The future isn’t in ‘Jeopardy!’
Hi, Doug. We can see that to win an NBA championship, a team needs at least one true superstar (if not more) — i.e. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Steph Curry. We lucked out with Kawhi. Who would help the Raptors the most, among the players out there now, and who would you pick (for the future) in this year’s draft? Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid come to mind, but they still haven’t done it for various reasons. Who would have thought that Luka Doncic would be so good? What about Cade Cunningham for the draft? — Eddy and Bob
A team needs a LOT of great players to win, let’s make that perfectly clear. No player — and I’m talking Jordan, LeBron, Kobe, Shaq, Hakeem, Curry, Kawhi, none of ’em — does it alone. It helps for a team to have a future Hall of Famer, sure, but if the other seven or eight guys who play aren’t great, no one’s got a chance. On this Raptors roster? Durant. And anyone who paid much attention to anything in Europe knew Doncic was special. Cunningham would be a great draft pick. Cheer for lottery numbers.
Do you think the Celtics tried to contact Masai Ujiri about taking the job of president of basketball operations before giving it to Brad Stevens? — Neil
No. Never even crossed my mind to think that they would. And if they did, I can’t imagine Raptors ownership would have given permission for the talks. Total lateral move for Masai.
When can we expect to see your turn as a celebrity host of “Jeopardy!”? Who wouldn’t love to see your “get off my yard” snark on TV? For my money, I have Blossom (sorry, Mayim Bialik, you will forever be affectionately known by that name) as the front-runner. I’ve found that newscasting does not translate to game-show hosting! — Santino
I used to be a habitual “Jeopardy!” viewer and played along every night. Sadly, I’ve gotten out of that habit, but I understand Blossom was less than great in the eyes of some. I also understand LeVar Burton is on tap. That’s one I might want to watch. A great voice.
In all your years covering the Raps, can you recall a more honest and forthcoming player than Fred VanVleet? — Manale
Fred’s outstanding in interviews, one-on-one or in groups. He’d be right at the top of alltime Raptors list along with Jalen Rose, Jorge Garbajosa, Antonio Davis (when he was chatty) and DeMar DeRozan.
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to askdoug@thestar.ca. We reserve the right to edit for accuracy, length and clarity.