#precious-achiuwa

#precious-achiuwa

The Toronto Raptors still have not given off any indication of what direction they will go in during the 2023 NBA Draft.Masai Ujiri and the rest of the front office continue to be incredibly tight-lipped about what positions and players they may target with their lone selection.Conventional wisdom would suggest that Ujiri and the Raptors could try to fix their lack of terrific shooting by drafting a dynamic guard at No. 13 overall.

Early Monday afternoon, Fred VanVleet announced he would be declining his $22.8 million player option for next season.Heading into the open market, the former All-Star point guard is looking for a pay raise while hoping to test the waters of free agency.The Toronto Raptors now have a serious dilemma on their hands.

The Toronto Raptors need to be more active on the free agency market than ever before, as this team needs bench talent as badly as any playoff team or fringe contender in the league.The mid-level exception (MLE) could help them entice players to come to Toronto with some extra cash.While Otto Porter Jr. came to town with plenty of bombast, the injury bug bit him hard and limited him to just a handful of games.

The Toronto Raptors are in the mood for a scorer in the NBA Draft, as the roster is clearly in need of a dynamic young player that can give a moribund, milquetoast offense the injection of life that it needs so badly.Names like Keyonte George and Cason Wallace have been thrown around quite frequently, with both of them looking like long-term answers at the point guard spot.

Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors know that the 2023 NBA Draft holds as much value and importance as any draft the Raptors have had in quite some time.They need to make sure that a high-end scorer comes to town and helps revitalize the offense.Names like Baylor's Keyonte George have risen to the forefront of Raptors Twitter's collective consciousness due to his scoring ability, though Kentucky's Cason Wallace and Arkansas' Nick Smith have also been connected to the Raptors with varying degrees of seriousness lately.

After last night's game the Toronto Raptors have moved to a record of 37-38 which has them tied with the Atlanta Hawks for the 8th seed.The Hawks own the tiebreaker over Toronto but winning the game last night has put them in great position to make a run for the 8th seed and only have to win one play-in game to qualify for the playoffs.

Gary Trent Jr. has become something of an afterthought this summer.As the second man in a two-man backcourt, Trent Jr.'s likely free-agency has taken a clear back seat to Fred VanVleet chatter.There is a general perception that Trent Jr. took a step back from his 2021-2022 season, but on a 100 possessions basis, Trent basically duplicated all his major counting stats, with the only significant decline, three-point percentage, offset by an even greater uptick in his two-point shooting.

Following the success of his second NBA season, and first as a Toronto Raptor, Precious Achiuwa seemed poised for a breakout 2022-23 season.But instead of a Most Improved Player candidacy we got a roller coaster, which in some ways was a microcosm of the Raptors' season - the sum of the season, to put it bluntly, fell short of our ambitious hopes.

It took over three months and five previous failed tries but the Raptors are back at .500.Miami was missing Jimmy Butler in this game, after being ruled out with a neck injury.The Heat were already a small team and losing one of their big wings didn't help.Toronto crushed Miami with a 62-36 points in the paint advantage.

Looking back at the history of the Miami Heat, there are several players that perhaps were given up on too soon.Many people may not know this but the Miami Heat is actually one of the younger franchises in the league.Founded in 1988, the Heat is only roughly 35 years old.Despite that, and interestingly, the Heat is also one of the most storied and accomplished franchises in such a short time.

There's a scene in the 1997 movie Armageddon - one of the worst movies ever made, but maybe also the single best bad movie ever made? - where, as our heroes prepare to launch into space so they can go drill a hole in an asteroid, the NASA flight director says to all those assembled, "All right ladies and gentlemen, it's pucker time."

Prior to the game, I asked Rick Carlisle about the ingenuity of defensive adjustments and what might be next, and he suggested it wasn't schematic tinkering that would light the way, but sticking your man.The Raptors would later fail to get stops against a repeated action in the fourth quarter, and lose.

This game was a prototype of how the Raptors want to look on offence.Toronto got to the line, shot over 40 percent from three and dished out 29 assists.Every starter scored at least 16 points.The 128 total came free flowing, sometimes matching Oklahoma City's frenetic third ranked pace for entertaining sequences in the second quarter.

What has made the Toronto Raptors' recent nosedive in the standings is the fact that Nick Nurse has the starting lineup playing well following the acquisition of Jakob Poeltl.While that group is dominating, the same can't be said of Toronto's already maligned bench.Gary Trent Jr. has been completely emasculated since going back to the second unit, as his scoring punch has been marginalized.

The Raptors have a huge game coming up tonight as they can further separate themselves from the Washington Wizards who are also eyeing a Play-In spot.It's the tie-breaking game for the series this season as they previously traded wins three weeks ago.Wizards scope (33-41, 11th in East | Offensive rating: 16th | Defensive rating: 21st) Last five games: vs Spurs 136-124 W, vs Nuggets 104-118 L, @ Magic 112-122 L, vs Kings 118-132 L, @ Cavaliers 94- 117 L.
Just a few weeks ago the Wizards and Raptors were fighting each other for a Play-In spot and now Washington has fallen off quite hard.

When: Sunday, March 26 at 6 p.m. ET
Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
How to watch: NBC Sports Washington, League Pass
WIZARDS - Kyle Kuzma, OUT (ankle); Bradley Beal, OUT (knee)
RAPTORS - Scottie Barnes, QUESTIONABLE (wrist); Precious Achiuwa, QUESTIONABLE (hamstring); Gary Trent Jr., QUESTIONABLE (elbow); Otto Porter Jr., OUT (foot)
The Washington Wizards make their one and only trip to Toronto on Sunday to take on the Raptors.

After a crushing loss to the Indiana Pacers last game, hopefully it was the final wake up call that Toronto needs in order to truly lock in for this final stretch of games.The Detroit Pistons who are notorious for giving Toronto trouble in the past are coming to Scotiabank tonight and Toronto simply can't afford to drop games like this, this late in the season.

Starting on the Raptors side of things, this game was another blown opportunity.Opinions have been split all season on whether Toronto should be gunning for a playoff spot in the first place.However that quest would be significantly easier if the Raptors catch the Hawks, resulting in one play-in win to make the postseason instead of two.

The Indiana Pacers are visiting the Toronto Raptors tonight in an eastern conference matchup that holds serious implications for Toronto, like all of the remaining games will.Toronto needs this game to keep trying to rise in the standings and Indiana may be without their best player in Tyrese Haliburton tonight so that makes things a bit easier for Toronto.

The trade deadline was not without its fireworks and Toronto made sure to get involved with the league's annual fire sale.They reunited with center Jakob Poetl in an effort to bolster the center position yet, they will most likely be without the new acquisition as the deal has yet to be made official and they will have to try to take down Utah tonight.

As the Toronto Raptors fans collectively freak out that they aren't sitting on two huge trade packages worth of picks, let's all take a second and appreciate that Masai Ujiri just plugged the roster's biggest hole.The lack of a rebounder and rim protector left a team that was advertised as a versatile defensive nightmare as more of the same over and over and over again.

The Toronto Raptors' relative inactivity at the trade deadline has set them up for what promises to be a very busy offseason.Players like OG Anunoby and Chris Boucher could be on the move if the team believes they can get a haul of assets for them in a hypothetical trade.Boucher may not have the star power that a player like Anunoby possesses, but he earned himself an eight-figure, three-year contract in the 2022 offseason after putting together consecutive strong seasons as one of the first men off the Raptors' bench.

Things looked promising for the Toronto Raptors early in their game against the Los Angeles Clippers tonight.They forced 7 turnovers in the opening frame, jumping out to a 25-15 lead after one - and then sleepwalked through the remaining three quarters, eventually dropping a 108-100 decision to the home team.