ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

Q: Hi Doug, 

It seems to me the Raps summer league team would have benefitted from A.J. Lawson playing in the semi.

He was a spark in all of the other four games.

Was he injured, resting for the final or some other reason?

Brian in TO

A: He had a bit of an adductor issue and was unable to play. And, yes, he had supplied a ton of offence off the bench in four Summer League games.

Q: What’s going on with Chris Boucher?

TO, Bsky

A: I don’t usually do a lot of questions that come in through social media interaction but I haven’t had a Chris Boucher question for weeks and I missed them.

He’s still a free agent, there hasn’t been much of interest in him right now. I’d suggest he’ll be a late camp addition, at best, somewhere in September. But that somewhere is not going to be ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, that ship has sailed.

Q: Hi Doug,

Guess you left Las Vegas to return to the bone-chilling tundra known as ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ ... just in time for the heat warnings! We (still) the North!

Some questions for you:

1) How responsible is Jamal Shead for Davion Mitchell’s new $24 million contract. If he didn’t force his way into the lineup, Mitchell would probably be making much less as a Raptor here next season. Thoughts?

2) Sticking with Shead, if Alijah Martin becomes Shead 2.0 (not exactly, but forces the hands of management), I assume you’d use him in trade rather than give up Immanuel Quickley. Does that make sense?

3) Sorry, but not seeing Colin Castleton as occupying a roster spot. Have a hard time buying that the best centre not currently signed to an NBA contract is that guy. I know, Ulrich Chomche isn’t ready ... yet! Or does Castleton just represent the most affordable option. I don’t expect you to slam the guy, but what’s your take?

4) A related question: did GM Doug see anyone in Summer League that he would poach from another team? What do you make of guys like Javon Freeman-Liberty who performed well (again) in Summer League but can’t catch on permanently in the NBA? Does a quiet free agent market represent teams hoping to sign guys cheap out of desperation on the players’ end?

Bonus question: with Malachi Flynn out of the League and Precious Achiuwa still unsigned, doesn’t the OG trade look better for ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½?

Thanks for keeping us going during the real downtime until ... September? 

Bernie M

A: I think as former lottery pick who’s undeniably a plus-defender, Mitchell could have expected a mid-level exception offer and got less than that. But his skills certainly fit Miami so maybe the Raptors took care of him by moving him there.

I don’t for a second think either Shead and certainly not Martin are 32-a-minute night starters. I also think for sure that teams need three point guards and watching Martin learn in practice and the G League is the right spot for him. But I also don’t think any trade is necessary, not contemplated now.

Castleton’s contract is not guaranteed and I’d be shocked if he was a Raptor on opening night. Jakob Poeltl, Sandro Mamukelashvili and a glut of small-ball fives will handle it. Chomche needs another year in the G League, a few good minutes in a few Summer League games showed that he’s far better than he was but he’s not ready for steady NBA minutes.

I didn’t see a ton of Summer League games not involving ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½. A few but not many. And outside of the expected top draft picks and a couple of second-year players under contract to other teams, no one I saw struck me as any better than anyone the Raptors have.

The return for OG was, yes, a win in the transaction ledger for the Raptors and is getting better.

Q: Jamal Shead had trouble with turnovers last season, and did again during this year’s Summer League. Is this a cause for concern?

Paul M

A: Not to me. Rookies learn hard lessons as he did last season, and the Summer League doesn’t matter.

Q: Hi Doug,

Hope your summer downtime is coming up aces.

What’s the play for the Dallas Mavericks to hold its pre-season camp in Vancouver?

Paul from Port Colborne

A: Well, it’s one of the continent’s great cities, excellent hotels, tremendous restaurants and things to see. It gets the Mavs away from Dallas for a week of bonding and team building and might very well cut down on the media throng who wants to chronicle everything Cooper Flagg does.

And, believe me, NBA people LOVE Vancouver.

Q: I saw a note that said the Dallas Mavericks are planning to have training camp in Vancouver. And we know the Raptors are training in Calgary before going to Vancouver to play an exhibition game against … Denver! Huh?

Steve, Hamilton

A: Yeah, it would have been logical for the Mavs to wait for the Raptors to get there and play them but the raw outlook of a pre-season schedule is set months and months earlier, probably earlier than even Dallas planning to go to Vancouver and ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ finalizing its Calgary trip.

I wonder, though, if the Mavs would do something like an open practice? It’s a ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ tradition but that’s because they’re the Canadian team, the Mavs are not that in Vancouver.

Q: You always hear that trades must be even in contract value, or within 10 per cent. Can you explain how the Celtics were able to shed Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday and not take back some similar contracts?

John, Spain

A: Hola. Hope the sangria’s cold and the birdies are flowing.

It’s not so much that Boston didn’t have to take money back as it was both Atlanta and Portland didn’t have to send money out. Teams who can assume the contracts into existing cap space, or something like a trade exception or one of the various cap exceptions (mid-level, biannual, etc) don’t have to shed money.

Q: Where is Jerry Howarth when we need him?

The current occupant of the White House in the U.S. is using his version of the meaning of sport to divert attention from his Epstein case risks — and he is doing it employing a MIGA (Make Indians Great Again”) tactic.

“Great” for the current occupant means a time when sports either excluded minorities or became the venue for promoting hideous stereotypes.

Howarth (sports broadcaster who refused to use the Cleveland team name before it was changed to the the Guardians) and Colin Kaepernick (pro athlete who took a knee during the U.S. anthem to protest racial inequality) have earlier provided models for us for how sport can be a progressive activity, ready to acknowledge past discrimination, ready to promote social progress.

Where have all the Howarths and Kaepernicks gone?

Charles N.

A: They’ve been replaced by the Stephen A. Smiths and Pat McAfees of the world; thank goodness our airwaves are not dominated by them. Oh, and the suck-ups who run some American television networks and cower to the bully.

That said, I think wise minds will prevail, even in the U.S. of A.

And, who knows, maybe sense and logic will although for discourse rather than yelling.

Q: I know it’s not exactly your area of expertise but you do know a bit about team chemistry and wrote often about it with this group of Raptors.

So my question is if the Jays are going to make deadline trades, aren’t they toying with the one thing they seem to have an abundance: Team cohesion and camaraderie.

Do you think that will, or should, play into the thinking of the front office?

Kyle, Mississauga

A: They absolutely are but I would hope that the front office and whatever array of scouts they have at their disposal have done all the necessary due diligence about the personalities of anyone coming as much as their physical skills. A couple of knuckleheads can throw a wrench into a well-functioning group.

I do know, though, that the players understand this time of year and the opportunity to legitimately chase a championship doesn’t come up too often so they’ll be OK with friends having to go — either back to the minors or to other organizations.

But, yes, it’s a bit of a concern, or it would be to me.