Porter Jr. Signs in Toronto, Durant Next to Join?

ESPN’s Richard Jefferson put it best: “Toronto is a Top-5 NBA city”.

On Wednesday evening, the 17-year NBA professional-turned-analyst unloaded a video thread on Twitter highlighting his enjoyment of the city of Toronto, ON. and its relevance within the National Basketball Association.

“I just want to go on record here and say as a media member and as a player for 17 years, Toronto is one of the greatest cities I’ve ever been to,” Jefferson said. “It’s one of the most beautiful cities, the people, the energy, the food. Everyone is so nice. We always call it the ‘nice New York,’ and players love going to New York. Toronto is one of the top five cities in the NBA. Toronto, Miami, New York, LA and then for me personally, I say Phoenix.”

My thoughts on Toronto! pic.twitter.com/PaDQ8z0MAD

— Richard Jefferson (@Rjeff24) July 6, 2022

This personal take came fresh off the heels of a derogatory tirade from FOX Sports analyst Chris Broussard two days prior, to which the 53-year-old Baton Rouge product heavily criticized the league’s lone Canadian city for not having a strong Black community, while indicating that players would not pursue the Raptors in free agency solely for that reason.

“Great city, but it’s not America, and you feel it when you’re there,” Broussard said on an episode of his show that aired on Monday. “Especially as an African American, it’s a different situation than African Americans are used to being in… I’ve talked to people in that organization pre-Ujiri about can they keep African American superstars there?”

Well, according to Otto Porter Jr. the Raptors were a highly desirable location for the recent NBA champion. On Wednesday, the team made it official and signed the veteran forward to a two-year deal worth $12.4 million.

“I had some other offers, but this was definitely a place that I wanted to go to,” he told media. “You know, my wife is from here, it’s just a lot easier for the family. It’s a great organization, great team, young team that has aspirations to get back to the top. And with winning the championship with Golden State, I feel like I can bring that experience here to help the younger guys out with doing that again. “… [But] I’ve been here actually in the summer time so I know a lot about the city, I know about the people and the winters — I know a lot.”

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The move came as a surprise free agent signing for Raptors fans, as Kevin Durant watch is officially in high gear. Porter Jr. is no KD, but his track record as No. 3 overall selection-turned NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors last season certainly brings some veteran leadership and experience to a rather youthful Toronto corps.

“I’ve been in the league for so long and going to a team that has vets and a mixture of young guys, I’ve seen what it took to put it all together,” Porter Jr. added. “I think that I learned a lot from being in Golden State that I can bring to this team, especially with the younger guys. You’ve got some young guys that grew up here and won a championship so just to bring some more veterans, leadership qualities to the team to continue to piece it together and continue to pretty much work together and try to get to that level again.”

Despite the opinions of uneducated talk show hosts, Toronto can certainly be a desirable place to play. Fans saw it with Kawhi Leonard back in 2019, Kyle Lowry when he parted ways with the organization this past year and most recently with the attitudes displayed from the players currently making up their roster.

But for now, with Porter Jr. on the books, Raptors’ president Masai Ujiri has definitely turned his attention to that of Durant. Alongside Phoenix, Miami and Golden State, Toronto is among the top bidders in the KD sweepstakes. With four years left on his $194 million deal, the Raptors would hope to acquire the lanky forward without giving up the services of Scottie Barnes. And according to reports, Durant himself has indicated he wouldn’t be interested in being part of a Raptors team that didn’t have Barnes playing alongside him.

For Toronto, it would likely take a package featuring one of Pascal Siakam or Gary Trent Jr., along with OG Anunoby and a conglomeration of draft picks sent to Brooklyn to get a deal done. Phoenix is likely the next best team in terms of a severance package sent back to the Nets. Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton are names that come to mind in a possible return from the Suns.

Oh right, but Durant wouldn’t come to Toronto because it is not a desirable city, according to Broussard.

As a matter of fact, Durant, himself actually spoke passionately about the fanbase and his enjoyment of the city each time he enters Canada to play against the Raptors. So do not leave Toronto out of the equation.

Percent of population that’s Black:
Toronto – 8.5%
Phoenix – 7.1%
San Francisco – 5.1%

I guess we can cross a few rumoured destinations off KD’s list. https://t.co/NB75YHT344

— Donnovan Bennett (@donnovanbennett) July 5, 2022

Back to Jefferson and his defence of a city he never actually played for:

“I’m gonna say this as an African American player. When you look at a place like Toronto … there are so many different types of people here, and [it] seems like there’s a positive energy everywhere you go,” he said in his video posted to social media on Wednesday night. “I’m going to say that his opinion is false. I have not talked to Chris about this, but I’m going to come to the defence of Toronto and say, Toronto … you guys are all right in my book. I will not respect a generalization of an entire country and city! I spoke about my experience and I disagreed with his take. I was respectful to him. I just said I’ve never heard a player speak negatively about the city on top of my 17 as a player and as media.”

Ujiri will not hold back from making a stellar offer. Will Toronto be KD’s new home?

The ball is in his court.