Like at the end of every preseason each NBA team has to make the extremely difficult decision of waving the players to get their roster size down to their allowable amount for the regular season and the Toronto Raptors. yesterday the organization finished up their preseason with an incredibly exciting 137-134 overtime win against the Boston Celtics in front of the loud Montreal crowd. Following the game they made the decision to waive Gabe Brown, DJ Wilson and most notably former 4th overall pick Josh Jackson. This means that the final roster spot was earned by Justin Champagnie but many Raptors fans think this was a MISTAKE by Masai Ujiri, Nick Nurse and the rest of the team staff..
In this video Jacob Gramegna on his main channel Amateur Hour Sports breaks down all of the roster decisions made by the team last night with a huge focus on the decision to have Josh Jackson waived by the Raptors in favour of keeping Justin Champagnie for another season. Was this REALLY a mistake or is Justin Champagnie worth the investment of time over the former lottery pick?
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0:00 – Overview
0:58 – Raptors waive 3 players
1:29 – The Exhibit 10 contract
3:06 – Just not good enough for Toronto
4:16 – Masai Ujiri’s big mistake?
6:00 – The problem with Jackson’s game
8:07 – The difference between Justin and Josh
9:25 – That 4th overall pick is gone..
10:14 – The correct decision was made
See you again next time
#raptors #torontoraptors #raptorsvsceltics
39 Comments
Would you have chosen Justin Champagnie or Josh Jackson?
Champagne will hustle on rebounds and stay in his role and not get many turnovers cause he’s not a ball handler… overall I see why we chose him over Jackson
Justin Champagnie is a more popular choice according to my Twitter base. He’s also my choice. Really feel bad for Josh Jackson, but Justin is my preference.
The left hand lay-up for to 2points by Champagnie while closely guarded was impressive.
We don't see the practice. Maybe they weren't playing as hard in practice. Play hard in practice get everyone better. Especially the starters. Justin's knows the system so he will be where he is supposed to be and that is huge
Unfortunately the Dinos have no superstar players, lucky if the Dinos are a postseason squad…….
C’mon guys are you stupid the Raptors have been investing in Justin Champagnie over the years and if you’re not Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder you would see this guy potential to be a good supporting player. Yes I too was hoping we would secure Josh Jackson over Juancho Hernangomez because Josh Jackson is a 4th round overall pick with higher potential just he wasn’t in the right development organization. But who doesn’t like the Champagnie.
Hmm 2017 yeah you got a point 5 years removed he haven’t shown anything I say the same about Juancho Hernangomez too this guy being around 6 years too on a few different team shooting 3ppg taking one 3 points shot so he isn’t really showing me anything except winning for his country which I have to say that’s a big deal!!!
“Many Raptors fans think this was a mistake by Masai…” Without all the bs it comes down to this, many Raptors fans are idiots 😜.
I was genuinely bothered by them waiving Jackson. They should have never brought in Hernangomez. That would be Jackson’s spot
Idk why people think Champagnie is good. Dude is straight trash and constantly bricks and airballs. I thought they picking based on offensive ability???
Those air balls by Justin were so bad I thought Nurse was going to call me to join the team.
Just a reminder Boston suck and Tatum is overrated
Justin has a much higher ceiling
Unfollow b/c your explanation just made no sense and shows me what you know.
I would choose Chmpagnie over Jackson given the difference in ages.
Champagnie will likely improve as he gets older but Jackson has likely hit his ceiling.
However i would also choose Wilson over Juancho.
Wilson had better stats than Juancho last season (admittedly for a small sample size)
and played better than Juancho this preseason.
Reportedly Juancho can defend well but so can Wilson.
Plus Wilson has shown some dedication to the team and seems to fit into the
Raptors culture. Perhaps Juancho has the same hard working attitude-
I don't know.
Certainly I don't see any proof justifying the claim that Juancho is definitely better than is Wilson.
My hope is that Wilson signs up with Raptors 905 and get a called up when injuries happen to the main squad and the coaching staff finally realize clearly that Wilson can be a
solid bench player in the team. He deserves it.
Agree. Except for that Bargagni jersey in the background.
Liked Josh J when he was drafted… But he looked good at the start of preseason but he did not end well. And he seemed to not be as efficient after first Bos game…He looked to press much more after that game and tried to do too much with the ball… In the role he was working for… It did not match… JC knows his roll
proven it last year and despite being injured during summer and Pre season… He showed more in 1 game considering he is 4 years younger… Has more room to grow…🤔
Why is everybody so worked about Jackson getting cut ? The man can’t shoot the ball. Did these fans not watch the Houston game or the Boston game last night to see his melt down in winning time when all he needed to do was make 2 free throws to keep the game from going to overtime ? When you’re fighting for a roster spot you can’t make those mistake’s in winning time. If the Celtics won that game in overtime he would have cost us the game and for someone fighting to make a roster that’s a big deal because you’re under the microscope more than a player that’s already signed. Sure he can take the ball to the basket which he showed in the first 2 game’s but that’s a lot of players in the G league. That’s Stanley Johnson who just got cut from the Jazz and is still a better shooter than Josh Jackson while being better defensively. The man has been in the league since 2017 and can’t shoot any kind of jump shot or make free throws. He’s actually a NBA veteran at this point and can’t shoot. This fan base is definitely the worst in the league for overrating scrubs. Josh Jackson, Freddie G, Donta Hall, Rondae Hollis Jefferson, Bruno, Paul Watson, Brooks and the long list of scrub worshiping continues. Jackson failed himself when he never developed a shot in 5 NBA season’s. Like I’ve said even Stanley Johnson improved his shooting over the years. I would give Stanley another look before I lose sleep over Jackson. At least in his last season here her Stanley was making 3’s. Teams would just leave Jackson open and go double our best player on the floor. If you’re a defender you encourage to let guy’s like Josh Jackson shoot because more than likely it going to be a brick. We got Dowtin on a 2 way that give’s you the same ability to get to the rim, plus a shot and people are worried about no jump shot having Josh Jackson that hardly made 3 shot’s outside the key getting cut ? . Don’t cheese me
Completely agree, Jackson being cut was the right thing to do. Could’ve been another Stanley Johnson situation honestly where we sign him but eventually don’t get anything out of him.
Either Champagnie or Jackson would not make a big impact in the regular season as they would be the 15th guy. Unless a major breakthrough from Champagnie in the regular season, we will not see him be a key contributor. Champagnie will have a better chance to be an improved player based on his age and work ethics.
Champagnie is a waste. They should have gone with Jackson.
He had 2 season to show and he isn't it.
He's a culture piece. That's why. Raptors are doing a mid-season trade according Woj that will include star players and make them spoilers. Only trade I see happening is a 3 team deal between Golden State, OKC and Raptors. OKC gets Draymond Green + picks, Golden State gets OG and Gary Trent Jr maybe a pick, Raptors get Wiggins, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, James Wiseman
Damn he was a finishing bucket
Josh Jackson can't shoot
What is Champegnie? He's a scrub. Jackson has more talent.
ustin was always favorite for the last roster spot because he played well with the 905 and the main club in spot mins.
I want the raptors to find a way to keep Gabe Brown because he is a excellent 3&D prospect who is better than Ron Harper.
2 airballs from justin last night ya wtf are we doing
The problem with the raps is our bench is still full of guys that can't shoot consistently. That's a reason why our starters log heavy minutes. Nurse doesn't trust these guys and he wants to win every single game. Champagnie had a wide open corner 3 yesterday and completely air balled it. He's just not dependable on offense. The argument that Jackson is no longer a 4th overall pick is so stupid. Where exactly was Champagnie drafted? Exactly. Jackson also has never been in the raptors development system. Jackson is still an overall better player. He wasn't drafted at 4th for no reason he clearly has some talent.
League's rules are built around making offense easier yet we lack shot creation on this roster.
Jackson is already near his peak while Champagne is just scratching the surface of his potential. He's got elite potential as a rebounding specialist that isn't a liability on offense.
I'm glad for Justin. We're sitting on a keg of dynamite. If wasn't for injury the door would have closed long time ago. The raptors know how good Justin is, they do not want to expose him to the league. He is the true diamond in the rough.
I'm very glad we went with Justin. Much better option, far more upside, more room to grow his game. Younger player, will listen and learn from the coaches and teammates.
I think he will be a big part of our success this year. His style fits our positionless style of play.
Play in raptors
Psh…unreal
Jackson will get signed somewhere. Think he did his career a lot of good this preseason
We are talking about the very last roster spot. Whoever got the last spot was probably going to rack up a ton of DNPs. I do think gabe and josh was probably better right now, but raptors probably see more potential in Justin.
That Justin Champagnie air ball 3 though haha
I think its an ego/attitude thing. NN Masai and Bobby will take less talent who has no attitude or ego, team player