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William Lou: "I want to be here for the rest of my career, I don't ever want to leave. I don't have any problems openly saying that. "That's out of my control. I have done my part on the court this year, and I hope things work out that way." RJ Barrett speaking from the heart about wanting to be a Raptor forever
Danny Cunningham: #Cavs take down the Raptors 114-102. Jarrett Allen picked a good time to have the best playoff game of his career. He had 22 points and 19 rebounds. Mitchell had 22, Harden had 18 and Cleveland's dominant 2nd half sends them to the 2nd round. Game 1 is in Detroit on Tuesday.
Marc J. Spears: Cavs deejay trolling Toronto by playing Kendrick Lamar. There were also USA chants during the game.
The Sixers’ Nick Nurse is widely believed to be under pressure too, meaning Sunday’s loss to Boston, which put them in a 3-1 hole, qualifies as a step in the wrong direction. The same can be said for Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson, whose Cavs did the James Harden deal in February with the expectation that they would return to title-contender status but who, after falling 93-89 to Toronto on Sunday, are now tied 2-2 with the Raptors. Game 5 is in Cleveland on Wednesday.
Fred VanVleet: “So, the free agency was weird because, like, I knew I didn’t really want to go back to Toronto. They didn’t really want me back, but it was like, again, I had the relationship. So it’s like they kind of wanted to make sure they put a respectable offer down, but they came with the bulls*** first. So when Houston came with the real deal, this don’t nobody know it yet, soon as they said the number, my mind was made up. I don’t even give a f*** what nobody talking about. So now I was like, ‘All right, cool. So this is — this is — you got to work our way into it.’ Now you had official meetings and s*** like that. So I think that’s what was reported was the deal, but that was like before it actually happened. So then when I met with Toronto, they came with another deal like at the last minute like, ‘Yo, we going to offer you whatever we going to offer you.’ I’m like, ‘All right, bet.’ You know what I’m saying? But even my meeting with them was like they knew — you know, everybody in the room knew like this s*** over with. But it was just almost like just a formality, like we just doing this because this what we supposed to do. And then after that, my mind was made up and s***. We agreed to sign with Houston. But I think I was like the first deal that summer, so people was waiting to see where I was going to go, like how the free agency work. I was holding everybody up. But s***, I couldn’t sign that s*** fast enough.”
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Fred VanVllet: “It was between Toronto and Indiana that summer. Indiana wanted me to play Orlando Summer League and Vegas Summer League, but I ain’t feel like doing that. So, Toronto said, ‘They got $50,000. You come to Summer League. If you get the 50, if you don’t make the team — if you make the team, we’ll get you a two-year deal.’ I’m like, ‘All right, bet. Boom. Let’s get it.’ And that was it. And I was in Toronto like the next day. Kyle Lowry and — Kyle was there. Cory Joseph and Delon Wright. That was the three. And so when I go to Summer League, Delon Wright tear his shoulder at Summer League. So boom, now I move up. Now I’m the third point guard. And s***, I just worked from there. I was in. That’s all I needed.”
The Knicks have a fresh injury concern right before the playoffs. OG Anunoby missed the entire second half of the Knicks’ 112-95 win over the Raptors on Friday night at Madison Square Garden with a left ankle injury. He seemingly suffered the injury when he tripped over Scottie Barnes’ foot, twisted the ankle and fell to the ground while running down the court after contesting Barnes’ shot in the beginning of the second quarter, though he wasn’t visibly in pain and stayed in for a few possessions.
Ira Winderman: Nikola Jovic (ankle) out for Heat for Tuesday at Toronto. Tyler Herro (foot), Norman Powell (return to conditioning), Andrew Wiggins (toe) all probable. All others available (except Terry Rozier, who is on NBA leave and will be waived later this week).
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With the salary cap situation the Raptors are in, March 15 was the first day they could add a player at the pro-rated minimum salary and stay under the luxury tax threshold, which was the impetus for Toronto trading Ochai Agbaji at the deadline in February. It doesn’t sound like the Raptors are in a rush to sign a player for the remainder of the season, but they are planning to use the roster spot and the flexibility they have to sign someone to a 10-day contract. Just looking at the calendar, if the Raptors add a 10-day signee on Wednesday before they play the Chicago Bulls, they could have him on their roster for a stretch of six games: their entire five-game west-coast road trip and their first game back in Toronto on March 27 against the New Orleans Pelicans. As for who? That’s a different question. The Raptors have seen some encouraging signs from Markelle Fultz with Raptors 905, but you get the sense they’d like to see him get closer to NBA game shape after a long lay-off before committing there. We’ll see.
