There are twenty games remaining in the season. I do not know where the time goes, but it usually goes toward things like watching Jakob Poeltl contest verticality at the rim.
The league is currently divided into six playoff teams, six play-in teams, and eight bad teams. It is a very structured way to live. We are drifting through the schedule like a balloon that is slowly losing its helium, which is a noble way to go if you think about it.
The Youth and the Contracts
People ask if the Raptors are a young team, and the answer is usually a shrug. We are young in the way that a person starting their second career at forty is young. There is a lot of potential, but the knees still make that clicking sound when we get out of a chair.
Speaking of chairs, CBS says Jakob Poeltl has the second worst contract in the league. That seems like a high ranking for a man who just wants to set solid screens and occasionally make a layup. My uncle used to say that any money you cannot fit in a shoebox is too much money, so maybe CBS is onto something.
Memories of Mo Pete
If you truly remember the early days, you know Morris Peterson is the most underrated Raptor of all time. He wore a headband and he made shots that should not have gone in. It felt like he was playing a different game, possibly one involving a lot of luck and very little gravity.
He was the kind of player who stayed on the floor because he liked being there. Today, everything is about asset management and cap space. Back then, it was about Mo Pete catching a full court heave and hitting a buzzer beater against Washington.
Notes from the 905
The Raptors 905 just claimed Markelle Fultz, who was once a number one overall pick. He is going to Mississauga now. It is a nice place with a large mall, which is a good spot to think about the path life takes you on.
I hope he finds what he is looking for near the Square One shopping centre. Basketball is a strange journey. One day you are the top prospect in the world, and the next you are wondering if the 403 will have traffic on your way to a Tuesday night game against the Delaware Blue Coats.
Final Thoughts on the Stretch
We have twenty games left to decide who we are. Usually, we are a team that makes the other team work slightly harder than they wanted to before we eventually lose by eight points.
It is a living. I am going to go look at a photo of Morris Peterson and wonder if he ever thinks about us. He probably does not. He is likely busy doing something more productive than watching us fight for the tenth seed.