👤 Doug Smith

2026-09-22 · Toronto Star · Sports

Raptors take gamble on Kawhi Leonard, signing him to two-year contract extension

3 outlets covered this event

2026-10-16 · Toronto Star · Sports

Raptors flash on defence in pre-season loss to Knicks

2 outlets covered this event

2026-10-14 · Toronto Star · Sports

Raptors vs. Knicks: Kawhi Leonard launches second act with impressive end-to-end performance

2 outlets covered this event

2026-09-06 · Toronto Star · Sports

Raptors mailbag: Is the Kawhi trade ethically wrong for Toronto?

2 outlets covered this event · leans right

2026-10-19 · Toronto Star · Sports

Part Lowry, part VanVleet. Jamal Shead has become the heart and soul of the Raptors

no other outlet in the corpus covered this

2026-10-18 · Toronto Star · Sports

Raptors mailbag: The RJ Barrett trade noise should finally stop — but it won't

no other outlet in the corpus covered this

2026-09-03 · Toronto Star

🔮 Going on the assumption that Kawhi Leonard will eventually land in Toronto with the Raptors and Jalen Duren will ultimately land back in Detroit, it’s time to see who ranks where. assertive

2026-09-06 · Toronto Star

🔮 I, for one, will welcome that. assertive

2026-09-18 · Toronto Star

🔮 “I knew it would be a challenge. assertive

2026-09-20 · Toronto Star

🔮 I suspect that will be proven true because, as the great Roseanna Roseannadanna said: “It’s always something.” assertive

2026-09-22 · Toronto Star

🔮 Leonard could have signed a maximum with a team for two years at $126 million, and he also waived a $7 million trade kicker to facilitate his trade to the Raptors that became official last week. assertive

2026-09-27 · Toronto Star

🔮 Will those be limited (as, to me, they should be)? assertive

2026-09-28 · Toronto Star

🔮 Either way, the 2026-27 Raptors season kicks off officially Monday with the annual media day series of interviews that will start after 9 a.m. A series of key players — the preliminary, unofficial lineup includes coach Darko Rajakovic and presumptive starters Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Kawhi Leonard and Jakob Poeltl — will answer questions from a podium to start the season’s festivities. assertive

2026-10-01 · Toronto Star

🔮 Jamal Shead, the 45th pick in the 2024 NBA draft who became a key part of the team’s rotation in the last two seasons, will get a three-year, $24 million (U.S.) extension that could keep him in Toronto through the 2029-30 season, according to team sources. mixed

2026-10-02 · Toronto Star

🔮 The familiar tones of the Jack Armstrong and his trademark calls like “hello!” and “get that gah-bage outta here” will be heard once again in half of the coming Raptors regular season television broadcasts. assertive

2026-10-03 · Toronto Star

🔮 And that’s not going to change despite what could turn into a season-long conversation over the lack of a contract extension, what it means about being a free agent in July 2027, and concern about the 26-year-old’s future in Toronto. assertive

2026-10-04 · Toronto Star

🔮 “Unfortunately, he was injured and couldn’t play in summer league to showcase that but we have a plan for him to play offensively at positions four and five.” assertive

2026-10-04 · Toronto Star

🔮 At no point has Kawhi admitted any culpability publicly — his first statement went only as far to say that “I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle” — so I cannot speak to what he would have told, or not told, Silver or any investigators. assertive

2026-10-05 · Toronto Star

🔮 There’s lot of competition at his spot — and Toronto may very well start the season with a 14-man roster instead of a full 15-man team — but Burnett has created some interest. assertive

2026-10-08 · Toronto Star

🔮 New Raptors staffer Stephen Silas, who has been an NBA assistant or head coach since 2000, was part of an ill-fated Toronto-Cleveland exhibition game that never took place in St. John’s. Silas, the 53-year-old son of legendary NBA player and coach Paul Silas, was an assistant on the 2003 Cavaliers team that had a game against the Raptors cancelled because of condensation on the court, robbing fans there of seeing what would have been the final pre-season appearance of then-rookie LeBron James. It’s part of Raptors lore and not only because the organization has failed to keep a vow to return to Newfoundland. assertive

2026-10-13 · Toronto Star

🔮 While fans and some players would gladly trade days in training camp and the odd pre-season game for a bit more rest in an arduous regular season, the Raptors coach wouldn’t mind even more preparation time. “If you ask players, they will start to play games on the first day of training camp … if you ask coaches, we’re missing probably two weeks of training camp assertive

2026-10-14 · Toronto Star

🔮 The Raptors surely are, and all they are thinking about now is how good this group might become, because Kawhi Leonard took to an NBA court in a Toronto uniform again Tuesday night and it was nothing but good. assertive

2026-10-16 · Toronto Star

🔮 It’s unlikely the Raptors will change their starting lineup but that group should close every close game. assertive

2026-10-18 · Toronto Star

🔮 It’s fun for me and more varied questions might interest some of you, too. assertive

2026-10-19 · Toronto Star

🔮 Without him, I don’t think it would be the team we are. assertive