THE FLATS – Thaddeus Young apparently a quick learner of the Toronto Raptors’ system … Is Derrick Favors on the move? … 25 things to know about Iman Shumpert … more in this week’s #ProJackets Report.
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THADDEUS YOUNG PLAYS LIKE HE’S BEEN A RAPTOR FOREVER
Thad Young’s arrival on the Toronto Raptors seems to have been preordained, predicted, and prepared by a Missionaria Protectiva of his own. The Raptors have been trying to add him for so long — perhaps he did plant the cultural seeds that eventually grew into this Raptors’ system. He’s sure playing like it.
The Raptors are supposed to have a complex system, a difficult scheme that requires work and study and head-scratching nights filled with chewed pencils and microwaved coffee to understand. The complexity of the system has been cited repeatedly in cases made in defense of the slow learning by newcomers to the team as varied as DeAndre’ Bembry, Stanley Johnson, Precious Achiuwa, and others. In his first game after the trade, Young didn’t check in for the Raptors, as Nick Nurse opted to keep the rotations the same — the team was, after all, riding an eight-game winning streak. The Raptors lost. Young spent the next two days “in a heavy classroom-type atmosphere.”
He’s played for the Raptors in following last two games. It did not take him long to learn the Raptors’ system. After all, at six foot eight with a seven-foot wingspan, he fits in physically. As a defense-first player who prioritizes forcing turnovers, he fits in philosophically. As a finisher who is more of a shooter by necessity than by trade, he fits in aesthetically. But he’s also an intellectual, reportedly with a 4.3 GPA at Mitchell High in Tennessee: that helps a player to learn a system, no matter how complex. Most of all, he’s an experienced veteran who knows what needs to happen on the basketball court at any given moment.
More from the Raptors Republic
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COULD DERRICK FAVORS BE A TARGET OF SIXERS?
Could Derrick Favors be a member of the Philadelphia 76ers before March 1st? Potentially so. Should he be the team’s buyout market target? That, my friends, is much less clear.
Do the Philadelphia 76ers really need another center more than a shooter?
The third-overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets, Favors is in the middle of his 12th NBA season and, at 30-years-old, has appeared in 789 regular season games plus 42 more in the playoffs as a member of the Nets, Utah Jazz, New Orleans Pelicans, and OKC Thunder. He’s been traded three times, played alongside multiple All-Stars, and is currently signed to a three-year, $29.16 million contract with a $10.18 million player option for the 2022-23 season.
Could Favors reject a buyout offer from the Thunder and declare his desire to opt into his option for the 2022-23 season? Sure, while Favors has earned north of $120 million in his career thus far, his current contract is likely his final opportunity to earn more than the veteran minimum/part of a mid-level exception moving forward, and that financial opportunity may prove more valuable than a shot at returning to the playoffs for the second-straight season.
#Sixers All signs point to Derrick Favors. Agreed to buyout this morning and looks like he’s the favorite 👀pic.twitter.com/NPCxKbLPKe
— Paul C (@HurtsyIvania) February 19, 2022
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SHUMPERT: 25 THINGS YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT ME
A pro on the courts and in the ballroom! Iman Shumpert first made a name for himself when he was drafted by the New York Knicks in 2011 before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Amid his successful athletic career, the Teyana & Iman alum briefly traded his basketball sneakers for a pair of dancing shoes while competing on season 30 of Dancing With the Stars with his partner, Daniella Karagach. The duo went on to win the Mirrorball Trophy.
While on tour with the Dancing With the Stars: Live cast, Shumpert, 31, took a break from the spotlight to exclusively share 25 fun facts about himself with Us Weekly.
Exclusive: Iman Shumpert is a pro on the courts and in the ballroom!https://t.co/EFXuFJippM
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) February 19, 2022
