TORONTO – The Toronto Raptors will get an early look at Canadian star Andrew Wiggins before the upcoming NBA season.
The league announced the schedule for its annual NBA Canada series of pre-season games on Monday. Wiggins and the Minnesota Timberwolves play twice in the four-game series, including a meeting with the Raptors at Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre on Oct. 14.
The Timberwolves will also face the Chicago Bulls at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg on Oct. 10.
It will give the NBA a rare chance to showcase Wiggins in his home country. With the Timberwolves playing in the NBA’s Western Conference, the team only make one regular-season visit to Toronto per year.
Wiggins became the first Canadian to win the NBA rookie of the year award this season. The Vaughan, Ont., product averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in his first NBA season and was the only unanimous selection for the league’s all-rookie first team.
The other games have Toronto facing the Los Angeles Clippers in Vancouver on Oct. 4 and the Raptors playing Washington Oct. 23 in Montreal.
The Wizards swept Toronto in the first round of this season’s playoffs.
“As the country’s lone NBA team, we are honoured to again be part of the NBA Canada Series,” Raptors president and general manager Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “The crowds last season in Vancouver and Montreal were enthusiastic and passionate about the NBA. We look forward to the same excitement for the Raptors in those two cities and our nation’s capital.”
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