Toronto Raptors Reportedly "Closely Monitoring" This Star Player
The Toronto Raptors are coming off a surprising season where they finished as the third seed in the Eastern Conference.
It was their first season without Kyle Lowry (who left for the Miami Heat in free agency) in nine years.
Yet, the rest of the roster stepped up, and Fred VanVleet made his first career All-Star Game.
They lost in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, but the season was still a success.
Over the offseason, they were mentioned as a possible destination for 12-time NBA All-Star Kevin Durant, but he is staying with the Nets.
Therefore, they head into the new season without a true superstar on the roster.
On Monday, Josh Lewenberg of TSN (h/t Hoops Rumors) reports that the Raptors are "closely monitoring" Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Lewenberg via his article in TSN: "One of the situations they’re closely monitoring, according to a league source, is in Oklahoma City, where Toronto-born star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may eventually tire of leading a rebuild."
Gilgeous-Alexander played college basketball for Kentucky and spent his first season in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers.
However, he was sent to the rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder in the summer of 2019 in the deal that landed the Clippers Paul George.
This past year, he averaged 24.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists per contest in 56 regular season games.
The Thunder have a talented young roster (with a ton of draft picks), but they were the 14th seed in the Western Conference last season (24-58).
