The Toronto Raptors are stuck in the middle of nowhere in the NBA, losing their grizzled and tough point guard Fred VanVleet this summer and replacing him with Dennis Schroder.
With VanVleet gone, Patrick Beverley doesn’t believe anyone on the Raptors’ has the dog in them, especially signaling out the two stars of the team in Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby.
“Who’s the dog of the team? I’m cool. I see Anunoby or Siakam down a dark alley, but I don’t feel threatened. That’s not disrespect for them, I’m saying like, if I see Siakam with a ball in his hand in a dark alley and there’s a rim in that b*tch. ‘Okay cool, I feel good about this b*tch.'”
Subscribe to the Pod!!! https://t.co/iTlnQc4Fzq pic.twitter.com/UADbwElOWA
— Pat Bev Pod (@PatBevPod) October 23, 2023
Anunoby is one of the best wing defenders in the NBA, while Siakam is supremely skilled for his size and is perennially in conversations for All-NBA. However, they’re both in a franchise that isn’t giving them the tools to compete but also not giving them the respect and trading them for winning situations.
Masai Ujiri wants Anunoby and Siakam to make the team competitive again, but their lack of engagement in the overall franchise plan is probably what made Beverley question the dog in them.
Let’s not forget that both Siakam and Anunoby were crucial in the 2019 title run just by virtue of being young players who did not care about the opposition in front of them. The dog is there, but it just needs to be awoken once again.
Pascal Siakam And OG Anunoby Were Called Selfish By Masai Ujiri
Masai Ujiri is known to be one of those GMs who runs his organization with a tight fist, which also explains why the team has rarely been involved in major trades outside the Kawhi Leonard acquisition.
Ujiri’s blunt style isn’t for everyone, and it clearly wasn’t for Siakam and Anunoby this summer because Ujiri said that he wasn’t entering contract talks with any of his players because of their ‘selfish’ play last season.
“A lot of players didn’t play the right way. I said that we were selfish, I’m not running away from that. We were selfish, and we didn’t play the right way. So let us see it when we play the right way.”
Siakam even ended up responding to the comments from Ujiri with a clapback of his own.
“I’ve never been a selfish player in my life… ever since I started playing basketball … I don’t have an ounce of selfishness in me.”
The Raptors looked far from impressive last season, but antagonizing your two stars who could both walk for nothing by the end of the 2025 season is an odd move. It seems like the Raptors are likely headed for the tank but will wait to see the best offers they can get for their two star players.
Anunoby is a free agent next season, so the Raptors likely won’t be able to maximize the haul they want. Teams will be unwilling to give up real assets for a win-now expiring contract that could leave in the summer.
Siakam is in line for a $307 million extension but will likely not be receiving it from the Raptors. Given Masai’s comments and Siakam’s clear desire to go elsewhere and continue contending for wins and titles, it seems we’re not too far away from a breakup of some of the final pieces that connected the franchise back to their 2019 title win.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
