Gameday: Celtics @ Raptors, July 10

Raptors basketball is BACK!

While yesterday’s Kawhi Leonard news has put a temporary damper on the Raptors’ offseason, we can at least distract ourselves with some actual, real-life, basketball.

The Raptors kick off Summer League with a matchup against long-time rivals, the Boston Celtics. Tonight’s game will be the first chance to catch a glimpse of new rookies Allen Graves and Jaden Bradley and it provides the team the chance to evaluate potential candidates for the Raptors’ final two-way spot.

The game also provides the first chance to compare Graves to another prospect the Raptors were heavily linked to throughout the draft process, Chris Cenac Jr. While Summer League means literally nothing in regards to long-term outlook, there’s no doubt that fans will be watching and evaluating how the two stack up.

Raptors Outlook

Record: 0-0
Offensive Rating: N/A | Defensive Rating: N/A | Net Rating: N/A

I did a preview of the entire Raptors’ Summer League roster yesterday, and while writing that piece, I grew more and more optimistic about the team’s chances in Las Vegas this year. The roster they’ve put together features an excellent mix of rookies, sophomores, seasoned G-leaguers and international players.

Yesterday, Sportsnet’s Michael Grange also released a piece where he provided some insight into what the Raptors are hoping to see out of Collin Murray-Boyles in these games. Specifically, he revealed that the Raptors want to run through Murray-Boyles:

To that end, Simovic has spent four full weeks working with Murray-Boyles – three in Toronto and a week in Columbia, where Murray-Boyles hosted a mini-camp for eight of his younger teammates at the University of South Carolina.
The focus has been on helping Murray-Boyles expand his game: take reps as the ballhandler in pick-and-roll situations; acting as a grab-and-go point guard in transition and working on his shooting so that he can help space the floor when he shares the court with the rest of the Raptors starters.
Raptors looking to push Murray-Boyles out of comfort zone at Summer League

Outside of Murray-Boyles, I’ll be curious to see how Graves and Bradley stack up, as well as sophomore Alijah Martin, who earned a standard contract with the Raptors this off-season. Outside of those four, keep an eye on Nate Bittle and Nimari Burnett, who are on Exhibit-10 contracts with the Raptors, meaning they will be with the team through training camp and are on the inside track for the Raptors’ final two-way contract. Jamarion Sharp, who won the G-Leage Defensive Player of the Year and stands at seven-foot-five could also garner interest to grab that contract, the Raptors could use someone with that kind of size to protect the rim and rebound.

Mostly, Summer League is about development and offers the first chance to set the tone for the season. Last year the Summer Raptors played a high-intensity, turnover-forcing defensive style that we saw trickle into the regular season. We’ll see what this year’s team has in store.

Celtics Outlook

Record: 0-0

As mentioned above, a lot of attention will be on Celtics rookie Chris Cenac Jr. who they selected with the 27th pick in this year’s draft class after speculation that the Raptors may select him themselves at 19.

Joining Cenac Jr., the Celtics are bringing five players with NBA-experience to Las Vegas including Curtis Jones, John Tonje, Alondes Williams, Amari Williams and Hugo González. You may remember during the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes that the Celtics reportedly refused to include González in any potential trade when negotiating with the Milwaukee Bucks. When the Antetokounmpo trade never materialized, the Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for a 36-year-old Paul George. Time will tell if keeping González was the right choice.