Birch reveals his family had COVID
Now free of coronavirus, Montreal-born centre will split time with Achiuwa
It was shaping up to be the best season of Khem Birch’s NBA career: playing for the team he followed as a youngster, owner of a lucrative new contract that spoke to the faith the franchise had in him, a legitimate shot at being a starter and playing more than he ever had.
And then COVID-19 hit and the coronavirus robbed Birch and his family of three weeks of normalcy, three weeks to get ready for what some thought would be a breakout season.
It may still turn out that way for the 29-year-old Raptors centre. He still fits prominently into the team’s plans, and he showed an emerging game last season that was intriguing to his coaches and teammates.
No one would be the least bit surprised if he ended up as a starter and a vital contributor, but he’s still recovering and a significant contribution might be weeks away.
Birch, his wife and young daughter arrived in Toronto around Sept. 18, ready to prove the three-year, $20-million (U.S.) contract the Raptors bestowed on him in the off-season was a wise investment, and he spent a week working out with a group of new teammates and getting ready for camp.
Then the setback, and no one knows how serious it will turn out to be.
“We all tested positive,” Birch said Monday morning before he made his pre-season debut in Toronto’s 107-92 win over the Houston Rockets at Scotiabank Arena.
“I think my wife had a loss of taste and smell and fatigue, while I just had loss of smell and fatigue, and my daughter was perfect,” Birch said hours before the Raptors’ final home pre-season game. “We’re all 100 per cent fully vaccinated, too, so thank God. If we weren’t it probably would have been worse … It was really good to just have my whole family there with me during that process.”
The three-week setback cost Birch a chance to fight for a starting spot with the Raptors, a position ceded in the pre-season to Precious Achiuwa. But Birch’s skills — he’s a tough rebounder, solid screen-setter and showed a much expanded offensive game at the end of last season, particularly as a threepoint shooter — fit perfectly with what the Raptors want to do this season.
In 31 games with the Raptors after being waived by Orlando, Birch averaged career bests in points (11.9) and rebounds (7.6), and extended his shooting range to where he took 31 threepointers, more than he’d taken in 3 1⁄2 seasons combined with the Magic. He may have only shot 29 per cent from beyond the arc, but that’s more than sufficient to be a threat as a floor-spacing big man.
He may not have Achiuwa’s ball-handling acumen yet, but there are aspects of Birch’s game that are undeniably important.
“Between the two of them, they’re going to have to man that (centre) spot,” coach Nick Nurse said before Monday’s game. “I wouldn’t say it’s 24 and 24 (minutes each), but I think plus or minus three or four either way each night — depending on who we’re playing and what’s going on — is probably ideally what we’re looking at there.”
At 29, Birch is the second oldest Raptor on the roster — Goran Dragic, who got Monday’s game off for rest, is 35 — and is going into his fifth NBA season.
“I think I can be a guy who shows by example,” the Montreal native said. “Helping my teammates, showing the little things on the court. Just to get everyone involved and playing winning basketball.
“A lot of young guys come in thinking they have to get stats and everything. I just want to show them how to play winning basketball and get everyone involved.”
Birch played 17 minutes against the Rockets with two points and two rebounds; Achiuwa played 19 and had 17 and five. They are destined to share a lot of responsibility this season.
“I think they are pretty similar in a lot of ways,” Nurse said. “Not getting into all the specifics of what we’re seeing matchup wise, there is going to be some certain things that Khem will do better and some things Precious does better as well, I believe.
“I think we have an idea. I think we still need to get to know Precious a little bit more too, and we need to reacquaint ourselves with Khem.”
The Raptors, now 2-2, sat Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby for the entire second half. Neither of them will play when Toronto wraps up the pre-season Tuesday in Washington.