Ten days in the desert and you’re going to come out different. Ten days at NBA Summer League and every player that’s set foot on the floor, however hopefully or surprisingly, adept or not, has a clear sense of what the next steps in their pro-basketball careers will be — including how many. But for the shape of a team to emerge as something that feels like it’s going to stick past Vegas, into the regular season, is a rarer thing.
The Toronto Raptors went into Summer League with a top five pick in Scottie Barnes for the first time since Andrea Bargnani was ejected with 10 fouls in 28 minutes in 2006 — a regrettable first for the team and the tournament — and while interest in Toronto, and its pick, in Vegas was at a comparable high, the impact made this time around was decidedly more hopeful.