1 Thing We Learned From Each Raptor In Summer League

1 Thing We Learned From Each Raptor In Summer League

Summer league is over for the Toronto Raptors. They fall short of a summer league championship, but tons of positives to take away for the individual players. Let’s break it down, ladies and gentlemen. As always, like, comment, subscribe, do the things you guys usually do to get Raptors Republic out to other people. We appreciate you guys for doing so. Um, man, it’s been a week now since the Raptors were eliminated. I don’t honestly, it was less than a week. It’s been like 3 days, 4 days since the Raptors have been eliminated uh from the summer league. But nonetheless, uh a really really great experience to watch a lot of guys who probably end up playing rotation minutes for these Toronto Raptors. And we’ll go through a few of these individually. Uh break down some things that we saw. Uh some notable things from all of these players, some things that they might have to improve on, but generally a lot of positives to take away from a group that had a defensive identity. Basically, everybody that I talked to in Vegas was like, “Hey man, you see how this team is locking in defensively, like that’s how we want to play next year. That’s the intensity we want to bring to every game.” And that was, you know, coaching staff when I was talking to them, it was basically talking to, you know, players on the side who were like, “Hey, like this is this is sort of what we want to do on a bigger stage at the NBA level.” And I think the fact that they’ve gotten buy in from a lot of these younger players, it’s just an interesting dynamic because it seems like the younger group has completely bought into the style the Raptors coaching staff wants them to play. Now it’s on that group rubbing off on the starting unit to play a similar style as well. Obviously, you know, we’ll see what happens with the Yaka Purdles and Brandon Ingrams and RJ Barretts and Emanuel Quickleys and Scotty Barnes of the world because they will also have to adhere to this scheme. Now, will there be any kind of bending or mending to figure out maybe they have to play a different defensive identity? Maybe not. Maybe they lean into the ball pressure, maybe they lean into the half court pressure, the fullourt pressure that we saw from this summer league squad. But there is no question that there is an immense amount of defensive talent on this Toronto Raptors team and we saw it showcased in summer league. I’ll break it down. Uh we’ll we’ll go player by player here just to make it a little bit easier. Want to start with our rookie Colin Murray Boils, ninth overall pick. Uh I interviewed CNB. If you haven’t checked it out, uh that’s on the Athletic NBA Daily. You can go check it out as well. Little cross plug there. Uh but it was a great interview. I thought he he showcased some of the stuff that he’d been breaking down defensively, but also uh a little bit of his personality, you know, uh showed off his personality and showed, you know, his his different colors, if you will. Anyways, um Colin Murray Boils 42 points across four games, shot 57% from the field, 62% true shooting, 73% on twos. Uh he shot two of nine from three, knocked down a couple of three-point shots throughout summer league, 57% from the free throw line. that has to get up. Uh defensively, 11 stocks, steals, and blocks. That was third on the team in summer league. Uh he had a really outstanding game against the Golden State Warriors where he put up 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Uh he also committed 18 fouls. And while the defense was incredible, you saw the length, the activity. I mean, you can’t you can’t basically do a dribble handoff near Colin Murray Boils. is going to get his hand in that cookie jar and kind of get things involved. His deflection numbers probably were outrageous in summer league. Now, he only had 11 stocks, but the way that he was able to uh be a defensive playmaker for this Raptors team by using and weaponizing uh his length was really incredible to see from a rookie. 18 fouls committed. That’s not good. Uh there were a couple times, especially in his first game, where he was nearly fouled out. Um, and I think that goes to the type of defense that he likes to play. He’s a physical player. That’s great. That’s a positive sign, but that physicality has to be earned in the NBA truthfully. You know, you can look back to Lou Dort who plays a really physical style defensively, or you can look back to honestly a lot of players on the Oklahoma City Thunder, Case Walls, Alex, Alex Caruso, etc., etc. Those guys had to earn their reputation as good defenders before they were allowed the leeway of that amount of physicality. And I think the same thing will apply to CMBB in his rookie season. I would imagine there will be uh probably multiple games where he ends up in foul trouble. Now that said, um you know, these these refs at the same time are not the same NBA refs. They’re also not even the same G-League refs that they might be dealing with in the G-League next season. These are refs and I know this cuz one of my friends uh is is one of my friends friends actually is an official who’s trying to make it to the NBA and he was one of the refs that was there. Uh it’s a bit of a training program for young referees to come in and get experience and figure out how they can make it to the next level whether it’s the G-League whether it’s the you know the NBA college or whatnot. So, the referees association uses that platform, summer league, much like how the NBA uses summer league to groom these younger guys and and younger referees to become, you know, officials in the future. And so, maybe you’re not getting the same foul calls that you would get in the summer in in the NBA or in the G-League. But that said, um the fouling is is going to be something of a question for CNB moving forward just because of how physical of a player he is defensively. Offensively, uh, the question that I had for him was answered. Can he finish on his drives? Can he use his physicality and his presence offensively to finish in and around the basket? His soft touch, is it still there? You know, we he displayed such a great poise when it came to finishing in South Carolina. Was that still there? Uh, and it was. It absolutely was, especially against the talent level uh in the G-League and in the summer league. Yes, it’s there. he can finish in and around the basket. You know, the Raptors ran a couple of situations where he was either the screener in pick and rolls or he was the ball handler in pick and rolls. And every single time he got downhill, either drew a foul or was able to finish at the basket. Really impressive stuff from him where we saw his physicality uh him impose his physicality offensively in a way that I think can translate in the NBA. Obviously, um the NBA is the the athleticism factor, the speed factor, the size factor. It’s a step above what we see in summer league, and that’s why, uh you can’t you have to take everything with a grain of salt, but it’s good that he’s doing it against this level of competition. It means there’s something there. It means that, you know, what he did in South Carolina uh does bear fruit, does transition to this level. And I think we’ll see even more of that when he plays with better offensive players because this Raptors team for all of their defense, the summer league team, for all of their defensive talents, was not a talented offensive team. They struggled in a shot creation department. And these next two players are the two guys who really led the charge on offense. Uh Jacobe Walter, he ended up leading the team in points across five games. He had 80 points, shot 36% from the field, 28% from three. So, not necessarily the most efficient offensive outings from Jacobe Walter, but uh they kind of just let him do whatever, you know, whether it was creating off of the bounce, working in pick and rolls, uh attacking from spot-up situations, uh getting out in transition and finishing. Uh you know, they kind of let him experiment as much as possible. That probably won’t be the case on this Raptors team. you know, he’s not going to be running tons of pick and rolls. He’s not going to be a guy who’s going to be asked to create a shot consistently because they have, you know, Brandon Ingram and Scotty Barnes and RJ Barrett and Emanuel Quickley. And for now, those guys are the main shot creators on this team. Even I would imagine even Grady Dick is above Jacobe Walter in terms of the offensive shot creation department. Uh, I actually don’t even think that’s a question. It absolutely is the case. Defensively, Jacobe was special in summer league and that is something that translated in his rookie season as well. He had 10 stocks uh or actually sorry 15 stocks that was number one on the team. Uh and he was just incredible at the point of attack. He set the tone defensively for them at the point of attack. Uh the way that he was pressuring the ball, the way that he uses his length um is really incredible to watch. He was one of the best um you know kind of like ISO defenders in the league last season. I believe the numbers track in that department too. I would imagine the fact that he’s gained a little bit of weight will actually add to that defensive prowess next season. He’s going to be a very positive defensive player for them. The question will be, you know, the shotmaking. you know, uh, he had a stretch like Grady Dick had in his rookie season where from January to April, he shot the ball at an impressive clip. You need to do that consistently. He needs to knock down his spot-up looks pretty consistently. And that’s the way that Jacobe Walter um, you know, maybe ends up cracking the starting lineup potentially, right? I know there’s conversation about what will happen with this Raptor starting group moving forward. Uh, would it make more sense to have Grady or or Jacobe or Ochai or someone uh, start in place of RJ Barrett? We’ll see if that happens. It’ll be tough to It’ll be tough to convince R.J. Barrett, who makes $27 million a year, to come off the bench. Maybe Darko Reyakovic has magic, you know, and juice in convincing a player like that. Hey, Manu Genobbi came off of the bench. Can you do the same for us, RJ? I’m not sure if that’ll be the case. Um, but Jacobe has a clear path to minutes next season for the Raptors, a clear path to a rotation spot next year for the Raptors, and that starts on the defensive end. how the offense comes along, uh, you know, how consistent he is as a shooter, how he’s able to attack closeouts and make plays from there. Uh, that’s the evolving question from Jacobe. Um, was it answered in summer league? I don’t know if it was because there was a lot of experimentation on his front to create with the ball in his hands, uh, to kind of see what he can do. And I don’t think he was there yet offensively. Truthfully, I I think there are still a few steps he has to take as a ball handler, as a guy who’s more comfortable, you know, kind of catching it in rhythm and pulling up to get to the point where he can be a shot creator. Um, so the role where he the role he played in summer league was pretty different to what he would have played in the NBA or what he will play in the NBA next season for the Raptors. That said, um, impressive outings like he had some good games for them and this team desperately needed offense. Speaking of offense, AJ Lawson 74 points across f four games, 67% true shooting, 50% from the field, 45% from three. The man was absolutely incredible off of the bench. Um he came off the bench for the Raptor and summer league, did not play in their semi-final game versus the Sacramento Kings, and it was obvious that he did not play because they were so bad offensively in the first half. they couldn’t get anything to go and Lawson was just a consistent spark for them um as a score. You know, he he did it on all three levels. Finishing at the basket, getting out in transition, knocking down his threes, creating off with a bounce, using dribble handoffs to be able there was one possession where he had like multiple dribble handoffs in a row where he kept pitching it back. And like the way that he was maneuvering offensively just looked like a player that was extremely comfortable at this level. And truthfully, he is like this guy was a G-League Allstar last year. He’s been in summer league multiple times. He’s been there, done that, right? He knows what he can do offensively at this level. At this point, it’s not even a question because this is his arena. This is his playground. He can do this consistently. I was watching at Summer League Javon Freeman Liberty and I’m like, “Yeah, man. This dude knows how to score at this level because like he just understands the game at this level. Maybe it doesn’t translate consistently at the NBA level, but I think with AJ, he’s an NBA player now. And the reason I say that is because of the defense. I thought he showed I mean, he had 10 stocks in his four games for the Raptors in summer league. The ball pressure, the point of attack, uh, buyin that he had is different than anything else we’ve seen from AJ in his time in G-League. Obviously, I was there to watch a lot of the G-League games. I was the Raptors 905 in Arena host. So, I had the chance to watch AJ pretty consistently last year. Did not see that same defensive buyin as I saw in summer league over the first four games. I thought he bought in to what the Raptors defensive identity was. And I really do think if if that’s the case, if he leans in on him being, hey, I’m going to lock down and I’m going to knock down my shots and I’m going to be that same shot creator, then there is absolutely an NBA player in there. Will that NBA player be on the Toronto Raptors next season? I don’t know because there’s Jacobe Walter, there’s Grady Dick, there’s O Chai Baji, there’s Jameson Battle, who we’ll get to in a second. And there is a lot of depth at AJ’s position. So using the final roster spot on AJ might not make that much sense for the Raptors. And truthfully, it might not make that much sense for AJ Lawson either because there’s no real pathway to minutes for him. Uh, and I I just, you know, maybe that’s not worthwhile for AJ. Maybe there’s another opportunity elsewhere where he can actually get rotation minutes. You know, he used to be a Dallas Maverick. I’d imagine, you know, the Mavericks need some guards. They also have too many roster players right now, I believe. But like, there are other places out there that could probably use AJ. That said, uh it would be awesome for the hometown kid to be in Toronto, for the Raptors to invest in someone who has bought into what they want to do, uh who is kind of uh grinded through their developmental system. You know, you think of um signing on to be a two-way for the Raptors 905, becoming an all-star, then when the team leans towards a tank, coming and playing for the Raptors, and actually playing well in his minutes, having some breakout performances through the final stretch of the season, coming into summer league, you know, battling for a roster spot and absolutely dominating on both ends. Um, that’s a player that’s worthwhile in investing in. And so, it would make sense for the Raptors to do so. Uh, from that perspective, I understand the positional battle and and how that works, but ultimately AJ proved to a lot of people that he is an NBA player, that he is worthwhile, uh, and that he’s worthy of an opportunity. So, I think that was just he was like balls to the walls, one of the most impressive players on this Raptors team in summer league just because of how how much he proved, right? Like going into the summer league, I was probably like, man, it’s going to be tough for AJ to it’s such an uphill battle for him to get into the conversation of that final roster spot, especially with the roster imbalance. You know, they kind of need another big man. Uh they definitely need another big man, but do they go out and do that or do they invest in a guy that they’ve obviously uh invested time in over the last year? I think he made a case for himself. He absolutely made a case for himself. So, I would I I would I would like for AJ Lawson to be on this Raptors team. Would I understand the process of him not being on this Raptors team, both from his side and from the Raptor side? Yes, I would. But he is absolutely an NBA player and he proved that. Okay. Jamal Shed 67 points, 47 40% from the field, 51% true shooting. He had a 2 to1 assist to turnover ratio, 33 assists to 17 turnovers, 10 stocks. uh had a really impressive game against the Denver Nuggets, 16 points and eight assists. Had 24 points and 12 assists versus the Sacramento Kings in the semi-finals. Spurred on that second half comeback uh where you know the Raptors were trying to make things interesting against the Kings. Freaking Jones, man. Isaac Jones, what a player. Anyways, um so Jamal offensively I thought he had some spurts, especially in that second half versus the Kings. Um especially versus the Nuggets where he was getting to the basket, working in pick and rolls. I thought the overall chemistry between him and Mo or him and CMBB was good generally, especially at this level. Um, ultimately I I still think like the offense isn’t enough. Um, you know, the the shooting wasn’t enough. The the shot creation wasn’t enough. He relied on that floater pretty heavily. And for a small guard like that, the floater needs to be elite. It wasn’t necessarily elite. Uh and and again like it’s summer league, it’s five games. You know, we you don’t have to take too much away from five games. He played really really exceptionally in a couple of these games. The way that he was imposing himself on the offensive end, making plays. There was a stretch, I believe, against the Nuggets. It might have been against the Warriors, but I I’m pretty sure it was against the Nuggets where they come out in the second half and Jamal makes like five plays in a row. It’s getting to the basket, finish, getting to the basket, finish, and then he had a pull up three as well, and the Raptors were back in the game. And then CNB took uh that was actually I believe that was against the the Warriors. But anyways, like those moments go to show you like, hey man, like th this guy can spur on the team in a way that is um you know, people bring up the Kyle Lowry comps. I think he has a lot to develop to become Kyle Lowry, especially offensively. Um, but in a way that he ignites the rest of the roster. Uh, in a way that he leads the rest of the team that is, you know, Kyle Lowry or Fred Vanble Valleesque. He is a voice on the court. Uh, watching the Raptors live in summer league and honestly seeing him interact with some of the coaching staff and some of the players like he is very clearly an organizational piece for the Raptors. not in just a sense of like, hey, this is a good like character guy to bring into the team, but just like he sets the tone for them in so many different ways. Uh because he’s, you know, he’s an adult in the room for the younger players, you know, especially because he’s a multi-year college guy. Like he’s kind of been there, done that, obviously part of a huge program in Houston and he’s brought some of that poise to the Raptors organization uh in a way that Fred did, you know. Um, and I I think that is what ultimately is the main calling card of Jamal Shed. He’s been a calming factor for this young group. Yes, he sets the tone offensively. Yes, he pushes the pace. Does he need to improve as a scorer? Absolutely. Uh, will he have his hurdles defensively to be as impactful as he can be at his size? Yes. But I thought there were moments and and flashes where you get excited about him being the backup point guard for this team next season. We’ll see how much of that translates for the Raptors next year. They will lean on Jamal in my opinion quite frequently because they are lacking in the point guard and ball handling department. Now that said, you’ll see Scotty Barnes and Brandon Ingram uh bring up the ball pretty consistently for this Raptors team next year alongside Emanuel Quickley, but I do think Jamal will get some run uh as the backup point guard because of the way that he’s galvanized this specific group. And you talk about like bench mobs and how those bench mobs develop. A lot of the times it is because of the point guard orchestrating things. Uh and Jamal uh for all of his warts offensively is a pretty good orchestrator. Can set the table for his team. Understands when to find players for shots or or get a guy going. Um find Jameson Battle or find Jacobe Walter, hit Oris Shamsh. Um be kind of a vocal vocal piece for the Raptors. Um Jamal in my opinion I I I think had a positive summer league generally. Would I have loved to seen more? Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I would have loved to see more. Would have loved to see him dominate truthfully. Uh but that said, it’s it’s a learning process for him to figure out how he can impact the game offensively without necessarily being a good scorer. I think that’s the next level for him. It’s finding something goto to score, to put pressure on the rim, to maybe even develop a mid-range game, something to go to offensively so that he can keep defenses honest while being a playmaker. Um, okay, Jameson Battle, 47 points across five games, 60% true shooting, 35% from three. The key number here for Jameson Battle, who truthfully like did what I would expect for Jameson Battle to do, he’s already a lights out shooter. uh you know probably was not as good shooting wise in those five games but again whatever small sample doesn’t really matter. We know what Jameson Battle can do in an NBA level when it comes to shooting. The number that pops out to me is seven of eight on twos. His driving game was pretty impressive. Him getting downhill attacking closeouts because that’s the next step for a shooter like him. So you know teams are going to run Jameson Battle off of the line just because they know how impressive he is defensively. What can he do when he is run off the line? When he attacks the close out, can he finish at the basket? Can he make plays? Can he make the secondary pass? Can he make the secondary read? All of these things are what Jameson Battle will need to do to earn minutes in the NBA, especially because he’s in a battle with Jacobe Walter and Ocha and Greddy Dick to kind of fill that void of offball wing scorer type. So, Battle already has a a key swing skill that will earn him minutes in the NBA. It’s his shooting. It’s very very dominant and he’s just a lights out guy. I was actually impressed with some of the movement shooting that he did in summer league too. Hopefully that translates uh in the NBA as well next year in his second year. Um but ultimately like yeah, how are you going to do other things on the basketball court offensively? And I thought he was pretty good defensively for what was asked of him. Uh Jameson Battle uh yeah uphill battle, no pun intended. actually pun definitely intended uh for him to earn minutes next year on this Raptors team, but a wildly talented shooter. We’ll see what happens. Okay, Jonathan Mo, my guy Jonathan Mo, 38 points, 65% true shooting, 70% on twos. He only attempted two threes throughout the summer league. Uh six stocks, 22 of his shots were at the rim, 13 were layups. Um, those are the numbers that pop out to me, folks, because as I have mentioned in the past, and I believe I mentioned this when I said, you know, like one thing to watch for with every player improvement wise. I I will be having videos coming out specifically about each player in August, but the one thing that popped out to me in Mobo’s first year was the lack of touch around the basket and finishing. Again, I mentioned this, his numbers were not that great. Uh here, let me pull it up here just in case I want to reference them. So, Jonathan Mo in his first year with the Raptors, he shot uh 54% at the rim, 38% on layups. Not very good. Okay, those are not good numbers for uh a player that is really a rim runner, a guy who’s diving to the basket. These summer league numbers are much more in line with what should be expected of him finishing at the basket. 77.3% at the rim, 70% on layups. He did not miss a dunk. He was 100% on dunks and he took eight dunks. That’s the type of thing that you want to see from Jonathan Mo. He was one of the best, if not the best defender on the Raptor summer league team this year. He was incredible. That’s expected though. He was incredible for the Raptors in his rookie season defensively. One of the best isolation defenders, great at guarding pick and roll ball handlers, great at being a switch big, etc., etc. Literally can do anything defensively on a basketball court. That’s not a question with Mo anymore. The question is like how can you sustainably keep him on the court offensively? And while he didn’t attempt many threes, he only took two in summer league, the the great thing was that he was finishing shots around the basket, his touch was much improved. Um, you know, the layups, the the runners that he was taking were actually falling. And so if that translates next year, if he’s if he’s knocking down his layups, if he’s a guy who’s able to like finishing it around the basket, if he’s working and operating in the dunker spot at a more comfortable level, man, does he become an important piece for this Raptors team because I actually do think he provides a a genuine small ball look much like how CMB does. And I think that’s an evolving question uh how much you compare CMBB and mobile together. together. They were just battering Rams defensively. Like, how do you get past those two defensively? It was incredible to watch in summer league. I would imagine if they were to run lineups with mobile and CMBB together in the NBA, they will be incredible defensively. We’ll see how that works offensively, but generally I came away impressed with Mobo um just because of the finishing ability. They did put the ball in his hands quite frequently and tried to ask him to create. I wasn’t as much in love with that, but I don’t think he’ll be asked to do that much in the NBA next year for the Raptors. I think that is more of a tertiary thing. Uh something that he is trying to develop as his game progresses and maybe, you know, in a couple of seasons that does improve and gets to the next level. But I don’t think that’s not something that the Raptors will be leaning on next year as their identity for Mobo to create shots for them off of the bench. Um, he is a guy who can move in transition. He is a guy who can handle the ball in transition and I imagine that’s something that they utilize. But generally the halfcourt creation stuff was not impressive. He is more of a play finisher than a play creator. Uh, and I think we saw that in summer league. So I I was really impressed with mobo in summer league for sure. Shamshi, another player I was very impressed by. I think everybody was impressed by wildly just excited about the future of Shamshay, a guy who was, you know, the la was the last pick or second last pick, something along the lines of that in in the draft. Um, 33 points, 24 rebounds, 14 stocks, just absurd defensively. His length, his activity was unreal. Uh, the way he was able to switch out onto ball handlers and contain ball handlers and pick and rolls, that was really impressive. Uh 45% on twos. That’s the question moving forward with over Shamsh. Good rebounder. He had that ridiculous play where he blocked the shot, took it in transition, had that nice wraparound pass uh to CMBB. Those are like wildly talented plays just to show you the potential of what Shamsh can eventually, hopefully maybe one day do. Uh the finishing around the rim is the next step for him. And truthfully, that was the next step for him with the 905 last year, too. He was, I believe, second or third in blocks in the G-League last year. The defense is something that immediately translated. Uh he was his length and activity was was good in the G-League last year. The 905 were a better defensive team when he was on the floor, but ultimately it was the finishing around the basket. It was the craft in pick and rolls. And I will say while he only shot 45% on twos in summer league, he did show more poise in pick and rolls, more timing. And I think pick and rolls in general are a lot about timing for bigs because you have to screen, right? Read where the ball handler is. Read where your defender is in comparison to the ball handler and how you can affect that play. Whether it’s kind of ducking under and diving, you know, rim running basically to the basket or short roll, catching it in the short roll area, maybe rescreening or maybe sending it off to the weak side for a dribble handoff. These are the decisions you have to make as a rim runner, as the screen setter. And I thought his screens were really impressive. I thought his poise and timing in the pick and roll was impressive. The only thing that needs to get better is his finishing around the basket. And that honestly just comes with time. Like I said with Jonathan Mo, it’s reps. It’s ironing out those reps. It’s being more comfortable with the ball in your hands and truthfully like dunking more often. That would be nice. He was one of six on floaters and that was like when he would catch it in the uh a little bit outside of the restricted area and instead of like pound, shoulder, and dunk, it was more floater over top and he missed a lot of those. And so, yeah, just has to work on his finishing around the basket. Uh I would imagine he spends good time in the G-League next year, but I also would like to see some run with him uh with the Raptors next year. I think there is opportunity for for him especially because they don’t have this backup big man rim running type. Obviously they will lean on Sandro and Mo and CMBB to fill those minutes but having another sevenfooter who can do similar things for you defensively. I think it’s something worthwhile to invest in and for him to get some opportunity with the Raptors next season. So I’m looking forward to that. Uh hopefully that is the case. Elijah Martin 44 points on 36 36% from the field, 25% from three, 45% from two. Uh he attempted 13 free throws, which was near the top of the Raptor Summer League roster, and he had nine stocks. Um so Elijah Martin obviously had a really impressive first game, struggled in a couple of games, and then had an impressive final game versus the Sacramento Kings. Um I I like what Elijah brings. The swing skill for him generally is how effective he’ll be from three. Didn’t shoot the ball that well from three in summer league and so I thought that limited some of his effectiveness effectiveness offensively. That said, you can clearly see what he brings on the defensive level. He’s a man amongst boys. Uh he definitely was a man amongst boys at the GLeague and in the summer league. Uh not the G-League, but the summer league, just like against G-League competition. You can clearly tell that him just being like a multi-year college guy. um like he’s just grown, you know, he’s just a grown person. Uh and it it wasn’t even comparable to some of the other guys that were he was guarding. And so, how does that look at the NBA level, will he get opportunity in the NBA? I would imagine much like the Raptors did with Jameson Battle last year and much like OKC did with AJ Mitchell, uh that Elijah will be with the Raptors mostly. Yes, he will get G- League run and play with the 905 and try to stretch his legs offensively there, but he will get rotation minutes, probably rotation minutes. We’ll see. Maybe he doesn’t crack the rotation, but uh he will be with the main club primarily. And if he plays in games, he’ll eventually get converted to uh an actual contract deal instead of a two-way. We’ll see how that goes. Uh I thought generally like the, you know, the offense was like cool. Some of the athleticism was incredible. obviously that massive dunk that he had, but for the most part, the swing skill for Elijah is knocking down those threes at a consistent level. And if he can do that at the NBA level, then uh obviously he has a role for himself here. Chucky Heburn, 19 points, 18 assists, eight turnovers, shot just 22% uh from the field. 17 of his 22 shots were threes. Um so I I thought I thought that was something that was telling. He couldn’t really get to the basket in pick and roll operation. um you know he settled for a lot of threes and yes he was off ball for for a few of those but generally in picker rolls I thought he he settled for threes instead of trying to get to the basket and getting downhill. Uh he also committed 23 fouls which was more than what CMBB committed. So, uh, foul prone, you know, again, the physicality, the way that he wants to play defensively lends itself to a more physical way of basketball. And so, refs are going to be quick to call those whistles if they don’t believe that he is actually being physical without following fouling. It’s just one of those things. It’s a reputation thing. That said, impressed with Chucky Heburn in the sense that he can operate in pick and rolls. I thought some of the lobs that he throwed to he threw to over Shamshay and Jonathan Mo and CNB, those were impressive. Some of the connections that he made with those guys was nice. Um, generally definitely needs some ironing out in the G-League offensively. Definitely needs to figure out like what his game is uh at the NBA level. You know, how can he basically score truthfully? You know, he was a really great pick and roll operator uh in Louisville, right? How can he do that in the NBA consistently? Uh the three-point shot obviously is going to be a massive part of his game. Defensively, how can he impose himself at the point of attack without fouling? Those are just questions moving forward with Chucky Heppern. But I imagine he gets a lot of 905 run. He gets a lot of opportunity to iron those things out with the G-League. Uh and truthfully, I think the the 905 will have a pretty good team based on some of these guys on the roster. Um those are those are the only players that I’m going to break down here. Colin Castleton did not have a good summer league. Uh I’m sure many of you know that uh he struggled and I I’m not sure if there’s a place for him moving forward with the Raptors. He was obviously on a non-g guaranteed deal and I don’t think unlike AJ Lawson who absolutely made a case for himself. I don’t think Castleton made a case for himself to earn that final roster spot. He probably will be. I believe Blake Murphy tweeted this, but the Orlando Oyola Oyola Magic, I believe, have the rights to uh Castleton. So, you know, he might have a spot in the G-League next year. We’ll see what happens. Otherwise, um you know, not much to see from anybody else. The Raptors ran, you know, I just listed like how many guys did I just list? 1, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine guys, right, who are going to be either in the Raptors rotation next season, uh, or on the main team or spend time being the main players for the Raptors 905 next year. Like, it was tough for the the end of the bench to really get some run because the Raptors are so heavily invested in this group of players. And so there’s not much else out there that I could have talked about with, you know, Key or or Girier or anybody else or Omarui. Um, these guys were the guys that were the main parts of the conversation and I thought generally you could take away something positive from all of them. Uh, folks, I went long on this. I I undoubtedly did. I imagine I did. Uh, as always, like, comment, subscribe, do the things you guys really do to help us out. We appreciate you guys supporting Raptors Republic. We are uh really really blessed to have the audience that we have and for you guys to enjoy the content. As always, listen to Pull-Up Trey and Samson. Uh those guys do an incredible job. They’re funny as hell. They’re my guys. Uh and everybody else on the Raptors Republic podcast network. Appreciate you guys as always. We will see you guys later. Bye.

The Toronto Raptors fell short of their Summer League goals but the team found an identity. How did each player succeed?

2:11 – CMB
7:00 – Ja’Kobe Walter
10:41 – AJ Lawson
15:33 – Jamal Shead
20:41 – Jamison Battle
22:30 – Jonathan Mogbo
26:19 – Ulrich Chomche
29:19 – Alijah Martin
31:26 – Chucky Hepburn

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