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It’s been just a few weeks, but we’re already back watching the Raptors play the Warriors. Yes, after besting Golden State for the 2019 NBA championship, Toronto has returned to Las Vegas to kick-off their Summer League tournament with a rematch against their old foe. Are these two teams even remotely the same as the ones we watched fight it out in June? Definitely not. Are the stakes the same? Absolutely not. Does that matter? Ehhhhh, maybe just cover your eyes and ears and forget the rest of today’s news.
Toronto enters the league’s annual Las Vegas tournament — now bigger than ever — with a squad of known quantities (insofar as that’s possible to say) and a whole host of unknowns. In that first category are our friends from the Raptors 905, who also moonlighted on the main squad: Jordan Loyd, Malcolm Miller, and Chris Boucher. (There’s also Duane Notice, who we’re putting in the starting lineup below if only because of his existing familiarity with Toronto’s system.)
The latter group includes everyone else on the roster (for a refresher, see here). First and foremost among them is, of course, the Raptors’ 59th pick, 6’11” forward/centre Dewan Hernandez. What do we know about him so far? Please allow the Sun’s Ryan Wolstat to provide a bit of reporting:
Just had first scrum with new Raptor Dewan Hernandez. He’s excited to be a Raptor and organization is pleased to get him at 59.
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) July 5, 2019
As it stands, coach Jon Goodwillie’s job will be to mesh these two different but similar groups of players together. Some are a little further along their development curve than others, some have perhaps more upside, but all will be competing to show they belong not only in the tournament, but in the NBA.
For HQ, we’ve got our very own Sully Akbari on the ground in Las Vegas. Follow him on Twitter to get whatever live coverage and reporting he’s able to provide while there.
Then let’s get to some game details. It’s time to get ourselves prepared to watch some Raptors basketball once again.
Where to Watch:
12:00am EST (midnight!) on ESPN
Lineups:
Raptors - Jordan Loyd, Malcolm Miller, Chris Boucher, Dewan Hernandez, Corey Walden
Warriors - For details, check out Golden State of Mind
Injuries:
Raptors - Sogaba Konate (knee - out), Jamaal Franklin (foot - out)
Warriors - For details, check out Golden State of Mind