INDIANAPOLIS — New town, new team, new nickname, but the same old Cory Joseph.
That pretty much sums up a visit with the kid from Pickering High School who made the long journey from the Sprite Zone in the upper reaches of Air Canada Centre to centre court, hearing the crowd roar for the hometown kid, with rows of friends and family in the stands at every game.
Big smile, some extra work after practice – nothing’s changed except that Joseph is wearing the blue and yellow of the Indiana Pacers instead of Toronto Raptors red. His old world and new world collide for the first time since Joseph was traded this past summer on Friday night in Indianapolis and even though he doesn’t officially celebrate American Thanksgiving – “I might invite myself over for a second plate somewhere” — he feels like he’s got a lot to be thankful for.
“I kinda knew it was coming,” he says of the off-season deal that saw him sent to the Pacers, a move that corresponded with the Raptors signing Pacers free agent C.J. Miles. “But still, I had a great time, my two years. When I was a kid, you dream of playing for your hometown. I got to do it. I was happy about it. And in those two years we made franchise history in the playoffs, wins in the season, and I was a part of that. So I’m thankful for that. And now it’s time to move on.”
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Joseph hasn’t looked back. There is no rancor, no hard feelings. He’s never been traded before but it’s not like the moment he got the call from Raptors president Masai Ujiri this past summer remains frozen in time for him.
“I think I was at home, I can’t remember,” he says. “[But] it’s business. I mean, yeah, any time you get traded from any team, from anywhere, you obviously don’t want to be in that situation. You feel like you’re a little bit unwanted or whatever. But at the same time, you know it’s business. They’ve got to do what they feel is best for them, and you move on and continue your career, and you just get better. My goal every year is to get better.”
Some years you get better than others, it turns out.
The Pacers were excited to get Joseph. They were a team at a crossroads. With franchise icon Paul George making clear his plans were to sign elsewhere as a free agent in the summer of 2018, the Pacers needed to rebuild. Joseph, 26, has fit in perfectly on a team trying to use the likes of third-year big man Myles Turner as a cornerstone, complimented by Victor Oladipo, 25, and Domantas Sabonis, 21, acquired in the deal that sent George to Oklahoma City.
“We’re very pleased with Cory. He’s always been a guy I’ve liked since he was playing in San Antonio and couple of years ago he had a real good series against us, played really well and was a big factor in the playoffs against us,” says Pacers head coach Nate McMillan, referring to the Joseph shooting 59 per cent from the field against Indiana in its first-round playoff loss against the Raptors in 2016. “To have the opportunity to work with him has really been a pleasure.”
Joseph has provided the Pacers more than they realistically could have expected and is part of the reason the Pacers, at 10-8, are surprisingly in the mix for a playoff spot. While his per-36-minute averages of 12.7 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds are comparable to what he was providing the Raptors in similar role off the bench, Joseph’s steady work on his perimeter shooting has begun to pay off. Through 18 games he’s shooting 42.7 per cent from deep on nearly four attempts – a significant jump considering he shot 31.7 per cent from deep for his career in the six years prior and on half as many attempts.
Joseph tweaked his hand position during the off-season, making sure he was getting better under the ball, and put in the reps required to make it stick. His confidence in his shooting has jumped right along with his performance, to the point where he’s given himself a new nickname – “Laser” – according to McMillan, whose Pacers are leading the entire NBA in three-point shooting accuracy at 40.4 per cent, a fraction ahead of the Golden State Warriors.
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“We want him to shoot the three ball. We encourage that,” says McMillan. “He’s calls himself a laser now. We want him to take that shot … he’s confident shooting the ball, he’s not running from it and when he has it he’s taking it and he’s knocking down that shot. I think he feels good about the work he’s put in to develop that shot.”
Joseph can’t wait to make it rain against his old team.
“I’m excited for (Friday). It’s always good to play your old team. We’ll beat up on those guys. That’s the plan. It’s always fun. It was fun when I went back to San Antonio. But being from Toronto – it’s going to be even more (fun).”
He is missed, and basketball is only part of it.
“I love Cory. It was more of a business decision on the organization’s part and on his part [to trade him],” says Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. “He had two quality point guards behind him who were going to grow and grow and grow and emerge over – as far as his level – but I love Cory. His heart was always in the right place, he was always trying to make the winning play. He’s your prototypical backup point guard and the challenge for him is will he ever be a starting point guard, but you always want a Cory Joseph on your team. We miss him but him we love our two young guys, but you miss him. He’s what you want your organization to be about. It’ll be great to see him.”
Says DeMar DeRozan: “Outside of basketball he’s one of the coolest, calmest, collected, smartest individuals I ever met, and even more as a teammate. He always kept the mood clean. He reminded of an R&B singer, the way he kept everything so smooth. I love him.”
But as much as Joseph loved playing for the team he grew up cheering for and how much they loved to have him, he knew the trade represented the best scenario for his career.
With Kyle Lowry re-signing in Toronto for three years and nearly $100 million in the off-season and the emergence of effective – and cheaper – backup options in Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright, Joseph risked getting squeezed – not ideal given he can opt out of the final year of his four-year, $30-million contract this coming summer.
“I’ve been in a situation where you have four point guards before,” says Joseph, referring to his battles for playing time in San Antonio with Patty Mills behind Tony Parker. “Four is a lot of point guards. I knew that Delon and Fred were on their rookie deals, and it’s tough to move those pieces when they’re on a rookie deal. I knew Kyle was obviously up for a new contract and something had to change.
“This is a good chance for me, opportunity-wise. I’m in a different situation than I’ve been in my past because I’m playing a lot of everything. I’m playing the two a lot. In Toronto I was on the ball a lot more and I was only on the one … so I’m in a good situation to excel. I’m happy. Hopefully sky’s the limit. We’ll see how it goes.”
So far? Joseph’s laser focus on expanding his game seems to be paying off.
