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Marc Stein: NBA commissioner Adam Silver has named Toronto’s Darko Rajaković as head coach for Team World in next weekend’s All-Star Game. Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff and San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson will coach the two USA teams. The full roster breakdown will be announced later today.
After the Knicks win over the Raptors in Toronto last week, when Bridges scored 30 points, his answer on the MSG Network broadcast went viral for how honest he was. Bridges admitted that he was “feeling too entitled” and “wasn’t being coachable.” That realization wasn’t prompted by the coaching staff or his teammates — it came from within. “I think my biggest thing is being accountable, accountability,” Bridges told The Post after the win over the Lakers Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. “You spend a lot of time by yourself, so just trying to realize what I gotta do to be better. I think that was one of the big things — I wasn’t being accountable enough for things that were happening. And not me being coachable as well, as I should.”
I'm told that the Kings do, however, still see pathways for moving Domantas Sabonis before Thursday's 3 PM ET deadline. Sources say Toronto remains the team most sources with knowledge of the situation see as a viable suitor for the All-Star big man.
Jason Beede: FINAL: #Magic 130, Raptors 120 Orlando looked dead in the water trailing by 14 points before it outscored Toronto 44-21 in the fourth quarter. Desmond Bane (32 points), Anthony Black (25), Wendell Carter Jr. (23) and Paolo Banchero (20) combine for 100 on ESPN.
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Anthony Slater on Domantas Sabonis: The Toronto interest is real from what I understand. RJ Barrett almost matches the salary. I think RJ Barrett's around like 29 or so. He's the big chunk going back. He's only under contract for one more season after this whereas Sabonis is two beyond that. That is some salary relief for the Kings.
Sources have predicted that Toronto will be aggressive, with heaps of long-term money on the books and all of their future picks available to trade, giving them the ability to shed onerous contracts and also add talent to bolster a playoff run. Though Toronto had been seen as a prominent suitor for Anthony Davis, the star forward's injury has likely removed that option. It seems certain that Toronto will shave the roughly $1 million necessary to get out of the luxury tax, but the chance for a big swing might not present itself. "There are only a few teams out there who have full control of their drafts," one veteran East executive said. "That makes [the Raptors] a buyer if they want. But when you look at their contracts [$165 million to their top five players next year], they're going to need those picks."
Justin Martinez: Here’s the injury report for OKC’s home game against Toronto tomorrow: Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein, Ajay Mitchell and Jalen Williams remain out. Aaron Wiggins is questionable with right hip impingement. He’s dealing with the same injury, which was previously described as right groin soreness.
Meanwhile, big man Domantas Sabonis is still worth monitoring in the weeks ahead. When Toronto rolled through town on Wednesday, it wasn’t all that hard to imagine him putting on a Raptors jersey sometime soon. While Washington, Phoenix and Chicago are known to have had some interest in Sabonis, league sources confirmed reports that Toronto is a legitimate possibility as we approach the deadline.
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Fred VanVleet: “The only funny thing is when I was in Toronto and uh like Masai just moved like Batman. Like he’s just like a super boss. So he come in and out and he wasn’t real like active in day-to-day practices and [__] like that. But he was just real executive like. But man, around this time of the year he come in — he’d be there. And he walk around that gym on that phone.” “Man, listen. [laughter] You working out in the morning before practice start and that man walking around the baseline, walking around the gym, working that phone, coming in out of that office. M— is like, ‘Man, somebody getting traded today.’ And more often than not, he didn’t do nothing. Like he was real not — you know, not active at the deadline for my years that I was there.”
TSN can confirm that Toronto appears willing to part with some combination of Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poeltl and RJ Barrett, or at least that’s the impression that rival teams have gleaned from exploratory discussions. That tracks, both because the Raptors would need to include one or two of those players to match salary in any big trade, but also because those are the contracts limiting their financial flexibility moving forward.
“Toronto is still in my heart,” Leonard said during a brief remark, noting that his son was born in Canada. “He’s from Canada, so we always talk about bringing him back and showing him where he was born. I just wanted to leave a blueprint out here.” A mural, which features a photo of Leonard’s iconic Game 7 buzzer beater in 2019, was also unveiled.
Joey Linn: Clippers steal an overtime win in Toronto without Kawhi Leonard. James Harden struggled shooting but had 31 PTS and 10 AST. Ivica Zubac double-double with 16 PTS and 14 REB. Jordan Miller added 19 PTS and 6 AST in 46 (!) minutes off the bench. LA is 18-23 and the 10th seed. Five straight wins.