The Toronto Raptors are now 26 games into the 2021-22 NBA season and there are many questions surrounding the team, including: What is rookie sensation Scottie Barnes‘ ceiling? Should the team trade Pascal Siakam? Will Masai Ujiri win another championship in Toronto?
To receive some clarification, CNN reporter and political fact-checker Daniel Dale joined The Raptors Show With Will Lou to check the “facts” surrounding this current Raptors team.
Scottie Barnes will be a top-10 player in the NBA in five years
“I’m going to say true,” Dale, who grew up outside Toronto and is a big Raptors fan, said Monday. “That would be quite a feat, but you think of the number of top players right now who are under 30, it’s not a huge list. It’s like Giannis (Antetokounmpo), Luka (Doncic), Trae (Young), I think (Young) can be overrated. I think (Barnes) has a real chance.”
“The fact that I’m not being laughed off this segment making that statement,” Alex Wong said, in response to the prompt. “Two months, three months into his NBA career, I think it says a lot about Scottie. The fact that we could place this level of expectation on him.”
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The Raptors would be better off if they traded Pascal Siakam
“I’m doubtful, I think the fanbase is too hard on him, I think he’s a really good player,” Dale said. “He’s obviously not Kawhi Leonard, he’s not a top 10 player, he made a second team All-NBA. I’m doubtful that they get equal value for him, I mean it’s possible it’s out there, I lean false on that one.”
“Just for the record, Alex wrote that question,” Will Lou said.
Kawhi Leonard made a mistake leaving Toronto to join the Los Angeles Clippers
“I mean obviously, obviously he did,” Dale said. “We can’t speak for the man’s personal life, he wanted to go home, he might have had deep personal reasons for that, but from a basketball perspective, I think (the Raptors) would’ve clearly been the favourite… at worst, they would’ve been one of the three favourites to repeat.”
Masai Ujiri will win another NBA Championship in Toronto
“I’ll say yes just to be optimistic. It’s so hard to win a championship and they are so far from it right now,” Dale said.
Watch the full conversation about “fact” checking this current Raptors team on The Raptors Show with Will Lou, which can now be streamed live daily on Sportsnet’s YouTube channel. A replay of Monday’s episode can be found below.
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