Jack Armstrong: Gay/DD are NOT selfish players

[special1]

No, I speak on behalf of myself. You argue with me about "my agenda", but the claims you're making about what my 'tanking' strategy entail are nowhere close to the actual strategy I'm proposing.

If that's the case I apologize. Its hard to keep up with all of these tanking strategies.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

If that's the case I apologize. Its hard to keep up with all of these tanking strategies.

Here is a link to my long-winded explanation of what my personal "tank" strategy is: http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/forum...l=1#post247285

jimmie wrote something similar above, about 'tanking' (meaning losing more games this season to increase # Ping-Pong balls attached to Raptors' own 1st round draft pick in 2014) actually being a by-product of a proper rebuild/retool, as opposed to being the strategy unto itself. The goal is to build a good team the right way, in a manner that sets the team up for sustainable success (ie: not the BC way, which this team still is).

- more talent
- better fit
- no financial handcuffs

[gametime]

Obviously I'm hoping this strategy winds up with the Raptors getting a top-3 pick in the 2014 draft and that whoever the Raps draft fulfills his potential to the max. However, by taking a step back and rebuilding the team efficiently and effectively (ie: a clear strategy that is stuck to, better fit of talent, no stupid $$$ moves, always improving the baseline talent level), the whole point is that the GM no longer needs to rely on all-or-nothing moves to be successful.

Well thoughts out points... Let's just hope it comes to fruition. Especially landing a top 3 pick. Rebuilding is a whole lot easier when you have a legit stud that's developed here and is the new face of a consistent playoff culture in Toronto.

[Axel]

First Bold - Are you telling me that you will be able to build one through tanking in the near future?? Wouldn't you need to start somewhere? Does anyone remember the year Bosh left? We were in eighth and Chicago came back and took it by 1/2 a game because Bosh was out?? Why don't you think we can build on a playoff team? Keep in mind i never said we should re-sign Lowry or Gay. I'm on a wait and see.

Second bold - I'm not saying its imposssible BUT I think its VERY unlikely to be getting multiple first round picks in 2014

Third bold - Every GM wants to build a better team. My question is HOW do you know the players you draft will be MORE talented than the players you've given up?? How do you know you won't draft a BUST? How do you know if it fits better if they haven't even played a game together? How do you know Ross will even be a better player than Derozan? This isn't fantasy basketball.....

I think this is the only thing you've said in this thread that I agree with, yet I am still committed to the change.

This team isn't very good. We are mediocre at best. Brooklyn will eventually get going (cohesion takes time) because they have the most talent and will win the division. That leaves the Raps fighting for a play-off appearance, which is possible with their current defence and a presume offensive improvement once shots start falling. But then what?

If the shots start to fall, and the defence is maintained, we are still a small window non-contending playoff team. I say small window because Gay, Lowry, Amir, Hansbrough are all in their prime, that's 4 of our top 8 rotation. If we re-sign Gay and Lowry, we are now a luxury tax team that has, realistically at best, a 3 year window of playoffs, likely in the 4-7 seed range, before Gay, Lowry, Amir and Hansbrough start to decline. A mid-round draft pick over the next few years isn't likely to be a player who will be able to take over the role's of Gay & Lowry. MU is a great drafter, but I don't think it is realistic to expect that much from a low pick. Once the window closes, we are going to start losing again anyway and will have to make moves to kick-start the franchise (likely involving a couple of trips to the lottery).

If Gay and Lowry walk, then we have not maximized our assets (letting them walk for nothing) and are left replacing 2/5s of our starting line-up. We are unlikely to find great replacements, so will likely end up in the lottery in the next 2 years anyway, but too late to capitalize on this year's elite crop.

The big question, is that good enough? Is 3 years of playoff ball where we might be able to make the 2nd round good enough? I say no, and I think TL agrees when he says "we are here to win Championships".

I fully support destructing this roster for a few simple reasons.
#1 - I want to compete for Championships. It is really hard to win one, but on any given season, up to 8-10 teams feel like they have a chance. The Raps have never been that team. I'm a Ravens fan in NFL, and I can say that the feeling of complete faith in your team to compete every year is absolutely glorious.
#2 - This team was constructed by Bryan Colangelo with no apparent concern for how they would fit on the court. No outside shooting, no efficiency, no cap flexibility. Colangelo was trying to move Bargnani, which is really the only true move MU has made, so this team is still basically BC's team.
#3 - this draft is epically talented. The top 5 of 2013 would have been drafted late in the 2014 draft (I can't remember which talking head made this comment a couple of days ago, it might have been Zach Lowe or Eric Koreen). For a draft to be so substantially better than the next/previous, is very rare. You need to strike the iron while it's hot. It may never be hotter than 2014. The Raps pick will land us a player who will very likely be an all-star or at least produce like one (all-stars are going to be harder to obtain with such a talent influx). How many Raps can we honestly say that about? Maybe JV. A top 6 pick this year is better than the #1 pick most years. Our goal shouldn't be to get the 1st pick and take Wiggins (that'd be nice but), we should simply focus on drafting our future star. Aaron Gordon, Marcus Smart, Dante Exum are the names you hear after Wiggins, Randle, Parker and all 3 would be great choices.

Our future can be great, truely great. But we need a real star player, not just star salaries. 2014 draft is our best chance of landing an elite player. Our future picks would be to supplement that. 2015 we have our own, which if we do this properly, should be in the 7-13 range. 2016 we have our own and the worst of NYK/Den. By that time, both of those picks are likely to not be in the lottery or at the very least late (12+). New York or Denver will probably falter, but to trust them both to is a bit naive. Den holds the cards since they get to swap the pick with NY at their discretion, we get whatever is leftover. A nice asset, but not something we can count on to be a game changer.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again. To Paraphrase LL Cool J:
"Don't call it a rebuild, we've been building for years."

Get your hardhat on and strap in, it's going to be hard work but worth it in the end.