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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

2nd Quarter It probably goes without saying that the Heat will be awfully tough to beat if they're hitting from three. Nice to see the Raptors scrapping and narrowing the gap

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Couldn't agree more; dude is aggressive and attacking. Looks like he's trying to out-Giannis Giannis.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

1st Quarter I was hoping this would be one of the referee points of emphasis this offseason, but I guess we have another season of this BS. To be clear, I don't think think this is a foul. What is Bam supposed to do as RJ throws his body at him?

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Heat @ Raptors (Preseason in Quebec City) Oct 3, 2026 Big changes for both teams, and it's preseason after all... ...but the Raptors absolutely dominated the Heat in four meetings last season, going 4-0 with an average margin of victory of 17.25 points

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

As the 2026-27 season kicks off, I am debuting this blog in hopes of expanding my audience. Just getting started, but I hope you will give it a read from time to time! Go Raptors!!! thepalaeontologistshammer.ca/2026/09/12/h...

thepalaeontologistshammer.ca

Introducing The Palaeontologist’s Hammer Blog

For many years, I thought about writing about basketball. Having played and coached at many different levels and contexts for decades, I thought I had something to say…but not enough time to …

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Here is John's article in which he explains his thoughts on Jamal Shead's contract prospects Notably, Shead signed for cheaper than the players listed just above him and below him (CJ McCollum, 1/$21M and Collin Sexton, 2/$19.3M) @johnhollinger.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/737...

nytimes.com

NBA free agency 2026: Point guard class offers several options for interested teams

This position may be the strongest overall this offseason, but some of the top names have already agreed to stay put.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Re: Jamal Shead extended for 3/$24M 1 TL;DR I haven't said this in a while, but this is a tremendous deal for the Raptors! 2 This kicks in AFTER this season, during which he will earn $2.3M 3 Back in June, John gave Shead a BORD$ value of over $16M annually, so this is galactically better

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Reading between the lines: This seems like the league hedging. In 18-19, the Raptors were coming off being a 1-seed and added Kawhi. League scheduled 15 national TV games. Last year, Raptors got 2 national TV games. They were probably due for a small uptick after Scottie's playoff run

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

I should say, the other rumoured Lebron destinations make less sense to me I wrote in my previous post how returning to CLE would have been fraught with potential issues MIA fit is awkward. More on this when I do a season preview but MIA in the play-in, or even the lottery - wouldn't surprise me

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

I'm originally from Cleveland, and am very disappointed in this decision. I abandoned Cleveland sports decades ago, with the exception of the Lebron Cavs. It would have been fun to root for them again

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Kawhi Investigation complete? I saw references to Mike Vorkunov reporting that the investigation is complete I had trouble confirming this, but here it is: He spoke about it on The Rich Eisen Show The segment starts at the 9:38 mark @mikevorkunov.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMBL...

youtube.com

The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov Talks LeBron Waiting Game & More | Full Interview | The Rich Eisen Show

YouTube video by The Rich Eisen Show

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

First Tempo game for the Palaeontologist's Hammer! (....and check out the score)

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Josh Lewenberg @jlewenberg.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

A few reasons why the disaster scenario (voiding Kawhi’s contract) is considered highly unlikely: 1) His current contract, signed in 2024, isn’t under investigation (as far as we know). The one in question, signed in 2021, expired more than a year ago.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Regarding the conclusion of the Clippers/Kawhi investigation, I was interested in making an educated guess on what kind of suspension Kawhi could be assessed. To that end, a look at precedent: Here are the longest player suspensions in NBA history...

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Surely this means the Raptors paused the deal. Equally surely, the Clippers are okay with framing it this way, as it is understandable I am curious what kind of pressure the league will face as this drags on... I can easily imagine the other 28 owners being just fine with LAC+TOR in limbo, but...

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Excellent reporting within. Nice work Doug!

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Re: Raptor Centre prospects at Summer league Jamarion Sharp shows impressive mobility and has great length. Great shot blocking and plays above the rim. Unfortunately I do not believe his strength will hold up at the NBA level

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

I felt GTJ was poorly used throughout his Bucks tenure. He had a frigid start from three (8-40) in his first month as a Buck, and they never trusted him with starter's minutes the rest of the way despite his 44% shooting afterwards that season.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Related: I thought it was notable that BI and Gradey were at the LAC summer league game....after the press releases; A signal that everyone expects the trade to execute

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Thinking about the Kawhi trade pause: I'm not an insider, but here's my best guess at reading between the lines I would like to assume that smart people are running the various entities at play here (LAC, TOR, NBA). Based on that, I would rule out the nuclear endpoint of voiding Kawhi's contract

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Thinking about cap management issues after reading Blake's AMAZING piece several times...Highly recommended, and important for understanding how this will affect the Raptors' ability to fill out their roster Four Jakob trade ideas for the Raptors to add to the rotation and avoid the hard cap:

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Eric Koreen @ekoreen.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The Raptors are taking a big risk with the Kawhi trade. It's worth it. My full analysis including thoughts on risk, fit, cap minutiae, health and Scottie Barnes. Free to read

nytimes.com

The Kawhi Leonard trade is a big risk for the Raptors. It’s worth it (Gift Article)

The Raptors' second Kawhi Leonard trade is much costlier than their first, but it comes with similar promise.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Thinking about the Jaylen Brown trade and the Raptors 'choice' between them If one considers my tinfoil hat theories listed here, it is altogether possible that the Raptors were only roped in to whitewash the Aspiration fallout

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Maybe this is preposterous but I want to speak it into existence: The 2026-2027 Toronto Raptors are as good as fit as just about any team Lebron James could hope for

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Not a hot take, but worth noting: The Raptors are Scottie Barnes' team.

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Eric Koreen @ekoreen.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Pascal, two firsts, two seconds and a pick swap for Kawhi, Ja'Kobe Walter and three months of me insisting Ochai Agbaji was awesome.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Kawhi-to-the-Raptors Quick reactions Above all else, SUPER EXCITED!!!! This is a joyous moment, soak it in Raptors fans!

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Re: Kawhi Contrary reports out there This morning, Brian Windhorst reported that the players in the trade have been settled, and that the teams are just ironing out draft compensation

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Now being installed in the home locker room at the Chase Center The 2026-27 Geriatric State Warriors

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Been wondering what (if anything) the team has in store for the Jakob contract. Swapping him for someone else's bad contract might be a solution One problem: By using Gradey's salary to get Kawhi, the options become more limited

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

The fact that the Kawhi trade hasn't been finalized yet gives me some concern, but ultimately I feel it will happen. My conspiracy theories aside, the Clippers have already pivoted towards the future. Keeping Kawhi is inconsistent with that pivot

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

More on Kawhi: This is wild speculation based on no inside information... I have to think that the Aspiration investigation is triggering all of this.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Some Kawhi-to-the-Raptors thoughts, in no particular order Reports indicate that players have been agreed to, with a general construction of BI+Gradey for Kawhi. However, this is not sufficiently nerdy for my tastes

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Heh, literally it's like a flash-mob-Kawhi-choir has burst into song! This trade construction is fine. Still worried about the accompanying extension. If it's 3/180, very hard pass! Ideally? Say, 2/90 + Jakob-for-expiring, followed later by team-friendly extensions for RJ (3/70?) and Shead (3/30?)

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Interesting. Grange (and Josh Lewenberg) first responded to these rumors by noting that Kawhi has used the Raptors for leverage in the past. @jlewenberg.bsky.social This new reporting indicates a more serious level of talks.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Reading between lines: * Marks: Kawhi has interest from 'former teams' * Klaw doesn't fit in SAS (unless getting off Fox, but IMO that doesn't track) * No other real suitors, so... * Float Masai as an option * ...but YYZ folks know he doesn't leak TL;DR Kawhi-to-Raptors for cheap has traction

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Just over a year ago, I wrote this about the notion of trading for LaMelo. Unfortunately, the price has almost certainly gone up. Frankly, I would not have thought he would be available, but perhaps his unserious showing in the play-in games soured the org...?

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

The way the Spurs are playing here in the 4th is absolutely shocking to me. Walking the ball up, getting into their offense with 10 on the shot click, losing every 50/50 ball, not diving for loose balls. It's as though it's a Tuesday night in February.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Mostly agree Josh ** IQ+BI are overpaid but it's not egregious. IQ's flat contract gets increasingly palatable, and BI is movable after a solid season. ** The Jakob contract is...another issue. Doesn't matter who is to blame: It was bad at the time, and aging poorly.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Doug Smith has Scottie's back. That is notable, as Doug has not always been one to lavish praise upon Scottie's body of work. Money quote: "And for a dozen voters to have left him entirely off the 10-player ballot smells of a lack of due diligence, pure and simple."

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Josh Lewenberg @jlewenberg.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

This was a BIG miss by the voters. Barnes took his D to an elite level late in 2024-25, but as he noted then, accolades weren’t going to come until the wins did. This season, the 5th-seeded Raptors ranked 5th in D with only 1 starter you’d consider a plus defender. Scottie belonged on that 1st Team.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Hey, this was a super fun series by a super fun team after a super fun season. This team is so easy to root for! This was a positive year followed by a playoff experience that was a real learning experience. Roster construction is not great, but there are many ways forward

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

No idea? I mean, I've got a idea or two.... Rebounds CLE 60 TOR 33 Jakob 7 total rebounds, Allen 8 offensive rebounds (19 total) Dude made Jarrett Allen look like prime Shaq, which was the difference in today's game.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Key difference in the second half? Cavs turnovers: 1st half: 13 2nd half: 1

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Awfully rich to see Harden grilling after getting fouled driving to the rim, as though he has done anything meaningful tonight. Makes 1 of 2. He's 3 for 8 from the field and his flaccid 15 points is on the back of a zillion BS free throws.

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

A comeback is hard imagine here; Cavs are showing more hustle and are dictating terms. You can't discount big comebacks in the NBA but I don't detect any indication of a changing tide

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The Palaeontologist's Hammer @palaeohammer.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Giving up offensive rebounds has KILLED the Raptors in this quarter (11 allowed). Between that and the Cavs' increased ball security, the math has been horrifying for them Add to that Scottie's foul trouble and their catastrophic shooting, it's hard to identify a single positive for Toronto in 3Q

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