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To no one's surprise Sonny Weems is not coming back to Toronto
Timpchisholm Feb 8, 2012
Sonny Weems will not be returning to Toronto. Or so says Sonny Weems... about seven months late.
Sonny Weems took to his semi-regular HoopsHype blog this week to discuss all things Sonny Weems, but he made a point of alerting his dozens of fans to the fact that he will not be suiting up for the Raptors next season or thereafter.
“Toronto is not my team,” Weems offers. “They don’t mention me in their future plans or anything like that...I’m just not focused on Toronto because you read articles about the team and my name never comes up.”
Let’s forgivingly ignore, for a second, the fact that articles not mentioning his name was cited as a reason to rule out returning to an NBA club and focus instead on the idea that he does not figure into their longterm plans.
Duh.
Look, Weems was given a tremendous opportunity with the Raptors. He was bench fodder for the Nuggets in his rookie year, playing only 55 minutes all season, and Toronto came along and gave him 1, 365 minutes the following year. In that time he even managed to finish the season off as a starter for the club and looked to feature prominently in their future based off of his initial stint with the team.
However, in year two Weems took himself right out of the conversation of a future with the Raptors. He played selfishly on offense, looking too often for his own shot despite being at best the third or fourth option on the floor. As a result of his gunner mindset his TS% dropped from .533 down to .492, a laughably low mark for a scoring wing that put him roughly in Ron Artest/Jamario Moon territory. When he was good in his first year, Weems was notable for taking good shots within his range and make them. When he was not good Weems took whatever shot came available to him and didn’t make them. That’s not the sort of play that gets you into a team’s good graces.
Weems is playing better with Zalgris Kaunas this year, but not remarkably so. His percentages are up but it would be a stretch to think that he’s played himself into a bigger NBA role than he enjoyed in his last two years in Toronto. Is he an NBA player? Absolutely, and some team will snatch him up when he’s available and he may be a quality reserve for them. The problem is that Weems has always expected bigger things and while you love a hungry player it can manifest in damaging ways if a player thinks they deserve a bigger slice of the pie. Weems played his second season in Toronto like he deserved more than he was getting, and that’s why he doesn’t factor into Toronto’s future.
Besides, at this point the Raptors have more than one Sonny Weems on the roster, already. They have guys who have some skill but no above-the-radar talents on the wing, they are like Toronto’s bread and butter. The fact that, right now, Linas Kleiza is Toronto’s most effective wing says all you need to know about the position on the team. This is not a club that needs to add another bench player to the position, this is a team that needs to add a starter-grade option and Weems, as much as he believes otherwise, is not that option.
Timpchisholm Feb 8, 2012
Sonny Weems will not be returning to Toronto. Or so says Sonny Weems... about seven months late.
Sonny Weems took to his semi-regular HoopsHype blog this week to discuss all things Sonny Weems, but he made a point of alerting his dozens of fans to the fact that he will not be suiting up for the Raptors next season or thereafter.
“Toronto is not my team,” Weems offers. “They don’t mention me in their future plans or anything like that...I’m just not focused on Toronto because you read articles about the team and my name never comes up.”
Let’s forgivingly ignore, for a second, the fact that articles not mentioning his name was cited as a reason to rule out returning to an NBA club and focus instead on the idea that he does not figure into their longterm plans.
Duh.
Look, Weems was given a tremendous opportunity with the Raptors. He was bench fodder for the Nuggets in his rookie year, playing only 55 minutes all season, and Toronto came along and gave him 1, 365 minutes the following year. In that time he even managed to finish the season off as a starter for the club and looked to feature prominently in their future based off of his initial stint with the team.
However, in year two Weems took himself right out of the conversation of a future with the Raptors. He played selfishly on offense, looking too often for his own shot despite being at best the third or fourth option on the floor. As a result of his gunner mindset his TS% dropped from .533 down to .492, a laughably low mark for a scoring wing that put him roughly in Ron Artest/Jamario Moon territory. When he was good in his first year, Weems was notable for taking good shots within his range and make them. When he was not good Weems took whatever shot came available to him and didn’t make them. That’s not the sort of play that gets you into a team’s good graces.
Weems is playing better with Zalgris Kaunas this year, but not remarkably so. His percentages are up but it would be a stretch to think that he’s played himself into a bigger NBA role than he enjoyed in his last two years in Toronto. Is he an NBA player? Absolutely, and some team will snatch him up when he’s available and he may be a quality reserve for them. The problem is that Weems has always expected bigger things and while you love a hungry player it can manifest in damaging ways if a player thinks they deserve a bigger slice of the pie. Weems played his second season in Toronto like he deserved more than he was getting, and that’s why he doesn’t factor into Toronto’s future.
Besides, at this point the Raptors have more than one Sonny Weems on the roster, already. They have guys who have some skill but no above-the-radar talents on the wing, they are like Toronto’s bread and butter. The fact that, right now, Linas Kleiza is Toronto’s most effective wing says all you need to know about the position on the team. This is not a club that needs to add another bench player to the position, this is a team that needs to add a starter-grade option and Weems, as much as he believes otherwise, is not that option.
