Nick Nurse Names Two Standouts From Day 1 of Raptors Training Camp

Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse praised Dalano Banton and Juancho Hernangomez as early stars at training camp this year

Aaron Rose | Sep 28, 2022

Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports

Just one day into training camp for the Toronto Raptors and Nick Nurse is already excited about the depth of his roster.

So much of last season was plagued by a lack of quality rotation players for Toronto. Night after night, Nurse was forced to lean on his starters, running them into the ground with hardly anyone to turn to off his bench. Suddenly, though, with a few small tweaks and a little development, things are beginning to look very different this year.

Day 1 of training camp saw Nurse praise Dalano Banton and Juancho Hernangomez as early standouts. Banton, in particular, looked sharp on the heels of representing Canada at the FIBA AmeriCup earlier this month.

"Dalano was as good as anyone on the floor out there today. He was as good as anyone there was at practice today," Nurse told reporters in Victoria, B.C. "He's in great shape because of (playing with Team Canada) right now. He, again, not to get carried away from one day of practice but he was as good as anyone out there today. He's probably ahead of everybody just because of the rhythm he got spending three weeks with the team."

With Hernangomez, Nurse has been impressed with the size and floor spacing skills of the 6-foot-9 Spaniard who has been a 35% three-point shooter for his career.

"He, to me, still a similar size guy you can switch with defensively but he’s going to be one of the guys who plays a little more on the perimeter spacing," Nurse said of Hernangomez. "He can catch and shoot the ball and I’m anxious to see how he fits in."

Banton and Hernandomez will likely start the season just out of the rotation behind Chris Boucher, Precious Achiuwa, and Otto Porter Jr, but if the past few seasons have taught the Raptors anything, depth just outside the rotation has become more important than ever.

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