Who brought the downer to the party?

[NoPropsneeded]

i think playing well but not making the playoffs with like an 7th or 8th worst record would be good. We would be able to draft someone like MKG or Miller and with JV coming over it might push us over the top and we might make a run like OKC.

[GhostDog]

High lottery pick. We are still nowhere near a contending team. I'm happy with our improvement on D, that fact the Bargs is starting to show me something, and that DD is playing the best ball of his career. That being said, it would be the worst case scenario pushing for the 8th seed in the East.

This team needs a high draft pick to ensure that we have a chance to be a contending team at least 3-5 years from now (Not sure if that's possible with BC as GM, assuming he still is in that time frame, but I'll leave that thought for another discussion). Especially with this year being one of the deeper drafts in years.

[mcHAPPY]

Everyone is talking about 'we need another high draft pick'.

The Raptors already have a high draft pick coming and his name is Jonas Valanciunas:

I've said this numerous times in this thread now but the Raptors might already have their franchise player from the least likely source imaginable. I think the odds of us having a franchise player in Andrea Bargnani are greater than getting one in the draft. Bargnani's play over these 6 games is franchise player calibre production. The bigger issue is will it be sustainable. That is an unknown but less of one than what the draft might bring in my opinion.

DeMar has also shown that he still has tricks and room for improvement up his sleeve. He is just 22!


A playoff appearance and a mid first round draft pick in a quality draft (with cap space, a young prospect, and our own pick which together might be able to move higher in the draft) would not be the end of the world.

The talk of this year has been a culture change. Winning and making the playoffs would certainly do that. Not to mention the respectability that goes along with it around the league. Imagine, suddenly a free agent signing or a trade to Toronto is not considered deployment to Siberia.

[Raptorsss]

What did I just watch? I think we need a high lottery pick, since we won't be a bad team for at least another 5 seasons. Unfortunately, Milwaukee and NYK don't look like they are better than the Raptors.

[e2thed]

You hear the Big Z one.

[NoPropsneeded]

that is actually a pretty sick song. When he says jonas valaciunas its really funny

[Mack North]

The only fear I have in the Raptors making or even flirting with a playoff spot is that BC takes a 180 degree turn on the rebuilding and makes a flurry of free agent signings again and sets us back another 3-5 years. The fact that he was itching to do it this past offseason shows he still hasn't quite learned his lesson yet. Thank goodness for Ed Stefanski, but if we make the playoffs, who's going to win that argument? (btw this is purely hypothetical. I still think we win 15 games or less.)

The draft looks good, but you never know with that -- you could end up drafting a guy who is injured all the time, or, just plain sucks.

Wow, 12-60 the rest of the way?? That sounds pretty tough to swallow now that they've been playing so well early on...

[RaptorDan]

Regardless of record or draft pick position, I want to see entertaining games every night. If every night is a blow-out or just plain ugly I won't watch. I'm glad that things are going pretty good so far, there is some optimism and most games have been fun to watch. It keeps me tuning in. And geez, it been so many years since any of my favourite teams have made the playoffs (Raptors, Bills) it would be a pleasure to watch.

[draftedraptor]

Playoffs. A winning team does wonders to the confidence of youngsters and we have plenty of them (DD, JB, ED, JJ). Bargnani can finally be that franchise player (if he wants to). We have a better shot at signing an all star Free agent.

Besides you will end up losing your best players if you cannot compete. like a bosh!

[Maleko]

I like the mention from Matt on the playoffs and high pick, and bring it on in some fashion. That said if it is one of the other I like the high pick. Am I cheering for the Raps to lose, of course not. I think we need a solid-if-not-stellar SF or PG from the draft and the other (PG or SF) via free agency/trade. Trading up to get the draft pick, and making the playoffs is an ideal scenario from my side.

[RPT23]

I absolutely agree. Call it what you want, "culture change", "building", we need to start playing with pride (which we have been as of late). Whether that equates to making the playoffs or not, 'no expectations' is what I've been hearing a lot in post game interviews from the players. If we do tank (which is crap, IMO) it just takes away from what Casey is trying to instill on this team. Professionalism, Accountability and Dedication to the team. I don't remember a time during the Raptors era where we had a coach who actually cared for the development of this team. I don't consider the early-Wilkens era to be as significant because he practically inherited a team with a bonafide superstar in VC. Whereas right now, Casey is turning around a team which is pretty close to the same team we had last year and we have a ROCK! And by tanking, it surely doesn't ensure us of any guaranteed placement when the ball drops (last year we were projected to 'earn' a top 3 pick). Anyway, we can likely trade our assets for a higher pick if needed. For example, weren't the Spurs dangling Tony Parker for OUR 5th pick? Thank GOD BC decided to keep our pick. I feel we enough young players to develop, especially with JV set to make his Raptors debut. By showcasing this year that we're an up-and-coming team, it's a possibility that we can land a pretty good FA and/or make the perception of Toronto (or Canada for that matter), not a bad place to be. Who was that US college player that sort of refute the idea of playing for the Raptors because he didn't like travelling through customs? Perry Jones?????

[Balls of Steel]

This year isn't the year to make the playoffs (unless they really win, which I cannot envision despite the improved play). We need a high pick this year and next year will be the year to push forward.

[Nilanka]

Wow, 12-60 the rest of the way?? That sounds pretty tough to swallow now that they've been playing so well early on...

That would be 12-48 the rest of the way.

But I agree with your point. We'll win more than 15 games this year.

[white men can't jump]

These are the kinds of polls that just kill me. High lottery pick or make the playoffs? Why can't we have both? So lets say we make the playoffs. First assumption there cemented. We'd clearly be a 7-8 seed at best, so our pick would still be in the mid-high teens. It is supposedly a really deep draft. There is a real possibility someone BC is targeting could be available there. Lets say he wants someone higher. We clearly don't need to keep Ed, Amir, Bargs and JV on the roster. Assuming Ed is the most enticing trade chip, we could send him and our pick, or Bayless and our pick, or some random deal with any number of teams. My point is, things are not set in stone, and winning does not necessarily screw your chances to rebuild. I hate to drink the Colangelo koolaid but he keeps using the word flexibility, and he may have enough of it to make the deals he needs to make, or at least some of them, regardless of how the season plays out with Ws and Ls.
I think if we make the playoffs, which I think is still pretty unlikely, we should still be able to fill or start filling the holes in our roster through draft/trades. So yeah, don't be upset because thing a) or b) happens, be upset if BC can't make the moves he needs to even if we don't finish in the worst 5 teams.

[mcHAPPY]

These are the kinds of polls that just kill me. High lottery pick or make the playoffs? Why can't we have both? So lets say we make the playoffs. First assumption there cemented. We'd clearly be a 7-8 seed at best, so our pick would still be in the mid-high teens. It is supposedly a really deep draft. There is a real possibility someone BC is targeting could be available there. Lets say he wants someone higher. We clearly don't need to keep Ed, Amir, Bargs and JV on the roster. Assuming Ed is the most enticing trade chip, we could send him and our pick, or Bayless and our pick, or some random deal with any number of teams. My point is, things are not set in stone, and winning does not necessarily screw your chances to rebuild. I hate to drink the Colangelo koolaid but he keeps using the word flexibility, and he may have enough of it to make the deals he needs to make, or at least some of them, regardless of how the season plays out with Ws and Ls.
I think if we make the playoffs, which I think is still pretty unlikely, we should still be able to fill or start filling the holes in our roster through draft/trades. So yeah, don't be upset because thing a) or b) happens, be upset if BC can't make the moves he needs to even if we don't finish in the worst 5 teams.

These types of polls are used to create discussion. It seems to be a common theme among Raptors fans of late who have had their heart set on a high draft pick.

If you read through the comments you would see many of the issues you discussed have been mentioned.