The holiday season is nearing an end, and to some, that means new beginnings. The NBA G League is no different as Friday signals a restart for all 31 teams.
Following the conclusion of the league’s Winter Showcase in Florida last week — an event that all NBA front offices attended — each squad’s record was wiped clean to start a brand new 34-game regular season.
And so now seems like a good time to check in on Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate.
Let’s see who stood out through the first two months and what to expect moving forward before the 905 return to action against the Birmingham Squadron in Mississauga, Ont., on Friday.
Canadian contingent leading the charge
It’s no secret that as the NBA’s lone franchise north of the border, the Raptors have a particular interest in local talent. Moves to acquire RJ Barrett and Kelly Olynyk last season were indicative of that, along with the fact Toronto has the most Canadians on its roster (four) of any team in the NBA.
That sentiment has trickled down to the 905 as well, with the G League squad featuring a trio of Canadian stars. A.J. Lawson, Eugene Omoruyi and Quincy Guerrier have all found a place with the junior dinos and are proving to be key players thus far.
Lawson, the latest addition of the three, signed a two-way deal with the Raptors earlier in December. The Toronto native officially became the 10th Canadian to play for the Raptors as he checked in for four minutes in a loss to the New York Knicks on Monday. He’s made three appearances for the 905 and led the team in scoring during that span, averaging 24 points per game (10th in the G League) to go with 6.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals.
His best game came in a win against the Maine Celtics as Lawson scored 34 points, made four-of-10 triples and grabbed seven rebounds and three steals. But Lawson wasn’t the only one to step up against Maine. Omoruyi also chipped in 34 points as part of a double-double with 10 rebounds, while Guerrier racked up 19 points and 13 boards of his own.
Omoruyi joined the 905 after signing into the G League in November and has gradually turned into the squad’s most productive forward. “Geno” is averaging 20.7 points per game (21st in the G League) and 8.3 rebounds through 10 games. Prior to the Showcase, the big man had a three-game stretch in which he averaged 31 points on a hyper-efficient 78.4 per cent clip.
Meanwhile, Guerrier, the longest-tenured Canadian 905er, has been a “leader” for the team all year, per head coach Drew Jones, and routinely relied upon. Despite missing a couple games while representing Canada at the FIBA AmeriCup qualifiers in Saskatchewan and seeing his role shifted multiple times, the 25-year-old has averaged the second most minutes (32.0) while putting up 13.8 points and 7.3 rebounds through 12 games. And for a squad that’s seen its fair share of injuries and roster movement, having a reliable plug-and-play option like Montreal’s Guerrier has been greatly appreciated.
Aside from the Canadians, there have been a few other 905ers worth mentioning, starting with Kennedy Chandler. The third-year guard out of Tennessee has fairly consistently acted as the 905’s floor general, minus a couple games where he took a back seat to Jamal Shead and played off-ball next to the recently waived DJ Carton.
Chandler is averaging 18.3 points on 51 per cent shooting from the field (40 per cent from distance) to go with 6.8 assists and 1.6 steals. His five-foot-11, 170-pound frame has done little to deter his impact as the 22-year-old has the eighth-best assist percentage in the G League and 25th-best efficiency rating. And if we’re talking about late-season call-up candidates akin to Javon Freeman-Liberty last year, Chandler has earned the right to be at the top of that list.
Another American who’s found a basketball home in Mississauga is Dylan Disu. The rookie forward out of Texas doesn’t have eye-popping numbers — 8.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and just under one block and steal a game — but his jump-off-the-screen athleticism is something few others on the 905 possess. He’s routinely good for a highlight-reel dunk or block and when the jumper is falling, Disu offers the squad another three-and-D threat.
It’s evident that coach Jones holds the 24-year-old in high regard. When the quartet of Raptors rookies (Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, Jamison Battle and Jonathan Mogbo) joined the 905 for double duty against the Greensboro Swarm earlier in the month, it was Disu who got the starting nod alongside them — a decision the 905’s bench boss called a “no-brainer” after they stomped the Swarm by 42 points. Disu did more than hold his own with the Raptors rookies, dropping a career-high 26 points while catching fire from deep for eight triples on nine attempts.
The six-foot-seven forward has NBA-calibre athleticism, and if he can continue knocking down 39.3 per cent of his triples while providing solid defence, he could warrant, at the very least, a “thank you” 10-day deal in the doldrums of March and April basketball like Kobi Simmons last season.
The 905’s most recent addition was eight-year NBA veteran Frank Kaminsky, who signed with the squad ahead of the Showcase. And while two games, the first of which was forgettable, isn’t much to consider for the 31-year-old, his skills help fill gaps on the 905 roster. Kaminsky is presumably sticking around until an NBA team comes calling, and that’s a welcomed addition considering the 905 rank 29th in rebounding and have no other seven-footers on the roster. Kaminsky looked impressive in the team’s lone showcase win, putting up 33 points while nailing three of his five triples to go with seven rebounds and five assists.
The NBA Raptors are noticeably thin at the centre spot behind Jakob Poeltl — who is currently nursing a groin strain — and if the Austrian gets moved at the trade deadline, the frontcourt situation only gets bleaker. Adding Kaminsky, who’s searching for a path bag to the big leagues, alongside Kelly Olynyk and Bruno Fernando (who might be gone before his contract fully guarantees in January) could make sense as a stop-gap solution for the remainder of the season.
Ulrich Chomche coming along
It’s a bit atypical for a 57th overall pick to garner as much interest as Chomche has to this point, but it’s also not difficult to see why. At age 18, he was the youngest player drafted into the league this year while simultaneously being the first person selected out of the NBA Africa Academy. The Cameroonian’s combination of size, athleticism and instincts (specifically on the defensive end) make him a tantalizing prospect for the rebuilding Raptors.
But to the folks wanting to see Chomche get more run with the NBA squad this season, patience may be required. His game is still more theory than practice at this point, with averages of 5.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 blocks on 22.7 minutes a night.
On offence, the six-foot-11 big man has largely been relegated to the dunker spot to clean up misses for his points. His skills as a screener have gotten better but there’s still a ways to go.
The immediate upside he offers is on defence. Chomche is tied for eighth in the G League in blocks per game and his ability to predict and time shot contests while covering massive chunks of space isn’t something you can often teach. Having a seven-foot-four wing span probably helps, too. He appears to not always be talking on defence, which has led to some miscues like getting caught in awkward spots and occasional foul trouble. Let’s chalk that up to inexperience as the youngest player on the court most nights.
The benefit of that rawness, however, is that the teenager is still largely a blank canvas — a “sponge,” as Jones said. He started the season in a spot role, but with the departure of Branden Carlson, who was picked up by the Oklahoma City Thunder, Chomche’s seen more time both as a starter and rotation player off the bench. He seems to be learning and implementing something new with every rep.
There are few teams in the G League more ready for a reset than the 905. After a 5-11 start through the Tip-Off tournament and Showcase, the next 34 games offer renewed life.
As the NBA team has dealt with its own injury bug (more like a locust swarm), the junior dinos have been an unfortunate casualty. Entering the year, the likes of Walter, Mogbo, Shead and Battle were all expected to spend more time in the G League but with the NBA squad so thinned out, the Raptors have had little choice but to play them. Battle has already made 28 of the 50 regular-season appearances allotted for two-way players before they have to be converted to a standard deal to continue playing NBA games.
The aim is that the 905 can see some of those reinforcements more often if and when health eventually returns to Toronto’s roster. The Raptors don’t play again until Sunday when they host the Atlanta Hawks, so there could be some backup against Birmingham to kick off the regular season.
Even on the 905 roster, there’s talent that hasn’t been capitalized upon due to injuries. Charlie Brown Jr., a G League veteran and defensive pest (3.5 steals a game, tied for second), has missed five games this season. Jared Rhoden was picked up nearly three weeks ago — after averaging 23 points in two games with the Swarm — but has yet to make his 905 debut due to a shoulder sprain.
Action resumes on Friday from the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga for the first of four home games. If it all comes together, there should be some fun hoops in store for the 905 in the new year.