Raptors win Eastern Conference in 2015-2016

[Bonus Jonas]

I'd probably cry

[Axel]

How crazy would it be if we land the #2 pick.

For Bargnani.......

[S.R.]

How crazy would it be if we land the #2 pick.

I'd probably cry

For Bargnani.......

I'm trying so hard not to get too excited about this. It's the Raptors. Something will go wrong.

That's what I told my wife last night and she told me I had a huge smile on my face. Must temper expectations.

[mcHAPPY]

Big danger next year for Raptors is going to be Porzingis...... mauahahahahahaha, no. I like Porzingis but he is a major project at NBA level. Assuming he is thrown to the wolves and given minutes, once he starts banging with NBA bigs night in and night out, he is going to be an injury waiting to happen. Physically he is on Bruno's level but he has played many more games.


Even when Carmelo shut it down at All-Star break they were only 10-43.

They have essentially a brand new team coming in to play the triangle. Lopez is solid not spectacular. Afflalo is on the downslide of his career. He has regressed quickly and is no longer the defensive stopper he once was. He has become a volume scorer on bad teams. Derrick Williams is a #2 overall tweener bust what is going to change for him at this point? Calderon was a liability when he was young, now at 33 or 34? O'Quinn is decent but he isn't a difference maker - he is what the Raptors used for years: deep rotational players in larger roles than their skills should permit. Then you Galloway and Early who are not even proven to be NBA players.


Most importantly, Melo is not a leader. When things get rough, and they will, he will crumble. He'll look for his and place the blame on the team and/or coaching staff for the losses saying, "I'm doing my part."

Oh and the coaching staff and system.... lol



That pick is going to be awesome.

[MACK11]

Sports Illustrated has calculated that the Raptors will win the East next year, with 52.9 (+/- 2.74) wins.

"So with the majority of NBA contracts for the upcoming year signed, sealed and delivered, let’s try to predict how the standings will shake out.

This exercise will be guided by Win Shares, a statistic that aims to quantify how many wins each player contributes to his team in a given season. A team’s collective Win Shares doesn’t always exactly add up to its actual win total, but it’s usually quite close—since the 1962-63 season, the average margin of error is 2.74 wins.

In this case, what I’ve done is relatively simple: for every player who changed teams at some point during the 2014-15 season or during this off-season, I’ve transferred the amount of Win Shares each player earned last season to their current team.

Of course, a player’s 2014-15 Win Shares is somewhat reliant upon the quality of the teams he played for. And from season to season, the statistic can be affected by a number of factors—how a player fits into their team's offensive and defensive systems, any change in minutes per game, young players getting better and old players getting worse, etc.

To project how many Win Shares each first-round pick will produce next season, I calculated the mean amount that rookies from around their draft slot have accounted for over the last five years.

I also projected how superstars returning from injuries (Kevin Durant, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony) could affect the playoff race by extrapolating their Win Shares in the limited time they played last year to a “healthy” season.

Without further ado, here are the projected 2015-16 standings:"

1. Toronto Raptors 52.9
2. Cleveland Cavaliers 51.4
3. Chicago Bulls 51.2
4. Atlanta Hawks 50.8
5. Boston Celtics 47.4
6. Washington Wizards 44.3
7. Charlotte Hornets 41.6
8. Miami Heat 41.4
9. Milwaukee Bucks 40.0
10. Detroit Pistons 39.9
11. Indiana Pacers 39.0
12. Orlando Magic 31.6
13. Brooklyn Nets 29.7
14. New York Knicks 28.0
15. Philadelphia 76ers 23.2

1. Golden State Warriors 63.0
2. Los Angeles Clippers 61.9
3. Oklahoma City Thunder 60.0
4. San Antonio Spurs 57.5
5. Memphis Grizzlies 56.6
6. Houston Rockets 53.2
7. New Orleans Pelicans 45.7
8. Phoenix Suns 41.3
9. Dallas Mavericks 41.2
10. Utah Jazz 41.2
11. Portland Trail Blazers 38.6
12. Sacramento Kings 33.5
13. Los Angeles Lakers 29.9
14. Denver Nuggets 29.6
15. Minnesota Timberwolves 23.5

Toronto Raptors
2014-15 record (win shares): 49-33 (50.6)
Key players gained: DeMarre Carroll (7.0), Luis Scola (4.4), Cory Joseph (4.5)
Key players lost: Amir Johnson (5.1), Lou Williams (6.6), Greivis Vasquez (2.8)
Projected 2015-16 win shares (record): 52.9 (53-29)

After the Raptors were unceremoniously swept out of the playoffs by the Wizards, people around the league questioned whether GM Masai Ujiri would blow up the team during the off-season.

Instead, he made a series of shrewd moves, making Carroll an offer he couldn’t refuse while reconfiguring the team’s bench. Toronto has not yet won 50 games in a season, but that is now a reasonable expectation for the team to have going into the season.

One factor that could derail the Raptors? Injuries. Toronto was relatively lucky in that regard last season, as DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry’s combined 32 games missed were really the only injuries of note. If center Jonas Valanciunas (team-leading 8.2 win shares in 2014-15) has to sit for a prolonged amount of time, the Raptors could just as easily tumble into the bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

http://www.si.com/nba/2015/07/16/nba...zers-mavericks

Look at that, JV produces a lot of win for this team.

Maybe we should play him more.......

[007]

How crazy would it be if we got 1st in the conference, the second round (and possibly the conference finals), and a top 3 pick?

[BS10]

I like the optimism of this thread but let's not get our hopes up.

[Bandit]

How crazy would it be if we got 1st in the conference, the second round (and possibly the conference finals), and a top 3 pick?

I would get a Masai jersey made, no question in my mind

[S.R.]

I like the optimism of this thread but let's not get our hopes up.

Half of me thinks the .500 shit-show from the second half of last season will just continue with a couple new faces in the band. The other half is pretty optimistic that they'll take another step forward.

[golden]

I would get a Masai jersey made, no question in my mind

And we would know for certain that.....

[Hotshot]

How crazy would it be if we got 1st in the conference, the second round (and possibly the conference finals), and a top 3 pick?

Raptor fans everywhere would jizz their pants if that were to happened, Masai would be worshipped like a God and would be called the Masaiyah lol.

[distorsun]

I agree. Lowry will be injured, it's inevitable.
We will make the poffs at the bottom of the standings.
Play a good 1st round and lose.

Casey will not be renewed.
------------------------------------------------
Now I'm going to keep this post and brag about it next year.

hahaha

Yeah sure....

As long as we maintain iso heavy in iour offense with Demar being the main catalyst we may see regualr season success but we will remain a one and done.

And Lowry will get injured this season, it is bound to happen, and even though he played WAY over his head the last 2 years, he will luckily be replaced by Cujo.

[BS10]

Imo the only team worse than the Knicks in the east is Philly.

Melo is a bonafide star but he's not gonna carry scrubs to a lot of wins lol. Especially if he's not motivated.

Kobe, who was better than Melo, and had every bit of motivation to prove he could win without Shaq, only won 34 games in 04-05 with much better players (Odom and Butler) by his side.

Hard for guys like Kobe and to a greater extent Melo to carry poor rosters to a lot of wins because their games don't really make their teammates better. Aside from drawing defensive attention. They can be devastatingly awesome on good teams though.

I bet Philly beats the Knicks in the season 2-1 or 3-0! Okafor + Noel are gonna crush Melo's knickerboxers

[Cody73]

In all honesty.....



I don't think were that far off if Casey gets his act together and we stop going full-on ISO ball.

[psrs1]

NFL. Not F€CKN LIKELY

NO WAY CAVS DONT GET #1 SEED