Raptors on the Rise?

[peanutwoozle]

The way I see it, if we do make the playoffs this year with the current group, we have a better chance of being able to improve the team as we are no longer capped out.

[Mediumcore]

It's open season on trades, and I don't hear a peep about the Raptors. Clearly Masaii is making moves.

[charlesnba23]

You meant "He better not"... right?

Nope!

[Joey]

He better do something quick, like trading our 1st round draft pick with Landry Fields to Golden State for Harrison Barnes.

You meant "He better not"... right?

[charlesnba23]

He better do something quick, like trading our 1st round draft pick with Landry Fields to Golden State for Harrison Barnes.

[white men can't jump]

Agreed. Ujiri left the Nuggets before he had a chance to complete a plan, though. The NY 1st rounder and all the assets he'd gotten on that team would make a nice package for some star player I suspect. Then he left, and Iggy left, and things kind of disintegrated a bit.

Though something that often goes unmentioned is how much control star players have even in trades. A guy would have to want to go to Denver, or Toronto. When's the last time a really top tier talent accepted whatever trade his soon-to-be former team wanted?...Shaq, Melo, Paul, Howard...A lot of times teams are left on the outside looking in with no real chance to get that elite talent. And even if they do want to come to your team, then the old team can basically ransom them for whatever haul they want, which could possibly cripple your chances of building around them. (And the flip side is that the team trading them might be stuck dealing with someone who doesn't have great assets, which sucks for them)

[KHD]

Honestly? Yes. Very much so. The Nuggets are fool's gold. They don't have the team to really compete in the playoffs, and their record was inflated by playing an uptempo style in high altitude giving them a very solid advantage at home. But they were not a good road team, and they struggled mightily to play a halfcourt game, which is something you desperately need to be able to do well in the playoffs (and which is why Shaw is trying to force that style on them now).

I want the Raptors on a path to be contenders. Not a better version of a treadmill team (stuck in the same range every year without being able to make the leap). I don't see them as having the right pieces for that right now. And it's extremely hard to make improvements in such a situation. Management has even said how difficult it is to build a contender without top 5 picks way back in the summer. And as well as Ujiri did in Denver, they are not contenders.

The Raps are at least one core piece away from building toward that, and that's assuming DeMar and Jonas both become about as good as they possibly can. And you still have to have some flexibility with that core in place, which is why building through trades and free agency is so tough. You lose quality roster pieces, or future picks that would help you sustain the team, or cap flexibility which then makes it hard to add non-drafted pieces.

Agreed. Ujiri left the Nuggets before he had a chance to complete a plan, though. The NY 1st rounder and all the assets he'd gotten on that team would make a nice package for some star player I suspect. Then he left, and Iggy left, and things kind of disintegrated a bit.

[white men can't jump]

Would you guys be against having a team like last years Nuggets? To me, it seems more realistic than gunning for a superstar in the draft.

Honestly? Yes. Very much so. The Nuggets are fool's gold. They don't have the team to really compete in the playoffs, and their record was inflated by playing an uptempo style in high altitude giving them a very solid advantage at home. But they were not a good road team, and they struggled mightily to play a halfcourt game, which is something you desperately need to be able to do well in the playoffs (and which is why Shaw is trying to force that style on them now).

I want the Raptors on a path to be contenders. Not a better version of a treadmill team (stuck in the same range every year without being able to make the leap). I don't see them as having the right pieces for that right now. And it's extremely hard to make improvements in such a situation. Management has even said how difficult it is to build a contender without top 5 picks way back in the summer. And as well as Ujiri did in Denver, they are not contenders.

The Raps are at least one core piece away from building toward that, and that's assuming DeMar and Jonas both become about as good as they possibly can. And you still have to have some flexibility with that core in place, which is why building through trades and free agency is so tough. You lose quality roster pieces, or future picks that would help you sustain the team, or cap flexibility which then makes it hard to add non-drafted pieces.

[mcHAPPY]

Another way to look at it is.. if we somehow stick to this roster and manage to get into the Playoffs in the east ( it seems like any healthy 9 man rotation will make the playoffs in the east) the talent infusion into the Eastern conference via this year's draft will set us off the playoff pics for years to come starting next year... imagine the Milwaukee team with Wiggins...Philly with Parker (and Noel & MCW)...Orlando with Exum or Smart.. and compare those teams with our current roster..

God I hope you are right and there is enough games left to bottom out...

I'd rather not because I get your point.

The raptors do not exist in a vacuum.

[ball4life]

Orlando started 12-13 last year enroute to 20 wins.

There are 60 games left.

Plenty of time to secure a top pick.

Another way to look at it is.. if we somehow stick to this roster and manage to get into the Playoffs in the east ( it seems like any healthy 9 man rotation will make the playoffs in the east) the talent infusion into the Eastern conference via this year's draft will set us off the playoff pics for years to come starting next year... imagine the Milwaukee team with Wiggins...Philly with Parker (and Noel & MCW)...Orlando with Exum or Smart.. and compare those teams with our current roster..

God I hope you are right and there is enough games left to bottom out...

[Shrub]

You must be delusional if you think this raptors team is going to get out of the 1st round

I feel like I've said this before...:

Who are we playing in the first round?

Matters some, y'know.

[Joey]

You know that saying "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans"?

I think Masai is one of the few people where God would be like "Ya ... alright, I'll give you that."

[enlightenment]

You must be delusional if you think this raptors team is going to get out of the 1st round

You must have some real clairvoyance to dismiss someones mental health with such confidence.

As far as I am aware, there are only 2 teams that have a 100% shot at beating the Raptors in the first round.

[MACK11]

Who says?

You must be delusional if you think this raptors team is going to get out of the 1st round

[mcHAPPY]

I hear ya, but I don't think MU is done quite yet. You put one really good player into the mix that can either get his shot whenever he wants or can create for a roster full of pretty good players (Championship Dallas team), and there could be some noise to be made. I don't like the sustainability of those types of teams, but we'll see what Masai has up his sleeve. Maybe I'm just riding a false high from the recent wins, but I'm really liking how well our interior D has played as of late. If our perimeter D can hold it's own, things could get interesting.

Orlando started 12-13 last year enroute to 20 wins.

There are 60 games left.

Plenty of time to secure a top pick.