Josh Lewenberg

I woke up today expecting to meet Collin Murray-Boyles. Instead, I eulogized the iconic tenure of one of the most impactful figures in the history of Canadian sport. Masai Ujiri represented something bigger than basketball for the Raptors & now he’s gone: tsn.ca/josh-lewenberg…

Fun chat with @vivekmjacob talking all things Raptors president search, front office limbo, and Summer League takeaways. Check it out.

No members of the 4-1 3rd-place Raptors on the Las Vegas Summer League first or second teams. Tough, but their success was driven by depth and excellent team defence, as opposed to 1 or 2 standout (and consistent) players. Could make a case for Lawson, Walter, Shead, CMB or Mogbo

The Raptors will hold training camp in Calgary this fall. They’ve been there twice before for preseason games (in 1996 and 2016) but this will be their first time hosting camp in Alberta. Their full preseason schedule:

The Raptors will play a preseason game against Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Nuggets at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Oct. 6. It will be Toronto's 7th exhibition game there since 2010 (they're an undefeated 6-0 in those contests).

Jonathan Mogbo is back for the Raptors’ semifinals game vs Sacramento today. AJ Lawson (Bilateral Hip Adductor Strain) is out. Chomche replaces Castleton in the starting lineup, with Shead, Walter, Battle and Murray-Boyles.

Raptors with Collin Murray-Boyles on the floor tonight: +21 Raptors without him: -9 CMB: 8-13 FG, everybody else: 17-64 FG The rook in his 3rd Summer League game (and Toronto's semifinals clincher): 20 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals

The Raptors forced 114 turnovers in 4 games & are off to the semis. Last 2 summers in Vegas: 3-7, -63 (23rd & 28th place finishes) This year: 4-0, +63 (1st seed going into semis) Speaks to the organization’s developmental turnaround over the past 12 months. Pipeline = restocked

Lucky Summer League quarters are only 10 minutes. This Raptors defence with 8 additional minutes:

The two rookies CMB and Martin have combined for 19pts on 7-of-11 shooting. Rest of Raptors 4-of-28.

CMB has looked better/more comfortable in each game. Was great in 1st half. 2 strong finishes at rim, put-back, above the break 3 (!), crashing glass (7 boards, 4 oreb), active on D. 12 pts on 4-7 FG/1-2 3P/3-4 FT in 12 mins. Catalyst of the comeback. +9 in a game Raps trail by 1

Collin Murray-Boyles: 9 points, 4-6 FG, 1-2 3P Everybody else: 9 points, 3-20 FG, 1-13 3P

👀

For a guy that's played so little high-level basketball, Chomche's feel for the game is awesome. As raw as he was in Vegas last summer, I remember being impressed with his passing and it's gotten even better since. Just threaded the needle on a 1-handed pass to Martin; beautiful

Could see that Shead-CMB pick and roll becoming a fixture with that second unit in the not-so-distant future. Murray-Boyles has the Raptors' first couple buckets, both at the rim.

Jonathan Mogbo (who's been excellent through 3 games) will miss tonight's contest with a sprained right hand. Shead, Walter, Battle, Murray-Boyles, Castleton start vs Golden State.