Tear It Down or Rebuild On The Fly?

[planetmars]

Hedo and Carroll would probably be the two biggest names/highest tier targets in their respective summers.

If we can lock Siakam in long term, and his development continues apace, we may have the combination of two things we've never had before when hunting for a free agent to come to our team: a star player, and the cap space to add another.

Well we had Bosh (who was locked in long term at the time) and cap space. We ended up with Hedo like you said.. so the situation did happen before.. we just never landed the "star". I'm not saying it won't happen, but the situation you just described did and it didn't pan out. I believe in Masai.. and I believe in this city. Just hope the rest of the NBA does as well

[Hotshot]

Imagine for a second if somehow the Raptors managed to win another championship with this roster while the Clippers don't get to the finals...

Kawhi's legacy would be questioned.

Not that it's going to happened or anything but the one man in the NBA that can pull it off without superstars help is Masai.

[Sonny]

Still think we should trade for Westbrook.

[LJ2]

I am sorry but we are guessing here that Kawhi would have signed here. I think he really wanted to go back to LA. Imagine Masai dealing with Presti and then KL/Uncle Dennis reneges. They just pulled a U on the Clips.

True, Kawhi may still not have signed, but we would still have had 2 of arguably the top 10-15 players in the league. The point I was trying to make is that there was an opportunity to get some top end talent and Masai didn't pull the trigger. I wonder what the offer was on both sides.

[Shredder]

I think a lot of players saw Kawhi’s season , how the coaches, front office, medical team and fans treated him and probably wished they had that. Its only a matter of time to me, Masai is going to keep hitting on these low to mid tier pickups while keeping he option for a big name guy open.

Interesting that Raps arent expected to trade any of the vets before the season. To me must mean that they have all bought in, I also like it, cause whatever contract and crappy pick wed get back arent worth it to me. Happy to see where this team goes.

I think it's a savvy move by Masai (I'm not surprised).

The statement is before the season, not this season.

I think that means, one, we're not shopping these guys (which lowers their value). They're Raptors until otherwise notified.

2, that their values will only go up as the season goes on (barring any injuries). They are all on expiring contracts, They are all valuable players (how much value is going to be up to the other team) Regardless, as the season goes on, teams will have injuries, team will see that their current team is not going to be competitive, some teams will see that they are a player or two away from being a contender, some teams will be looking to offload players and contracts, any of these scenarios is when Masai pounces and bags a trade that upgrades the team. Hopefully both in a present and future sense.

[DanH]

There is always a difference in trying to get a free agent that's never played for you before and a free agent who has. Best guy we ever got that played for a different team was probably Hedo. Maybe Bismack but that's a stretch. We kept DeMar, Lowry, Bosh, Vince and almost got Kawhi back.

Masai has yet to achieve that one goal for this franchise. I'll take the championship over that one though. But it's still something we've never had. A star wanting to come play for us.. and not via trade but through free agency.

Hedo and Carroll would probably be the two biggest names/highest tier targets in their respective summers.

If we can lock Siakam in long term, and his development continues apace, we may have the combination of two things we've never had before when hunting for a free agent to come to our team: a star player, and the cap space to add another.

[DogeLover1234]

A little off topic but we got a meeting with Kawhi?!!??? He didn't have to meet with us. Do the rest of you think we can be players in free agency, or not so much?

I think a lot of players saw Kawhi’s season , how the coaches, front office, medical team and fans treated him and probably wished they had that. Its only a matter of time to me, Masai is going to keep hitting on these low to mid tier pickups while keeping he option for a big name guy open.

Interesting that Raps arent expected to trade any of the vets before the season. To me must mean that they have all bought in, I also like it, cause whatever contract and crappy pick wed get back arent worth it to me. Happy to see where this team goes.

[planetmars]

A little off topic but we got a meeting with Kawhi?!!??? He didn't have to meet with us. Do the rest of you think we can be players in free agency, or not so much?

There is always a difference in trying to get a free agent that's never played for you before and a free agent who has. Best guy we ever got that played for a different team was probably Hedo. Maybe Bismack but that's a stretch. We kept DeMar, Lowry, Bosh, Vince and almost got Kawhi back.

Masai has yet to achieve that one goal for this franchise. I'll take the championship over that one though. But it's still something we've never had. A star wanting to come play for us.. and not via trade but through free agency.

[NeedTristanThompson]

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.

A little off topic but we got a meeting with Kawhi?!!??? He didn't have to meet with us. Do the rest of you think we can be players in free agency, or not so much?

[DanH]

The 2 extra years are blanked
out on hoopshype. In that case. I would pass lol. 2 years of Westbrook I think it’s worth it, 4 years is another storey

Using hoopshype was your mistake.

Basketball-insiders is the way to go.

[saints91]

If the heat end up getting him, that’s going to be one very intense team.

[saints91]

The 2 extra years are blanked
out on hoopshype. In that case. I would pass lol. 2 years of Westbrook I think it’s worth it, 4 years is another storey

[DanH]

Never mind Westbrook’s deal is only 2 more years. I would pull the trigger and resign Kyle and Serg. On expensive one year deals in the off season

Westbrook is signed through 2022-23 (four seasons including this coming one). The final year is a player option, but it's a $47M player option so odds are he opts in.

Any Westbrook trade I would hope would send out Ibaka, not Gasol. If we are looking to win, keep the better player.

Ibaka and Powell work for salary matching. The questions really are: does getting Westbrook actually help the Raptors contend? And if so, does OKC accept an offer like what you suggested? Not sure Masai is going to sign up to sending out multiple 1sts, either.

[planetmars]

2021 should be interesting. Giannis, Kahwi, George and Lebron available? I'm sure there's more.

Davis, Gobert, Beal, Holiday, McCollum, Griffin, Paul, Conley, DeRozan.. many others.

[Rudy Bargnani]

Interesting Kawhi news on that 2 year deal.

Clippers have Lou will as a free agent in 2020 and will be in tax. Would get a kick out of offering him a large 1 year deal so he leaves the clippers hurting their depth for 2021. Or just so they match and costs Ballmer and extra $20 million in luxury taxes.