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Let’s hear it one last time for the Raptors in 2021. On Friday night, Toronto will play its final game of the calendar year and, for many reasons, it’s easy to say good riddance.

Looking back on the first half of the year, it’s hard not to get away from the word isolation. Uprooted to Tampa, away from the fans, and the fans themselves having to spend much of the year in isolation and physically distance themselves from near and dear ones. The team on the court seemed isolated from its true identity, and when covid broke out, it spelled doom for the rest of the season. Misery loves company, but there was hardly any company to be found except virtually.

There was a light at the end of the tunnel, though, and Scottie Barnes’ smile makes it as bright as could be. In October, finally, the Raptors had the company of its incredible fans and a sliver of normalcy crept back into our lives. Fred VanVleet is putting up all-star numbers, OG Anunoby has leveled up, and Pascal Siakam is looking like the player he was before the world turned upside down. It all bodes well for 2022 and beyond, but before looking ahead, here’s a look back on the best of 2021:

Feb. 2: VanVleet was somehow even more unconscious than he was against the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals or Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. Mr. Bet on Yourself dropped a career-high and franchise-record 54 points on 17-of-23 shooting including 11-of-14 from beyond the arc and a perfect 9-of-9 at the free-throw line in a 123-108 win over the Orlando Magic. The 54 points are the most ever by an undrafted player, surpassing Moses Malone’s 53, and he also passed DeMar DeRozan’s 52 against Milwaukee for the franchise mark. Very quietly, Kyle Lowry had a triple-double.

“Y’all know how I feel about him,” Lowry said. “That’s my little brother, man, and I’m proud of him. I seen DeMar sent out the tweet saying I was too old to get it, and I am. But my two guys, DeMar and Freddy, have the records, and even Terrence is in there, and I was able to witness all three of those 50-point games. They all are special to me. Tonight is really special because it came from a kid who was undrafted, worked his way to an NBA player, and an NBA starter, and possibly this year an All-Star and possibly an All-Defensive Player. That’s what makes it really special.”

March 17: A week before Norman Powell’s time with the Raptors came to an end with a trade to Portland for Gary Trent Jr., he scored a career-high 43 points on 14-of-18 shooting including 8-of-12 from deep in a 116-112 loss to the Detroit Pistons. Powell had a special seven-game stretch in which he averaged 30.3 points per game and the Raptors needed every single one of those points as it came while both VanVleet and Siakam were absent due to covid.

March 24: This was an historic moment for the Raptors and NBA basketball as it marked the first-ever all-women’s broadcast as Meghan McPeak called the play-by-play, Kia Nurse provided colour commentary, Kayla Grey took care of sideline duties while Kate Beirness and Amy Audibert provided pre-game and halftime analysis.

Oh, and there was drama for the game, too, as many expected it to be Lowry’s final appearance as a Raptor with this contest against the Denver Nuggets being the final one before the trade deadline. Toronto won 135-111 courtesy of a shooting clinic, hitting 50.6 percent from the field, 50 percent from the three-point line, and 91 percent on free-throws. When Lowry waved goodbye to the camera as he headed down the tunnel and into the locker room after the game, it was arguably the most heart-wrenching moment of the season not knowing if he would suit up in a Raptors uniform again.

April 2: In a rematch of the 2019 NBA Finals, the Raptors destroyed the Golden State Warriors 130-77 in one of the few start-to-finish feel-good games of the season. Sure, there was no Steph Curry, Draymond Green, or Klay Thompson but when you had the season the Raptors did, you take them any way you can get them. Siakam had a stellar night, finishing with 36 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

April 8: Chris Boucher went off against the Chicago Bulls to the tune of a career-high 38 points and 19 rebounds. In typical Tampa season fashion, it also came in a loss, but it was memorable for other reasons too. The day marked Malachi Flynn’s first NBA start (he finished with nine points and eight assists) while Freddie Gillespie also signed his 10-day contract that day.

April 10: Just a couple days later, newcomer Trent Jr. had one of the most amazing shooting nights you’ll ever see, scoring a career-high 44 points while missing only two of 19 shot attempts from the field! Flynn also had a memorable night with 20 points and 11 assists in a 135-115 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers without Lowry, Siakam, or VanVleet.

April 19: After first receiving a training camp deal, then earning a two-way contract, Yuta Watanabe signed a standard NBA contract on this day. It was the full circle of a story built on dedication, hard work, and sacrifice. Watanabe has since become a fan favourite and looks exactly the type of player who can thrive under Nick Nurse.

"My mom was almost crying, and I told my mom this is just the beginning,” Watanabe said. “We were really happy and they say they are really proud of me.”

April 23: This was a day of rookie initiation at its finest. As practice came to an end, Kyle Lowry gathered everyone together so they could watch Flynn and Gillespie show off their singing chops to Miley Cyrus’ ‘Party in the USA.’ Gillespie took it a step further, busting out several dance moves as he got more and more into it and was egged on by his teammates.

May 2: Lowry’s final game for the Raptors was a special one. Going up against a LA Lakers team with title aspirations, Lowry showed them what they were missing in not trying hard enough to trade for him by racking up 37 points and 11 dimes in a 121-114 win. Siakam was special, too, with 39 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks, and it was cool to see the damage that dynamic duo could do at their best, one last time.

July 29: The Raptors select Scottie Barnes, Dalano Banton, and David Johnson in the 2021 NBA Draft. The fan reaction was overdramatic to say the least because of all the speculation surrounding Jalen Suggs but it’s safe to say now all concerns have been alleviated with Barnes looking like someone who could be one of the best players in the league one day. You know the vibes.

Aug. 5: After a couple years of wondering if it would happen, Masai Ujiri showed why he always spoke like it was a matter of when. Him re-signing as not only President but Vice-Chairman of the Raptors was a sigh of relief for fans and puts the team on solid ground as they look to build the next champion roster.

“We are going to develop players and we are going to build on that,” Ujiri said. “I’m saying it again that we are going to continue to develop these players and we are going to find a way to win a championship here based on the development of our players. Whatever comes from that, sometimes trades, sometimes you acquire through free agency, we are just not going to cry that players are not coming here. That’s not what we’re about.”

Sept. 27: Media Day was the moment it felt real the Raptors were returning. It was also the first time Siakam interacted with the local media since undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He was light-hearted, joking, but also concise on his goals for the season and not only re-establishing the Raptors as a winner, but leading from the front as well. The effects of a clear mind are showing big rewards on the court already.

Oct. 20: 600 days after the previous game in Toronto, the Raptors witnessed a special, emotional scene at Scotiabank arena as the fans provided an outpouring of love before tip-off. It had been too long, and the moments before the game as the players were introduced — especially local Rexdale boy Banton — were pure goosebumps. Here’s hoping Jurassic Park returns in April, too.

turning-the-page-on-2021

Turning the page on 2021

NBA players have been going into health and safety protocols by the minute, so D.J. Wilson knew this was as important a time as any to make an impression.

In Las Vegas to play in the G League Winter Showcase event a week ago, he led the OKC Blue to the final including performances of 31 points and 15 rebounds to reach the semifinals and then 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks to advance from there. All the while, Wilson isolated as much as he could because he also knew that a positive covid test would rob him of any hopes he had of an opportunity.

Wilson is a student of the game of basketball, so it was easy to pass the time. When he isn’t playing and trying as hard as he can to get another crack at the biggest opportunity in the sport, he’s watching NBA League Pass 24/7. He can do that in a room by himself no problem. He knows the makeup of the rosters, their preferred playing styles, and how he might potentially fit in one day. The construct of those teams was certainly changing dramatically over the past week, and the Raptors — down seven players to protocol as of Dec. 21 — gave him a call before the Showcase final on the 22nd to add him via a 10-day hardship exception deal.

There’s the obvious joy of cracking an NBA roster again, but that was countered with the disappointment of flying to Chicago for a game that was postponed when OG Anunoby became the eighth Raptors player in protocols. After flying to Los Angeles to spend Christmas Eve with family, Wilson was back on a flight to Cleveland on Christmas day, hopeful of getting a chance to show what he can do with Toronto’s roster on the brink with 10 players in protocols.

“I think it’s just a matter of trusting the work that I’ve put in up until this point knowing that I’m an NBA player,” Wilson said of making the most of a limited opportunity. “I can play at this level and showcasing that, not getting too ahead of myself, just going out there with confidence to do stuff, hopefully that translates.”

After 150 games at the NBA level including both regular season and playoffs, Wilson speaks with the firm belief that he belongs. In the here and now, though, how could he show he belongs with the Raptors?

For starters, he collected four steals in the first half against the Cavaliers with excellent activity and use of his length and quickness. Then, with roughly three minutes to go in the second quarter, Wilson snagged a defensive rebound off a rare miss from deep by Kevin Love. He brought the ball up with pace as he eagerly surveyed the floor, then threw a bounce pass from the left side of the floor to a cutting Yuta Watanabe for what would have been a breathtaking pass for a 6-foot-10 player. It resulted in a turnover, but that play alongside the early defensive plays he made represented all that the Raptors have been about this season: length and versatility working in unison. Wilson finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals to prove the biggest bright spot among the new faces.

“I thought Wilson played really solidly, he was solid, worked hard, took only shots that were kinda there for him,” head coach Nick Nurse said after the game. “I thought he rebounded the ball well and seemed to be in the right place, [he] fought out there.”

Not bad for someone who met his teammates for the night on the bus ride to the arena and had a walkthrough with his head coach 75 minutes before tip-off. Normally, the team would discuss opponent strategy and tendencies, but instead, Nurse went over no more than three or four of the Raptors’ own offensive sets to create some sort of familiarity amongst a group of players who had never played together before. Then, after going over a few defensive concepts, he stressed that the most important thing on the night was to go out there and play as hard as possible while enjoying the moment. Wilson certainly did.

With a flight back to Toronto Sunday night and no practice Monday, Wilson along with Tremont Waters, Daniel Oturu and Juwan Morgan only have the momentum of the last game to carry into the one against Philadelphia on Tuesday. Will they even be able to play? That’s the level of uncertainty that has now gripped the NBA. The final 60 seconds of a close NBA game can feel like the entire 48 minutes, but the next 24 hours will be an even more arduous wait.

In the meantime, it’ll be more League Pass and isolation, staying ready for another day in the NBA.

d-j-wilson-student-of-the-game

D.J. Wilson: Student of the game

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they have signed forwards Juwan Morgan and D.J. Wilson, and guard Tremont Waters to 10-day contracts. All three join the Raptors from the NBA G League via the COVID hardship exception. Per team policy, financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Morgan, 6-foot-7, 232 pounds, is averaging 12.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 29.3 minutes in 13 games with the Maine Celtics. Morgan has scored in double figures 10 times and posted his lone double-double with 18 points and a season-high 10 rebounds Nov. 7 at College Park.

A native of Waynesville, Missouri, Morgan has appeared in 50 career games with Utah (2019-21), averaging 1.4 points, 1.1 rebounds and 5.6 minutes. He signed with the Jazz as an undrafted free agent following four collegiate seasons at Indiana (2015-19).

Wilson, 6-foot-10, 231 pounds, has played in 14 games with the Oklahoma City Blue. He is averaging 14.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 26.1 minutes. Wilson is shooting .494 (79-160) from the field and has recorded five double-doubles. He scored career-high 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds Dec. 19 vs. Rio Grande Valley.

A native of Mount Shasta, California, Wilson holds career averages of 4.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 12.3 minutes in 142 games during four seasons (2017-21) with Milwaukee and Houston. Wilson was picked 17th&nbsp;overall by the Bucks in the 2017 NBA Draft after three years at Michigan (2014-17).

Waters, 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, is averaging 17.5 points, 6.2 assists, 2.7 steals and 31.9 minutes in 13 contests with the Wisconsin Herd. He has scored 20+ points four times, including a season-high 31 points Dec. 3 at Grand Rapids, and owns three double-doubles.&nbsp;

A native of New Haven, Connecticut, Waters was picked 51st&nbsp;overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by Boston. He averaged 3.8 points, 2.1 assists and 9.6 minutes in 37 career contests with the Celtics (2019-21). Waters played collegiately for two seasons at LSU (2017-19).

raptors-sign-morgan-waters-and-wilson-to-10-day-contracts

RAPTORS SIGN MORGAN, WATERS AND WILSON TO 10-DAY CONTRACTS

His hair was longer, his strides were certainly shorter. The NBA is hardly forgiving when it comes to reminding what game shape and game speed at the highest level means, but the sight of No. 3 for the Raptors moving as best he could from one end of the Scotiabank Arena court to the other for 28 minutes was a sight for sore eyes.

In the middle of the second quarter against Golden State Saturday night, Anunoby received the ball on the left elbow with the Warriors playing a zone defence. He had a mismatch against the smaller Chris Chiozza and swiftly proceeded to back him down into the middle of the paint before spinning away from the basket for a turnaround fadeaway. It was his first made basket in four attempts.

On the very next offensive possession, Anunoby received the ball matched up against Damion Lee above the break. He attacked with a strong right dribble, leaned into Lee as he came back left and knocked him into the camera crew. Anunoby finished with the left but it mattered little as he was called for the offensive foul.

This was much the pattern for Anunoby in his first game back for the Raptors in over a month: some ups, some downs, but the significance of the ebbs and flows was miniscule relative to the headline: time back on an NBA court. This was the perfect night for him, too, where he could work away at the wrinkles with little worry of the consequences. The Warriors have held the best record in the league for the majority of the season but they were far from that version with Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole all absent.

“It gets boring sitting around, but I knew I had to be patient,” Anunoby said of his time off. “Our staff told me I had to be patient so I just listened.”

Anunoby suffered the injury on Nov. 17 during practice when he bumped into Precious Achiuwa, who also returned to the lineup with 17 points and five rebounds after coping with shoulder tendinitis and self-isolation due to health and safety protocols. Hip pointers can be frustrating since the only option is to give it the necessary time to heal, there’s no accelerating the process. Anunoby didn’t just feel pain in his hip, but around his abs and back as well. Recovery times can vary and although he had been trying to do his best to practice, there was no figuring out a shortcut around the natural course of time it would need.

Patience, or some ironing in and ironing out as head coach Nick Nurse has called it, has been a necessary theme for the Raptors this season whether it be with younger players having to learn the ropes, veteran players having to manage expectations, or injuries as well as covid related absences forcing the team to reset and relearn several times through this young season. There was the 1-3 start followed by five straight wins, then the 3-10 stretch followed by what is now five wins in seven games. During that time the defence has fluctuated from one of the best in the league to dead-last and now fourth-best thus far for the month of December.

With a flurry of crucial Eastern conference standings battles to wrap up 2021 against Chicago, Cleveland, and Philadelphia, the acclimatization period can’t take as long as it did the first couple times. What does that mean for accommodating the returns of Anunoby, Achiuwa, possibly Khem Birch as soon as Monday against the Orlando Magic and Pascal Siakam as well as Dalano Banton when they are allowed to return from health and safety protocols?

“There’s still an easing-in process,” Nurse explained. “Guys aren’t going to be able to handle long stretches, there’s conditioning, there’s rhythm, there’s lots of things that affect that and then it’s handling the guys who were getting the big rotations, that gets shortened. Can they still produce? Can they still hang in there, things were going (up) for them and now minutes-wise they are going the other way. There’s so much going on with that stuff, but hopefully.

“We’ll address it, we’ll hit [on] it, throw it out there on the table before [the game] and just cross our fingers and hope it turns out [well]. We’ll address it, talk about it, and try to get everybody to play their role the best they can and play really hard. That usually takes care of a lot of things.”

Anunoby’s role will be among the most interesting to monitor. He was adorned with the title of No. 1 scoring option when Siakam was absent to start the season and, after a slow start, flourished and became the team’s leading scorer. Fred VanVleet is the top scorer now and so with him flourishing, Scottie Barnes hitting his stride and Siakam appearing on the cusp of it before going into covid protocols, the question of how all of them — and let’s not forget Gary Trent Jr. — share the wealth will be one of those good problems Nurse and his coaching staff face.

Among the bad offensive problems the Raptors currently face is offensive efficiency when it matters most. In the final three minutes of games within five points or fewer, Toronto has shot 15-of-53 (28.3%) as a team and been outscored by 13 points over a 26-minute sample. Within that shot chart, the team has shot an abysmal 4-for-25 (16%) inside the 3-point line. If it weren’t for the 17 offensive rebounds that lead the league by a significant margin in those scenarios, things would look even worse.

VanVleet and Trent Jr. have provided a microcosm of the Raptors’ problems with a combined 9-of-17 shooting from 3-point range in those clutch scenarios but 1-of-10 inside the arc. Siakam has only taken three shots, having participated in 16 of the 26 minutes thus far. Does Anunoby offer hope? It remains to be seen. Before he succumbed to the hip pointer, Anunoby was 1-for-11 from the field in these scenarios but eight of those shots came within the first two weeks of the season when the team was still finding itself, and he, himself.

In that turnaround mid-range fadeaway and dribble move to the rim that Anunoby looked to work on against the Warriors, there was the glimmer of options that have been lacking for the Raptors not just in crunch time, but in the halfcourt offence as a whole.

Ironing out or ironing in could well be the theme of the season with player availability being an increasingly fluid situation and creative solutions needed for the problems that present themselves. Of what there is no doubt, is that Anunoby presents a vital option in how the Raptors look to problem-solve going forward.

ironing-out-or-ironing-in

Ironing Out or Ironing In

The 12 minutes of basketball the Raptors put on display in the third quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night was arguably the worst stretch of basketball the team had played all season.

As a team, Toronto was outscored by 21 in the frame and shot 5-of-27 (18.5%) from the field while surrendering 33 points, 10 of which came via the free-throw line. Searching for a spark after a bench effort Nick Nurse described as soft, unenergetic, and a collective failure in role execution, he turned to Justin Champagnie who hadn’t yet played a minute.

Defensively, he was handed the primary assignment on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander but also saw time on Luguentz Dort and Josh Giddey. On the other end of the floor, Champagnie could be seen doing all the dirty work with screen setting to get teammates open, hard cuts to the basket, and plenty of activity around the rim to try and keep rebounds alive. On both ends, he showed he understood his role and brought an energy and toughness that was sorely lacking. Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes may have been the chief architects of the comeback that ultimately wasn’t, but after hardly a whisper could be made of the bench’s contributions over the first three quarters, Champagnie’s energy and activity played a vital role in winning that fourth quarter by 10 points… and so very nearly a result-swinging 12.

“I've been waiting for this moment for a while now,” Champagnie said of the opportunity to play real minutes of consequence in front of the home crowd. “I always have the most confidence in myself in going in there and making an impact and everything, and I felt like today I did that at a pretty good level. There's always room for improvement, but it was great. Getting an experience like that. I didn't really think it was going to get that loud, but it got there. It was fun. It was definitely fun.”

For those several seconds that the crowd erupted after the referees initially ruled Champagnie’s last-second tip-in good, it was the moment he deserved: a packed arena going berserk, teammates draped all over him, unbridled joy across his face as they all jumped in elation. Undrafted out of the University of Pittsburgh, the 20-year-old signed a two-way contract with the Raptors and at 6-foot-6, has shown an uncanny knack for rebounding and — much like his teammate Yuta Watanabe — seems to consistently put himself in the right spot on the floor at the right time, doing all the little things he can to help his team win.

Attention to detail for extended stretches has been a struggle for this Raptors team that has failed to find consistency, but it’s something VanVleet has noticed Champagnie has in abundance right from Summer League. With OG Anunoby and Khem Birch still without a timetable to return and Precious Achiuwa now observing health and safety protocols, the time is now for Champagnie.

At the beginning of the 2019-20 season, the Raptors incurred a handful of injuries and Nurse was left with no choice but to search for productivity from bench options who couldn’t buy a look in before. The result was crucial contributions from the likes of Chris Boucher and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, and the latter in particular never looked back, carving out over 18 minutes per game for the remainder of the season.

Nurse has highlighted Champagnie’s “nose-for-the-ball” mentality, has been impressed by the way he finishes around the basket, and noted that there’s a reliable enough 3-point shot that hasn’t been brought out the bag yet. Nurse used him for another eight minutes against the New York Knicks, and for it to come in the closing moments was a compliment to the rookie that he was once again trusted for crucial defensive possessions down the stretch of a tight game.

Champagnie isn’t the nervous type and it showed in front of a deafening Scotiabank Arena crowd. Some of that mental preparation and readiness has to be attributed to the reps he’s got with the Raptors 905. He’s seen 108 minutes over four games with the G League affiliate as well as several additional practices, invaluable floor time that would not have been possible with the parent club and serves the entire purpose of the two-way contract.

“I know what I signed up for, I am a two-way player so I know this is what the days are gonna be like, I knew that coming in,” Champagnie said of the recent hectic schedule that has seen him go back-and-forth. “For me, it’s just about embracing it. If you go into it with a bad attitude or ‘Why do I have to do this?’ then it’s gonna be bad. I go in there everyday with a great attitude, a great mindset and it always ends up great for me.

“I think those reps down there are very important, getting yourself [ready], staying in game shape even when you’re not playing up here with the big club. I think it’s great. I love it.”

Taking an inch and making it a foot in terms of playing time is among the hardest challenges in the NBA for a player on the fringes of the roster let alone the rotation, but that’s what Champagnie faces going forward. After emerging as an “in case of emergency, break glass” option against the Thunder, he saw first quarter minutes against both the Kings as well as the Nets, finishing with a season-high 25 minutes and his first double-digit scoring night in the NBA in the former. His attitude is refreshing, there is an appreciation for the moment whether it be displayed through his effort level during the game or his joyful smile during press conferences.

Aiding his battle for a full-time spot on the team is the self-awareness to recognize the difference between doing what may showcase his game a bit more and what the team needs. That’s not an everyday occurrence with a 20-year-old coming off a college career where he started 46 of 53 games and averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds in his final year while being named to the All-ACC First Team. Even the Miami Heat’s PJ Tucker, who has made a career now of being the ultimate role player, admitted recently on The Old Man and the Three podcast that he struggled to accept what his role as a rookie with the Raptors was coming out of college and it eventually led to him being cut and heading to Europe.

The same shots the 905 may need Champagnie to take can be the same ones he needs to turn down with the Raptors. There will be times where he’s thrown into the deep end game after game like right now and others where he won’t see the floor at all for an entire week or longer. He understands the pecking order and where he fits in with the Raptors. The key to more later is less right now.

“I'm not the fastest guy, I'm not the most athletic guy, but I have the best mindset, in my opinion,” Champagnie said. “I told myself, just go out there and do what coach says.”

torsjamshidi

Turning the page on 2021

D.J. Wilson: Student of the game

RAPTORS SIGN MORGAN, WATERS AND WILSON TO 10-DAY CONTRACTS

Ironing Out or Ironing In

Champagnie's Moment