LAS VEGAS A lot of players in the NBA Summer League have a lot at stake over the 12 days of games, another eight or 10 days of practices in what is a whirlwind, pressure-filled existence trying to obtain some sort of guaranteed employment.That goes extra for Joe Wieskamp, the once and hopefully future Raptor who has a couple of million reasons to want this rapid-fire season to go well.Wieskamp’s contract guarantee date with Toronto — a deal that may pay him $1.927 million in 2023-24 — was pushed back to July 18 from June 29, giving him the Summer League season to impress the brass and new coach Darko Rajakovic. It has taken him out of what used to be his comfort zone.“My whole life I’ve been a planner,” Wieskamp said after the Raptors finished about a two-hour workout at their specially constructed temporary practice facility at the Wynn Hotel here Saturday. “I love having my months, my days planned out. Now I’ve come to realize you have to expect the unexpected and just be ready for whatever. I definitely have adapted in that way.”For all of the big-name draft picks that get the majority of the hype here — think Victor Wembanyama, Brandon Miller, Scoot Henderson — there are more guys like Wieskamp, the 23-year-old Iowan fighting for his job. Those are the players for whom the Summer League is a make-it-or-break-it existence.“Just trying to get better each and every day, showcase what I can do,” said Wieskamp, who spent three months with the Raptors at the end of a dull 2022-23 season.“I mean, they saw me throughout the season. I was there for three months, playing with the G League, in practices with (the Raptors) every day, even though I didn’t get too many opportunities with the Raptors on the main floor. But they’ve seen my game a lot. It’s just an accumulation of things and they just want to keep seeing more of me. I just got to keep doing what I’m doing.”The best thing is that the six-foot-six shooting guard/small forward is auditioning for a new boss. Wieskamp was buried, like so many other young players, by Nick Nurse last season, playing just 50 minutes over nine games.Now it’s Rajakovic and a fresh start.“I feel like he’s showing interest in each and every guy and truly cares about us and wants to see us each develop,” Wieskamp said. “Each of us young guys that were there (in Toronto) all summer, he was hopping drills right away, telling us things that we can improve on. I feel like he’s committed to developing the whole roster.”Whether or not Wieskamp has the floor-stretching, three-point shooting the Raptors need is unknown but the team’s roster imbalance would seem to lend itself to keeping him, if only as a deep rotation backup.There isn’t a ton of shooting up and down the roster, particularly in the backcourt, a skill Wieskamp presumably has. If he can get through this week and the guarantee date, who knows what his confidence will be like.“You kind of learn it’s a cutthroat business and, at the end of the day, you have to perform,” he said. “It can be overwhelming if you think big picture or you think, ‘I have to wait to my guarantee date’ or ‘I gotta wait until the season.’“My mentality is try to take it one day at a time, like Coach (Rajakovic) always says, just win the day. If you can become a better player the next day, then it’s going to amount to more down the road. If you just keep that short-term mindset where you’re just focused on each day, it won’t allow you to get overwhelmed.”And it might mean almost two million reasons to celebrate in a week or so.Doug Smith is a sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @smithraps
LAS VEGAS A lot of players in the NBA Summer League have a lot at stake over the 12 days of games, another eight or 10 days of practices in what is a whirlwind, pressure-filled existence trying to obtain some sort of guaranteed employment.
That goes extra for Joe Wieskamp, the once and hopefully future Raptor who has a couple of million reasons to want this rapid-fire season to go well.
Wieskamp’s contract guarantee date with Toronto — a deal that may pay him $1.927 million in 2023-24 — was pushed back to July 18 from June 29, giving him the Summer League season to impress the brass and new coach Darko Rajakovic. It has taken him out of what used to be his comfort zone.
“My whole life I’ve been a planner,” Wieskamp said after the Raptors finished about a two-hour workout at their specially constructed temporary practice facility at the Wynn Hotel here Saturday. “I love having my months, my days planned out. Now I’ve come to realize you have to expect the unexpected and just be ready for whatever. I definitely have adapted in that way.”
For all of the big-name draft picks that get the majority of the hype here — think Victor Wembanyama, Brandon Miller, Scoot Henderson — there are more guys like Wieskamp, the 23-year-old Iowan fighting for his job. Those are the players for whom the Summer League is a make-it-or-break-it existence.
“Just trying to get better each and every day, showcase what I can do,” said Wieskamp, who spent three months with the Raptors at the end of a dull 2022-23 season.
“I mean, they saw me throughout the season. I was there for three months, playing with the G League, in practices with (the Raptors) every day, even though I didn’t get too many opportunities with the Raptors on the main floor. But they’ve seen my game a lot. It’s just an accumulation of things and they just want to keep seeing more of me. I just got to keep doing what I’m doing.”
The best thing is that the six-foot-six shooting guard/small forward is auditioning for a new boss. Wieskamp was buried, like so many other young players, by Nick Nurse last season, playing just 50 minutes over nine games.
Now it’s Rajakovic and a fresh start.
“I feel like he’s showing interest in each and every guy and truly cares about us and wants to see us each develop,” Wieskamp said. “Each of us young guys that were there (in Toronto) all summer, he was hopping drills right away, telling us things that we can improve on. I feel like he’s committed to developing the whole roster.”
Whether or not Wieskamp has the floor-stretching, three-point shooting the Raptors need is unknown but the team’s roster imbalance would seem to lend itself to keeping him, if only as a deep rotation backup.
There isn’t a ton of shooting up and down the roster, particularly in the backcourt, a skill Wieskamp presumably has. If he can get through this week and the guarantee date, who knows what his confidence will be like.
“You kind of learn it’s a cutthroat business and, at the end of the day, you have to perform,” he said. “It can be overwhelming if you think big picture or you think, ‘I have to wait to my guarantee date’ or ‘I gotta wait until the season.’
“My mentality is try to take it one day at a time, like Coach (Rajakovic) always says, just win the day. If you can become a better player the next day, then it’s going to amount to more down the road. If you just keep that short-term mindset where you’re just focused on each day, it won’t allow you to get overwhelmed.”
And it might mean almost two million reasons to celebrate in a week or so.
Doug Smith is a sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @smithraps
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