With the surprising rapid growth of Pascal Siakam does the DeRozan trade for Lenord seem less needed ?

[MixxAOR]

Why be strong enough, when there's stronger still.

[KeonClark]

This thread should be killed now. Raptors just finished their first dominant series in TEAM HISTORY. Get a grip.

[RaptorsVictim]

Some players grow great in the right environment. Siakam would not have been what he is right now without playing with great players like Kawhi and Green. Great players give you confidence and that was palinly reflected on Siakam. This trade was good, but I think JV's trade was not good in spite of the greatness of Gasol.

[guyroch]

Leafs are a whole other thing.

No chance they are winning, tavares, marner, nylander and matthews contracts will suffocate them.

but enough about the "B TEAM" of Toronto

The Raptors starters Gasol Round 2 pick ... Danny Green Round 2 pick ... Spicey P late 1st round pick ... Lowry late 1st round pick .. Kawhi 15th pick ... That is a far from the list of players the B team you mentioned ..

[sanyo]

Well our GM / President seems to understand what it takes to win more then his counterpart the Toronto Maple Leafs ... Our GM spent his summer and trade deadline to stress defense and that is what wins ... The guys across the hall decided to spend all their money for offense ...

Leafs are a whole other thing.

No chance they are winning, tavares, marner, nylander and matthews contracts will suffocate them.

but enough about the "B TEAM" of Toronto

[guyroch]

I would do Demar for Kawhi all day everyday.

Poeltl is great but Gasol brings us the experience.

losing a pick sucks but its a high pick so may not be a big deal (may... but could since Siakam was a high pick).

Anyways... im happy they did it.

Well our GM / President seems to understand what it takes to win more then his counterpart the Toronto Maple Leafs ... Our GM spent his summer and trade deadline to stress defense and that is what wins ... The guys across the hall decided to spend all their money for offense ...

[sanyo]

I would do Demar for Kawhi all day everyday.

Poeltl is great but Gasol brings us the experience.

losing a pick sucks but its a high pick so may not be a big deal (may... but could since Siakam was a high pick).

Anyways... im happy they did it.

[Superjudge]

I read great things coming out of the Spurs regarding Jakob Poeltl and throw in the amazing growth of Siakam to stardom was their a need to go for a hail marry type of trade in a all for nothing type of season ? The burden of carrying the franchise would have been lessened with Siakam becoming a great second scoring option . Last summer at this time what were we projecting Siakam to being .

Would we still be up 3-1 against the Magic presently with last years roster ?

Leonard does it at both ends. Green does it all around. It's a win for Toronto.

[DanH]

Nope!

Siakam has developed into a ball dominant scorer (for stretches), a role he would not have been able to succeed as well in with DeRozan on the floor, either needing the ball in his hands or allowing the defence to sag off him at the three point line. Leonard uses a lot of possessions, but when he's off the ball he spaces the floor.

Meanwhile, what's this about not needing to be the number 1 scoring option for DeRozan? He led SA in USG% with a 28% usage basically identical to his usage most years here, and had a 28% assist rate, meaning he was scoring or assisting on nearly half of SA's baskets. They ran the entire offence through him. Aldridge is their best player, but DeRozan didn't step down into a lower usage role on the Spurs, far from it.

[guyroch]

This is a no doubter, The trade only made the team stronger and capable of competing with Sixers, Bucks and possibly the WCF winner (GSW?). Yes, DeRozan was an Eastern All-Star but couldn't make the team in the Western Conference. Kawhi a 2 x Western Conference All-Star prior to his injury, DPOY and a Finals MVP cleary is a stronger all-around player that instantly changed the competitive landscape of the Eastern Conference and the team's championship aspirations...

Secondly, keeping the status quo, Pascal would maybe not have developed as much or as quickly, With the number of Load Management games, Pascal had the opportunity to become a legit scoring option . Ironically, having Kawhi and not suiting him up has unleashed P-Spice.

With P-Spice becoming a legit number 1 or 2 scorer would have just helped DeRozan .. Look at what DeRozan has done for the Spurs not having to be the franchise player and or having to be the number 1 scoring option . I am saying when we made the trade did we know that this would be the upside of P-Spice

[planetmars]

The trade was still a homerun. Nothing changed. Kawhi is a bonafide super star in this league. Yeah its possible DeMar/Poeltl would lead us to victory over the Magic.. but it's also possible we end up as the 4th or 5th seed instead of the 2nd and have to face a tougher first round team (like Boston).

Danny as we've seen has been amazing. He's shut down DJ. I saw a stat somewhere where DJ scored less in games 2-4 combined than he did in game 1. I don't see DeMar having that type of impact for example. And that's just Danny Green (the throw away in the deal).

And even if we can get through the Magic.. it would be hard pressed to beat a team like Philly without a guy like Kawhi who caused Ben Simmons to turn the ball over 10 times in a game during the regular season. 10 turnovers!

Besides Kawhi is staying.. so that just makes the trade a million times better.


As for Siakam.. yeah his resurgence has been amazing. And his resurgence would have definitely helped last year's roster. But despite DeMar being an all-star caliber player he's still not a super star. And Poeltl would still be our 3rd big in the rotation. It was better for him and his career that we got him some playing time out in San Antonio.

[G__Deane]

Plus somethign abot some guy named ..... Danny Green

[Zak24gege]

This is a no doubter, The trade only made the team stronger and capable of competing with Sixers, Bucks and possibly the WCF winner (GSW?). Yes, DeRozan was an Eastern All-Star but couldn't make the team in the Western Conference. Kawhi a 2 x Western Conference All-Star prior to his injury, DPOY and a Finals MVP cleary is a stronger all-around player that instantly changed the competitive landscape of the Eastern Conference and the team's championship aspirations...

Secondly, keeping the status quo, Pascal would maybe not have developed as much or as quickly, With the number of Load Management games, Pascal had the opportunity to become a legit scoring option . Ironically, having Kawhi and not suiting him up has unleashed P-Spice.

[G__Deane]

"With the surprising rapid growth of Pascal Siakam does the DeRozan trade for Lenord seem less needed ?"

No, the trade seems no less needed today than it did at the time. Great trade then, excellent trade now. The question is not whether last year's team would be up 3-1 on Orlando. The question is would last year's team be likely to take out Philly, get by the Bucks and challenge the GSW. The answer to that is "no"

[guyroch]

I read great things coming out of the Spurs regarding Jakob Poeltl and throw in the amazing growth of Siakam to stardom was their a need to go for a hail marry type of trade in a all for nothing type of season ? The burden of carrying the franchise would have been lessened with Siakam becoming a great second scoring option . Last summer at this time what were we projecting Siakam to being .

Would we still be up 3-1 against the Magic presently with last years roster ?