With tampering fines looming above the conversation, you won’t get Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri come out and say he wants Vaughn, Ontario native Andrew Wiggins playing home games at the Air Canada Centre. However, he’ll do everything but mention the Minnesota Timberwolves’ young superstar by name when asked about bringing Canadian talent to the Raptors.
“There is no doubt in my mind…during my time, even if my time is short, there will be a Canada playing for the Toronto Raptors, 100 percent,” Ujiri said when he attended Canadian Basketball Speakers Forum as the keynote speaker. “ I have no doubt in my mind, it’s something we think about every day, it’s something we study… the guys in the NBA, the ones outside the NBA, the younger kids, the kids in college, the kids playing overseas. We’re just waiting for that one to come.”
And that one is, undoubtedly, Andrew Wiggins.
“We all know who he is, I’m not even going to say his name,” Ujiri said. “He might be Canadian.”
Wiggins won’t be a free agent until 2021, so Raptors fans have a while to wait yet, but the rookie’s already showing a lot of promise in Minnesota. Wiggins was the Rising Stars MVP at All-Star weekend and he’s the runaway favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year while averaging 15.8 points, 1.9 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game.
At the moment, the Raptors could use all the help they can get. After ripping through the first half of the season, they have dropped eight of their last nine games as they head into San Antonio for a date with the reigning champions.
“We weren’t as good as we were when we started, we aren’t as bad as we are now,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey told reporters. “We’re somewhere in between. Unfortunately, we’re playing some very good teams that are playing in desperation mode.”
The Spurs are definitely picking it up at the right time. After dropping four in a row, San Antonio has reeled off five straight wins to pull into seventh spot in the Western Conference.
Sports Interaction has the Toronto Raptors listed as 7.5-point underdogs against the hometown Spurs.
