Best Case Scenario in Offseason

[QuadrupleDouble]

The Raptors have many weaknesses and simply cannot win a championship with the style that they play with. In order to give ourselves a chance to compete, we must improve our defence and have bigs who can tear it up in the paint offensively and defensively.
This first thing we need to do is sign Marc Gasol to anchor our defence, I'm assuming the only way to get him is to give him a max contract which he is worthy of.
Next, we have to trade Valanciunas because I can't envision him developing into a player who can lead the Raptors deep into the post season plus, he is a below average defender.
TOR Receives
Serge Ibaka
DJ Augustin
OKC Receives
Jonas Valanciunas
Grevis Vasquez

We part ways with Lou Williams, Chuck Hayes, Amir Johnson, Landry Fields, Greg Stiesma because we can't afford them. We then fill out the rest of the roster with minimum contracts and our mid level exception.
Cory Joseph minimum
Samuel Dalembert minimum
Danny Green (Mid Level)
Resign Tyler hansbrough to minimum if possible.

Our lineup now looks like:
Kyle Lowry/DJ Augustin/Cory Joseph
DeMar DeRozan/Danny Green/??????
Terrence Ross/James Johnson/Bruno Caboclo
Serge Ibaka/Patrick Patterson/Tyler Hansbrough
Marc Gasol/Samuel Dalembert/Lucas Nogueira

Most importantly, we fire Dwane Casey and hire Tim Thibodeau, someone who actually knows how to coach!
With these additions, I believe the Raptors can transform into strong title contenders.
Thoughts?

[Quirk]

The problem with Toronto is DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross getting starters minutes, so this trade wont fix anything.

The raptors need to remove inefficient. high usage players. The more minutes DeRozan, Ross and Vasquez get, the more games the team will lose.

Ibaka and Gasol are very good, but JV, Amir, Tyler, and 2Pat are pretty good too, the problem is not at the 4/5, it's at the 2/3.

[shan2on]

Oh look another "hey let's trade for as many Canadian players as we can in 1 move thread"

Stop, just stop.

1. Corey Joseph is not going to bring you a championship.

In fact chris Paul hasn't been to the conference finals.

2. Danny greens won a championship with the Spurs, and has been to 2 consecutive nba finals, do you really think he's gonna take a backup role to play behind an over-rated volume shooter?

3. You actually addressed the problem in your next years lineup, how ironic.

"Terrance Ross/JJ/Caboclo"

Is Ross starting next year?

I sure hope not, because his basketball IQ is lower than Stiemsma's minutes played this year.

Let me paint a picture for you and all the other delusional raptor fans.

The Milwaukee Bucks.

1) drafted Jabari Parker 2nd overall and he didn't play a game this season
2) lost their highest payed/anchor defensive player of the year (2013?) to a public meltdown and ultimately an early retirement in Larry sanders.
3) This team still managed to finish 6th in the east and make the playoffs.

Boston Celtics

1) Traded Jeff Green for future assets
2) traded rondo for future assets.
3) Danny Ainge admittedly went into tank mode and yet still managed 7th in the east.

Inquiry...

What do those two scenarios have in common that the raptors don't have?

And for bonus points, would the raptors get their elusive 50th win if they had any one of those players that were removed from the eastern conference this year as mentioned above?


As far as coach Casey goes, I give credit where credit is due. Coach Casey has improved the raptors in each year he has been here, and I'm always going to be a fan of his old school approach, respect and swagger he has for this game and city. I just think he doesn't personify that of a "head" coach, but more of an Xs and Os kinda guy.

2nd poster has a keen grasp on things, but I think demar is not as bad as most people think. He needs to further manage his shot selection and drive harder to the hoop. His defence and dribbling (out of a double team, specifically) has really improved this year, as has his assist numbers and overall court vision.

The problem is the system. You build around your best offensive option, and in Toronto, Demar is just that. Now hop into your time machine and fast forward to November 2016. How good would demar look next to Durant, with a bigger, stronger, JV in the middle of those 2?

If Maasai wants to make a big splash in free agency, the time is next season, not this season.



Tony Snell looks like flava flav

[OldSkoolCool]

Oh look another "hey let's trade for as many Canadian players as we can in 1 move thread"

Stop, just stop.

1. Corey Joseph is not going to bring you a championship.

In fact chris Paul hasn't been to the conference finals.

2. Danny greens won a championship with the Spurs, and has been to 2 consecutive nba finals, do you really think he's gonna take a backup role to play behind an over-rated volume shooter?

3. You actually addressed the problem in your next years lineup, how ironic.

"Terrance Ross/JJ/Caboclo"

Is Ross starting next year?

I sure hope not, because his basketball IQ is lower than Stiemsma's minutes played this year.

Let me paint a picture for you and all the other delusional raptor fans.

The Milwaukee Bucks.

1) drafted Jabari Parker 2nd overall and he didn't play a game this season
2) lost their highest payed/anchor defensive player of the year (2013?) to a public meltdown and ultimately an early retirement in Larry sanders.
3) This team still managed to finish 6th in the east and make the playoffs.

Boston Celtics

1) Traded Jeff Green for future assets
2) traded rondo for future assets.
3) Danny Ainge admittedly went into tank mode and yet still managed 7th in the east.

Inquiry...

What do those two scenarios have in common that the raptors don't have?

And for bonus points, would the raptors get their elusive 50th win if they had any one of those players that were removed from the eastern conference this year as mentioned above?


As far as coach Casey goes, I give credit where credit is due. Coach Casey has improved the raptors in each year he has been here, and I'm always going to be a fan of his old school approach, respect and swagger he has for this game and city. I just think he doesn't personify that of a "head" coach, but more of an Xs and Os kinda guy.

2nd poster has a keen grasp on things, but I think demar is not as bad as most people think. He needs to further manage his shot selection and drive harder to the hoop. His defence and dribbling (out of a double team, specifically) has really improved this year, as has his assist numbers and overall court vision.

The problem is the system. You build around your best offensive option, and in Toronto, Demar is just that. Now hop into your time machine and fast forward to November 2016. How good would demar look next to Durant, with a bigger, stronger, JV in the middle of those 2?

If Maasai wants to make a big splash in free agency, the time is next season, not this season.



Tony Snell looks like flava flav

Aweful

Can't shoot threes and can't play without stopping the ball. Would you want that beside Durant or someone who plays off the ball and is an elite shooter? Even if they aren't as individually talented as DD, they would be better beside Durant.

[Uncle_Si]

The Raptors have many weaknesses and simply cannot win a championship with the style that they play with. In order to give ourselves a chance to compete, we must improve our defence and have bigs who can tear it up in the paint offensively and defensively.
This first thing we need to do is sign Marc Gasol to anchor our defence, I'm assuming the only way to get him is to give him a max contract which he is worthy of.
Next, we have to trade Valanciunas because I can't envision him developing into a player who can lead the Raptors deep into the post season plus, he is a below average defender.
TOR Receives
Serge Ibaka
DJ Augustin
OKC Receives
Jonas Valanciunas
Grevis Vasquez

We part ways with Lou Williams, Chuck Hayes, Amir Johnson, Landry Fields, Greg Stiesma because we can't afford them. We then fill out the rest of the roster with minimum contracts and our mid level exception.
Cory Joseph minimum
Samuel Dalembert minimum
Danny Green (Mid Level)
Resign Tyler hansbrough to minimum if possible.

Our lineup now looks like:
Kyle Lowry/DJ Augustin/Cory Joseph
DeMar DeRozan/Danny Green/??????
Terrence Ross/James Johnson/Bruno Caboclo
Serge Ibaka/Patrick Patterson/Tyler Hansbrough
Marc Gasol/Samuel Dalembert/Lucas Nogueira

Most importantly, we fire Dwane Casey and hire Tim Thibodeau, someone who actually knows how to coach!
With these additions, I believe the Raptors can transform into strong title contenders.
Thoughts?

Why exactly does OKC want JV? and why would they trade Ibaka for him? and Why would we want Augustin back?

[e_wheazhy_]

When The raptors win the championship will they still be invited to the white house?

[QuadrupleDouble]

First of all dude, the Raptors actually intend to sign Cory Joseph as rumours indicated and im not even trying to trade for these Canadian players so learn to read. The reason Dalembert and Joseph are players I chose to sign is because all we can do is sign players to a minimum contract and these are just 2 of the players who can help out with their experience. Joseph had nice stretches this year and can become a good backup pg in the future. As for Ross, I sure would hope he's not starting too but his trade value is too low so stop acting like it's easy go out there and bring in a big time player. And what do these 2 teams have in common? good coaching, something the Raptors dont have. I also never said Derozan was a bad player and i see him as a very valuable piece of our future, he is also the third best sg in the nba behind thompson and harden.

[MACK11]

Why exactly does OKC want JV? and why would they trade Ibaka for him? and Why would we want Augustin back?

OKC also has Adams and Kanter.....

[Axel]

Cory Joseph will also go for more than the minimum, if he leaves San Antonio at all.

But I suppose that is a little less crazy than some of the other aspects of your post. The OKC trade makes zero sense. Assuming Marc Gasol would come to us - which makes slightly more than zero sense, but not much.

In fact the only thing that would be remotely possible from your OP is Dalembert for min, and Thibs (still not high %).

[tenforthewin]

Let's not worry about championship contender, let's do one thing at the time. Praise the Raptors for making to the playoff 2 years in a row since their disastrous demise of an era with Bryan Colangelo. Masai Ujiri has done a terrific job for the Raptors and changed the face of the franchise in his 2nd and 3rd year as our GM. Hey we made to the playoff but lost to the Nets and possibly the Wizards. So next year, let's make sure we pass the first round and go deep in the playoff like challenging teams like the Cavs, Hawks, or the scary Knicks and Celtics (if they acquire players like Towns, Okafor, or Mudiay).

[shan2on]

Aweful
Can't shoot threes and can't play without stopping the ball. Would you want that beside Durant or someone who plays off the ball and is an elite shooter? Even if they aren't as individually talented as DD, they would be better beside Durant.

After that playoff series with WSH, i kind of agree. He looked aweful. The whole team did. I think if Demar wants to improve, he needs to do it defensively.

Raptors ranked 9th before Demar got hurt this year. 25th during the 21 games he missed, and a complete drop off the planet there after.

I guess improvement at that position is needed both defensively and offensively. I however, cannot envision him in another uniform, and i don't know why. I'm not really a fan of his game. I think he does make a great 2nd offensive option though.

As for your initial trade proposal, i don't see OKC wanting JV. The game is too evolved for a slower, old fashioned style 5 to run the floor with the likes of Westbrook and Durant(pending they keep him).

[Demographic Shift]

As for your initial trade proposal, i don't see OKC wanting JV. The game is too evolved for a slower, old fashioned style 5 to run the floor with the likes of Westbrook and Durant(pending they keep him).

I agree. OKC already has 2 guys at the 5. Kanter and Adams both of whom can out quick JV and are more fluid players.
They don't need a third centre on the roster that quite likely isn't as good as the other two.

[Mindlessness]

I agree. OKC already has 2 guys at the 5. Kanter and Adams both of whom can out quick JV and are more fluid players.
They don't need a third centre on the roster that quite likely isn't as good as the other two.

Isn't Kanter slow?

[Triplethreat89]

"Terrance Ross/JJ/Caboclo"

Is Ross starting next year?

I sure hope not, because his basketball IQ is lower than Stiemsma's minutes played this year.

I don't usually log in, but when I do, it is to show sincere appreciation of great choice of words.

You sir, deserve an applause.. no sarcasm here