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Toronto Raptors' Kyle Lowry, right, shoots over Sacramento Kings' Nik Stauskas during the first half of a pre-season NBA basketball game in Vancouver, on Sunday October 5, 2014.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press

It was 2 p.m., Sunday afternoon, two hours before the Toronto Raptors opened their exhibition season against the Sacramento Kings in a game in Vancouver.

Rogers Arena was mostly empty and the bounce of basketballs was the principal sound, as players from both teams warmed up. On the sidelines, the Raptors long-time public address announcer, Herbie Kuhn, shared some laughs with Kings rookie Nik Stauskas, the 20-year-old from Mississauga who had been picked No. 8 in the NBA draft in June.

Like all Toronto basketball fans, Stauskas knows the voice of Kuhn almost as intimately as a close friend. Stauskas marvelled how Kuhn would now be saying his name. Stauskas then joked Kuhn would probably be a little more muted, more monotone, than he is for the Raptors, since on Sunday Stauskas was a Raptors foe and not on the roster of Canada's team.

Even Stauskas's older brother, Peter, is a little torn, Peter being a Raptors season-ticket holder and in attendance with dad, Paul, and mom Ruta, on Sunday. "He wants me hit some buckets but …" laughed Nik about Peter's allegiances, to family and his favourite NBA team.

In Vancouver, as the 2014-15 NBA season rocked into life in front of a raucous, young, and multicultural crowd at a sold-out Rogers Arena, the Canadian content on the court was on the roster of the Kings – not the Raptors. Toronto had aimed to draft guard Tyler Ennis from Brampton, Ont.

But Ennis instead went No. 18 to the Phoenix Suns. Toronto then surprised most people by choosing Brazilian Bruno Caboclo.

The Kings snatched Stauskas, and then later signed 7-foot-5 Sim Bhullar, another of the many young players coming out of Toronto and barnstorming an American game, a group led by Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Stauskas, sometimes, is overlooked in this surge of talent, but when he went No. 8 – as his draft stock surged all spring after two strong years at the University of Michigan – he became the fourth-highest NBA draft pick ever from Canada.

The spotlight this season will be resolutely on Wiggins – but it is Stauskas, and his deadly three-point shooting, and smarts for the game – "IQ" gets repeated quite often by his teammates and coaches – who could quietly surprise in Sacramento. Stauskas arrives on a team in the process of a radical rebuild and itself a potential surprise in the Western Conference after two weak 28-54 seasons.

Kings coach Mike Malone, a 43-year-old in his second season as an NBA bench boss, is, like many, an admirer of coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs and the team's "beautiful" basketball. Malone, like Popovich, emphasizes ball and player movement. The Kings were among the worst shooters in the NBA, and also had few assists. Stauskas is part of the remedy for both problems.

"The thing I love more about him than anything is his IQ, how smart of a player he is," said Malone to reporters before Sunday's game. "He has a feel for the game. He can make a play for himself. He can make a play for his teammates."

What is interesting is Stauskas is a shooting guard – and Sacramento had a year earlier chosen shooting guard Ben McLemore seventh in the 2013 draft. McLemore improved throughout his own rookie year and is slotted as the starting shooting guard. But Malone talks about what's becoming the new trend, "positionless basketball," playing the Kings' best five players, rather than the old one-two-three-four-five of point guard-shooting guard-small forward-power forward-centre.

At NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, for rookies and young players, which the Kings won, Stauskas and McLemore were often on the floor together.

On Sunday, Stauskas played a solid game. He nailed his first three-pointer like it was his Mississauga backyard, the only shot hit from behind the arc by either team in the first quarter. There were rookie missteps, such as an unwise pass early in the second quarter easily stolen by Toronto's Terrence Ross, who bounded down the floor for a thumper dunk, Stauskas trailing behind.

Still, at the end, Staukas played 25:56 and scored 12 points – two for five from behind the arc – as the Kings lost to the Raptors 99-94. McLemore played 22:04 and scored 9 points.

From the outside, commentators see conflict between McLemore and Stauskas. McLemore was surprised when the Kings picked Stauskas but the two have become friendly, and McLemore mentors Stauskas on things such as the nuances of NBA defence.

"Together, we play good," said McLemore in an interview before the game. "We have fun, and compete."

Stauskas, meanwhile, keeps the pose of a humble rookie, sitting two stalls over from McLemore.

"To get on the floor and help this team win," said Stauskas in an interview about his goals for the season. "If I get on the floor and get minutes, I feel I can have a positive impact for this team, whether it's shooting the ball or feeding this guy" – pointing to centre DeMarcus Cousins stretching on the locker room floor – "the ball in the post."

Cousins, who was on the United States team that won the basketball World Cup in Spain in September, is himself poised to shake off the 28-win seasons and compete in the Western Conference against the Spurs and others. To him, it's simple: The more shooters who can hit baskets, the better.

"We got two different looks," said Cousins. "They're both good at shooting but they do it in different ways."

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