RaptorsRepublic chats with Jack Armstrong

[Uncle_Si]

That interview is probably the best interview I've read with Jack. He's a lot more candid and less scripted than he would be on TV. He gives a solid assessment of the team and shows a depth of knowledge you don't hear often from other broadcasters.

[ceez]

surprised jack was so candid. i agree with him completely about MU not making a move at the deadline.

general sense i've gotten from the couple times Jack's talked about DD and Lowry is he's not a Lowry fan. just a feeling i get.

i'll be pretty surprised if they're both on the team next year.

then again i said i'd be shocked if Casey was still around

[Primer]

That Nuggets team with their players would have never mount to anything in Western conference except to regular season wins.
The Raptor that MU built here won 49 games and could have easily win 50+ wins.

These numbers mean nothing when you can not go far in the play offs.

So yah, I do fear that he builds a Nugget team around questionable talents like Mcgee and some average players like Chandler and Gallinari and Lawson.

Without the Gallinari injury I think that was a WCF team. All speculation, but the way you're talking doesn't sound like you paid much attention to the 2012-13 nuggets. Gallinari was having his best season ever But hurt his ACL on April 5th, right before the Playoffs. He then missed the entire next season. That injury was a bad turning point for that franchise.

[Uncle_Si]

surprised jack was so candid. i agree with him completely about MU not making a move at the deadline.

general sense i've gotten from the couple times Jack's talked about DD and Lowry is he's not a Lowry fan. just a feeling i get.

i'll be pretty surprised if they're both on the team next year.

then again i said i'd be shocked if Casey was still around

I agree, he doesn't seem to be a Lowry fan at all. I'd be pretty disappointed if Lowry reverts to being a d*ck head again. All of those articles written about how he's turned the corner and his performance up the the all star break last year was a great story. It'd be a shame if it all gets killed by him being an idiot.

You can't really fault Masai for the extension, everyone figured it to be a good deal.

[ceez]

I agree, he doesn't seem to be a Lowry fan at all. I'd be pretty disappointed if Lowry reverts to being a d*ck head again. All of those articles written about how he's turned the corner and his performance up the the all star break last year was a great story. It'd be a shame if it all gets killed by him being an idiot.

You can't really fault Masai for the extension, everyone figured it to be a good deal.

the extension is incredibly reasonable. he's probably our best trade chip.

[Mediumcore]

I agree, he doesn't seem to be a Lowry fan at all. I'd be pretty disappointed if Lowry reverts to being a d*ck head again. All of those articles written about how he's turned the corner and his performance up the the all star break last year was a great story. It'd be a shame if it all gets killed by him being an idiot.

You can't really fault Masai for the extension, everyone figured it to be a good deal.

All the more reason you need someone like a Garnett on the team. Just that they can reign in the knuckle heads is worth it. A focused Lowry is an All Star player, but when things don't go his way he tends to sulk. Veteran leadership is important to keep those type of guys focused.

[MACK11]

All the more reason you need someone like a Garnett on the team. Just that they can reign in the knuckle heads is worth it. A focused Lowry is an All Star player, but when things don't go his way he tends to sulk. Veteran leadership is important to keep those type of guys focused.

I think it's a little sad that we need Vets to reign in a 29 year old

[S.R.]

It's a given that he'll get a hefty pay raise simply because of the market. Virtually every team is going to have a lot of cap room with the new tv deal but not every team will have guys to spend it on. You can absolutely guarantee that the contracts are going to be big across the board with a lot of terrible deals being signed by management teams and owners desperate to show that they are doing something. That's how it has worked in every major North American sport for 30 years. The next step will be when the CBA is re-negotiated and the owners tell us how poor they are....

Well, the last 30 years are not very relevant to current salary cap management. Smart owners realize that a salary cap jump doesn't mean you now have limitless resources to throw at flawed players - it means it'll take a couple seasons for everyone's salaries to jump, then you're going to be in exactly the same situation as you're in under every salary cap with a finite amount of cap space to use to build a championship team in a competitive marketplace. The salaries will inflate and you'll end up in the same situation as now. Teams handing out big contracts to flawed players will still not be winning championships - a salary cap hike is not changing that. You'll get a bad contract here and there, but generally teams have only learned in the last few years how to really effectively build under a salary cap imho. Advanced metrics/moneyball have been a big part of that and a reason a lot of managers will be wise to the dangers of offering Deandre/DeRozan type players the max, regardless of cap hikes.

[big boi]

Sensational interview. For all his shtick, Jack is a very smart basketball man in general and I think he likely has a pretty good insight in to this team in particular. Great read. Probably opened my mind to a few things here. I remain a MU fan boi

[Bendit]

Before I read the following link I was of the opinion that the Bulls letting Jimmy Butler go/trading him was a non-starter. Now I am not so sure. These issues may well have also been the problem with the Raptors ironically with their series ending with a whimper.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/05/...marred-game-6/

[ceez]

Before I read the following link I was of the opinion that the Bulls letting Jimmy Butler go/trading him was a non-starter. Now I am not so sure. These issues may well have also been the problem with the Raptors ironically with their series ending with a whimper.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/05/...marred-game-6/

yeah i was reading there's been quite a bit of tension between butler and rose this year. i know Rose is a sensational player when healthy but i'd think long and hard about keeping butler over him, even despite his limitations on offense. rose is just way too injury prone.

wouldn't shock me if butler goes somewhere else in a sign and trade

[Bendit]

yeah i was reading there's been quite a bit of tension between butler and rose this year. i know Rose is a sensational player when healthy but i'd think long and hard about keeping butler over him, even despite his limitations on offense. rose is just way too injury prone.

wouldn't shock me if butler goes somewhere else in a sign and trade

Butler was carrying the Bulls while Rose was hurt.....then Rose came back and his #1 option...sound familiar?

Conjecture on my part of course.

[golden]

Would love to hear Jack's (real) opinion on the coaching assistants getting thrown under the bus.

[Primer]

the extension is incredibly reasonable. he's probably our best trade chip.

I've been wondering we we could somehow get Teague from Atlanta to replace Lowry if that's the way we're headed. I think Schoreder is ready to start and likely become a star player, and has shown to be the better player than Teague in the playoffs. Teague is still a really good player though, he just has a phenom nipping at his heels, and minute distribution will get dicey next season if both stay.

Not sure if they have any interest in Derozan, so maybe we'd have to focus on 3 team deals, but Teague is definitely the PG I'd target as a replacement for Lowry.

[psrs1]

Butler was carrying the Bulls while Rose was hurt.....then Rose came back and his #1 option...sound familiar?

Conjecture on my part of course.

DRose and JButler are far superior to KL and DD imo.