all the things he
05:49did last year leading this team, and I actually feel like he came out of last year probably
05:55not as highly regarded as he should be given what he accomplished there.
05:58I know he went through a shooting lull and there's still some areas of his game that
06:02could improve.
06:03I actually feel like his defense could reach another level going into this year and be
06:07in that all defense conversation, but you know, you handle both sides of the ball like
06:11a guy like that has to, and you got to balance your effort at both ends, I guess.
06:15But where are you at in terms of where he's at in the league hierarchy going into this
06:18year?
06:19Yeah, I think if he had had a playoff series that he's used to having, a lot of people
06:27would be making the argument that he's a top five player in the NBA.
06:31He didn't have the best finals, and it doesn't really matter unless he really wanted the
06:35hardware.
06:36It doesn't really matter.
06:37The team won, and I still think it would be very hard to argue that Jalen Brown is the
06:45best player on the team to me, and it's okay if people want to argue that.
06:48I just wouldn't have much struck with it.
06:49I think he's the best player on the best team.
06:52If that puts him around like the NB level for people, if that puts him around the Giannis,
06:57Luca, SGA, Jokic level, whatever it ends up being, that's fine.
07:03He's probably a bit short of that for me, and he could have entered that conversation
07:06had he had like a tremendous finals.
07:08But I am, you know, I know you mentioned the playmaking, like the drive and kick stuff
07:12has always been a strength, but I do want to see like a little bit more playmaking to
07:15the basket from him, a little bit more patience in the lane to create like better looks at
07:21the basket to probe a little bit more, and some of that more, I guess, proactive playmaking
07:26rather than reactive.
07:27That would be a really big step that he's short of the next level guys at that, but
07:33of course he's better defensively than a lot of the next level guys too, so these things
07:36equal out.
07:37And yeah, shooting slumps come and go for him, but he puts so much pressure on the rim.
07:41He's able to get to the line.
07:43He just is always churning, always doing positive things on the floor, and if he does take that
07:47next step defensively, I mean, things can look really good for him.
07:50He's a unique star in that sense, but he's a star, like all out.
07:56He's tremendous.
07:57Yeah, he does everything, and that's the thing.
08:01Usually a player, even the best players in the league, Jokic, Giannis, they're not the
08:04best three-point shooters.
08:05I think Tatum has them in that department.
08:08The defense is at a higher caliber than a lot of these stars, especially the guards.
08:12So he has it all.
08:13It's like he's a master of none of them though, and he's one of the higher level scorers in
08:18the league, but I don't know, will we see him win a scoring title during his career?
08:21I guess things could change in Boston down the line where he has to do more of the scoring,
08:27and I think he's probably capable of that down the line, but he's in a unique position
08:31on this team because it's so good, and he has to balance doing everything himself with
08:36sharing the duties with Brown and trusting his shooters and all that.
08:41I guess the one thing I'm still caught up on a little bit, and I was in that debate
08:46of does this team shoot too many threes, is that a thing here?
08:52I think for him specifically, it's interesting because he's had a great three-point percentage
08:56through his career.
08:57I think he's like 37, 38, but now he's become this guy in this offense, and I understand
09:02it.
09:03They want to track pressure to him.
09:04They want to have double teams coming to him up at the top of the arc.
09:08They want to be able to pass out of that and change the dimensions of the floor a little
09:12bit, but man, he takes hard shots, takes a lot of threes.
09:17Sometimes I'm just like, can you make it a little more difficult for him?
09:19You mentioned probing in the lane a little bit.
09:21He's so strong.
09:22He looks like a power forward in the modern sense.
09:26He's just gotten so ripped, and you saw him in the finals just barreling through players,
09:33going to the free throw line, doing that over and over and over again.
09:36Sometimes you're like, I get the math.
09:38I get the way you want to change the floor with him being that pull-up shooter, that
09:42step-back shooter, taking all those tough shots on the perimeter, but sometimes it feels
09:46like you'd make the game a little bit easier by getting him some looks close to the basket.
09:50That's a balance I want to see them strike a little bit better for him this year because
09:54this game's where he really struggles.
09:56He's taking tough shots.
09:57He's missing them.
09:58He's three for nine, three for 10 to start the game, and you're like, oh man, this is
10:02weighing on him.
10:03He handled it well in the playoffs and still did all the other little things, but I think
10:08this year they'll have to find that balance of, all right, let's utilize Tatum's skill
10:12to help everybody else, but let's also make the game easier for him sometimes.
10:17It's a salient point, the one you're making, where Tatum, the best players in the world,
10:23typically, Jokic does this, and it's where if things aren't going correctly for the team,
10:29you're the antidote to a shooting slump in game.
10:34Like Jason Tatum, as you said, being able to bang around, looking like a power forward,
10:37he should be able to take a pinch post possession and a sweep through, step through to the basket
10:43for free throws, for 60% finishing.
10:46He should be able to do that all the time, and he should be able to go to that instead
10:51of step back jump shots, instead of hard pull-ups, instead of staying around the three-point
10:55line.
10:57The Celtics are a team with so many good shooters on it that you can allow, if it ebbs and flows
11:04with them, fine, but not everybody on the team is able to get to the places on the floor
11:09that Tatum is available to, and his ability to ratchet it up and ratchet it down is one
11:15of those game manager things that the best, best, best players of all time, which if Tatum
11:21turns it on in the back end of his career, his accolades will put him in Hall of Fame
11:25status and all that kind of stuff, is managing what your shot profile looks like, managing
11:31when you go to your shots.
11:33Some of this is like sports talk radio stuff, but there's definitely truth to it, is knowing
11:37when to insert yourself in the game, what that looks like, and when you can be the antidote
11:42to a shooting slump by going inside more often.
11:45Definitely.
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13:10So let's go back to the game a little bit here, Samson.
13:12The depth guys we saw, I'm bummed you didn't get to see Cornette, who I've been really
13:16excited about this preseason.
13:17He's been starting for them in these games while they rest Horford, and I guess Horford's
13:22supposed to play tonight as we record this, so it'll be interesting to see which one of
13:25those guys starts and which comes off the bench, because there's been a little bit of
13:28a rumble in that Cornette could start for this team, you know, give Horford some relief
13:33early on, maybe play double big off the bench with him and Tillman.
13:36Tillman's been great too, who didn't play in this game here, but you've mentioned Pritchard.
13:42The depth guys and the depth portion of this team, I feel like the biggest reason they
13:47won the East by 14 games last year are games like these, where Pritchard's in there and
13:51all of a sudden he goes from being a guy who's off-ball shooting and filling a role a little
13:57bit to being a guy who in this game, I think he had nine assists and zero turnovers.
14:03He's creating his own shot.
14:04He's creating shots for others.
14:06He's a great defender too.
14:07I feel like Scottie gave him a little bit of trouble in this game when he got switched
14:10on to him, but holds his own, played against Luca in the finals.
14:15I know you're high on him coming out of this game and just from what you've seen over him
14:18over the last year or so here, but it really is amazing.
14:20I mean, this is a guy who was pretty buried on this roster a couple of years ago and now
14:26no matter what level of a role you need him to rise to, it feels like he's capable of
14:31coming through every time.
14:32He's shooting 48% from three this preseason.
14:35Yeah, and even if you go back to last year as a pick and roll ball handler, Pritchard
14:39was 1.137 points per possession.
14:42So per synergy that categorizes him as excellent, 93rd percentile in the NBA.
14:48Amazing.
14:49Yeah, yeah.
14:50Incredible.
14:51Like, yeah, I didn't want it to happen, but Peyton Pritchard ended up being like a damn
14:55good guard, you know, and I think Raptors fans had those, like the Pritchard hopes were
15:01from Alki Flynn.
15:02It didn't shake out that way.
15:03I was just going to say that.
15:04Yeah.
15:05Was that the same draft too?
15:07I think so.
15:08Yeah.
15:09But Pritchard went what?
15:10A couple of picks earlier, I think.
15:11Yeah.
15:12Yeah.
15:13Right at the end of the first round there.
15:14But regardless, Pritchard, as you said, being an off-ball shooter, being a guy who relocates,
15:19being a guy who provides like ball pressure at the point of attack defensively, and a
15:23guy who's like pretty heady off ball, size matters a lot more off ball than it does on
15:28ball a lot of times, especially for point of attack defenders, but he does his best.
15:32But really the fact is that it's not just the off-ball shooting.
15:36It's the fact that like the pull-up has come around.
15:38It's the fact that he can work through progressions as a pick and roll ball handler.
15:41If the dig comes, the spray to the wing is right there.
15:44If the tag man gets too deep, the spray to the corner is right there.
15:47He can hit the pocket pass.
15:49He can stop in the middle of the lane and see where things are happening.
15:52He can pull up if they're playing kind of like daisy defense underneath.
15:57He's good, man.
15:58And like obviously he has to contend with Drew Holliday, Derek White, Jalen Brown.
16:04He's not going to find that starting lineup, but it's a hell of a thing to have that guy
16:08coming off the bench.
16:10He's been really, really impressive and he's been killing the Raptors for years.
16:16Like every time he plays the Raptors, something goes off.
16:19And so it wasn't particularly surprising that that happened when they played on Sunday.
16:23If it happens tonight, I'm not going to be surprised either.
16:27And I'll probably have to ask a question about that to Darko, like, hey, this keeps happening.
16:31Are you noticing anything in particular?
16:33But it's a fun thing to track and it's no matter if they play for your team or otherwise,
16:39there's nothing more fun and interesting in the NBA than when players get better.
16:43And Pritchard is just steadily, I know they say linear progression isn't a thing, but
16:47it seems like he's been on it.
16:49Yeah, and he signed an extension that pays him about six million for the next three years
16:54here.
16:55So Celtics have him locked up on one of the probably best value contracts in the NBA at
16:59this point.
17:00Another guy who they got at relatively low value here in Exhibit 10, surprisingly, Lonnie
17:06Walker goes off for 20 in that first game between Boston and Toronto here.
17:11Some questions about whether he'll make the roster, as I've said, I think a lot of it
17:15tax based.
17:16They're in a really bad tax spot right now where, you know, two million for Walker ends
17:21up becoming about 11 million in total with tax.
17:23So that might be where they have a little bit of pause.
17:26And he's been saying he's been willing to play in Maine a little bit to start the year.
17:30Maybe that allows him to buy some time and cut that salary down a little bit.
17:35I don't know what the whole situation is there, but in this game, showing off his shot creation,
17:41looking like a guy who should have an opportunity somewhere this year, whether it's Boston or
17:44elsewhere.
17:46I got to try to stress this.
17:48The other parts of his game that I think probably have to develop a little bit of defense, no
17:53rebounds here passing, you know, not the best creator in the world, but he can create his
17:58own shot.
17:59You saw that in Brooklyn a year ago.
18:01It's an intriguing debate right now, you know, among Celtics fans, whether you just try to
18:06fit him onto the roster because of how talented he is and still a relatively young guy early
18:12in his career.
18:14Or do you just say he's probably not going to play much anyway here.
18:18And so if he stays, he stays.
18:19If he goes, he goes.
18:21That's who is he competing with for like a 15th spot or who has to get cut in order for
18:28him to make the team?
18:29Do you do you reckon?
18:31I mean, they could keep him if they just want to foot the bill for it.
18:34They have a 15th roster spot open.
18:37Some people are talking about Jayden Springer.
18:39He came over at the deadline a year ago.
18:41Hit a couple of threes in that first game.
18:44His offensive game super underdeveloped, but he's a high, high ranked defender analytically
18:50early in his career.
18:51And I think he's 22, I want to say.
18:53So he's still so young.
18:55He's on an expiring deal, about four million.
18:57It's all guaranteed.
18:58So maybe you could move off that if you wanted to keep him here.
19:03Walker's not two way eligible, which which kind of hurts to in terms of trying to squeeze
19:07him in here.
19:09But again, that 15 spots open.
19:11So if you just want to pay 11 million just to have him on the roster, can you do much
19:16better at 15 than Lonnie Walker?
19:18I don't think so.
19:19I think they pay him then.
19:20I think they'll foot the bill.
19:22Boston pays for stuff.
19:24Big sports town.
19:25Don't make it work.
19:26I'm sure I'm sure it'll shake out.
19:27He's he's like there have been many seasons where I'm doing, you know, the offseason rigmarole
19:34of looking at, OK, who should the rappers look at signing?
19:37Who's a good like mid-level exception guy?
19:39Who's a good biannual exception guy?
19:41And in all these conversations, Lonnie Walker comes up.
19:45If you want to get him for the minimum, I mean, a lot of teams, I think, would take
19:48Lonnie Walker for the minimum.
19:50But Lonnie, obviously, there was mutual interest between he and the Celtics.
19:55And a lot of it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of guards in particular are interested
20:02in going to the Celtics to kind of recoup some of their value and be able to put themselves
20:07in a strong position because you you play in a really accurate what he's doing.
20:11Yeah.
20:12Yeah.
20:13You play in a really healthy defensive environment.
20:14It you can be a little bit more aggressive as far as ball pressure.
20:17You won't get burned as much.
20:19You can you can look better there.
20:20You're going to get a lot of open shots playing off of those guys, because, again, it's not
20:24just Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown that you're playing off of.
20:27But if you're playing that second unit with Peyton Pritchard as a pick and roll ball handler,
20:31he's going to create looks for you.
20:33There's going to be opportunities.
20:34You're going to be staggered with Derek White and Drew Holliday and those types of guys.
20:37So there's a lot of opportunity.
20:39And Lonnie Walker, if if the Celtics team is close to a dynasty, they've stayed together
20:44for so long to this point.
20:45If they just keep doing that, I think there'll be a lot of players like Lonnie Walker over
20:48the years who try and come in on that minimum and then hopefully bounce out of it with like
20:54twelve or fourteen million dollars the next year.
20:56Something like that.
20:57Yeah.
20:58And there's there's a good opportunity for him to do that this year, even if it requires
21:02spending a little time in Maine, which would be shocking to see, surprising to see.
21:06But he seems willing to do it.
21:08I talked to him, you know, a week ago, two weeks ago in Camp Star, and he said, if that's
21:12what it comes to, I'll do it.
21:13So Celtics Raptors happening tonight.
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22:17So Samson, as we said, we did a little collaboration over at Raptors Republic and I think you asked
22:24me something that effective.
22:25What do you think of the Raptors coming into this year?
22:27And I'm like, I was actually thinking about it a couple of weeks ago and I'm like, alright,
22:32they got they got quickly.
22:33They got Barrett, Purtle still there, Olenek.
22:37There's some talent here and the East is pretty bad.
22:40You know, they were in that mix for a while last year.
22:42They end up moving on from OG, Siakam, all these other guys.
22:46So that effectively takes you out of that playoff race.
22:49But now like the Nets have given up, the Pistons are still rebuilding.
22:54You got all these teams at the bottom.
22:56The Hawks took a step back moving to DeJounte Murray, I felt like.
22:59So who's to say they won't be in that playoff play or play in race rather their, you know,
23:0510 seed like feels like there's enough talent here to take it.
23:10And then you start to see how the pieces actually fit together.
23:13And I know it wasn't a complete look at the team in that preseason game there, but just
23:19a lot of mismatched parts.
23:20Some younger guys like Grady and Mogbo, who I like, you know, he was on my radar for the
23:25Celtics there.
23:26And I know Jacoby Walters hurt and some of these other guys dealing with injuries.
23:30Bruce Brown, you know, Barrett's hurt now, and he's still kind of in a flux in terms
23:36of what his role is going to be eventually in his career quickly here.
23:38Is he like the point guard for this team or is he just kind of an off ball scorer?
23:42So there's talent here, but it's a lot of mismatched parts.
23:45And, you know, the one thing I've learned covering this league for a little while now
23:50is like you look at a team with pieces and it's intriguing and you're like, oh, they
23:53could be good.
23:55But if there's mismatched parts and there's not really a vision, usually it ends up looking
24:00like that.
24:01And there's, you know, just a lot of inconsistency and who knows, maybe this team makes some
24:04more moves down the line here this year.
24:06So the more I see it, the more I start to think about it and actually hear them like
24:11Darko called us a rebuild pregame the other day.
24:14And I know Perto had those training camp comments about like, yeah, you know, we're probably
24:17not trying to win the championship this year.
24:21So I don't know.
24:22I've kind of gone down in terms of what I'm projecting from this team this year, and I've
24:26liked what's gone on up there in Toronto over the years, but it's clearly a transition period
24:30right now.
24:31Yeah.
24:32Anytime I've talked to Masai or Darko, they use the term rebuild.
24:37It's the players like Jakob said, the thing that most players won't say, but most players
24:43understand.
24:44Jakob was just candid about it.
24:46He was like, right, we're not we're not winning the championship like everybody knows.
24:51You don't have to play around with it, right?
24:53It's just honest.
24:54And obviously he got roasted a little bit, but I don't mind that at all.
24:58But however, the brass says rebuild the players like Scotty and Emmanuel and RJ.
25:03If you ask them, they don't agree.
25:06And that's good.
25:07You want the front office to be future thinking, to be planning out in steps, and you want
25:11the players to to care deeply and want to win every single night.
25:15That's an importance.
25:16That's the proper dynamic to have.
25:18And as far as like the fit, I mean, yeah, RJ offensively really found his fit.
25:24He averaged 22 points, six rebounds, four assists on 61% true shooting as a Raptor.
25:29He was cutting three times as much as a Raptor.
25:32He was passing on his drive significantly better.
25:34He shot the ball better, but he also shot like he ran out in transition.
25:38He shot 53% in the half court.
25:41He was really great.
25:42Now defensively, he's not he's not a strong player defensively.
25:46And Emmanuel quickly didn't have a strong start either.
25:48So they their backcourt is maybe a little bit in flux there.
25:52And as far as figuring out the offense, it's pretty egalitarian.
25:56They rely on the structure of it quite a bit.
25:58They run a lot of high low stuff.
26:00They run a lot of horns.
26:01They run a lot of elbow sets.
26:03And they run just straight up pick and roll with, you know, Scotty.
26:06But they shallow a lot of the double drag cuts.
26:08They're running very specific for balance with weak side exchanges to make sure like
26:13you have to be very specific about the spacing to maximize this.
26:17But Scotty was an 80th percentile pick and roll ball handle last year.
26:21They were figuring things out.
26:23But the defense sucked.
26:25So they sorted out a lot of what they wanted to do offensively.
26:29But the defense wasn't strong.
26:31And there's not much on the roster that indicates that that's going to be that much better to
26:35me.
26:37And as you say, they have good players.
26:40And not only that, the good players are here and they've been paid.
26:44Emmanuel Quigley is on 35 million a year.
26:46R.J. Barrett is around 26.
26:48Scotty Barnes, it's 11 this year, but it jumps up to a max contract the next year.
26:53Yaka Pirtle is on 20.
26:55Even Kelly Olenek is on like 13.
26:57Chris Boucher is on 11 or 10 and a half.
27:00This team is not like light on the budget.
27:03They've paid their guys.
27:04They are more talented than the bottom end of the Eastern Conference.
27:08I don't think they could escape the play-in competition if they wanted to, because you
27:14have to be better than them.
27:17And then even then, it's like you got to be worse than a lot of teams that are super interested
27:22in being bad.
27:24They'll be around.
27:25They're a good enough team to be around.
27:27Their starting lineup won a lot of minutes last season.
27:30They were a good starting lineup.
27:32Their bench looks like people worry about the Celtics bench.
27:35The Raptors bench is a bench to worry about, I think.
27:40They'll win some games, but jumping into like the top eight, I'd be very impressed.
27:46I think that's like an all-NBA turn for Scotty, plus maybe like close to an all-star turn
27:53for one of the other guys, right?
27:56I think that's contributions down the line.
27:58And I don't know if they're there right now.
28:01But as you said, like mismatched pieces, they'll have a year to see how much of it fits.
28:06The Raptors, they reserve the right to pivot at any time, and that's 100% what the front
28:11office has in mind.
28:12That they've paid the guys, they'll have an opportunity, but they can pivot.
28:16Yeah, and I think back to when we talk about Scotty, the game right before New Year's last
28:23year in Boston, he comes out, shoots a ton of threes, ended up shooting seven for 15
28:30from three, and took a step in that department last year.
28:33It was a 34 or so for the season, so nothing lights out from three there, but a real step
28:40above where he was the year before, which is a little step back in that area.
28:44And I think for him, a good place to be, the mid-30s there.
28:48And I love his game.
28:52I think he does a little bit of everything.
28:54The defense is obviously the rock there, and we'll see what he becomes offensively in his
28:59prime.
29:01But I do sometimes watch him on that end, as we talked about in our discussion, and
29:06just feel a little bit underwhelmed about him as a Hobman.
29:10You know, he can pass, he's long, he'll be around the rim just creating opportunities
29:16for himself and others.
29:18But there's always that thing with an inconsistent jump shot guy like him where maybe the defense
29:23is backing off him a little bit, or there's just that offensive creation for himself that
29:29has to reach another level for him to be one of the stars of the league.
29:34You mentioned the extension there.
29:35He's going to get that bump if he makes All-NBA, and I can't imagine a scenario.
29:40I know part of it's where he's at, but part of it's the talent in the league right now
29:46where he's really not close to that All-NBA caliber right now.
29:51And again, this is going to be his 23-year-old season, fourth year in the league.
29:57So I don't want to sit here and be down on him because there's still two or three years
30:02of real growth here.
30:03And this is finally his team where he's probably going to have the ball in his hands a ton,
30:07be able to make mistakes, be able to go through what Brown and Tatum went through about three,
30:12four years ago now.
30:14So I'm a little captivated by him because I feel like right now where we stand today,
30:20his game on the offensive end underwhelms me a little bit, but there is a lot to like
30:25here and there's a lot of opportunity ahead for him to grow on what he's already done.
30:29And last year was another step for him in a transition period for this team.
30:35I just wonder what it'll look like in your vision of what he'll become once he reaches
30:41that full form in three, four years from now.
30:44I wrote this big piece in his rookie year where I was saying, it seemed to me that Scotty
30:50is going to be a star, but he's going to be quite a unique one.
30:54RJ Barrett called him the most unselfish star he's ever played with.
30:57Maybe that's tinted somewhat by playing in New York and how like the Knicks played.
31:02Maybe that's, but that's also Scotty to my eye.
31:05And I've, I've tracked a lot of his career and, you know, that's a lot of my most popular work
31:10is those super big, deep dives on Scotty.
31:13And I've done them on other players as well.
31:15In my estimation, he's one of the best passers in the NBA.
31:19Um, I tracked something called advantage assists, which is
31:23assists where you deliver really high value, easy baskets to other people.
31:28So it's, it's like, imagine gifting somebody a layup because you
31:33drove the lane and you drew two to the ball.
31:36A layup is a lot more valuable than, uh, you know, point to wing pass for a three point attempt.
31:43Even if it doesn't look the same, one requires a lot more creation from the player.
31:47Scotty is like a big time advantage assist guy.
31:50He, he draws a lot of attention.
31:52He creates a lot of, um, gravity and he makes a lot of great passes to his teammates.
31:57Now the all NBA stuff.
31:59I mean, you just have to be on a good team to make all NBA.
32:02The Raptors don't look like they're going to be a great team.
32:04Um, Scotty, as you mentioned, sometimes he can underwhelm offensively.
32:08Uh, you watched the game the other night.
32:11He was a passenger for it.
32:12He didn't, I know you didn't even notice him out there at the start.
32:16Yeah, it was his, it was his second game in seven months since he broke his hand.
32:20He's clearly it's the preseason.
32:21I mean, the Blazers waxed the Kings the other night, right?
32:24There's this kind of stuff happens.
32:27I expect him to be very good this season and probably as far as like impact performance.
32:33However good the Raptors are.
32:35I expect Scotty to put himself in for his part.
32:40Third team, all NBA conversations maybe, but the Raptors won't be good enough for it.
32:45I think he can be that type of player.
32:47Uh, if not this year, then the next, um, good enough to justify anything.
32:52He's being paid good enough to justify being one or two of the best players
32:56on a really good team.
32:57The team building just has to catch up around them and we'll see how that shakes out.
33:01But there's lots of stuff.
33:02As you say, you're captivated by them.
33:04There's lots of stuff to like about Scotty.
33:07Way too quickly and Barrett fit in next time then, and who knows?
33:11It's going to be a long window to this team becoming what it's eventually going to be.
33:16So who knows if those guys are even part of that?
33:18It's just for now, a return on OG and a pretty good one at that, especially with RJ
33:23expanding his game like he did last year.
33:25And, uh, quickly, I think is, you know, a guy I like who with more opportunity,
33:31I think can flash.
33:32And the best part about him is he'll be able to most comfortably of all these three guys
33:36we talked about here, play off the ball, create out of, you know, secondary role.
33:40Maybe even a bench role eventually again.
33:42But right now, uh, probably going to be a starter for this team.
33:46How did those two guys fit in next to Barnes in the, in the short and long term, you think?
33:52Yeah, I think actually probably I consider RJ maybe a bit better player than Emmanuel right
33:58now, as crazy as that might sound.
34:00I think that is my, how I feel currently, but Emmanuel is just such an easy fit.
34:06Like he did a, he did a pretty good job of expanding his, his playmaking.
34:10Once he got to Toronto, he got a lot more possessions to work around with, to try things
34:14out as a lead guard and the assists popped up, but the assist percentage was still an
34:21assist to user stuff.
34:22Didn't go crazy.
34:23Um, he did struggle in the middle of the floor, but he shot the three ball.
34:27Well, because he always shoots the three ball.
34:29Well, he is very capable as a mover off the ball.
34:33If the Raptors want to run actions with Scotty on ball, IQ has always been a strong mover.
34:40Unfortunately, so far, the two man actions between IQ and Scotty haven't worked well
34:46because IQ isn't a strong enough screener to create anything interesting.
34:50And Scotty didn't score on the switches that they generated very well.
34:53And then also Scotty isn't super invested in being a screener for Emmanuel.
34:58Like Emmanuel has in Yaka Pertle, who's able to clear space, make it easy for him to work.
35:02They have to work on their two man game, but the idea of their skill sets mesh very well.
35:07In fact, there's a behind the scenes phone call of when they made the trade of Messiah
35:12raving about the fit between IQ and Scotty.
35:15So I think they, they believe in that.
35:17That's something there.
35:18I mean, they paid both of them and they unveiled them both at the same press conference.
35:22They seem close.
35:23They've they've vacationed together for basketball, that kind of stuff.
35:26And RJ offensively.
35:29He's been really no frills.
35:31He did the 22, six and four on 61% true shooting
35:35with the same amount of touches per game as Kelly Olenek.
35:38He really was no frills.
35:40It was like really limiting how many dribbles he used, being more direct in how he drives,
35:45being more decisive in how he's deciding between the drive and the shot,
35:50making better reads on the ball for a pass or a play to the rim.
35:54That kind of stuff was great.
35:55The tough thing is like Scotty is best as a kind of a power forward,
35:59backline defender, a sweeper role, if you will, on defense.
36:04And RJ is a guy who doesn't really have a role defensively.
36:07So the Raptors are a little bit without a wing defender right now.
36:10And I mean, you watch the Celtics, you know how important that role is.
36:14It's a super big deal for good teams.
36:16So they're in a really strange spot.
36:19And those guys will be given an opportunity to see how much they can make stick and how
36:25much they make stick depends or is what determines, you know,
36:28how much of them stay and what the team looks like in the future.
36:32So anyone we haven't mentioned on this roster so far this year that you feel
36:36I could surprise, stand out, take a step.
36:40Brady is going to shoot a lot of threes this year, I think.
36:43And he did.
36:44He did in that game.
36:45Yeah, he looked really bad defensively.
36:48They just changed his closeout method.
36:52Like the sprint and jump stop method is what they teach now at the higher levels of basketball.
36:59And I think it's the better way to close out.
37:01But they were teaching him like the stutter step, chop step closeout last season.
37:06So they're changing things on the fly for him.
37:08And he really struggled in particular against Boston at the sprint stop closeout.
37:12He got lost in the corner like four times overshooting his closeouts.
37:16And he got beat in isolation.
37:17So things don't look positive for defense yet.
37:20He has to put on more weight, get stronger, not be as much of a turnstile.
37:25But he's going to shoot the ball.
37:26And I'm excited to watch him shoot the ball.
37:28It should be good.
37:30Yeah, it's definitely a different Raptors team than we remember watching over the last
37:35handful of years here.
37:36And when we started the show, it was that bubble year.
37:40These two teams going at it.
37:42And what a series, man.
37:45It was a great series.
37:46And we had a lot of Raptors fans in the chat.
37:49And we were going back and forth.
37:50It was a fun time.
37:51So part of me is a little bummed that Raptors might be fading for a few years here and going
37:57into that rebuild period.
37:58But there's some good pieces here.
38:00And you got that centerpiece in Scottie, who will hopefully pan out here.
38:04And if that works out, they'll probably be back faster than we think.
38:07So everybody can check out all your work over at Raptors Republic.
38:10Ray, anything else you want to shout out?
38:13No, that's it.
38:14Just thanks for having me on, Bobby.
38:16Yeah, great to finally have you on.
38:18And as I said earlier, we did a bit of a collaborative piece talking about a little
38:22Celtics.
38:23Mostly Raptors over there.
38:24Raptors Republic to go check that out.
38:26Go show our sponsors some love.
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38:40We will be back with more coverage of practice later this week.
38:43Thursday and Friday, I believe, they're going to be at it again after this Toronto game.
38:48To wrap up the preseason.
38:49And then opening night, Tuesday, Celtics-Knicks at TD Garden.
38:53They're going to raise the banner, hand out the rings, do that whole thing.
38:56Thanks, Samson.
38:57Hopefully we'll talk to you later this year.
39:00See ya.
39:09Wait, Ahmed's got an outro for us, I think.
39:11No, he doesn't.
39:12You said he was going to work on an outro.
39:15He had a phenomenal game.
39:17Phenomenal game.
39:18I'm 4 for dough, and I think it's an odd one.
39:25That did not sound like a chair.
39:27It was a freaking chair.
39:28It does sound like a chair.
39:40Wait, Ahmed's got an outro for us, I think.
39:42No, he doesn't.
39:43You said he was going to work on an outro.
39:45He had a phenomenal game.
39:48Phenomenal game.
39:50I'm 4 for dough, and I think it's an odd one.
39:56That did not sound like a chair.
39:58It was a freaking chair.
40:00It does sound like a chair.