Marc Gasol said that the Toronto Raptors were eager to prove how good they could be without Kawhi Leonard.

"If I had to express it in one word, I would say 'hungry. I think it's a very hungry team. We all understand what Kawhi meant to the team and how well he played in the playoffs. But we also understand how good we can be as a team, said Gasol.

Nick Nurse added that Pascal Siakam will be given a chance to expand his playmaking game this upcoming season.

"He's going to be given a great chance, a great opportunity here to really expand his role and his game. There's going to be lots of opportunity for him to have the ball," added Nurse.

Masai Ujiri said earlier this week that the Raptors are looking to keep Siakam for the long-term. 

Masai Ujiri said that he plans on signing Pascal Siakam to a long-term deal, whether it be before the start of this season or heading into next summer.

"Whether it's going to be this fall or this summer, he's definitely someone we're going to keep here (long-term)," said Ujiri.

Siakam, who will make $2.35 million next season, is eligible for an extension before October 21st. 

Siakam's camp is reportedly looking to sign a max extension worth $170 million over five years, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.

The Los Angeles Clippers were known to frequently send members of their staff to watch Kawhi Leonard play during his season with the Toronto Raptors.

Steve Ballmer, Lawrence Frank and other team representatives occasionally made appearances at Scotiabank Arena as well.

“I got a lot of credit, and so did Jerry West, but the guy that was the hero in all this was Lawrence Frank,” Doc Rivers said. “He did all the work. He had Steve Ballmer going to Raptors games and he went to some, too. We were warned that no more Clippers players, coaches or employees could go to games in Toronto. We were sending guys to go sit in the stands. 

“There was nothing wrong with what we were doing, but Steve Ballmer sitting courtside in Toronto seemed a little strange. But we didn’t say a word. We just wanted [Leonard] to know we were there and we were interested.”

The Clippers had been optimistic of their odds of signing Leonard, but the Los Angeles Lakers' ability to pair him with LeBron James and Anthony Davis was an obstacle.

“We had a meeting with Kawhi at my house in Malibu and we felt we had the inside position,” Rivers said. “The Lakers had a meeting with Kawhi and they built this whole thing up for him to come to their new practice facility and he said, ‘No, you can come to my hotel room.’ But with us he said, ‘Yes, I’ll come to your house.’ When we heard that it felt like he was telling us he wants to come here.”

Rivers had never spoken with Leonard before the Clippers' meeting.

“I actually tried to speak to him last season a couple times as he was walking by and you get nothing out of him. Nothing,” Rivers said. “He comes into this meeting and he shakes our hands and he’s talking. We were prepared for a meeting where we would have to drag things out of him. Instead, he’s the one talking and finally he tells us exactly what the deal is.

“He said, ‘I want to play for you,’ and he pointed at me. He said, ‘Mr. Ballmer, I love the things you do and what you stand for, but your team is not good enough and if you don’t change your team, I’m not coming.’ ”

Isaiah Taylor has agreed to a partially guaranteed contract with the Toronto Raptors.

Taylor has previously played in the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets. Taylor spent training camp last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Toronto Raptors will work out Isaiah Taylor.

Taylor has previously played in the NBA with the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks. Taylor suffered a stress fracture in his leg during camp last season when he was trying to make the roster of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Taylor has also worked out for the Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets.

The Toronto Raptors have added Jon Goodwillie and Brittni Donaldson as assistant coaches on Nick Nurse’s staff. Adrian Griffin, Sergio Scariolo and Nate Bjorkgren enter their second season with the Raptors, while Patrick Mutombo and Jim Sann return for their fourth campaign with the club.

The Raptors also announced they have promoted John Corbacio to head video coordinator/assistant coach, Tyler Marsh to assistant video coordinator/player development coach and added Fabulous Flournoy and Mark Tyndale as assistant video coordinators/player development coaches.

Goodwillie is in his 15th season with the Raptors, joining the team as a video and administrative intern in 2005. He was hired as an assistant video coordinator for the 2006-07 campaign and elevated to head video coordinator in 2011.

Most recently, Goodwillie was an assistant coach on Nurse’s staff with the Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China. He was also the head coach for the Raptors’ entry at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, guiding the team to a 2-3 record, after serving as an assistant the previous five years.

Donaldson joins the coaching staff following two seasons in the Raptors’ front office as Data Analyst, Basketball Operations. Prior to joining the club, Donaldson was with STATS LLC for two years as a data analyst, where she was responsible for their SportVU player tracking product and creating customized reports for NBA front offices, coaching staffs, and media outlets.