|  Wys³any: 2019-08-30 05:38:58 Temat postu: finished 23-12 and lost to Pittsburgh in their NCAA tour
TORONTO - For many, it would have already become an elephant in the room, an awkward matter best ignored. For Kyle Lowry, its become an accepted reality. He will be traded. The question is, when and where? The Raptors point guard is widely believed to be next on general manager Masai Ujiris chopping block after the first domino - Rudy Gay, Lowrys best friend - fell last week. On Thursday, multiple outlets - namely ESPN and Yahoo Sports - linked Lowry to trade discussion with a number of interested teams, including the Knicks and the Nets. A day later, as the Raptors got set to host the road-weary 76ers, the easy answer for Lowry would have been none at all. He could have brushed off the reports, spouted off cliches or dodged the media all together. But he did no such thing. "Honestly, I started hearing [the rumours] once I left here for practice [Thursday] and then it was crazy for, like, four hours," he said Friday morning. "At night, I turned my phone off and went to sleep. I wake up, if Im traded, Im traded and if not, Ill come to shootaround." "Everybody read everything yesterday, seen everything yesterday. To this point, Im still a Raptor and Im focused on tonight, playing against the 76ers." Moving Lowry, who was acquired by the previous regime prior to last season, has become a priority for Ujiri. Averaging 14.6 points and 6.7 assists through 20 games, Lowry - owed $6.2 million this year - will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and its clear he is not part of the Raptors long-term plans. Lowry has not been in contact with Ujiri regarding his future and doesnt plan to reach out. "If he trades me, then Ill talk to him," Lowry said. "Hes always been a GM thats been kind of in the background. Hes not in the forefront, he lets us play and thats how hes been this whole year." Although one report stated that hes wanted to be moved for most of the season, Lowry clarified that he has not asked the Raptors GM for a trade. "No, none whatsoever," said coach Dwane Casey, asked if Lowry has expressed a desire to be traded. "Thats the first Ive heard of that and Ive never heard of Kyle or sensed Kyle wanted to be traded at all. I have no knowledge of that." While the market for Gay was limited, leading to Sundays sudden seven-player deal with Sacramento, theres far more interest in Lowry and his affordable, expiring contract. With that in mind, Ujiri will not be rushed into moving his starting point guard. Lowry is a professional and has obvious motivation to continue playing hard, auditioning for his next contract, but his inevitable departure is an obvious distraction to him and the rest of the team. "Yeah of course, I mean no one can say it doesnt [weigh on them] but at the same time, you have to know that this is a business," he stated. "You have to know the situation you are in, the situation that youre going to be in. You cant let it affect you too much because you still have to go out here and do a job and try to win for the team youre playing for." He and his teammates are trying their best to approach the seemingly uncomfortable situation with a sense of humour. "We all read HoopsHype," he admitted with a smirk on his face. "You see it everyday, you see it whenever they update it and everyone talks about it. But we joke about it a little bit. We make it more of a lighter-type thing, dont make it a heavy-hearted thing, make it like a joke, like hey man, you still here?" For now and until Ujiri finds an offer he likes, Lowry remains a Raptor. He will continue to play and play hard, because its the right thing to do but mostly because its in his best interest. All the while, his eventual replacement and newly-acquired point guard Greivis Vasquez will back him up and even spend some time alongside him in the Raptors backcourt. The situation is what it is. It will be as awkward as the team allows it be, until - in the very near future - its dealt with, until speculation finally becomes reality. Until then, we wait and so does the team and its point guard. Clint Dempsey USA Jersey .C. -- Colin Kaepernick raced into the end zone, then pretended to rip open his shirt with both hands imitating Cam Newtons Superman touchdown celebration. Chris Wondolowski Jersey . Grilli hasnt pitched since straining his left oblique in late April. Manager Clint Hurdle says the right-hander will make a couple of appearances in middle relief before the team determines whether to return Grilli to the back end of the bullpen. http://www.soccerusateamonline.com/Darlington-Nagbe-Copa-America-Jersey/ . Patton told The Baltimore Sun that he took an Adderall pill four days before the season finished, trying to improve his short-term focus. "I took one because I was stupid," Patton told The Sun. Gyasi Zardes Jersey . Now the Minnesota Vikings have set their sights on soccer. Sean Johnson USA Jersey . Dallas (2-0-1) sits atop the Western Conference with an MLS-best seven points. Castillo opened the scoring in the 71st minute off a Mauro Diaz set piece, and Watson outran defender Tony Lochhead on a long ball and then juked goalkeeper Ian Kennedy for the eventual game-winner in the 78th minute.Spencer Dinwiddie expects to be healthy and wealthy by summers end. The University of Colorado star point guard announced Thursday hes skipping his senior season and will declare for the NBA draft. Dinwiddie said at a news conference in Boulder, Colo., that despite this years deep pool of talent, "I just dont feel there are that many people in this draft that are better than me." Dinwiddies junior season was cut short when he tore his left ACL Jan. 12 at Washington and needed reconstructive surgery. He said he expects to be back on the court by August. "I think Ive got first-round talent across the board," he said. "Everybody of course is going to doubt my knee. (But, my) being able to go first week in August and being ready for the season, ... youre going to get Spencer Dinwiddie, not Spencer Dinwiddie with a bad knee." A Los Angeles native, Dinwiddie was averaging 14.7 points and nearly four assists when he got hurt. The Buffs were 14-2 with a signature win over Kansas and ranked 15th at the time. They finished 23-12 and lost to Pittsburgh in their NCAA tournament opener. Dinwiddie called it a bittersweet day, saying it was a difficult decision because he loves the program. Had he decided to return next season, the Buffaloes were expected to be a top-10 team nationally. "Weighing the chance to do something special here versus something that is more what I would like to do probably, it was really tough," Dinwiddie said. He said he was swayed last weekend when his doctor in Houston compared his recovery from knee surgery to that of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who returned from a torn ACL to win NFL MVP honours two seasons ago. This is the third time in four years Colorado coach Tad Boyle has lost a star underclassman to the prospect of NBA riches. Alec Burks bolted after his sophomore season in 2011 and was chosen 12th overall by the Utah Jazz and Andre Roberson left last year and was selected 26th overall by Minnesota before bbeing traded to Oklahoma City.dddddddddddd "Well, it doesnt make it any easier," Boyle said, but he drops their names on the recruiting trail. "You always have to use everything that happens in a positive light as best you can. Its hard as a coach when you look -- I dont let myself think about it as a coach too often -- but sometimes youre driving down the road and youre like, OK, if we had a healthy Spencer and Andre together this year with the rest of the squad that we got how special it could be. How good could we be with Spencer next year coming back? "Those are questions that kind of float into your mind, but theyve got to get out of your mind quickly. This program, we talk about it with our team a lot, its bigger than any one person, any one coach, any one player." The Buffaloes have four other point guards on their roster for 2014-15: juniors Xavier Talton and Eli Stalzer, sophomore Jaron Hopkins and incoming freshman Dominique Collier, who was named 2014 "Mr. Colorado Basketball" after leading Denver East to the Class 5A state championship. Dinwiddie said the Buffs should still be good next season without him and hes seen Collier play and suggested he, too, has a bright future. Boyle said the way the Buffs bounced back from Dinwiddies injury and subsequent midseason slump to rally and make the NCAA tournament for the third straight season was a testament to the programs strength. "Like Spencer said, weve got good players in this program and were going to continue to recruit good players to this program," Boyle said. "It certainly doesnt make it easier ... but again, we try to build sustained success. At some point everythings going to come together and the stars are going to align and guys are going to be healthy and well hopefully have a couple of NBA players on the floor at the same time playing together at the peak of their careers. "When that happens, we can make the next jump and blow the doors off this place." ' ' ' |
finished 23-12 and lost to Pittsburgh in their NCAA tour
