Toronto Raptors Summer League Media Availability | July 12, 2024

Toronto Raptors Summer League Media Availability | July 12, 2024

G year two you feel like a vet yet no no I still feel very young I’m still learning a bunch um um but you know what’s nice is having the other vets that are a lot older here um working out with the team so it’s it’s good there’s a lot of learning you know going on but is there some sense of familiarity or kind of a new sense when you have year two for sure you know it is you know a sense of like having son under my belt um being able to you know help the other like real excuse me rookies out here and um kind of you know teach them different things that I went through last year and you know the the different ups and downs and the advice that you know my vet gett Temple you know Tommy last year so it is nice what you need what do you need to get out get out of this for yourself um really just I mean I’m coming in with the same thought process and mindset that I did last year and I probably will every single season of my life and that’s just to come in ready to work um and give you know what I can to the team whatever the team needs um I think I talked a lot about last year being a sponge and you know trying to suak up information and knowledge as much as I can I’m still doing that and like I said earlier I’m going to try to do that you know till the day I’m done playing Dark yesterday said that they could put some stuff in for you here that gives them a a baseline to work at during the regular season you look to expand your skill set here to give you something to work on of course you know I’m always you know trying to grow my game and um I feel like I’ve been talking about it since high school of not trying to be um classified as just a shooter and try to you know um show my array of you know different my skill set and um I got a chance with more minutes you know last year unfortunate with you know the guys out but fortunately for me you know just trying to through my preparation be prepared to you know show that skill set that I could you know towards the end of the season that’s what I’m going to keep doing how do you find that balance these Summer League games of like taking advantage of the opportunities to Showcase yourself while also not trying to go too far out outside of what your your role is going to be in the NBA yeah no I I never want to you know go out there and play a game that I’m not you know I’m not never going to you know play out of my role and you know try to go out there and you know ISO or something that I’m not going to obviously do you know on the team you know I always want to come in and um just give to the team like I said earlier what the team needs and um it is a little different I guess cuz you know in summer league you might have a little more freedom to you know show a little more but um I think it’s always good just to do that in practice and um where you’re prepared for that so if you are called to do that in a in a real game and during the season you’re not you know a stranger to it you know BR um there’s going to be some roster changes obviously this year as there is every year it seems like the starting shooting guard spot might be open for you I know you started a lot towards the end of last season what are your thoughts in terms of just your preparation in terms of potentially starting this upcoming season I mean it’s not really you know in my mind just to you know be a starter if that comes along with it you know through my work then you know that’s good but at the same time it’s it’s really just like you said that preparation and um being as much prepared as I can be you know when I when I step foot on the court you know I want to be ready to you know be in any spot that you know I’m asked to do so and you know this summer we saw Scotty uh Emanuel these guys got really cashed out they they got what they deserved um how happy were you for them and also did you guys do anything to celebrate now those are my guys you know seeing you know the hard work for them payoff is you know it’s motivational and inspiring for you know a young player like me to um hopefully try and get there one day so um yes especially due to their age you know how young they are doing that is is it’s super cool um me Scotty and Emanuel we actually went to uh the Michael Jackson show last night um just some little random stuff dinners so it’s you know it’s good to be around guys like that what’s your impressions of Jamal Jamal shed I know I don’t know if you played him against last year but same Big 12 Conference what’s your impressions of him and what do you know about him yeah we never got to play him um in college but no I knew him you know when he when he was at Houston and um the thing about him is you know I’ve actually talked about you know a couple different of the new guys here but the the thing that makes it so cool is just the kind of people they are off the court um and just their personalities you know how well we already me mesh well together and um I think that just is going to help translate to the court you know when you have a a guy that’s selfless like that you know just good to be around it’s it’s going to be fun you know get on the court with them what’s been the most interesting part of the transition into your professional Journey with the Raptors um uh probably just learning how to be a pro um you know really everything that you do uh it’s up to you so uh really just learning how to take care of myself um building my own routine and then just getting into the groove of practice is it living up to everything that you kind of dreamed of as a kid what the NBA experience would be like yeah I’m still excited and happy about it now uh still just be walking I’m like dang I’m really here still so um it’s definitely what what what I thought it was what are the conversations like so far between you and coach in terms of just like expectations for year one even expectations for summer league uh just be myself don’t trying to complicate anything don’t overthink uh just play basketball like I’ve always been doing my whole life so really just keeping it simple be myself and then just compete what’s the impression of Jamal shed I know you guys play against each other in Big 12 Conference what what’s he like and just what do you know about him as a competitor um yeah like you just said played against him so as a competitor I know how much he wants to win um I know about his defense everybody does uh he’s a great leader great great point guard and then just getting to get some reps in with him talking to him off the court he’s a great person cool to hang around and then on the court uh he’s a leader so uh he really just keeps everybody in check for me um him being older than me I’m always listening to what he has to say and he’s setting me up and putting me in the right positions big emphasis on Player Development you came in with quite the resume what’s been focused on in terms of rounding out your game whether it’s you know one dribble pull-ups or dribble driving into the lane what’s been the focus so far cap yeah just being tighter with everything I do um just trying to be uh intent with every every every move I do um shooting wise just staying consistent uh increas in range defensively um lateral quickness and then bodywise just trying to get stronger add weight be solid so uh really just trying to work on every aspect of my game um cuz I know that um Everybody in the league is good and great so uh I got to up my game how was um how was your head coach uh Drew Scott at a bayor Scott Dre yeah sorry a bayor um help prepare you for this transition because obviously Bor produced a lot of NBA players over the years yeah um uh in practice he doesn’t let us slack at all uh I think he does everything from a pro perspective uh he wants us all to be here so uh in practice he’s going to hold you accountable um he’s going to make sure you’re doing your thing he’s going to challenge you every day uh if you not working out and he notices he’s going to make sure that you get back in the gym cuz um he knows that there are people working everywhere in this world I’m familiar were you with Davon before heading here uh yeah super Familiar of course he came back to Baylor we played against him and then he was one of the main reasons I wanted to commit to Baylor um so you know we’ve just been talking about Baylor our experiences um coach Drew and just how excited we are to get to play with each other why was he one of the main reasons you wanted to go there uh just the way that he played uh the the intensity that he played with offensively and defensively obviously he won the championship with the Baylor team and I could just tell that he was a leader and that he really wanted to win and that’s something that um I want to learn how to do become a better leader and I like to win and um so that’s why I think it’s just great for me and him to be on the same team what’s been like the last few weeks for yourself obviously from the draft going to Toronto coming here how how has it been for you just adjusting to everything uh it hasn’t been too hard uh got to the city of Toronto um really just me and my family were just uh touring toring around seeing seeing the city seeing where I’m going to live um practice we was just getting in the gym afterwards working out getting some rep so that hasn’t been too hard um pretty much right now it’s kind of feeling like college just with the travel working out and practice what can you tell us about Jonathan mobo seems like you guys have been spending a lot of time together since obviously coming together rookies uh funny guy funny guy um I don’t know if y’all seen on the court super athletic um like in practice uh he defensively he has super long arm so he’s able to block shots a high intensity player and then like I just said off the off the court he’s a funny guy great guy to be around so yeah in Toronto yet uh me and my family went to Niagara Falls that’s not t but um of course uh we went CN Tower U we went to a Blue Jay’s game um that’s pretty much it uh not yet um but they’ve been telling me about some sushi spots that I need to go to so I’m going hit those up later all right coach you’re back in the big chair and I know for you a big part of how you approach coaching philosophically is with a message a key theme anything you’re imparting on this group of young men as you push them through this experience yeah I think one that it’s an opportunity uh at all times I think those that are already on our roster or trying to get onto our roster it’s an opportunity uh and I think it’s a chance for the for Darko and from asai to see what they can do and get them more minutes and I think for the players that aren’t on an NBA roster yet it’s also an opportunity there’s tons of players watching and tons of Staff watching there’s a chance for anyone to really make their career so I think for all of our players my my message to them is like always go hard always play the right way cuz someone is watching who can give you a job somewhere and uh a lot of your main ISO guys won’t be part of the summer league team that’s how it works so how do you kind of massage guys and get them ready to contribute knowing that you know when it comes down to end of shot clock situations and things like that that’s not really what you’re looking for out of this conglomerate players yeah I think very specifically like with oai and Grady who are obviously on our team last year we want to put them in situations that they’re going to match for the Raptor roster game so what would they look like for an NBA game how does Grady play more minutes in an NBA game same for oai and that’s the scenario we want to put them in in summer league so like we they don’t need score 40 points a game we’ve got other guys on our team that can hopefully do some of that uh but what role can Grady play What role can oai play cutting moving extra ball movement stuff that’s really what we’re trying to find and grow them in how difficult is it to coach offense knowing that you know you can’t really lean on those ISO possessions yeah I mean it’s still fine in summer league like we have a lot of good players on this team and I think ball movement obviously Will trump things we know the way coach Darko coaches where ball movement is sort of Paramount so it’s the same message for us so find the open shot find what’s the next action it’s the best action and kind of go from there J one of the things that Messi and Bobby both talked about is restocking the development Pipeline and that’s something clearly that you guys have emphasized this summer even just looking at this summer league roster for someone with a background and Player Development H how exciting is that for you the group that we put together is really special I think now that we’ve seen them here for a few days in the gym and seeing what a jacobe can bring to the table or a Jamal like they just bring a certain sort of uh forcefulness that I think you really want in a young player uh when you’re trying to develop a player their ability to sort of bring the fight and the fire that needs to be there already and then as coaches we can find T around the edges but I’ve been really impressed with that sort of uh force and focus that our new players have and I think if you look at groups of players like there’s a lot of really interesting pieces and I think we have a long road ahead in terms of how we develop them but I’m excited for that Journey without question you mentioned jacobe what are sort of his skills that are like ready and if not NBA ready close to NBA ready and and what do you want to see him develop sort of over the next year or two that that will make him a more complete player I think jacobe defensively brings something special to the table already he’s got sort of an innate ability to guard the ball and his hands are really good you see him getting deflections and sort of knocking through the ball and creating extra possession so that’s one that feels NBA ready and I think his actual just pure jump shooting is really a high level his catch and shoot ability and his size to create the shot with his length is actually really good uh so those things are kind of ready and then we got to figure out the playmaking and sort of the next action stuff and just learning the NBA basketball what are your early impressions of mobo really excited uh he had a great draft workout with us um he’s a really talented athletic young player and I think in the draft workout you’re sort of teased by what could this be but in the last few days here at Summer League I think you see a player who sort of had his head head on his shoulders the right way and and wants to play basketball the right way and when you add that with his length with his ability to shoot the ball I think from the corner which is developing skill but more to attack the rim and play Above the Rim that’s special and then I think what I’m noticing with all of these guys is the defensive piece Jonathan brings a defensive intensity and a focus if he’s the five or one through four to be able to switch and guard any player or to guard the five I was going to say does he have an NBA position or does that even matter with the way the game is played today yeah I don’t I mean a four would be sort of the easy answer but I think he’s a basketball player who can do a lot of different things that switchability piece makes him Dynamic and and I think I does he have a postgame I’m not sure yet but I think he’s a dynamic player and that in the NBA you can play one through five guys probably all what how raw and what do you like to mold out of him like he’s got a lot of things we have got a play yeah I think one what you notice first is sort of the proportionality of his body so he is an NBA frame legs arms thigh shoulders like that just full NBA full on right away and then I think you see a willingness to learn that’s what I’ve noticed and picked up on in these last few days and and an excitement to learn those are two great starting points from there you look at his Rim protection which we’ll start to see in these games a little bit uh and I think in terms of his offensive decision- making he’s not horrible he just needs tons of reps to learn what that actually looks like his journey to get here is rather unique does that make him a little bit more hungry or more appreciative of teaching yeah I think so I think that like watching him be here and and he hasn’t been handed a silver platter he doesn’t sort of hasn’t had this this journey mapped out for him as many players do and I think it makes him special I think that he wants this really badly and not that other players don’t but his journey to get here has made that feel more sort of like robust and more like more focused so I think for coaches that we love him so far he’s got great energy great smile you guys are going to love him as well seems like a really good kid J off topic but um growing up in Toronto do you ever think you would see a national team Canadian national team this talented really impressed with the national team I think that their talent level uh but I think to me the connectivity between them I think when you look at our Raptor players are on that team obviously RJ and Kelly and then you add the Shays and jamals and the extra pieces from there there’s just a real continuity to the way that they play uh so I think really excited for them I think they’re going to have a great Olympic run um and I think that jordy’s done a great job pulling the team together and we’ll see what that looks like once they get to Olympic uh Olympic Games what are your impressions of Jamal shed obviously he’s a well-known college player what do you see from him just in this summer experience how do you see yourself using him and what do you expect for him just going forward so one of the things the Raptors are really trying to do this season and we look at at at summer league is to be better on the ball and Jamal is sort of the best example of that he really cares about his on ball defense he’s great at sort of taking pick and rolls out of the play because he doesn’t need any help he just blows it up himself so that forcefulness and that aggressiveness but more so on me coaching the team is his leadership and his experience he’s won a lot of basketball games and sort of leaning on him as someone who knows how to win will be really important for a summer league team e e

Players and Coach address the media following Friday’s Summer League Practice.

00:00 – Gradey Dick
04:20 – Ja’Kobe Walter
08:44 – Jama Mahlalela

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