Raptors Cage

Why all NBA players should want to play for the Raptors

For too long, there has been a notion that American NBA players don’t want to play for Canada’s team. However, after building a winning culture, showcasing that Toronto is a beautiful city, and even capturing a league championship, the tides are set to swing in the Raptors’ favour. With the initial frenzy of the 2020 … Read more

Expect Matt Thomas to be a contributor this season

Matt Thomas is becoming one of the most sure things for the 2020-2021 Toronto Raptors backcourt. We’ve heard some Kyle Lowry trade rumours, some Norman Powell trade rumours,  and rumours of Fred Vanvleet walking. Terence Davis is likely not starting the season with the team. Patrick McCaw will return if he can get healthy. The … Read more

Evaluating the Raptors roster needs

In organizations where people are the key resources that dictate performance, human resource managers often use replacement charts to visualize which employees can, and will replace their outgoing co-workers. In the basketball realm, replacement charts could be equated to teams’ depth charts – something that is used both formally by teams, and casually by the … Read more

Nate Bjorkgren parts ways with longtime friend, Nick Nurse

Early this afternoon, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Indiana Pacers have hired Nate Bjorkgren to be their next head coach. Bjorkgren has been one of the Toronto Raptors’ assistant coaches for the past two seasons, and was an integral member of the 2019 championship team. A native of Storm Lake, Iowa – not … Read more

Nick Nurse is a Raptor for now, and for the foreseeable future

This morning, Toronto Raptors fans had a weight lifted off their shoulders knowing that Nick Nurse will remain North of the border for the next few years, at minimum. The Athletic’s Blake Murphy first broke the news via Twitter, stating that the Raptors and Nick Nurse have agreed to a multi-year extension, with the exact … Read more

OG Anunoby sparks a light for the Raptors

“The mood’s not good. we’re not happy. We’re a little pissed off, and we should be,” said Nick Nurse after the Toronto Raptors crushing defeat to the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. “We’re not proud of anything we did [in Game 1]. So you gotta live through that until you … Read more

The stellar growth of OG Anunoby

When OG Anunoby was taken by the Toronto Raptors with the 23rd pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, he was known as an astute defender with an NBA-ready frame, tree trunk legs, top-tier intangibles, and of course, an ardent love for cheesecake. Coming off of a recent ACL tear that was supposed to hold him … Read more

Who should be the Toronto Raptors’ eighth man?

As the Toronto Raptors’ players begin to settle into their hotels, and the playoffs slowly inch closer, it is time to discuss everyone’s favourite conversation topic, playoff rotations. A typical NBA season will see a team give nine, ten, sometimes even 11 players significant minutes. Due to the Raptors’ crushing injury woe’s, and Nick Nurse’s … Read more

Orlando’s mental toughness requirement favours the Raptors

Basketball this year isn’t going to be the same. Around ten games have been sliced off the end of the regular season calendar for the top 22 teams in the league, while the bottom 8 squads have been dismissed for golf season and won’t play an NBA game until December. There have been major alterations … Read more

Appreciating Nick Nurse – from management, to scheming, to bobbleheads

Looking back on the race to win the Toronto Raptors’ head coaching vacancy just a couple of summers ago, it’s hard to imagine what life would have been like if Nick Nurse had not been selected. What if one of the other finalists were picked instead? Would Ettore Messina, or Sarunas Jasikevecius have led the … Read more