Biggest Takeaways from the Toronto Raptors 2-0 Summer League start | Gradey Dick, the rookies & more

Biggest Takeaways from the Toronto Raptors 2-0 Summer League start | Gradey Dick, the rookies & more

on your Monday episode of lock on Raptors the summer Raptors simply cannot be stopped you are locked on Raptors your daily Toronto Raptors podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every [Music] day hey what’s going on and welcome to another episode of Locked on Raptors part of the locked on podast podc Network your team every day it is Monday July the 15th and I’m your host Sean Woodley I’ve been coming the Toronto Raptors now for 10 seasons on various platforms you can put all my work over on the website with all of the horrors at Woodley sha you can find the show on Instagram at locked on Raptors and of course you can join us over on the lockon Raptors Discord server the link is in the description of the podcast great place to be it’s been an awesome thing over the weekend as summer league has started lots of Summer League talk going on in there lots of Talk of the future also you know come talk talk about what food you’re cooking at home what video games you’re playing it’s all in there it’s a great little listener Community we got building around the show we’d love to see you there again free to join Link in the description of the podcast as always of course you can find the show for free wherever you get your podcast follow subscribe rate review tell a friend it’s very much appreciated especially in the audio side of things when you go support us over there nice to see us jumping up the charts etc etc you can also find us on YouTube you can go subscribe to the locked on Raptors YouTube channel hit the notification Bell and get a heads up via push notification every sing single time the show is better to Premiere or go live which is a wonderful thing of course today’s episode is brought to you by fandu will make every moment more as the playoffs wind down the Sports Stop sporting like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com to get started all right let’s get to it on today’s show digging into a 2-0 start for your Toronto Raptors at Vegas summer Le League uh it’s a it’s been a long time since a raptor summer league roster was this talented was this exciting was this intriguing and there’s lots of stuff to get into today we are going to try to hit on all of it from the games against the Thunder and the Nuggets a blowout win on Saturday then a very narrow Victory on Sunday night to move to that two and 0 record we’re going to talk about Grady dick off the top I think he’s the most important player playing for the Raptors in summer league he could potentially be starting a few months from now so we’ll get into his performance early on also uh some Jamal shed propaganda some jacobe Walter talk some look at Jonathan mobo and all r shamsh as we run through the draft picks for the Raptors in this most recent class we’ll also get to The Good the Bad and the H bringing back our annual postgame tradition annual not that’s annual is daily well I’m a stupid idiot uh we’re gonna get into The Good The Bad and The to round things out as we always do on the heels of a Toronto Raptor basketball game summer regular season or otherwise all right let’s get to it off the top Grady dick I’m pretty impressed it sucks that he got hurt uh in the second game he missed the second half against the nuggets on Sunday and it very well could be the last we see of him in summer league because you know teams tend to play pretty safe with injuries this time of year you don’t want to go and aggravate something and potentially put the start of the season in Jeopardy so if grd dick is in fact dealing with a sprained ankle which it sounds like he is he took a bit of a knock in that second game fell Strangely I I think it’s pretty you know we could see him still if if things prolong and they you know make it to the finals or something like that maybe they want to roll him up for that but I don’t think it would be a shock if we do not see Grady dick play in Summer League again for the Raptors and I know his performance in the second game left a little to be desired just two of nine from the field 0 of five from Deep after going 0 of four in the first game but overall I think I kind of saw enough out of Grady dick to be satisfied with uh whatever he’s going to do this summer in that first game that’s really all I needed to see that first game against the Thunder Grady dick was the best player on the floor and I don’t think it’s especially close he had a command of the halfcourt offense when he was asked to go and put the ball on the deck and create he had six assists in this game obviously that’s really really excellent connective passing stuff that we always knew we had a knack for we always knew he had the sort of intuition for playmaking and that sort of next play in the sequence but it was really great to see it actually put into full practice in this game racking up those assists and this also applies for the rebounding as well I think this was kind of the theme of Grady dick in that first game it’s stuff that he’s always had the clear sort of intuition for the instincts for the rebounding the playmaking all of that the off ball movement was always there but the rebounding and playmaking were things you saw little flashes of as a rookie right oh he put the ball in the deck and made a nice crosscourt pass with a live dribble that’s exciting oh he’s crashed the offensive glass and getting in the mix I I think the difference is is that he was able to put that stuff into practice more in this game against the thunder on Saturday and I think that’s very much tied to him just being more physically mature he very clearly looked stronger he was a beanpole as a rookie the the stories of you know how they saved his season by telling him to work out more essentially really you know that that was like one of the through lines of the season was watching Grady dick kind of go from this guy who looked totally out of place on an NBA floor into being someone as darkar rakovich said went from looking like he was 16 to looking like he was 17 and a half by season’s end baby steps baby and I do think he continues to sort of show that physical maturation process is very much underway and the rebounding and the playmaking the operation within the half court within traffic um all of that points to just the the benefits of extra strength the damn crowd who thinks it’s good to work out score another point for them they’re right they win whatever um Grady dick 10 rebounds in that game had the double double I I think in particular with the rebounding stuff his again his instincts for it were always build as a strength of his right you know coming in from the corner to crash for the offensive glass um just kind of getting up and into the mix for rebounds just because he’s got good leaping ability and good instincts for where the ball is going to land but it didn’t always lead to rebounds in the sort of amount you would have hoped to have seen as a rookie but here he was physical enough strong enough to get in among the thickets of bodies and Rise Above grab it pull it down um you know crashing the offensive glass and actually finding those offensive boards which he didn’t always do last season all that stuff just points to a more physically mature guy who’s settling into the speed of the NBA game his pockets where he can go and affect things I was super impressed by Grady on that end of things with I think basically everything right rebounding the playmaking the defense I I think the the team defense from him really strong had a couple of possessions where he blew stuff up got steals kickstarted the break with Outlet passes uh I just I was pretty bloody impressed by all the stuff that was not the three-point shooting from Grady dick and I think ultimately that’s what you wanted to see I would much rather see him have the sort of well-rounded floor game that he had that in that opener than to see him come out and only hit a bunch of threes and not do much else we know the threes are going to be there this is what Shooters are about out I I was not deterred from my belief in Grady dick shooting at all by last year’s summer league or the preseason start or the rocky start to the NBA season although things got a little concerning there by like November December when things were still not clicking but overall like that was never gonna be a concern of mine with Grady dick that dude is a pure three-point shooter he has all kinds of juice he has all kinds of gravity teams are worried about him shooting and that’s only going to get more impressive as he plays with better players as he gets more mature in his body I have no concerns about the threes I do not care one bit that he went 0 of nine in these two games to start summer league it’s all the other stuff that is the really exciting stuff that he’s can kind of layer into his game beneath that three-point shooting and you know to sort of solidify the whole he’s more than just a shooter thing that was always true but it really felt like that was on full display at least in the opener of Summer League again the second one not so good a little bit uncomfortable getting to his spots missed five threes but still two of four from two six of 13 from two in that opening game as well that’s the stuff I’m way more excited to see is a Grady dick who can score inside the arc we know the threes will be there in time and I do think you know to the point of playing with better players the looks he’s going to get playing with presumably the other starters in quickley Barrett Barnes and purle like they’re going to be way better looks than the ones he’s able to get as the focal point of this Toronto Raptor summer league team I I think it’s only going to get easier for him that’s always been my thought thought on Grady is he’s the type of guy who’s going to play better with better players it’s just the the archetype of player he is and for him to look as good as he did yes he didn’t hit the threes but for him to look as well-rounded and Polished as he did in a lot of other aspects of the game in summer league without that sort of strong Supporting Cast around him I think only bodess well for what things will look like when he’s occupying more of a sort of Niche defined role within the Raptor starters and he’s able to affect the game with his off ball movement his sort of controlled for iism away from the ball his ability to cut and you know finish on the catch I I just I was very impressed by gr dick if he doesn’t play again in summer league I’m good he has done what I wanted to see he did that in one game of action and I think he certainly goes into Camp whether we see him again or not as the favorite in the clubhouse to be that starting two guard um as it I think Bobby Webster maybe kind of let slip by accident that was their intention anyway but I think pretty clearly the performance in that opening Summer League game for Brady dick uh all but assured that he’s going to be at least one of two or three guys who’s in the mix for that starting job and I would bet today that he does start opening day as the starting two guard and hopefully he can carry over some of the stuff we saw in that first Summer League game to that gig we will come back on the other side get into the other guys of note and there were lots of guys of note because this summer league roster is loaded with guys of note we’re going to talk about in particular the four draft picks the Toronto Raptors have added to the mix and how they performed in their their first two Summer League games we’ll do that coming up in just one second today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel and look it’s the summertime the sports calendar is a little bit more muted however you do have the Olympics coming up you do have all kinds of WNBA action 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exciting times FanDuel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball and of the locked on podcast Network go check him out back at it here doing a little game recap of two games from your Toronto Raptors summer league opening stretch over the weekend uh taking down the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets to move to 2 and 0 that beautiful delicious Sweet Summer League trophy sitting there still within their grasp it’s very exciting times uh we’re going to get in now to the guys the Raptors took in the draft this year and how they performed in the first couple of games in summer league before we do that though just a reminder locked on sports today is your all day streaming Channel where you can go and check out uh a whole great many shows uh all day long running 247 on the YouTube channel you just put it on and locked on shows covering the biggest stories and sports from local and National perspectives is just there for you to be your all day companion go check it out all right the rookies at least the rookies who were drafted uh we’ll get into Brandon Carlson uh in the final segment when we get to the good he was very good but let’s get to the guys the Raptors took with draft picks in this year’s draft I want to start with Jamal shed folks I love me some Jamal shed I thought he was really impressive in these two games not you know popping off the screen with crazy stat totals or anything seven points four boards four assists in the open and Then followed up with nine points three boards five assists in the second game he shot two of two from downtown in that second game that’s exciting stuff one of three in the first one um you know one of those threes was a pullup in that second game as well which man oh man more of that please that would be very very cool if Jamal shed could do that I am not putting too much hope in the three-point shot just yet obviously the tiniest of insignificant samples this is Summer League after all we can’t draw massive huge conclusions from anything we see here in Vegas but the fact fact that Jamal shed is out there willing to take threes when they come to him and doing a whole lot of other really interesting stuff I am super in on the Jamal shed experience I think obviously you start with the defense very much has advertised a really really nasty on the- ball Defender trying to screen Jamal shed seems extremely challenging it seems like trying to screen a smoke monster in that you can set the screen all you want but he’s just going to kind of apparate through it and stay with his man he fights over screens extremely extremely well that’s a beautiful thing and a refreshing thing to see after the Raptors one of their biggest weaknesses I think last year on defense in general from the start of the year with Dennis shuder to the progression with Emanuel quickly in the in the lead guard roll down the stretch is just they got hung up on screens so frequently they just had very little fight couldn’t stay on the hip it was really challenging and Jamal shed seems to be very much about putting those issues to bed for this team I think Davon Mitchell obviously will have a say about that as well it’s nice to have pesky on ball Defenders baby um you know I think as a help Defender also super smart he had one possession in that first game where uh he was not the primary on ball guy but he walks over and steps up to the nail forces a turnover right away he’s just a an absolute Hound it’s really awesome to watch a guy who’s that Bloody good on defense and I think the thing that gives me hope about Jamal shed the defense is an outlier skill and I think the passing is an outlier skill as well that dude can make reads on the Fly head up getting down hill some of the passes he was throwing to guys who didn’t even seem all that open when he first lined up the pass but as he throws the pass the se’s kind of part and they just end up the ball ends up in the shooting pocket of a guy in the corner that happened a few times with Jamal shed you know I think that’s really impressive I think he has a good first step I think he can get to the rim and I think that’s going to open up all kinds of playmaking opportunities as well he had that one really beautiful assist to DJ carton cutting in on a 45 cut as shed was you know working Baseline on a drive just dumped it right off head on a swivel uh Jamal shed does the things I like point guards to do man I am very in on Jamal shed uh probably outside of Grady dick the guy I was most impressed with from the first couple of games and uh you know I I don’t think there’s like is it crazy to suggest that he could end up being the backup point guard for the team this season that might be crazy but he is a four-year college guy it’s not to say that he has incredible upside it’s not like he’s going to go become sort of All-Star point guard or whatever but or some sort of All-Star point guard but he’s got just like natural innate game controlling gifts and instincts and intelligence and I am just so head over heels in on the Jamal shed experience I would not be opposed to seeing him at least get a little bit of run with the NBA Squad this year a guy who might take a little bit longer to get there is jacobe Walter uh looks pretty green out there through two games uh I think someone in the lockdown Raptor Discord o that he kind of just looks like Grady did last year just sort of getting his sea legs um figuring out the spots where he can affect the game I I’m still pretty in on jacobe Walter just sort of the general idea of the player a catch and shoot three-point guy a movement shooter who can also get you some Rim pressure I think he’s got to work on the refinement especially when it comes to the drives and the finishing around the rim um you know know he can get to the free throw line can he finish through contact can he turn those foul opportunities into and ones that type of thing um a couple of sort of sloppy drives where he puts it on the deck and kind of loses it Midway all that stuff is going to be refined I like the general idea of what he’s doing that’s kind of what I’m looking for in summer league way more than results I don’t really care about the results in summer league I’m looking for the process and I’m looking for the flashes and I think maybe we haven’t quite seen the flashes from jacobe Walter though he was much better in the second game against Denver than he was against the Thunder um but I do think the process for jacobe Walter is pretty sound I think you know one of the bugaboos for him in college was kind of rough shot selection and you know maybe a couple examples of that in in these couple of games there was one sort of late deep three in the thund in the Nuggets game that was really way off and maybe not the most advisable shot but overall I think catching on the C you know catching on the move putting it on the deck taking the threes that are there for him I I was all right with the jacobe Walter exper experience on offense I think defensively it’s still going to take some time working on that footwork working on the control I think he’s a very athletic guy I think there is a good defender in there but he’s also like not even 20 years old yet it’s going to take some time for jacobe Walter he feels like he’s going to get a lot of g-league seasoning this year and I think that’s a perfectly fine thing for uh for jacobe Walter as he just sort of gets his sea legs in the NBA he’ll get some NBA run too I’m sure but as we talked about plenty of competition at the shooting guard spots so maybe he’s a little further down the dep dep chart and you know g- League time is It’s Not a Bad Thing by any means a guy who doesn’t have such a busy depth chart to contend with is Jonathan mobo who uh suffered a back injury in the late going against the nuggets on Sunday hopefully he’s okay I would love to see more Jonathan mobo we did not see a ton of him in these two games but I am just man he does a lot of things I really like the scoring will have to be sort of the next Frontier for him but the ball skill is clear he can put the ball on the deck make something happen he had this beautiful behind the back dribble and kick to Grady dick in the corner uh I think in the first game it all kind of Blends together at this point I think it was the first game against the Thunder and you know that’s the kind of thing that is really intriguing from a guy like mobo a guy who can you know maybe he’s not gonna you know draw a ton of attention as a shooter or anything like that but if it swings to him he’s got the first step he’s got the handle he’s got the uh just the physicality to kind of barrel into the paint and take advantage of any Runway that teams are giving him and the space they’re giving him he can kind of chew up that space frankly that’s the thing I loved from Pascal seak and a reason why I think he was less of a sort of damaging player spacing wise than he got credit for is because yeah you could sag off of him and let him catch the ball and and you know take threes or whatever but also he was one of the best in the NBA at chewing up that space you gave him getting a Runway to the basket and scoring as a result of it I saw a little bit of that in Mobo in these couple games very exciting stuff I think the defense for him he plays way bigger than 66 he is enormous I think the rebounding is super innate for him um it’s just like he’s a very good rebounder he’s got really good hands I you know he can do the grab and go thing obviously some refinement has to be done here and the offense is going to be the thing that comes along probably last he’s just a guy who’s probably going to get garbage buckets and sort of interior passing dump offs things like that early on but you can see there’s some skill there and he didn’t become one of the better interior scorers in all of college for no reason there’s one possession that really stood out you probably know it it was his highlight of Summer League probably so far it was in that Nuggets game in the second half he gets the ball kind of right around the free throw extended and he somehow manages to drive into his man Euro Step him in close quarters and get a ton of separation for a floater he puts up and in that is what Jonathan mobo is going to bring to the NBA level is that interior scoring the sort of burst and explosiveness to create separation despite not having a ton of space to operate within that’s the kind of stuff he did in college super well and I I think there’s really interesting stuff you can do with a guy who can make things happen in those Close Quarter situations I think that is why he excites me so much as a short roll guy right you know you run a screen and roll he you know rolls right into that sort of nail area he gets the ball he can make something happen by putting it on the deck or he can do the spray out and pass thing he’s very clearly got that sort of innately in him as well is is you know making those passes on the short roll as well and I also think you know there’s an element of oh could this guy be like a Zone buster one of those types who flashes to the middle you know sort of the very best of precious auua we didn’t see it a ton and I don’t like to keep on doing the the mobo precious comparison I’m not going to try to do that you know incessantly but this was a thing that I think had he been able to harness it could have been a real strength for precious which is Flash the middle against the Zone get the ball and instantly put it on the deck and score because you have that sort of first step explosiveness in close quarters to go and make something happen even when the big is kind of draped all over you I think that’s a thing mobo is going to be able to do as well I’m uh I’m very much in obviously the offensive refinement has to come a long way but all the soft skills all of the ball skill the defensive stuff with him the rebounding um there’s a whole lot of stuff here that could in theory Drive Jonathan moo to getting minutes as early as this season I I really think because of the lack of size on this roster there’s going to be a demand for someone who can do the things that Jonathan mobo can do and I would not be surprised I still think he’s going to be the guy who leads the Raptors and minutes among rookies this season I think I feel pretty confident about that then the last guy the Raptors took in the draft RR shamay very very raw obviously the offense bit of an adventure in these first couple games the free throws looking rough uh Missing heads up passes from Jamal shed on the run things like that but it’s hard not to look at Al shamp and get tantalized by the mobility at that size right I think the defense for him and the rebounding as well way further ahead of of the offense obviously and the defense you can see exactly what the Raptors were thinking when they said yeah we’re going to take a bet on this guy a guy who is that sort of mobile and fluid at that size he runs the floor like the wind he’s enormous he can block shot he had a couple of really nasty blocks kind of recovering from being at a position that’s the thing he’s going to have to work on there were a couple times where he kind of went like Hassan whide going for those blocks to put him totally out of position and ended up with buckets going in but I think for the most part shamay just with his length and the disturbance he can provide at The Rim it’s really really encouraging stuff the fluidity with which he moves it’s hard to find dudes that big who can do that backpedaling I I’m uh I’m in on the defensive upside here for Al Shay for sure we’ll see if the offense can come along it’s got a long way to come but I do think playing with a guy like Jamal shed who you know I would imagine is going to get some 95 time before he you know hopefully carves out an NBA role at some point this year Jamal shed feels like the type of guy that bigs should be playing with in order to kind of improve their station we saw this and I’m not going to keep on doing the Kyle Larry Jamal shed thing either because it’s just not fair to Jamal shed but point guards who have the finger on the pulse who know sort of what the guys on the around them need at certain times when to get their guys looks guys who can help inform how big men play you know teach them the sort of ins and outs of the pick and roll action things like that like those are the types of players who helps who help bigs get paid who help bigs find themselves NBA jobs and it’s not to say that Alish shamay is any kind of guarantee because he’s not the offense is super far away from being even close to NBA ready but playing with a head on his swivel really intelligent lead guard type I think gives him as good a chance as possible and even just sort of taking all that in through o mosis like in practice and stuff like that it’s going to be really valuable um and we saw in the one instance where Al ramay missed that very beautiful pass from Jamal shed on the Run Jamal shed you know takes him aside hey look for me I I’m GNA be looking for you if you’re running the floor be ready look for me to hit you and you know that’s the type of stuff that hopefully is the beginning of a very beautiful guard big friendship um yeah overall hard to be disappointed with what we’ve seen from the rookies out of the gate I think Walter maybe the least impressive of the bunch compared to previous expectations but um even then I I think it was always going to be a bit of a slower burn for jacobe Walter shed and mobo I think look uh relatively ready or close to ready to at least pretend that they can be contributors at the NBA level uh to give them a shot at least and see what they can do with it because they do a lot of interesting things and wouldn’t be shocked if those two guys are number one two in minutes played for Raptor rookies this season frankly it’s uh you know Walter’s the higher upside guy he’s the younger guy it’s going to be the longer play but mobo and shed do things right now that can impact um maybe not winning but effective basketball on the floor and I think that’s a good thing to have in a couple of rookies who you took because they were sort of higher floor further along the development type of guys we’ll come back in there on the other side rounded out with a look at The Good the Bad and the HM from the first couple of Summer League games as we bring back our favorite end of show segment on the heels of a toron Raptor basketball game we’ll get to that coming up in just one sec today’s episode is brought to you by eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors is everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re 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amalgamation of goods bads and HS but the good for me the two-way guys we talked about sham Shay obviously he’s a two-way as well but I’m more talking here about Brandon Carlson and DJ carton two of the more impressive players for the Raptors so far through two games I think Carlson just looking extremely competent which like look he’s a 25y old rookie who played five years in college you would hope that he looks pretty competent and like one of the better players on the floor and he did like he totally did that I don’t totally know what to make about the fact that he’s 25 he’s not a high upside player by any means he’s probably pretty close to what he’s going to be but what he is right now is a seven-footer who moves the moves pretty well runs the floor super well good rebounder solid Defender you know good Rim protection stuff six blocks in that second game against Denver that’s nothing to sneeze at you know did a pretty good job Walling off post-ups and things like that I think the sort of big question for him defensively for me after watching him play a little bit here is can he manage backpedaling in space I think there were a couple times where he kind of got blown by when he had to work and stay in front of a guard who was trying to get downhill but that said he also had a huge defensive possession late in that game against the nuggets with Julian St who was going off in this one uh you know who we totally kept to the perimeter forced into a really tough shot and a miss that was great to see from Brandon carlsson again he’s 25 he’s a five-year college player you can’t have crazy high expectations for what he’s going to be but he shot the three extremely well in college he was you know 38% he shot the three well to start summer league as well and if he can be a Spacey seven-footer you know there’s like a Luke cornette style role for him somewhere in the NBA one would think maybe he’s not going to be an incredible Defender against sort of NBA ready bodies but third big who gives you a little bit of space and stretch and um some breath into your offense like you know maybe there’s something there again he’s a two-way I try not to get too carried away with these guys because we do this all the time right oh man Jeff dton Junior he’s the best no he’s a two-way for a reason he’s 26 years old there’s a reason he has not latched onto a team yet Freddy Gillespie oh my God this guy is the the godsend for the the big man uh rotation that the Raptors have badly needed no no he’s Freddy Gillespie right like we get so enamored with these fringy NBA guys all of whom are talented like there’s no nothing against against these guys they’re all where they are for a reason but are they talented enough to be Mainstay NBA players that’s a really hard thing to do and not everybody can go and do that that said pretty impressed with Carlson and I’m happy to see a little bit more here um in summer league and eager to see what he can do on a two-way I would imagine he’ll get he’s probably you know in line at least for some Fringe rotation minutes when he’s with the big Club just because of the lack of options they have at Center and maybe he can be a nice bench big for you who you you’re not asking to have a ton of upside you’re asking him to have a pretty high floor which he looks like he just might have DJ carton I thought looked pretty interesting in these two games didn’t shoot well in the second game just three of 10 but I think the combination of Defense from him the athleticism the uh sort of playmaking instincts all there for DJ Carden I I really like what he does as a driver I think he’s got a really good sort of package of you know slowdown speed speed up heesy you know really turn on the Jets he’s got that change of speed thing that is so valuable for guards trying to get downhill working from you know just being smaller trying to put Defenders off balance find those little pockets inside the paint I think DJ carton has a pretty good knack for that stuff at least against summer league competition that’s for sure um and I thought he was just like pretty impressive as an offensive player and a guy who could um get his own and also create for others over the course of these two games also really impressed with his defense just like really strong on the ball really again the athleticism kind of plays there as well he’s pretty big for a guard he’s like 63 can stay in front of his guy um you know on a two-way happy to see that he’s back um we’ll see if he can work his way into the rotation the Raptors need a backup point guard I guess maybe him and Jamal shed and Davon Mitchell all battle it out in Camp and someone Rises and has that job maybe it’s a bit of a backup point guard by committee situation but they have at least a few Flyers to throw at the wall see if anything and you could do a lot worse than that but yeah pretty impressed by DJ carton in this one as well and yeah his his change of pace as a driver pretty fun stuff that pops when you watch the when you watch him play the bad sucks to say but oai abaji man this was not what you want to see from a third-year NBA player who should be the best player on the floor probably if all things are equal you know maybe Grady dick you know you expect to be better than him but I I thought oai was is going to come out and look the part of a guy who’s played two full NBA seasons and he just didn’t man like yeah there’s these flashes once in a while of O that was a nice drive and finish oh that was a nice finish through contact but for the most part it’s pretty rough decision- making it’s more turnovers than assists it’s a challenge with the sort of connective stuff that he’s going to be asked to do if he’s going to hold on to an NBA job he just really wasn’t able to do that in these first two games maybe there’s still more to to to see from him maybe grd dick being out gives him more leeway to be sort of the lead guy but a lot of these games oai was just kind of invisible he’s not really there and on defense I mean again I I continue to maintain his defense is more theoretical than it is anything he’s actually shown it’s a shame because I do think the tools are there but you know getting beat off the bounce not offering a ton of resistance it’s the same stuff we saw down the stretch of last season where his defense underwhelmed and in summer league you should really be hoping oai is locking guys down at the point of attack and offering a little bit more juice offensively but to go three of seven in both of these games and be kind of a non-factor on in the offense not doing a ton to you know progress possessions make the next play it’s tough man I I want to see oai make it because he’s a six foot five theoretical two-way type guy if everything hits but it’s not looking great right now man and I do think the first stretch of this coming season if he gets some run if he gets a chance it very well could be the maker break time for his career in the NBA I I don’t like to say this I I root for every guy to succeed and I want oai to I would love to be wrong about oai iagi there’s no doubt about it but I don’t think I am right now it’s just not there it’s not clicking it’s not popping off the screen in a way it should for again a guy who’s in his third year who is a fouryear college player he should just be more advanced than a lot of these guys that he’s up against in in summer league and he just has looked apart through the first couple games hopefully there’s more and you know there’s a bit of a stronger finish to Summer League to be had here but by the time you’re in year three you should be clearly too good for summer league you should have that branded across you and it just does not seem like oai has that right now let’s get to the H real quickly um you know lots of stuff we get into I thought Jameson battle was a pretty interesting player uh you know there’s no roster space no two ways left so maybe like an exhibit 10 contract or something like that an invite to Camp maybe that’s there for him he looked pretty good he’s big he’s got some functional size and whatnot um but again we’ll see he’s a an older Prospect as well but I’ll go with Javon Freeman Liberty I thought he was really good you know he didn’t shoot super well in the first game but I do think his Rim pressure he almost had like an absolutely monster Hammer of a dunk in that first game The Rim pressure he’s able to to sort of create is pretty interesting that kind of relied on him late in that Nuggets game when it was close to sort of be their Avenue to rim pressure and easy buckets he got to the free throw line a couple times he had that Lefty finish late in the game as well I tie it up at 81s he’s a guy who you know we’ve never quite seen it all quick at the NBA level and he could just be one of these guys who’s that sort of tweener between the g- league and the NBA where he’s very clearly super talented has a lot of skill but maybe it’s just better suited at the g-league level than the NBA level because the role player stuff doesn’t come as easily and I I think the best moments we saw of Javon Freeman Liberty with we’re with him on the ball this is not something we’re going to see a ton of him see a ton from him in the NBA but you know there’s still Talent there can they Channel it into a more role player friendly style of play I I’m less sure of that but he’s going to be one of the more interesting guys going into Camp obviously they have 15 roster spots seed up right now we’ll see what happens with Sasha venkov and whether or not the Raptors will buy out his deal if he goes back to Europe that’s still a whole weird thing we have yet to have any sort of clarity on but then you have Javon Freeman Liberty who I think would be the next in line for a roster spot just because he’s been around longer even though there’s a glut at his position um you know the Raptors love two guards they would love to have him back surely but right now he’s on the outside looking in if you’re looking at the 15 roster spots maybe he can carve himself out a roll and really make something happen here and I do think he’s off to a good start with his summer league play um you know we’ll see he’s uh he might just be a guy who comes to Camp gets cut we never hear from again but uh I think there’s enough Talent there enough potential shooting upside things like that connective play making where maybe they can funnel him into a role player type of Niche and there’s something there but we will see which Javon Freeman Liberty that’s why he’s the H I don’t really know what to make of him right now we’ll leave it there thank you so much for hanging out and tuning into the show and listening to be kind of I think do just kind of diarrhea of the brain on summer league it’s a lot of stuff happened right it’s also hard to have really strong takes on summer league but tried my darnest for you and uh I think we can leave it there just a heads up on the rest of the week’s schedule I’m on vacation and so there will be no podcast I think Thursday or Friday there might be one Friday maybe Saturday kind of getting a summer league thing in there because they have two more games later this week um but as of right now the only things that are set in stone are today’s episode tomorrow we’re gonna have Parker answorth from lock on cougs to talk about Jamal shed in more depth very excited about that looking forward to sharing that conversation we had last week with you and then Katie hin and I recorded a mailbag podcast last week that’ll drop on Wednesday and then the rest of the week will be a bit TVD hang out and look look check out the Discord for updates on whether or not more shows are coming out but one way or another we’ll get some summer leak talk for you um you know Saturday or at the very worst we’ll do a full kind of recap of things hopefully going into the Summer League playoffs and finals for your for your Raptors um early next week but thank you so much for hanging out thanks for rocking with the show thanks for subscribing following raing reviewing etc etc always appreciated when you do that and we’ll be back again on Tuesday with the Jamal shed Centric episode of lockdown Raptors thanks so much for hanging and bye-bye

In Episode 1678, Sean Woodley reacts to the Toronto Raptors’ encouraging 2-0 start at Las Vegas Summer League with quick hitters thoughts on Gradey Dick, Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Ulrich Chomche and more! Off the top, Sean digs into Dick, who in his first game of Summer League showed all he needed to show, showing out as the best player on the floor despite some trouble from beyond the arc. Even if the ankle injury sustained in Sunday’s win over Denver rules him out for the rest of Summer League, Dick is firmly in the conversation to start for the Raptors in his sophomore season. Next, Sean digs into the play of the Raptors’ four picks from the 2024 NBA Draft, with some thoughts on the all-around solidness of Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter looking very much like a 19-year old, Jonathan Mogbo doing all kinds of interesting things and Ulrich Chomche’s undeniably raw but tantalizing package of skills. Lastly, Sean runs through The Good (Branden Carlson, DJ Carton), The Bad (Ochai Agbaji) and The Hmmm (Javon Freeman-Liberty’s status within the franchise) to round out the show.

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