By Holly MacKenzie, sportsnet.ca
Twitter @stackmack
There’s more going on with the Raptors on Wednesday than just the season opener. It’s also the deadline for the team to extend DeMar DeRozan.
If the sides don’t reach an agreement by midnight, DeRozan will play out this season and then the Raptors will be able to issue him a qualifying offer next summer to make him a restricted free agent.
DeRozan seems pretty level-headed about the whole thing, saying he’s ready to go out and play his game whether the offer comes through or not.
While he has given no indication that he feels differently, when asked if staying in Toronto would be the ideal situation for him, DeRozan said,”Yeah. At the end of the day, this is where I got drafted, this is definitely where I want to be. I just want to bring good things to the city and be a part of it for years to come. We’ll see what happens.”
He did give us a bit of interesting news when he was asked if he was surprised with the Saturday night trade that sent James Harden from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Houston Rockets.
“A little bit, because that day he had actually called me asking me for advice and everything,” DeRozan explained. “I was just talking to him, I’ve known him for a long time. Just trying to be on his side, whatever he did, you know? I didn’t expect that to happen, so I wish the best for him at the end of the day.”
Knowing that Harden was calling fellow draft class of ’09 mate to discuss his situation makes you wonder just how tough of a situation it was for the 23-year-old to ultimately decide not to accept the approximately four-year, $53-million extension offered by the Thunder, setting up the late-night swap to Houston.
In the aftermath of the trade, everyone had an opinion on Harden’s decision to turn down the offer from the Thunder. It is always interesting to hear a player’s thoughts on people on the outside “counting their money” or judging decisions they’ll never face.
“At the end of the day nobody knows what we go through with that. The talks, the behind the scenes, nobody knows,” DeRozan said. “Not even, in his situation, I don’t know so I’m not the one to speak on his situation I just wish him the best. But for people to criticize him, say he should have done this, that, this that, at the end of the day, man, it’s our job. Let us go out there and do what we’ve got to do. It’s part of the business at the end of the day.”
Casey, team anxious for Wednesday’s opener to arrive
– Two days away from the season opener against the Indiana Pacers and Dwane Casey had a full practice with all of his players available. Casey told media that it would be the last hard practice for awhile because of his team’s tough schedule to start the season.
– More importantly, Jose Calderon and John Lucas III practiced with their respective banged-up knees feeling good after each went down during the team’s final intra-squad scrimmage at Casino Rama Sunday afternoon.
– Grading his team’s preseason performance, Casey stressed that they will need to play slower and smarter on Wednesday night, but gave the team a “C” on the defensive and a “B” on the offensive end of the floor.
Magloire expected to stay with the team this season
While the team waived centre Jamaal Magloire on Saturday, Casey said Monday that the Canadian veteran will sit down with general manager Bryan Colangelo to discuss his role with the team. He stressed that they want him around, both working with the players and interacting with the community.
Casey then singled out his professionalism, crediting him with starting the foundation of toughness within the team’s identity during his time on the roster last season.
Around the gym
– Throughout preseason, Amir Johnson has usually been the last player on the practice court each day, getting extra shots up. As Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun tweeted, “Knew Amir Johnson was shooting the ball well this pre-season but a .614 shooting percentage from where most of his shots have been coming?”, it’s been paying off. Today was like most days, with Johnson staying way late after practice, first working on free throws, then his mid-range jumper and finally his three-point shot (!). I was able to hang around for the final shooting drill where he finished connecting on 36 of his 50 three-point attempts. Not bad for it being a full three-hours after the initial practice start time of 11 a.m.
– After struggling at the line so far this year (50 percent for preseason, just 58 percent for his career), Landry Fields spent a chunk of time after practice working on free throws. After finishing up, he raised an arm to the air in triumph, but not before making some serious disgusted faces at some of his misses.
– Wondering if the decision to put Jonas Valanciunas in the starting lineup was a tough one? Dwane Casey would like you to know that he has earned that spot. Casey was very complimentary of his rookie during today’s practice.
While he cautioned that Valanciunas will make rookie mistakes, he also praised him, saying: “He’s a sponge, probably to a fault. He’s still learning the language a little bit, the terminology. He’s still learning. He’s a rookie. Is he going to make mistakes? Yes. Believe me, I understand that. I’ve seen them all come in the league. If he makes a mistake, it’s going to be a hard mistake. As a coach, that’s all you can ask for from a rookie, is do it hard. And then you let the chips fall. A lot of times if you do things hard [and make a mistake], you’ll make up for it with effort and your conscientiousness.”
– If you’re a shoe person, I’ll be snapping photos of what the players are wearing on their feet this season. You’ll be able to track the photos on twitter under the hashtag #Rapskicks
Holly MacKenzie will cover the Toronto Raptors for sportsnet.ca this season. Check back daily for updates and opinion.
