Barrett and Quickley impressive in their Raptors debut

Barrett and Quickley impressive in their Raptors debut

For more on this Raptor Victory we are joined by our Raptor reporter Josh lenberg Josh great to see you happy New Year to you my friend uh what a hey this worked out pretty good RJ Barrett 19 points Emanuel quickley 14 points in the Raptor debuts what did you think of how

The two new Raptors played and what are you thinking about their roles as the season continues on here well listen I I was impressed was it perfect no I mean RJ had some late game turnovers and Emanuel quickly missed a few floaters late in the game

I’m sure he’d like to have back but all things considered when you consider that they just showed up yesterday they’ve been through a crazy couple days with the trade for them to come in and make the impact that they did I thought was pretty impressive and clearly it was

Contagious too right because it just felt like being in this building the energy in the arena felt different the energy on the court looked different I I think so much of that came from the two new players I mean this is a raptor team clear CLE that’s been struggling that’s

Been in need of some new blood some different faces and they got that with a couple guys that played really hard I mean quickly picked up four quick fouls which I think spoke to how aggressive he was being but again it’s something I think this team really needed and in

Terms of the role the fact that Darko rakovic had both guys starting in their first game again considering that they just got to Toronto the day before speaks to the commitment that this organization has in both of them that’s why they went out and made the trade especially for a guy like Emanuel

Quickley who this team really sees as being part of the future with Scotty Barnes the type of dynamic guard that they’ve been looking to pair with Scotty they’re clearly going to have big roles moving forward here this year and Beyond and and and yet as good as they

Were Josh the best Raptor on the floor once again Pascal cakam great night 36 points and lots of speculation that the pending free agent could be on the move after the end and Obi trade uh what do you see happening with him and the rest of the team as we head toward that

February 8th trade deadline yeah listen the the roster makes more sense I think now than it did a week ago it doesn’t make complete sense yet and I think that’s why a lot of people that I’ve spoken to around the league are of the belief that there are

Other moves to be made sub subsequent moves that this team could make before the February 8th trade deadline and yes a lot of people are just assuming that cakam is the next to go and he may be I mean the fact that they just got younger doesn’t necessarily bode well for a

Player who’s going to turn 30 before the end of the season but I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion for a few reasons I mean this is a a front office that is generally pretty open-minded so even if trading seaka might be plan a I I think

They’re open to letting things breathe a little bit and seeing where this goes from what I’ve heard there hasn’t been any recent traction on a cakam trade so nothing is imminent and I think if we just look at the track record of MSU Jeri in this front office

There was a time 10 years ago where everybody was sure that Kyle Lowry would follow Rudy Gay out the door and he almost did coincidentally in that trade with New York that fell through but of course ujiri waited things out a little bit he wanted to see what that team looked like

How the new guys meshed with the old guys and the great thing about making a trade now five weeks out from the trade deadline just over five weeks out from the trade deadline is it gives them the time to do that again if they choose so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the

Route that they choose to take here and if that’s the case then this is a really important few week stretch here coming up for this team that could ultimately determine what comes next if anything and a great way uh for new teammates to find chemistry uh with their new team is

To go on a road trip trip and that’s exactly what the Toronto Raptors are about to do a six gamer Western Conference it’ll begin in Memphis on Wednesday Josh lenberg that’s a terrific jacket thanks for this my friend we appreciate it

TSN Raptors reporter Josh Lewenberg joins SC with Jay Onrait to break down the first impressions of RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, the impact they had on the Raptors in their first game, and what might happen with Pascal Siakam before the trade deadline.