The Raptors Next Center is…

The Raptors Next Center is…

we have a major Toronto Raptor free agency update to discuss as we are in a new era of Toronto Raptors basketball following the Messiah Jerry firing and it starts off with the Raptors targeting Ben Simmons that’s right that’s the news report and this is Raptors fans fired up just given his surface level fit with a guy like Scotty Barnes Yaka Purle our starters as well as our bench unit following the NBA draft with Colin Murray Boils and a lot of the defending players we have out there off the bench so there’s a lot of confusion as to why the Toronto Raptors will do this however there is an avenue where this ends up being a complete a thousand IQ move by the Toronto Raptors of course it also could go very poorly he wouldn’t be on a significant contract but we’ll break down what the reports are right now why Raptor fans are fired up about this and why this really could end up being a massive win for the Toronto Raptors specifically at the center position so we’ll dive into it all out here in this video but folks I want to first thank every single one of you for helping us uh march towards our goal of 40,000 subscribers you guys have been crushing it hitting the subscribe button as of late and if you want to join the already over 38,350 us you know joining in daily for all this latest Toronto Raptor news make sure you guys hit that subscribe button cuz we don’t stop with the Raptors coverage especially with free agency opening up in the next couple days so lots of stuff to dive into but what’s going on why are we bringing up the young socialite that’s right the Young Social Lake Watch is back out here in 2025 we have a Ben Simmons update that uh you know similar to the Giannis and KD stuff we’re going through all the greatest hits out there on Raptors Die just now because Ben Simmons has once again been linked to the Toronto Raptors as we have a new report coming out with Michael Grange saying the Raptors had three roster spots open before ESPN’s uh Shams Trannia reported Saturday night that Garrett Temple who played an important role as a veteran voice on a young team intends to sign a one-year deal with the Toronto Raptors so covered this in a video yesterday garrett Temple is back with the Raptors so now there’s two open roster spots for this team and that’s where this update came in as another name that might be out there is Ben Simmons who is often injured the former number one overall pick who cobbled together some interesting box score totals last season you know 9.2 assists per game 7.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals per night per 36 minutes and a limited role over 51 games split between Brooklyn and the Nets and uh Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers so essentially Michael Grange is linking Ben Simmons as a target of interest out here in this free agency this upcoming suburb for the Toronto Raptors now given the activity since Messiah Jur’s departed you big fish names Ben Simmons definitely doesn’t follow the big fish title don’t get me wrong if this is a Ben Simmons ends up being our big fish that would be pretty pretty crazy but we know this new organization this new leadership loves those big names and we know Bobby Webster has doubled down out there on these switchable defensive wings and uh size and all that type of stuff so Ben Simmons especially when healthy fits that mold even e even in his current form like of course and I talked about a way this really works out this doesn’t involve him getting back to allstar all NBA caliber of play that feels like that ship has sailed of course you never know but that is unrealistic expectations for Ben Simmons coming in to any NBA team next season but there is an avenue where this makes a ton of sense so we’ll talk about that as this uh video goes along but firstly let’s take a look at Ben Simmons stats in total last season as essentially we bring it up here now ben Simmons averaged five points per game five rebounds five assists closer to six assists per night uh.5 blocks and.7 steals per game and he’s still only 28 years old despite being in the NBA for a fairly long time and uh you know he fishes around the rim he is 610 that is one thing people forget to bring up he is a tall man out there on the basketball court and has a resume has a history of being a really solid basketball player and again you see this it was all these stats earned 22 minutes per game last season so not extended run out there on the court by any stretch of the imagination but you dive back in previous seasons before he demanded that trade before he had some back injuries and stuff ben Simmons was a three-time all-star was you know we saw him in the playoffs elite defensively and was just a great feel for the game fast quick elite defensively all that type of stuff so Ben Simmons has been good at some points in his career now has just been a solid utility role player over the last couple of seasons so what’s going on specifically in terms of why I’m getting excited about well in the back half of last year you know he did give some decent run for uh for the LA Clippers and didn’t uh you know as the series went along against the Denver Nuggets his minutes were diminished so that is one thing that might concern a lot of Raptors fans he didn’t get a ton a ton of run when it mattered most out there for the LA Clippers but playing against the Denver Nuggets that’s a tough situation to be in so I get a lot of people seeing this and being like “What on earth are we doing wasting a roster spot on Ben Simmons what’s what’s happening here with all of this?” Well there’s a couple avenues where this makes a ton of sense and specifically this makes sense the Raptors don’t have a backup center right now we decide to forego drafting Colin Malawatch and brought in Colin Murray Boils who is 67 a wing ben Simmons is 610 and while he did have his minutes diminished out there for the the LA Clippers during the postseason and stuff he was a guy that was actually having a pretty positive impact in terms of uh you know affecting the game for the LA Clippers so if we take a look at some of the things that uh you know Clippers fans have said about him Ben Simmons was such a great ad can’t believe I’m writing this but playing him like Kevin Looney has been exactly what this team needs when Zoo is out so Ben Simmons was playing the backup center role that center position out there for the LA Clippers last year and he was really effective at it and absolutely I wish he would look at the rim though of course he’s not taking those shots the same way he did before his defense is incredible he was also clearly getting out under Nicola Joic’s skin as when they were off ball Joic was a lineman pushing him around everywhere so it’s uh you know Ben Simmons can play that center position he did a good job on Joic last season reading some of these comments I was hoping that he made the putback dunk layup and all that stuff but it’s uh he’s small ball lineups and you know being that center position he guarded Jokic really well full court that’s exactly what they wanted him for and it’s weird how I’ve never realized how tall Simmons was for some reason he’s a legit 610 and looks only a shade smaller than Nicole Yokic impressive all that stuff so there’s a lot of positive comments in regards to Ben Sibs you know playing against the Denver Nuggets matching up against that team that of course is one of the best center is the best center is probably the best player in the NBA Nola Joic so Simmons can play a role especially as a backup especially where we’re at a point right now where we don’t have a reliable backup center of course the hope is Olar Shamsh will be able to fill that here at some point but Ben Simmons could come in and really have an impact on this Toronto Raptor squad at that spot because we know given how we drafted this year Bobby Webster is looking for players that are intense defensively that can play that high caliber player and Ben Simmons has certainly done that and when healthy can still do that out there in the NBA but also he’s a high IQ passer of course you need him to be more aggressive in terms of really having that positive impact but even in his limited run last season still gets a ton of assists still gets rebounds still plays phenomenal on defense don’t expect him to be a three-point shooter it wouldn’t make any sense whatsoever to bring Ben Simmons in and then end up playing him on the wing especially with CMBB you know being drafted here now at this point who last season himself didn’t have the greatest three-point shooting averages you know 26 uh% from behind the three-point line it doesn’t make sense to run you know out there on the wings you know whatever center we end up getting in free agency and stuff see him be on the wing and then having Ben Simmons as a part of our rotation but if we have Ben Simmons at the center spot if we run him in the dunker and he’s able to defend he’s able to run those systems where Dark Rio wants to move fast have high IQ basketball players make some great facilitating Ben Simmons could actually be a very very interesting fit at those spots and he’d be very cheap like you could get him on that league minimum contract so you give a feeler see how things go with Ben Simmons out there in your front court see if he’s capable of defending out there at that level of course if Yaka Purle gets injured then you might be in an interesting spot you know at that five position but learn Ben Simmons at center see how it goes have that sort of mid post facilitating and frankly I’d be fairly excited if this move happened now if we make another move this summer and we bring in you know a traditional backup five and then we also have Ben Simmons so he’s forced to play like a guard position a wing position and we’re running lineups out there of Jamal Shed who you know I am a shed head by uh all stance i lead the Jamal Shed fan club but of course he is not that elite of a three-point shooter so Ben Simmons and Shed and CMBB out there off the bench and then Jonathan Bobo like our shooting would be cooked so that doesn’t make a ton of sense but if we’re running Ben Simmons at the five intermix with you know guys off the bench and Jacobe Walter Grady Dick Jameson Battle who can really knock down shots of course some of our starters because we do have some sneaky shooting out there on this team with Emanuel Quickley you know RJ Barrett shoots a solid percentage Brandon Ingram in the mix now like there is some options and hopefully Scotty continues to develop at that range i I I’d say take the risk i say take the risk folks i know some people are going to disagree but you know I see a lot of people memeing like “Okay we’re in the new era of Toronto Raptors basketball now.” But I don’t know i think this is actually a pretty solid move for the Toronto Raptors if you know all things are done right but let me know what you guys think about all this in the comments section down below would you like to see Ben Simmons on the Toronto Raptors let me know anyways I’m signing out cheers

The Toronto Raptors have now been named as a potential free agent suitor for Ben Simmons in free agency this year. Ben Rogers breaks down the report and what it means for the Raptors off-season.

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