Raptors mailbag: A reporter’s ‘despicable’ exchange with Caitlin Clark and early impressions of Jontay Porter

Enjoy it and enjoy the playoff games.

Hi, Doug. That was an … interesting … exchange between Indiana reporter Gregg Doyel and Caitlin Clark this week.

Just wondered about your reflections on it. Did he cross a line? Was his apology sufficient? Was the whole thing just a social media amplification of an awkward but harmless moment or is there a deeper issue? Have you witnessed a change in press conference dynamics when the athletes are women? Has it changed over the course of your career?

Would be interested in your take. Thanks.

—Christine

Glad you asked.

It was beyond reprehensible, inappropriate, despicable and probably a few other words, too.

It was sexist — imagine anyone even thinking about trying that with a male athlete? — and to me it shows an inability to interact with female athletes. Too many people (men) in our craft don’t get it yet, and that troubles me.

I suppose I can understand the desire to forge a relationship with the new big star in the city, but you go about that by showing respect and earning respect and trust and it’s something that comes over time and through constant, professional interaction.

I cannot fathom at any level trying to pull that kind of stunt. It really is beyond me.

I’m sure the apology was genuine, but it left me cold.

This whole Jontay Porter thing has me wondering if the NBA is trying to whitewash the threat of sports gambling by hammering a benchwarmer on a team that no one in their main market — the U.S. — gives two fadoos about.

NBA says: Exhaustive investigation leads to outlier being caught and convicted. The system works. Let’s move on.

Meanwhile, The Athletic reports today that five players suspended indefinitely last year for violating the NFL’s gambling policy have been reinstated. No word on what they did. And no household names among them. But the same attitude from the league: Let’s move on.

So, do I have a question? Or two?

Yes.

1) How long do you think it will be before one of the professional sports leagues’ major stars is ensnared in a gambling scenario that mirrors Jontay Porter’s misdeed?

2) What will it take for a league to drop their embrace of the bookies, if ever?

—Brian in Brampton

Whitewash? What do you mean? They were very open about what they found, right down to the dollar figures, and the fact he played in Toronto had absolutely nothing to do it. It would have been exactly the same wherever he played.

To your questions:

Never. Major stars in every league make too much money; there is no financial gain for them to try and cheat.

Nothing. The genie is not going back into the bottle. There’s too much money in the system — for owners, for players, for bookmakers.

Hey, Doug. I’m intrigued with the Golden State Warriors now that they lost the play-in. Specifically, can (does) trying to get Andrew Wiggins make sense for Toronto?

Assuming that the mind-numbing new economic rules in the NBA make sense (aprons?), might the Warriors sign free agent-to-be Klay Thompson and need to get rid of committed cash?

Picks and one starter enough? Would Wiggins be the right player for the 2024-25 Raptors? Thanks.

—Ugo

It could be done, and I’m sure the Warriors would love to be out of Wiggins’ salary to cut into their tax bill in the next few years.

But here? Zero chance. I don’t think Wiggins would start before either Scottie Barnes or RJ Barrett and he’d be way too expensive a backup, even if he’d be accepting of the role.

So the cost is a moot point.

The NBA instituted a flopping rule this year. I watched a lot of games and I saw it called three times. Did the rule work? Did you notice a decrease in flopping or did the referees not call it?

—Paul M.

I don’t think I even saw three, but I also don’t remember a surfeit of egregious flopping, so maybe the threat of the enhanced penalty worked?

I do know there were a few day-after fines levied — one I recall against Kelly Olynyk — so it was being policed by the league office.

Hi, Doug. The playoffs are here! No Raptors this year, but will any former Raptors end up with a ring?

Some questions:

1) Not a Jontay Porter question:

Given that nightmare, is it safe to assume any future Raptors will be squeaky clean, without so much as an overdue library book? I read some mock draft speculation of Toronto taking Terrence Shannon Jr. (I don’t think Masai Ujiri‘s that tone deaf.)

2) A Zach Edey question: Safe to assume RJ Barrett and Kelly Olynyk know his game (and personality) better than most in the NBA. Wouldn’t their opinions carry a lot of weight on when/if Zach is drafted by Masai and Bobby Webster?

3) Which playoff teams are seeing their “win now” window closing? (Bucks?) Which lottery teams are next to ascend? (Rockets?)

4) As upset as Toronto fans are, things are tough all over! The Warriors are now where we were a year ago, but with an older and more expensive lineup! Atlanta added Dejounte Murray and still couldn’t get past the play-in! What would GM Doug do?

Thanks for giving us fans some hope in the near future with your insights. We can use all the optimism we can get!

—Bernie M.

I don’t know about “squeaky clean,” but I do suspect the Raptors and every other team will enhance their due diligence of possible acquisitions.

Both Olynyk and Barrett spoke highly of Edey when we asked them the last while, but they would not have any say in whatever decisions Masai and Bobby make or don’t make.

The Clippers aren’t getting younger, right?

Sure, Houston make take another jump. So will Toronto.

All I know about Golden State is that I am really, really, really glad I’m not Mike Dunleavy. And I’d trade Trae Young if I was running Atlanta.

Doug, I am sure this will be the only Jontay Porter question you will get this week. Since you know him, at least a lot better than the rest of us, what is your take on the young man? He seemed to be developing nicely to become a rotation piece and now he’s ruined his life. He even has had the advantage of having a brother playing in the league. Is he just dumb and did not realize that he might cost himself millions of dollars, or did he think he was really smart and could get away with it?

It is obvious that sports betting is not a good thing, but one thinks that players in major sports like the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, Premier League make too much money to risk it. It is lower-level betting that bothers me. Two Egyptian brother tennis players got lifetime bans for betting. One guy’s best ranking was 291, while his brother made it all the way to 337. Betting bribes for guys who don’t make enough money to be immune to the risks worry me. NCAA sports, junior hockey, even CFL and curling come to mind. Here is one from this year: Temple/Alabama-Birmingham basketball. 

—Bruce in Oshawa

You’re absolutely right that the smaller leagues, where the money isn’t big, are going to be where major problems arise. The top earners — even average-salary players — in the major leagues are inured of the danger; it’s just not worth it for them.

But minor leagues, low-ranked individual players and, in the United States, the university system are in peril.

Taking individual prop bets on those players off the board is the most logical step.

Porter? He seemed like a good enough guy the few times I talked to him, but it just goes to show that you never, ever really now.

He was a gambler, he took a gamble that he wouldn’t get caught and lost big time.

Hi, Doug. Hope all is well and healthy with you. On Thursday, Dave Feschuk had a great column on the Raptors. I feel he laid a fair bit of blame on Masai. I too blame Masai as this is the team and the players he put together. Health was obviously a big issue. A coach in Darko Rajakovic who constantly watched his team either blow 15-20 point leads or else come out totally unprepared for the third quarter? Rogers for not spending more and going into the taxpaying situation? It was Masai who let a winner like Fred VanVleet go for nothing and traded an all-star for a complete bag of useless bolts.

Someone should take the fall for such a poor performance. If basketball is a “business” then someone must be held accountable and go.

Doug, where do you lay the most blame for this season and what would you do going into next year?

As a final thought, I’d draft Edey with my late-teens pick. Maybe not an NBA starter right away, but he’ll get you 15 points a game against anyone who is a second-string centre.

Best to you.

—DCL in Katrine

Blame? Why? I guess you could “blame” the fates if there’s a fixation to put it on one thing.

Sure, Masai’s name is at the top, so he takes ultimate responsibility. But he didn’t break Barnes’ finger and he didn’t wreck Jakob Poeltl’s ligament, did he?

No one is to blame. No one should be fired.

The restlessness galls me.

What I’d do is find a way to improve the end of the 10-man rotation, draft astutely and hope for health.

And Edey may be a good NBAer some day. Please check the number of the 500 or so NBAers who averaged 15 points a game, then see how many of them are rookies and recalculate your expectations.

Hello, Doug.

I know I’ve asked you some stupid questions over the years, and I know that even a broken clock is right twice a day. But exactly one year ago, I asked you the following question, which I cut and pasted below:

“Hi, Doug. The Oklahoma City Thunder have a pretty impressive core group of players and we haven’t seen the unicorn Chet Holmgren yet. And they have a ridiculous amount of first- and second-round draft picks in the next seven years or so. Can you take a peek into your crystal ball and tell me if you see the Thunder having a breakout year next year? Also, do you think the team has the right ingredients to create a dynasty for the rest of this decade?”

I don’t remember your response verbatim, but the gist of it (from what I recall) was that you weren’t sold on OKC, you didn’t think they would have a significantly better year, but you were all-in on Josh Giddey and his all-round game.

Have you changed your mind on OKC? Does your brain, heart or gut feel that the Thunder will go on a deep playoff run this year? Or do you think their lack of playoff experience will precipitate a quick exit? In all the years you’ve covered the NBA, have you seen a team of players with virtually ZERO playoff experience make a deep playoff run?

—Richard F.

First off, there are no stupid questions. (Well, yes, there actually are, but none of them were yours.)

I fully expect them to win their first-round series, but there’s a monster waiting in the second in either the Mavericks or Clippers. That’s a ton of experience that’s hard to overcome, but as we know health is going to play a huge role.

And I wasn’t sold on the Thunder because of their youth a year ago. It’s less a concern now that they’re a year older, and a year ago no one saw the first-year play of Chet Holmgren, which was a big surprise.

Hey, Doug. It’s been a minute, but really not much to say or ask on the second half of the season.

I find it curious how many have really soured on next year based on the second-half performance when Barnes & Poeltl (plus other injuries) have been out for most of the second half.

Let’s look ahead. Thinking the keepers are:

Starters: Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl

Sixth man: Gradey Dick

Glue guy: Ochai Agbaji

Backups: Kelly Olynyk, Javon Freeman-Liberty

Would love Gary Trent Jr. back, but I think it’s complicated. Plus two or three draft picks coming in. I’d also like to see Chris Boucher back, but not seeing it. Jalen McDaniels has got to go. Can Bruce Brown be traded between the end of the Finals and his option date?

Guess we wait to see how the ping-pong balls bounce, until then … always a pleasure.

—Enio in Richmond Hill

Brown “can” be traded any time then. His option date, or rather the team’s date, is June 28 as I understand.

Freeman-Liberty is intriguing and, at this point, a third point guard option

I had written to you disagreeing that this season was the hardest to take — because expectations were higher then than they were for this season. Further, you can see now that the team can quickly be better. There is reason for hope. The year after the championship it was surprising — at least to most of us — that they were still a great team in spite of the loss of talent, and it delayed the inevitable rebuild. Certainly some were arguing for a rebuild the moment Kawhi Leonard left. I know I would have been hoping for a free-agent signing as a replacement. But the rebuild was coming sooner or later. And now it’s come. I really believe that this helped make the losses more tolerable this season. Had lower expectations.

Instead of expecting wins, I watched Dick’s footwork, his way of anticipating plays, his improvement in positioning himself; Barrett’s defence (on your recommendation); and paid attention to some others, too. I rather liked flashes of Kobi Simmons, and really liked what Malik Williams brought to the table.

Bruce Brown brought determination. But we now know we weren’t seeing him at his best — knee injury — which raises the question: Why were we playing him then? Wouldn’t it have been wiser to give him rest? It’s not like these were vital games for us. I’m sure it was frustrating for him.

Obviously, the Raptors still need to add to the team. I guess a lot depends on what they do with Gary Trent Jr. He leaves and that’s another slot to fill. He’s still very young, but I thought he improved a bit with consistency this year and seemed to have his strongest year defensively. Disagree?

—Jeffrey V.

They’ll be fine next season; I’ve said it for weeks.

But if Malik Williams and Kobi Simmons are anywhere near the rotation, they’ve had a horrific summer in roster-altering.

Not sure of the seriousness of any Brown issues until it suddenly surfaced about the day the season ended. It should not enter in any decision.

Trent’s interesting. He’s a good shooter, but he scuffled for a lot of the first half of the season. Not sold on his passing or cutting skills, but at the right price and years he’s worth keeping. But I am dead sure that all of him, Dick and Brown can’t be on the team. Two, maybe. Three, no.

Hi, Doug. Obviously this is a theoretical question, but do you think that Caitlin Clark would be an asset to our team or would she ride the pine because of her light weight and physicality?

—Kerry

Great shooter, maybe as great a passer.

But your latter point is bang on.

In your comments on the December trade, am I correct that the “undermanned” Raptors’ loss to Detroit reflects the fact the guys they traded were of course gone, but their replacements hadn’t arrived and therefore the Raptors were only undermanned for that game? I hope people did not interpret the reference as meaning it was a bad trade, which some readers might have concluded was your point. In my opinion, it was a good deal.

—Bill Woloshyn

Not a bad trade. A bad loss even with the circumstances.