TORONTO — John Jenkins touched down in Toronto at 1 a.m. Thursday, and was at the Raptors' practice facility for what was essentially another NBA job interview just seven hours later.
It's been a whirlwind of airplanes and gyms as the 26-year-old guard vies for a spot on an NBA summer league roster. The rare free minutes in between workouts he spends cooing at his newborn daughter Soraya via Facetime.
The Raptors took a look at 24 players, including Canadians Dyshawn Pierre, Stefan Nastic, and Murphy Burnatowski, on Day 1 of their free agent camp Thursday, as they look to fill out their summer league squad.
"I came from Minnesota last night," the travel-weary Jenkins said. "I worked out for Minnesota the past two days and then I flew here. . . this is like my fifth one.
"When I had pre-draft, I worked out for 18 different teams. Total, something like 20 workouts, I went to a couple of teams twice. It's been an adventure. I love it though, I love being in the gym anyway. I'm going to work out at home and do all the same stuff so I might as well do it for a team."
Pre-draft was six years ago for Jenkins, who's one of the most experienced players at the mini-camp, dividing the past six seasons between the NBA (Atlanta, Dallas and Phoenix) and the NBA D-League.
Jenkins, who became a dad just two weeks ago, is accustomed to the off-season, job-hunting grind.
"They give you an itinerary. Plus at home I work out at 6 a.m. anyways, so this time is good for me anyways, it's kind of my normal clock," Jenkins said. "It's the travelling that gets you, just like in the regular season it's the travelling that gets you the most.
"I get to the hotel. Wake up, go to the gym. They have lunch afterwards. Shower. Take a nap. And we have two-a-days today, so back at it tonight. After that, it's just relaxing. I might find a good restaurant, that's about it."
Jenkins will spend a day at home in Atlanta on Saturday, then head to Dallas for one last camp.
BioSteel Centre, the Raptors' practice facility, has seen a revolving door of hopeful players over the past couple of weeks as the team prepares for next Thursday's draft.
The Raptors, under a new NBA rule, can now also sign two additional players to a two-way deal that would see them split time between the Raptors and their D-League affiliate Raptors 905.
The mini-camp is a chance for team staff to check in on players they've kept an eye on since they've come out of college.
"It gives us a chance to bring them back in, see how they're doing and what process they've made," said Dan Tolzman, the Raptors' director of player personnel.
"I think this is a pretty important summer to hold a camp like this and approach it from all angles of summer league, two-ways, guaranteed contracts, everything. We've brought in a pretty high level of talent to where some of these guys may even be above those opportunities. It's really our roster situation that is kind of dictating positionally and different levels of the guys we're looking at."
Pierre, a 23-year-old from Whitby, Ont., played for the Indiana Pacers in last year's summer league before heading to Germany to play for Lowen Braunschweig of the Bundesliga.
"Being over in Germany for a year, I feel like I've learned a little bit more, I learned how to play in the system, just being more aggressive and choosing my spots, how to play with other players and just my basketball IQ went up a lot I think," said the University of Dayton product.
Toronto was Pierre's first NBA camp this off-season.
"Home's right around the corner, so it's special for sure," he said.
As for next week's draft in Brooklyn, the Raptors have the 23rd pick. They acquired the pick, along with the draft rights to Norman Powell, from Milwaukee in June of 2015 in exchange for guard Greivis Vasquez.
Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press