The OPTIMISTIC Everything 2017 Offseason Thread

[Fully]

I think there's plenty of reasons to look forward to next season. The Raptors should still be amongst the best teams in the Conference and have a chance to win 50 games again, and while I feel like I'm in the minority a lot on here these days, I've actually found that pretty enjoyable over the last couple of years.

The 3 year deals for Lowry and Serge still keeps the overwhelming majority of our roster relatively liquid if there was ever a reason to veer off course and start moving some of the core pieces. At the same time, I feel like the back half of our roster is a lot younger and more intriguing than most of the other teams who won 45 games or more last season. We've used the D League very effectively to help give our young guys a blend of spending time with the professional team while still getting a lot of actual reps with the 902. Norm seems poised to take another step and I remain high on Poetl and Wright. Plus the OG pick was a great home run swing at 23. I know there's some talk about how they've failed to develop young talent in recent years but I think we've out kicked our coverage in that respect. The organization definitely seems to be invested in player development even if Casey doesn't always coach that way.

I'm sort of surprised that there wasn't at least some chatter about DC losing his job after the playoffs, but it seems like for better or for worse, Masai is a guy who doesn't let a coach toil in the wind like that. Masai seemed serious after getting knocked out about the 'culture reset' so I'll be disappointed if it's the same players doing the same shit every game next season. I'm generally neutral on Casey as a coach but I kind of like that we still have replacing him as a card to play if necessary.

This is literally the first time that we've been stable enough to enjoy any type of sustained success in a quarter of a century history of being a franchise. And I'll gladly admit that the path to get from good to great isn't particularly clear but rarely is it for most teams. Masai has proven himself to be one of the best execs in the game and I'm alright with trusting him that he'll continue to either explore ways to improve the current version of the team, or pull the trigger on a significant roster shake up if necessary.

Overall I'm enjoying meaningful basketball on a night to night basis and am good with Masai holding steady for the time being and trying to be opportunistic (or let's face it, just lucky) in a very shaky Conference right now. The Lebron leaving again thing seems real, there's been a mass exodus of talent from East to West this summer, none of the teams beneath us in the standings have decidedly jumped over us in the pecking order. In fact, three of the teams in the playoffs last year have just stopped trying. It's not the worst time to try and run it back with a pretty good team.

[Shredder]

I like what the team has done this summer.
We signed our two biggest free agents and we didn't let them walk for nothing. If it doesn't work we can try to trade. You can't trade a FA that walked.
We drafted a sleeper with OG.
It will be nice to see KL DD and SI play together with a training camp. Last year we forced them to with 2 games left to the season and then the pressure of playoffs.
Worse case scenario we crap the bed to start the season and we loose our coach (best case scenario in my opinion) Worse yet we suck(relative) for the next 2-3 years. We then have 3 huge contracts coming off our books/great trade bait at trade deadline.
We have some interesting assets with all our young core + Cory Joe, JV and Carrol, I'm looking forward to see Masai does with them.
Our 905 team is killing it in the G League
I was bummed with PJ going to Houston, but you can't win them all. Plus, you can't be mad at a guy that turns down more money to go somewhere he believes he can win a championship within the end of his career.

All in all this has been the easiest stretch in Raptors history to be a Raptor fan.

[Jclaw]

just in case anyone is following this thread for news as well...it seems that the Sacramento Grizzlies are officially a team and like all good Canadians, Olynyk is heading to Florida for the winter.

[Ebonhawke]

At least we're not Knicks' fans!

[magoon]

I'm reasonably optimistic about the upcoming season.

- Masai isn't done building the team yet. At this point most teams don't have money or don't have roster room or both, and there's going to be a lot more Patrick Patterson-type deals where players take less money to be on a decent team, and we're a decent team. There are still choice FAs out there: Jonathan Simmons, Dewayne Dedmon, JaMychal Green, Jonas Jerebko, Zaza Pachulia, CJ Miles, Ian Clark, Thabo Sefolosha and Bojan Bogdonovic are all still available, and if you want a project that has potential you can add KJ McDaniels and Tyler Ennis to that list.

- Also, let's remember that everybody said that moving Andrea Bargnani and Rudy Gay was impossible without adding sweeteners because nobody wanted their salaries. Masai managed to move both and get outstanding return. I think it is more than likely that one to three of DeMarre, Jonas and CoJo are gone by Opening Day, and further I believe that Masai gets actual return value beyond simply losing their salaries.

- DeMar is going to add something more to his game, as he does every year. I think this is the year where he finally cracks the three once and for all, and shoots about 36% from three for the year. I know that's only league average, but DeMar becoming an average three-shooter would give the Raptors so much more spacing on offense that he and Kyle would effectively become near-impossible to defend.

- The kids are all going to be better. Delon will improve as a shooter, because most of the rest of his game is complete and it's the easiest thing to work on. Poeltl will surprise a lot of people. I strongly suspect Pascal is going to shock people with his development in the best possible way. And I may be the last Bruno believer on the planet, but I do genuinely think that Bruno will become at least a rotation player this year.

- Finally, we'll get a proper full training camp with our Big Three, and that should make a lot of difference.

[Scraptor]

I'm excited to see OG anunoby, I think he could be a great pick, and finally answer our small forward position for the first time since vince Carter. Obviously getting ahead of myself, but I feel better about this pick than Poeltl at 9 (and I like poeltl)

OG is the first Masai first round pick that I have been genuinely excited about from the get go. The first pick that feels like it could be a genuine steal.

Here's hoping.

[Chr1s1anL]

I'm reasonably optimistic about the upcoming season.

- Masai isn't done building the team yet. At this point most teams don't have money or don't have roster room or both, and there's going to be a lot more Patrick Patterson-type deals where players take less money to be on a decent team, and we're a decent team. There are still choice FAs out there: Jonathan Simmons, Dewayne Dedmon, JaMychal Green, Jonas Jerebko, Zaza Pachulia, CJ Miles, Ian Clark, Thabo Sefolosha and Bojan Bogdonovic are all still available, and if you want a project that has potential you can add KJ McDaniels and Tyler Ennis to that list.

- Also, let's remember that everybody said that moving Andrea Bargnani and Rudy Gay was impossible without adding sweeteners because nobody wanted their salaries. Masai managed to move both and get outstanding return. I think it is more than likely that one to three of DeMarre, Jonas and CoJo are gone by Opening Day, and further I believe that Masai gets actual return value beyond simply losing their salaries.

- DeMar is going to add something more to his game, as he does every year. I think this is the year where he finally cracks the three once and for all, and shoots about 36% from three for the year. I know that's only league average, but DeMar becoming an average three-shooter would give the Raptors so much more spacing on offense that he and Kyle would effectively become near-impossible to defend.

- The kids are all going to be better. Delon will improve as a shooter, because most of the rest of his game is complete and it's the easiest thing to work on. Poeltl will surprise a lot of people. I strongly suspect Pascal is going to shock people with his development in the best possible way. And I may be the last Bruno believer on the planet, but I do genuinely think that Bruno will become at least a rotation player this year.

- Finally, we'll get a proper full training camp with our Big Three, and that should make a lot of difference.

Nikola Mirotic and Elsan Illysova is still available as well.

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[Codadav]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1...tom-haberstroh

If you read this article from espn, they are talking about how the West now has two all-star teams that could beat the east's best...the funny thing is in making the potential east all-star roster (starters and reserves), the name Demar DeRozan isn't mentioned once!...this is all it'll take to get Demar motivated for the year (like every year!)....(figured i'd add this in the optimistic forum so we don't hear all the DD naysayers)

[Demographic Shift]

Lots to be happy about....

Happy that the Chowderheads got Hayward AND not George or Butler. Hey he's good...but he isn't in the strata of George or Butler. He was the most expensive of the three in that Boston has to let go a good part of their bench for nothing and they have to lose one of Crowder, Smart or Bradley. Watch the leagues GMs get a little payback as they grind Danny's balls for a bit on the price to move one of those players. Boston still has no rebounding and has been forced into playing with the teams chemistry a bit by letting all those guys go. A good team..for sure....Best of the east.....no chance.

Happy that Cleveland had to bring back Richard Jefferson and sign Kyle Korver as their big moves. They also put the "your not really wanted here ideas" back in Loves head as they tried to actively peddle him for Carmelo or George. They have no GM. Yes they are going to still have Lebron and be good. Just not as good.

Think we are in cap hell..so are the Whiz and they really didn't change a thing. Our band is back and so is theirs. However we have a bench and young players, something the Whiz do not.

With F A winding down there are a couple of teams left that the Raps can deal with to regain some flexibility by way of salary moves. It's going to cost with a first rounder...but that's the price you pay for salvage costs. There are a couple of bargin 3 point guys out there in Miles and possibly Jerebco who might come in late and cheap.

The east will be maligned as being weak and irrelevant next year by Punditry in the US mainstream but it's going to be a closer race with Clevelands dominance somewhat in question. It will be an exciting season in a wide open East and that's a good thing as anything can happen and the home side is one of the teams in the mix.

See Cleveland as the betting favourite for sure but at a reduced rate. Boston will lead the gang of three comprised of the Raps, Whiz and Chowderheads..till the league exploits bostons abject lack of toughness and rebounding. Then it's going to be close finish 1 thru 4.
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Next tier sees the Heat and the Bucks who are going to be 42 plus win teams.

Detroit..Philly....could be the last two in. Charlotte will be the first one out.

Orlando may improve with Weltman and Hammond getting Frank Vogel a team to coach.

The Knicks will provide endless comedy relief.

Can't wait for the season to start.

[Mack North]

From you boy Zach Lowe this morning:

Winner: Love the Drakes!

What looked like the league's most fraught offseason became a no-brainer when the market tightened, and point guards ran out of suitors. Three-year deals for Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka take them to ages where they should still approach present-day productivity -- and no further. Toronto can hit eject at the right time, instead of bailing early on a 50-win pseudo-contender early. And if LeBron really goes West, you can lop off that "pseudo," at least when it comes to the East.

By the time Toronto plunges, Boston and Philly will be nearing their apexes -- meaning Toronto could be timed to rise as East rivals fall.

Being good for a long time has value. It changes the perception of a franchise. It opens up possibilities -- foundational trades, superstar power moves -- that don't materialize for bad teams.

Toronto might have a tougher time pouncing on those opportunities if it gives up a future first-round pick, key trade currency, to get off of DeMarre Carroll or Jonas Valanciunas in a tax-reduction move.

Sloughing away Valanciunas would mean sliding Ibaka to center, and with both Patrick Patterson and P.J. Tucker gone, a void would open at power forward. The Raptors could play small, with Carroll there, but relying on the broken-down player you'd most like to trade isn't a great outcome.

And, yeah, they are probably stuck with this team for three years. It will be hard to move Lowry, Ibaka, or DeMar DeRozan for anything but equivalent money if they suffer a downturn. It's unclear if they will have the flexibility to re-sign Norman Powell, their best young player, next summer.

Still: Their roadmap is clearer than it would be with Lowry and Ibaka on five-year mega-deals.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1...winners-losers

[Chr1s1anL]

https://twitter.com/JLew1050/status/883329213784367105

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[S.R.]

From you boy Zach Lowe this morning:

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1...winners-losers

Nice. I agree re: 1st round picks, I hope they don't give any up either for cap relief or to add a complimentary piece to this roster, don't move them for anything short of a top 10 player in some megadeal. The strategy now has to be to try to have your cake and eat it too - be pretty good and have a couple of pieces (JV/CoJo/Carroll, decent prospects, future picks) in case some homerun dream scenario deal becomes available during the next 2-3 years, but if it doesn't you just keep tinkering with a 50 win team, do the best you can, and have all the assets needed in place for when these contracts are expiring and you move on to the next phase.

[Mack North]

OG is the first Masai first round pick that I have been genuinely excited about from the get go. The first pick that feels like it could be a genuine steal.

Here's hoping.

Bruno didn't get you going??? #FakeFan

[Nilanka]

Nice. I agree re: 1st round picks, I hope they don't give any up either for cap relief or to add a complimentary piece to this roster, don't move them for anything short of a top 10 player in some megadeal. The strategy now has to be to try to have your cake and eat it too - be pretty good and have a couple of pieces (JV/CoJo/Carroll, decent prospects, future picks) in case some homerun dream scenario deal becomes available during the next 2-3 years, but if it doesn't you just keep tinkering with a 50 win team, do the best you can, and have all the assets needed in place for when these contracts are expiring and you move on to the next phase.

I stopped reading at the bold. Anthony Davis, anyone?

[planetmars]

I love that we were able to get Lowry back in a 3 year term. Most of last year guys were predicting at least 4, and possibly 5. Lowry's birthday is in March.. so he'll be 34 when his contract ends (and would have just turned 34 that year).

Allen Iverson lost his step when he turned 33.. and that was a decade back. With technology/conditioning the way it is, I could see Lowry still performing well at 34 (maybe not optimally, but that's fine.. he'll be an expiring contract then).