Land of the free (agents) would be a handful
Doug, for the sake of argument, let’s assume that through trades and free agency the Raptors ended up with their choice of any and all of the Canadian players in the NBA: all 15 roster spots are Canucks. Nick Nurse would still be the coach, since he has experience coaching Canadians. How would this team do in today’s NBA? I think they would be just fine at PG and wings, but a little weak for bigs and very reliant on some senior guys like Tristan Thompson and Kelly Olynyk. Which Canadian NBAers would not make the cut?— Bruce
I think a team with, say, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, Andrew Wiggins, R.J.
Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort, Chris Boucher, Dwight Powell, Khem Birch and Oshae Brissett as the top 10 would certainly be a playoff team. It’d be small, but it’d be tough and sometimes that’s enough. Plus, I think Thompson and Olynyk could add some size. The thing is, with 16 NBAers and 17-man NBA rosters, not sure there’s a cut to be made. I don’t imagine a guy like Trey Lyles would play a lot, so maybe he’d be 17?
In this time of quarantine, do you have any hidden gems for us to watch beyond the critically acclaimed? I have seen “Yellowstone,” “Ozarks” and “Mrs. Maisel,” all good shows. Need something new, please. If you haven’t seem “Loudermilk” on Prime, you should give it a try. — Nick
I’ve heard about “Loudermilk” but not yet seen it, though I will. And if you haven’t checked out “Ted Lasso,” you most certainly should.
The question (last week) about Stephen Curry’s sweet shooting reminded me of the good old days when we could talk about the senior Curry’s sweet shot. I think we know he was the sweetest shooting Raptor ever, and maybe Jason Kapono was number two, who for some reason was not successful as a Rap. Who would you rank as the top five sweet Raptors shooters ever? And ... who had the ugliest shots? Not necessarily the worst (least successful), just the least unpretty.
— sportschic
I’m not sure I’d put Kapono No. 2. I don’t even know if he crack my top five, actually. Not when the Raptors had — albeit briefly and they never used him — Peja Stojakovic on the roster. He’d be for sure No. 2, and I’d probably go with Dee Brown, Kapono and Vince Carter to round out the top five, although I feel I’m missing someone. Donyell Marshall probably has to be in the conversation, too. The most “unpretty” is hard. But, man, it used to take our old pal Marcus Camby a long time to unfurl his shot. And Aron Baynes would be in the discussion.
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