Raptors not taking anything for granted
Even with longtime nemesis James going to L.A., East still figures to be dogfight
LeBron James has been tormenting the Toronto Raptors, among other Eastern Conference franchises pretty much since the day he entered the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s been especially bad over the past three seasons, with Toronto being swept away in the playoffs by James and the Cavs in consecutive years after losing in six three seasons ago.
But there is finally some hope for a franchise that has repeatedly had the misfortune of running into the league’s most formidable roadblock. James, of course, will officially sign with the Los Angeles Lakers once his vacation ends later this week.
Nick Nurse, who has gone from directing the offence in Toronto to sitting in the big chair in place of Dwane Casey, said James’s defection is a good thing, but there are no guarantees the Raptors will take advantage.
“How does it affect us, well, you can’t automatically say, ‘Oh geez, we lost to LeBron every year, put us in the Finals,’ ” Nurse said after the Raptors fell 92-82 to Oklahoma City in NBA Summer League action on Monday afternoon.
“There’s a lot of other good teams and I think the competitive nature will spread a lot deeper across the East now. A lot of teams (are) thinking, ‘Hey why not us? (If ) we put together a couple of free-agent signings, get some chemistry, stay healthy, we’re in the upper echelon of the East,” Nurse said.
“You know we’re going to have a shot. Now we’ve got to get out and do it.”
Nurse said he wasn’t shocked to see James wind up with the Lakers.
“Everybody talked about it a lot and I have a lot of good friends who kept telling me it was a done deal for the last couple of months, so I wasn’t that surprised,” Nurse said.
As Toronto’s new head coach, Nurse sees a returning core of talent that can compete with anybody in the conference. He will make tweaks here and there and expects further improvement from the young players on the roster.
That list is likely headed by second-year forward OG Anunoby, who broke out on Monday following a rough opening two games here. Anunoby had 19 points, hitting four three-pointers from a variety of locations, added six rebounds and a couple of big blocks.
He swished a three from the corner to open the scoring for Toronto, had a big dunk later and was allowed to handle the ball a lot more than we’ve seen in the past.
“We’re experimenting a little bit, probably giving him a bit more rope to play and dance with it a little bit,” Nurse said of Anunoby, who became a starter as a rookie and likely was the team’s best defender.
Anunoby was reined back in later in the game and Nurse said he told him, “‘You’ve danced three or four times here, they know you’re playing some (isolation), they’re sending the farm at you, let’s get the ball moving and play a little bit more (like) we’re normally going to play,’ ” Nurse said.
“(But being allowed to try to expand his game,) that’s what we’re here for, to let him have a little bit of rope, to do some things. He’s earned it,” said Nurse.
Toronto dropped its first two games in Vegas 90-77 against New Orleans on Friday and 10392 against Minnesota on Sunday.
The team lost forward Malcolm Miller, who split time with Raptors 905 and the Raptors last season, to a dislocated right shoulder during Monday’s game.