Tear It Down or Rebuild On The Fly?

[Mack North]

What would you like to see happen now that Kawhi is gone and we've had a taste of that championship gold?

Looking at the list of free agents that are set to become available next season doesn't provide much of a positive outlook on continuing a sustained run, not to mention Lowry, Ibaka and Gasol are coming off the books.

My hope(right now) is that we get what we can for those guys via trade(young talent, picks) and rebuild through the draft, while keeping Pascal as the main piece for the next few years.

What say you?

[Kagemusha]

I hope Masai gets SGA.
No way he can co exist with a ball hog PG.
Russ will ruin his game and his psyche.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

I hope Masai gets SGA.
No way he can co exist with a ball hog PG.
Russ will ruin his game and his psyche.

I'm not sure Westbrook will be in OKC much longer. Could see them trading him now.

[DogeLover1234]

Seems pretty hard to make this roster bad. Right now I still only see The 76ers and Bucks as clear favorites. Pacers, Nets and even Celtics have to prove something to me before they get the nod. Orlando will be in the mix as well, then it falls off. Granted I have no clue the quality of this draft, but tanking seems impractical. That being said, I got no clue what to do, still recounting that run...

[Maury]

I think the best way to sell your franchise to available stars either through trade or free agency is to have a stable and always competitive roster with upside. Tanking is cool and all but you can waste a year sucking to get the 4th pick in a three-player draft. Masai is very good at drafting but he's good at drafting anywhere. Masai will stay calm, fill up the cupboard again, and make another run at a top tier player, or develop someone into one. I believe in Masai.

[LJ2]

I think the best way to sell your franchise to available stars either through trade or free agency is to have a stable and always competitive roster with upside. Tanking is cool and all but you can waste a year sucking to get the 4th pick in a three-player draft. Masai is very good at drafting but he's good at drafting anywhere. Masai will stay calm, fill up the cupboard again, and make another run at a top tier player, or develop someone into one. I believe in Masai.

Free agency isn’t a route Toronto can take imo.To date the best player we’ve gotten an interview with is LaMarcus Aldridge and he chose the Spurs over us. It’s the draft or trades for Toronto. And that is fine. Masai and his team of scouts have done a great job drafting. Our time will come again.

[G__Deane]

I don't think it's in Masai's character or MLSE's bank account desires to tear it down.
And who would take Lowry's ($35+M!) Gasols and Serge's contracts excpet as expiring and what do you get for that?

The Raps don't really need a bunch of draft picks alone; they need players with upside and tenure to line up with Pascal and OG. Siakam is about to get (over)paid as well.

[Kagemusha]

I'm not sure Westbrook will be in OKC much longer. Could see them trading him now.

Yeah, future Knick.

[TheWaterboy]

Yeah, future Knick.

Feels likely, especially if OKC see something they like in the Knicks FA signings this year.

If they're looking to go full tank for a few years, a Washington trade for Wall and draft picks is also an option, if a not-especially-appealing one. I can also see Westbrook as a player that GSW would flip Russell + pieces for if Klay looks like he'll be out the whole season+playoffs, but that's a high-risk move there even though Westbrook probably adds more dimensions to their team than Russell does. And the Russell-for-Russell trade mostly makes sense for OKC if they want an accelerated rebuild rather than being patient with their hoard of picks.

[thead]

the way Russ's name got dragged into trade talks...they pretty much have to move him now.

I'd flip him to Miami if I was OKC

[Kagemusha]

Feels likely, especially if OKC see something they like in the Knicks FA signings this year.

If they're looking to go full tank for a few years, a Washington trade for Wall and draft picks is also an option, if a not-especially-appealing one. I can also see Westbrook as a player that GSW would flip Russell + pieces for if Klay looks like he'll be out the whole season+playoffs, but that's a high-risk move there even though Westbrook probably adds more dimensions to their team than Russell does. And the Russell-for-Russell trade mostly makes sense for OKC if they want an accelerated rebuild rather than being patient with their hoard of picks.

If I'm OKC, I would ask for RJ Barrett to be part of the deal.

[thead]

I don't see a market for our expiring contracts. I've just been through the trade machine.

Best bet is to keep it together run the young guys more minutes and see what we got.

Lowry
Powell
OG
Siakam
Gasol

FVV
???
???
Boucher
Ibaka

[Kagemusha]

Lowry
Powell
OG
Siakam
Gasol

FVV
Matt Thomas
???
Boucher
Ibaka

[white men can't jump]

This team can't remain relevant without massive turnover. Do you want to remain "competitive" if it's back to the treadmill fringe playoff team level? Perennial 6-10 seed in the East? Sounds pretty terrible to me.

I don't care how the rebuild looks, or if they try to bottom out, but this current roster is basically done. We all knew that would be the case if Kawhi left. The only piece obviously worth keeping is Pascal (jury's out on OG after a difficult season for him, so they may want to hang onto him). It's time to start shopping everyone else.

The one thing I hope is that they don't somehow trade for Westbrook. Most overrated superstar in the history of the NBA. He'll average a triple double and still end up being the reason you lose in the playoffs every year with his erratic play.

[white men can't jump]

I don't see a market for our expiring contracts. I've just been through the trade machine.

Best bet is to keep it together run the young guys more minutes and see what we got.

Lowry
Powell
OG
Siakam
Gasol

FVV
???
???
Boucher
Ibaka

We don't know what the trade market will look like as the season progresses. I'm sure Masai will be working the phones hard.

Masai is smart. He knew his best chance of getting a superstar is trading for one (not saying we can do that with our current assets). That might be even more the case now. We just had Kawhi, had literally the best possible outcome for the season both for the player and the team, and he still decided to leave. So it's still hard to see us making any noise in free agency next year with all the money we could have. If we can turn Gasol/Ibaka/Lowry into any kind of good assets, we should do it.