Host Samson Folk details the Raptors preseason win over the Charlotte Hornets. Reggie Evans Award: Fred VanVleetQR Comment: Robin

Host Samson Folk brings on one of his favourite writers and a true pal, Joe Wolfond. - The Paul George Extension- The James Harden trade fiasco- Walking through the Western Conference - DeMar DeRozan or CJ McCollum

Host Samson Folk brings on friend of the show and  writer extraordinaire, Michael Pina. The discussion includes:- His recent piece on Jaylen Brown and his role in the NBA's march towards equality- The Top Tier of the East- An interesting offseason for...

Host Samson Folk brings on the lovable RR alumni, Es, to talk about a bunch of stuff!- Chris Finch's Creations- Siakam and OG Inverted- Freddy in the Middle- The End of Bench Leaper- Accent Speed Round

Host Samson Folk brings on Abdul Malik to talk about the advances and repercussions in the NBA landscape since the Wildcat Strike. - NBA Players as Workers- Accomplishments of the Wildcat Strike- How we cover the NBA- Changing Power Dynamics

Host Samson Folk brings on the wonderful, Oren Weisfeld to discuss the Raptors offseason moves. - Who Is the Frontcourt?- All the Norm trade talk- Stanley Johnson and Paul Watson- OG and Pascal- Who Loses Possessions?- Players Don't Have to obey our...

It's been a little while since the last episode and a lot has happened. Nick and Barry get together to discuss the state of the team and the league.They talk:- Goodbyes and well wishes.- Hellos and welcomes.- That dude still on the team.- Masai and...

Host Zarar Siddiqi is joined by Kelsea O'Brien (https://twitter.com/kelsea_lately) to talk:- Ibaka move coming as a surprise- Kawhi's role in Ibaka leaving- Was Gasol a good fit for the team next season?- Aron Baynes signing- Fred VanVleet's deal and...

Host Samson Folk brings on his buddy, his pal, his friend, Blake Murphy to talk about all the possible signings that await the Toronto Raptors. - Malcolm Miller, where could he land?- OG Anunoby, what's the deal? What's his market?- Marc Gasol, and...

Enjoying RR? Rate us in your podcast app and subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://bit.ly/3lNmKln Host Zarar Siddiqi is joined by Blake Murphy for a draft post-mortem and a look ahead to what's next in training camp:Malachi Flynn detailed scouting...

Host Samson Folk brings on draft expert and overall swell guy, Robel to talk about the Raptors selections of Malachi Flynn and Jalen Harris in the NBA Draft + how the rest of the picks shook out and some missed opportunities. 

Host Zarar Siddiqi and Prof. Doug Hyatt discuss insolvency bubbles, Canada's productivity issues, immigration, student debt, MMT and The Invisible Hand. Doug Hyatt is a Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, where he teaches Microeconomics and Macroeconomics in the MBA programs. Today we discuss the potential solvency bubble, Canada's productivity issues, immigration challenges, student-debt forgiveness, balancing the dependency on oil with climate change, the misunderstood Invisible Hand and a lot more. Enjoy.- Is there an insolvency bubble that will pop when Covid government help is withrawn?- Contrast between the province and federal government's relationship to that of states and US federal government- What can Covid teach us about bumping Canada's very low productivity?- Was it Canada's regulation that blunted the impact of the 2008 financial crisis or the country's slow pace of financial innovation?- The stock market as a proxy for how well the economy is doing- Investment in oil, e.g., Keystone Pipeline, and how it contrasts with climate change initiatives- Supply chain disruptions and Canada's road to become less dependent on US for trade- The Current Account Deficit- Do progressive ideas like student-debt forgiveness have a place in Canada?- The competition for immigrants- Immigration is planned to be increased but current high-skilled immigrants can't get employment in their field- The irony of Adam Smith's Invisible Hand and its socialist roots- The failure to provide financial, moral and social incentives for people to act on climate change- Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) - What is it and what are its applications- This generation has not seen the catastrophic effects of inflation- "What happens in the universities happens on the street in five years"

Rate us in your podcast app - we appreciate it!Host Zarar Siddiqi is joined by Brendan Stewart (https://twitter.com/brendanps97) to breakdown the pool of players the Raptors are likely to select from. He's already profiled three, but here's a quick look at them all:Theo Maledon - https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2020/11/09/raptors-draft-prospect-theo-maledon-65-pg-19-years-asvel-france/Zeke Nnaji - https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2020/11/10/raptors-draft-prospect-zeke-nnaji-610%e2%80%b3-c-19-years-arizona/Ty-Shon Alexander - https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2020/11/11/raptors-draft-prospect-ty-shon-alexander-64-g-22-creighton/Players discussed in this episode:- Tyrell Terry- Theo Maledon- Desmond Bane- Zeke Nnaji- Xavier Tillman- Ty-Shon Alexander- Devon Dotson

Host Samson Folk brings on the celebrated analyst, PD Web to talk about who the Raptors should be targeting in the NBA Draft. - Who to trade up for?- Hayes/Poku/Maxey and their fit with the Raptors- Who to target with pick #29- Theo Maledon/Zeke Nnaji/Grant Riller/Killian Tillie/Tre Jones- How to watch basketball like a scout

Hey! Rate us in your podcast app - we appreciate it!Host Zarar Siddiqi is joined by Tim Chisholm to talk:- What the Raptors should look for in the draft- Draft interest over the years- Pascal Siakam - linear vs exponential growth- Playmaking gap without Lowry - Raptors/Warriors and Lakers/Heat injury comparisons- Kawhi Leonard underestimating how a title is won- Bubble life niceties- OG Anunoby next development step...passing?- Nick Nurse's learnings from the playoffs- Serge Ibaka - the past, present and future- Norman Powell's future- The return of the mid-range game

Andrew Damelin (https://twitter.com/transition_d) joins Zarar Siddiqi to talk:- Paul Watson and Oshae Brissett's competition for minutes- Chris Boucher's Raptors future- Experimental G-League rules and what changes we might see in the NBA- Block/charge rule nuance- Dewan Hernandez (2019 second round pick) discussion- Paying Fred VanVleet and what someone like Eric Bledsoe offers- Do hometown discounts exist? Should they exist?- Good things about the bubble that we wish to see when games return

Zarar Siddiqi and Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) run down the topic list:- Categories of available free-agents- All indications point to a bridge year- Will Paul Watson Jr. be a rotation player next year?- G-League economics / will the G-League take the season off?- What's Plan B if Giannis doesn't come?- Raptor to make the biggest jump next year- Most abused stat- Music/Best subscriptions

This show is a simulcast of the video show found on https://youtube.com/raptorsrepublicZarar Siddiqi and Es Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) run down the topic list:- Bjorkgren and Nick Nurse's coaching tree- Move up in draft?- Matt Thomas in the rotation- Bargnani and Bosh were lethal?- Knicks, Fred and MSG- Jersey talk - chevron overload

Video for this podcast is available on RR's channel: https://youtube.com/raptorsrepublic (subscribe to it and make sure to rate this podcast in your podcast app - it means a lot to us).--Zarar Siddiqi is joined by Blake Murphy to discuss the scenarios and possible complications behind an OG Anunoby extension. Two pieces in The Athletic (still just $1.25/mo) were published on this topic:OG Anunoby presents a fascinating rookie extension dilemma for the Raptorshttps://theathletic.com/2113946/2020/10/05/og-anunoby-presents-a-fascinating-rookie-extension-dilemma-for-the-raptors/Murphy and Koreen: Role-playing through a mock OG Anunoby contract negotiationhttps://theathletic.com/2116490/2020/10/06/murphy-and-koreen-role-playing-through-a-mock-og-anunoby-contract-negotiation/We dive into the options, the risks on both sides and finally come up with a most-likely outcome.

Host Zarar Siddiqi is joined by Ryan Imgrund (https://twitter.com/imgrund), who is a biostatistician for South Lake Regional Health Center. He is the Department Head of Science at York Catholic District School Board. Ryan provides analysis of the Covid-19 outbreak, and is the author of some valuable risk assessment tools and frameworks used by several Ontario institutions. His work has been featured on CBC, the Toronto Star, CTV and other media outlets.We discuss:- The quality of the guidance provided by the provincial government- The R0 metric and its importance - Target for the R0 metric- Why it's so difficult to calculate the R0 metric in Ontario (hint: contract tracing)- The failure to anticipate more symptomatic people in second wave than first- The challenges with random sampling to determine true infection rate; nasal and saliva tests- South Korea and Ontario - same problem, two different solutions- Data privacy and contract tracing; attitudes across cultures- Ontario not encouraging use of the contact tracing app enough- The lack of data to make informed decisions about what business to close- Having an event outdoor isn't enough - example from states- Doug Ford's looking for evidence that is impossible to collect- Just how did we end up opening strip clubs, and what's even worse than strip clubs- How much are schools contributing to the spike in cases- Do children transmit the virus less than adults?- New learning about Covid - "the viral load", getting and recovering from it isn't as black and white as we thought- Will the R0 number change if we keep things open?- How many daily cases to expect over the next few months if no changes to policy made?- Should we be concerned about hospital capacity?- Infections spreading to older population again with Thanksgiving coming up- What would Ryan advise from a policy standpoint to curb the spread?- Lack and inconsistency in tracking metrics on which to based decision-making- What defines a "second wave"?- A case count in March isn't the same as the same case count now, "700 now is like 3000 back in March"- The manual work involved to contact trace a single case- What needs to be true to play a Raptors home game at 25% capacity- What are the chances of 1500 people showing up at the Scotiabank center and none of them having Covid?- The most popular statistical chart for parents out there - chance of your particular child's class having a positive case (by region and class size)- How many people do you have to encounter in your region to meet someone with Covid?- Your chance to define an "encounter" and be safe- Are we repeating the mistakes from March/April?- Not all public health units being transparent about data- Use of data to inform school class sizes by neighborhood- The importance of the timing of class rotations- How deaths are predicted and whether new treatments influence the prediction models- Some Raptors talk Thank you for listening.

Host Samson Folk brings on coach, Evin Gualberto to discuss what's happening in the Conference Finals. - Spoelstra's Genius + Bam's Application of his Skills- Herro's Rise- Miami's Zone- Nikola Jokic & Jamal Murray's shot-making

Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) talks about how the Raptors can re-sign Fred VanVleet to an extension while also being in play for Giannis Antetokounmpo. We talk:- Walk away price for Raptors- Key trade-offs Raptors must make- Whether VanVleet can take a shorter deal- Market competition for VanVleet- What the hometown discount might beTo read more check out Blake's detailed work at The Athletic on the subject:Raptors free agency primer: Cap sheet, assets, exceptions and the big picturehttps://theathletic.com/2063807/2020/09/15/raptors-free-agency-primer-cap-sheet-assets-exceptions-and-more-2/How much can the Raptors pay Fred VanVleet (and still have max money in 2021)?https://theathletic.com/2066700/2020/09/16/how-much-can-the-raptors-pay-fred-vanvleet-and-still-have-max-money-in-2021/Subscribe to Raptors Republic’s YouTube: http://bit.ly/37swsSNFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/39zQT2fFollow us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/2F7OkX4Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3akYvGnFollow us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/2FcHlvSHosted by Zarar Siddiqi. Presented by Raptors Republic.

Marc Gasol is a free-agent and the Raptors have a decision to make. Zarar Siddiqi talks with Vivek Jacob about:- What kind of deal Gasol can get from the Raptors?- Gasol's confidence hit in the post-season- Raptors options if Gasol leaves- Gasol's options and preferences- Could Gasol play for any other NBA team?

Host Samson Folk brings on his buddy, his pal, and fantastic writer, Louis Zatzman. - The season of summer camp- OG the defensive star- Pascal Siakam's Super Power- Will the offense change with front-court departures?- Kyle Lowry's adaptability and genius- Fred, the lead guard

Host Samson Folk brings on Robel (Sub Me in Coach on YouTube) to talk hoops.Limitations of the post-upThe future of Pascal Siakam's shot profileOG Anunoby + Siakam's CeilingShot creation in the NBA and where to get itEnjoy the episode, it was a fun one to record.