#smg2_sports

#smg2_sports

LAS VEGAS-Moses Brown is getting an up-close look at the unique skills of Summer League teammate Markquis Nowell. The seven-foot-two Brown has been the beneficiary of a handful of excellent pick-and-roll passes from the five-foot-seven Nowell in a couple of Raptors losses. "He's just an amazing point guard," Brown said after the Raptors were hammered 99-76 by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

He was just a young prospect unsure of where he fit in the grand scheme of NBA basketball when Jalen McDaniels first had to impress the brain trust of the Raptors. It was his first pre-draft workout, one of those seminal moments in a youngster's career, a defining day five years ago. There was Masai Ujiri and there was Bobby Webster and there was Nick Nurse, stern-faced and ultimately judgmental and it was all McDaniels could do to keep his composure.

","heading":"Fred VanVleet's instagram post","fullWindow":false,"fullBleed":false,"showFullBleedOnMobile":false,"headColor":"","type":"html5mobile","textColor":"","mobileImageUrl":"","bgColor":"","imageUrl":"","registeredOnly":false,"linkUrl":"","aodaTitle":"Fred VanVleet's instagram post","internalScroll":false,"displayStyle":"small-up"},{"hideCaption":true,"type":"instagram","url":""},{"text":"VanVleet, 29, who wasn't selected by any team in the 2016 NBA draft after playing at Wichita State University, signed with Toronto as a free agent and embraced his motto "Bet on yourself."","type":"text","isParagraph":true,"isHeading":false},{"text":""I

The Raptors are raiding the WNBA to fill a gap in their coaching ranks.James Wade, who until Friday was the head coach of the Chicago Sky, will join the Raptors staff as an assistant to new head coach Darko Rajakovic, the WNBA team announced.Wade, a 47-year-old native of Memphis, has coached the Sky for four-plus seasons and led the team to the 2021 WNBA championship.

There is a way for the Raptors to make any lingering ill feelings from the first wave of free agency to dissipate.They just have to win.And to do that, there is now a larger dose of pressure on one man: new coach Darko Rajakovic.Team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster are unlikely to have any major moves left to make after the Friday flourish that saw guard Fred VanVleet leave, centre Jakob Poeltl return and guard Dennis Schröder added to a roster that is almost full.

","heading":"","fullWindow":false,"fullBleed":false,"showFullBleedOnMobile":false,"headColor":"","type":"html5mobile","textColor":"","mobileImageUrl":"","bgColor":"","imageUrl":"","registeredOnly":false,"linkUrl":"","aodaTitle":" ","internalScroll":false,"displayStyle":"small-up"},{"type":"ad","className":"fresh-eight-ad","name":"Fresh2","display":"medium-up","pos":"3","sizes":[[728,90],[728,270]]},{"text":" Kevin McGran is a Star sports reporter based in Toronto.

After weeks of speculation, Fred VanVleet agreed to a rich free-agent contract with the Houston Rockets on Friday night, ending his successful run with the Raptors.The 29-year-old point guard from Rockford, Ill., carved a path to the NBA after going undrafted in 2016.Known for his mantra " Bet on yourself" after reportedly telling teams with late second-round picks not to draft him, VanVleet signed with the Raptors as a free agent and started his career with Toronto's G League affiliate.

Raptors guard Fred VanVleet is signing with the Houston Rockets, according to a report from ESPN.VanVleet, who joined the Raptors as an undrafted free agent in 2016 and went on to become an NBA champion and all-star, will leave Toronto after seven seasons after agreeing to a three-year deal worth $130 million (U.S.).

Jakob Poeltl is staying put.After fulfilling the expectations the Raptors had when they repatriated him in February, the seven-foot free-agent centre is sticking around.NBA sources confirmed a report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, shortly after the free-agent market opened Friday, that Poeltl will return to Toronto on a four-year deal worth $80 million (U.S.) with a player option on the final year.

The Raptors have done their financial ciphering and know what they'd be comfortable paying two key free agents, while also conducting the requisite due diligence should either or both of Fred VanVleet and Jakob Poeltl seek NBA employment elsewhere.It is a delicate time of year for the team's brain trust with president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster juggling any number of scenarios for the moment free-agent talks can officially begin Friday at 6 p.m.
Their preferred scenario would be to bring back both the veteran point guard and centre, and tinker on the periphery of a roster that still lacks shooting and backcourt depth.

Newest Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan has a nickname: Cowboy.He does, after all, come from a farm.He doesn't ride a horse - the farm has no livestock and grows cash crops, like corn, soybean and wheat.But he does drive the tractor, among other chores."When he was younger he cut a lot of grass, starting when he was six or so," says his dad, Chris Cowan.

The Raptors have had far more misses than hits in pursuit of free agents over the 29 years the franchise has been in existence.But to mix metaphors, when you swing for the fences more often than not, sometimes you pop out to shallow left field.But it doesn't mean you shouldn't keep taking powerful cuts.

The Maple Leafs have re-signed forwards David Kämpf and Pontus Holmberg, the first moves under new general manager Brad Treliving.Kämpf agreed to a four-year, $9.6-million US deal at cap hit of $2.4 million a season.That's a significant raise from the two-year, $3-million deal the checking centre signed two years ago with Toronto.

The concrete work of Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving is starting to get done.He has confirmed his head coach, Sheldon Keefe, will return.He is confident Auston Matthews and William Nylander will commit to long-term term deals.And, on Wednesday, he'll make his first pick as Leafs GM.The Leafs have the 28th pick, which belonged to Boston, got traded to Washington and was forwarded to Toronto in the Rasmus Sandin deal.

New Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving says Sheldon Keefe will return as coach next season while expressing confidence he'll get both Auston Matthews and William Nylander to sign extensions this summer."I'm confident we're going to get both players signed until proven otherwise," said Treliving, as tweeted by Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets.

The Kansas native will speak with the local media at 11 a.m.Monday morning in Toronto, following a fun-filled couple of days after arriving in town.Less than a week after being called on stage by the Raptors on draft night, Gradey Dick, is set to be officially introduced to the team and the city.The Kansas native will speak with the local media at 11 a.m.

With a one-time home-run hitter like Masai Ujiri running the Raptors, moments like Thursday night's NBA draft always hold the possibility of a long-awaited big swing.Savvy draft-night deals, after all, have a history of mythical deliverance in the world's best basketball league.It's how the Lakers got Kobe Bryant, how the Mavericks got Dirk Nowitzki, how the Raptors, long before Ujiri was making the decisions, ended up with Vince Carter.

The commonly held opinion is that this iteration of the Raptors needs playmaking and backcourt help more than anything but Dan Tolzman, the team's vice-president of player personnel, wants nothing to do with your commonly held opinion, thank you very much.The transitory nature of NBA rosters and an organization's need to look beyond one season mean that talent trumps immediate need every single time.

Three-time Maple Leaf Yanic Perreault believes his draft-eligible son, Gabe, is more than just a chip off the old block.Indeed, Gabe Perreault is a lot like his father.He's scoring by the bucket load as a teenager, his skating needs work (he knows it) and his hockey sense is off the charts."He's got really good hockey IQ," Yanic said.

","heading":"","fullWindow":false,"fullBleed":false,"showFullBleedOnMobile":false,"headColor":"","type":"html5mobile","textColor":"","mobileImageUrl":"","bgColor":"","imageUrl":"","registeredOnly":false,"linkUrl":"","aodaTitle":"Comparing careers of Joseph and Lundqvist","internalScroll":false,"displayStyle":"small-up"},{"text":""Lundqvist should be a slam-dunk," says Paul Pidutti, a self-proclaimed numbers guy who has created a database to compare every Hockey Hall of Famer.

Jama Mahlalela is coming home.The Toronto native, a former Raptors assistant and Raptors 905 head coach, will join Darko Rajakovic's Toronto staff, team and league sources confirmed.Pat Delany, a long-time assistant in Charlotte, Orlando and Washington, is also among the first hires Rajakovic has made since he became the 10th Raptors head coach.

This may be a NHL free-agent class without a true headliner, but you'll notice one thing about the top-25 players listed on CJ's Big Board.Virtually all of them played in the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring.Most of them filled important roles, too.There will be plenty of useful options on the open market when free agency gets underway July 1 - although two of the more sought-after defenceman have been removed with Damon Severson's sign-and-trade to Columbus and Vladislav Gavrikov's extension in Los Angeles.

To little surprise, the Raptors have seen another assistant coach depart, clearing the slate even more for new head coach Darko Rajakovic to work with.Rico Hines, a skills development coach who spent one season with the Raptors and best known here for organizing high-level summer scrimmages in Los Angeles, announced on his Instagram feed Wednesday that he's leaving Toronto to join Nick Nurse in Philadelphia.

Phil Kessel: three-time Stanley Cup champion.Take that, Toronto.That was essentially Kessel's message after he lifted the Cup for the third time following the Vegas Golden Knights' 9-3 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 5 on Tuesday night to clinch the best-of-seven final 4-1."Takes me back to my Toronto days.

As the Raptors look to rookie head coach Darko Rajakovic to usher in a new era of basketball success, they can count on a section of excited Serbian fans to cheer on one of their own."In Serbia, here, everywhere there are Serbian people, everyone is talking about it and everyone is so happy," said Vorita Dragovic, who works at the Sarajevo Grill & Meat restaurant in Etobicoke.

This is certainly not the biggest Ye Olde Mailbag of all time, but given there was no coach until Saturday, the draft's about two weeks away and you've all somehow ignored the coming free agency (and thanks for that!) it's understandable that we'd be light here.But don't be afraid to branch out.I can make up answers on any number of subjects.

Shane Doan was asked what he would bring to the Maple Leafs, and he said it was hard to say because it will be such a new experience.As he is coming from a franchise where they play in a mall, and collect players after they've more or less died, and kind of run the team off the back of a truck, yes, it will be different to work for the Leafs than it was for the Arizona Coyotes.

As the Raptors wrestle with philosophical issues about the direction the franchise will take, two presumed favourites to get serious consideration as the team's head coach have not advanced past preliminary discussions.According to multiple NBA sources, neither ex-Brooklyn head coach and Canadian icon Steve Nash nor Sacramento Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez have been invited for a second interview for the Toronto job that has been vacant since Nick Nurse was let go in late April.

Brad Treliving had already spoken when Kyle Dubas was introduced in Pittsburgh on Thursday, where Dubas is now in control of the dying days of a hockey dynasty.The Penguins won three Stanley Cups with the Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin-Kris Letang core in their 17 years together, but now Dubas is charged with a graceful end to the era, while building a bridge to something new.

You can't blame new Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving for the scary but unavoidable fact that he's a long way from up to speed on precisely what ails his newly inherited club.You also can't blame Treliving, a 53-year-old father of two daughters, both of whom dutifully showed up at his introductory press conference on Thursday, for breaking out some dad jokes in an attempt to break the tension of a decidedly awkward morning.

The clock is ticking.Or maybe that's the timing device on a bomb.For general managers in sports - ditto for coaches - the countdown begins first day on the job.And so it is for Brad Treliving, even within the generally friendly environment of Thursday's formal introduction press conference for a pack of journalists assembled at Scotiabank Arena.