Raptors Insider: Darko bike rides, the return of Biyombo and Siakam speculation

LOS ANGELES—The layers that comprise Darko Rajakovic just keep getting peeled back. We saw in all his glorious anger but on the California portion of the trip before that we learned a little bit more. It’s always been apparent that he as people rather than just athletes but a comment in San Francisco and then a team bike ride he organized in Santa Monica on the L.A.

off day really cemented it. He wants well rounded, well rested players who enjoy each other’s company and outings like Monday’s and a handful of full team dinners he’s set up on the road do that. “Obviously we are all here because we are so in love with this game and invested in this game but we cannot allow this game to consume us,” he said earlier in this trip.

“Family, friends, everybody sees players for those two hours and 15 minutes during the game but they don’t see them the night before when they’re sitting alone in their hotel room. Raptors HC Darko Rajakovic was heated in the postgame presser, unhappy with the Lakers 23 free throw attempts in the 4Q “They need socializing, they need their teammates, they need their family members to support them and to help them.

They need to have a life outside of basketball and I think only that way have you created a good balance in your life and you can really and truly enjoy the game of basketball.” The professional development side of him — with a bit of personal growth thrown in for good measure — also became apparent when he took up an offer from Alex McKechnie to spend some time Monday with Phil Jackson.

“(Jackson) always sees with a little bit different perspective on things and I just wanted to talk to him about the present moment of basketball and, as you can see, and how to find ways to get stops, how to find a way to even more efficiently score, how to manage minutes with a roster,” Rajakovic said.

Raptors HC Darko Rajakovic was heated in the postgame presser, unhappy with the Lakers 23 free throw attempts in the 4Q It was a learning opportunity the first year head coach couldn’t pass up. “I’m after 27 years of coaching and I see myself as a very young coach that has a lot, a lot of things to learn and improve on,” the Raptors coach said.

“In this line of business, the moment you start saying ‘I know stuff’ that’s the moment you’re in a problem. It’s never ending learning curve in this business.” Not too many of us knew too much about Rajakovic when he was hired and all chats with people that knew him well pointed to a well rounded, well grounded man.

It’s turning out to be more than the truth. He’s got some in game coaching chops for sure; you can tell by how he manages rotations and the fact the Raptors always seem to get a good shot coming out of timeouts. But so much of coaching pro sports these days has to do with handling people and in that regard, he’s doing a bang up job.

The , they respond to his positivity and there’s just a sense of freshness in the locker room and on the court. During that viral Tuesday rant, Rajakovic specifically brought up Scottie Barnes as an example of a star player not getting the calls he deserves. “I understand respect for all stars and all of it, but we have star players on our team as well," he said.

"How is it possible Scottie Barnes, who is all star calibre player in this league, he goes every single time to the rim with force and trying to get to the rim without flopping, not trying to get foul calls, he gets two free throws for whole game? How is that possible? How you going to explain that to me? “[The Lakers] had to win tonight? If that’s the case, just let us know so we don’t show up for the game, just give them a win.

That was not fair tonight, and this is not happening first time for us. Scottie Barnes is going to be all star, he is going to be the face of this league, and what’s happening over here during whole season … is complete crap.” Raptors HC Darko Rajakovic was heated in the postgame presser, unhappy with the Lakers 23 free throw attempts in the 4Q After a tough loss to the Clippers on Thursday, I asked Barnes about his coach singling him out.

"It makes me feel great," Barnes said. "I think it makes our team feel great as well. Good to have a coach that’s gonna stand behind our back no matter what. "He doesn’t care, he’s gonna tell it like it is." The Raptors are considering repatriating a fan favourite as a short term roster fill in.

Bismack Biyombo, waived by the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, is in the mix for a 10 day contract to get the Raptors through a frontcourt roster crunch with According to team sources, the Raptors are weighing a veteran addition like Biyombo, who could play a few minutes right away, or a young player they develop.

Included on that short list would be Mouhamadou Gueye of the G League Raptors 905. The Raptors would need to sign Gueye to a 10 day deal since they have no NBA right to him but it’s a name that was being kicked around the Arena on Wednesday. What the Raptors won’t do, however, is fill both the roster openings they have.

They’ll leave one open until after the trade deadline in case there’s a two for one or three for two transaction they like. The 10 day deal won’t be announced until Sunday — the Raptors won’t waste days on a Friday road game and two off days before they play again. It’s hard to say where the Raptors are in the trade, extend or wait him out game they’re engaged in with Pascal Siakam.

They’re sure not tipping their hand and sources throughout the league can’t get a firm grip on what might happen. But everyone wants to know. A row behind the Toronto media courtside at the Clippers game sat NBA scouts from a couple of Eastern Conference teams and as soon as they spotted a familiar face, the question rang out: “What do you think they’ll do with Siakam?” A few days earlier, in a friends and family area just outside the visitors' locker room, a couple of high profile agents milling about were asking the same question.

And it likely wasn’t intentional but the brass — president Masai Ujiri, general manager Bobby Webster, vice president of basketball strategy Keith Boyarsky and chief scout Patrick Engelbrecht were on all or part of the trip to lend more intrigue. Who did they talk to? What did they see? Did Webster chat with Sacramento Kings general manager Monte McNair? Was that Ujiri huddled with Golden State GM Mike Dunleavy Jr.

in San Francisco? Why was Engelbrecht around? That was Boyarsky having dinner with the brass as well, right? At the Chase Center was a sight behold. Webster was on his phone, Ujiri chatted with Boyarsky and then with Webster before breaking off from the trip. Everyone seemed to be eyeing each other a bit warily.

There have been a lot of pre trade deadline road trips over the years when the possibility of a Raptors trade was real. None had the feeling of an imminent move more than this one has had. There have to be a lot of questions out there as the road trip finishes up, the trade deadline draws closer and the world of sports churns on.

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