Where Do The Raptors Rank In The East?

[Demographic Shift]

DeAndre Jordan was just a tiny upgrade. He and Jarrett Allen are pretty similar players, with the exception of Jordan being a much better rebounder. Nets probably didn't want to sign Jordan, but that was the cost of doing business to get his good buddy, Durant to sign. Seems like a lot of duplication that will hurt the development of Allen. A trade might be coming.

So if Allen might be on the block...as the Nets have Claxton behind him...and we will have a glaring need when both Marc and Serge move on next year...
Do you do a trade ?

If yes.. whats the price ? .
.
A 2020 second ? or
Will it take a rotation player ?
Or do the Nets have good enough stuff everywhere that they ask more.?
Or would you even consider Allen someone thats worthwhile in a rebuild ?

[bertarapsfan]

So if Allen might be on the block...as the Nets have Claxton behind him...and we will have a glaring need when both Marc and Serge move on next year...
Do you do a trade ?

If yes.. whats the price ? .
.
A 2020 second ? or
Will it take a rotation player ?
Or do the Nets have good enough stuff everywhere that they ask more.?
Or would you even consider Allen someone thats worthwhile in a rebuild ?

I really like Allen. I would start him over Jordan if i was the nets. I would 100% be interested in getting him and a 2nd rounder would be a steal of a deal i would do in a heartbeat.

[Scraptor]

Agree we are going to be fine... maybe more than fine.

The Nets are going to be interesting...I agree they could sneak in as high as 3 but for me they slot more to 5 or 6.

Irving had Horford last year in Chowdertown. This year he has a declining Jordan. The lobs and corresponding dunks will be epic highlight reel stuff.. but DeAndre Jordan isn't in the same snack bracket as Al Horford from my cheap seat. Horford could play inside on the PnR and stretch the floor and make 3's. Old man river is the complete package. Jordan while good to me isn't as multi faceted as old man river.

It depends on your view on if you rate the Levert and Dinwidde combo being better or worse or same than Smart and Brown... Say its a wash.... but the wings in Brooklyn right now...Prince and Harris prolly aren't as good as the Hayward/Tatum duo.

To me.. sans Durant... the Nets are this years wild card...

If Irving can get them to 3 it will be his best reg season year... but.. and there is always a but.... Irving is injury prone and likely won't play more than 65 games. He has had 3 knee procedures...

Virtual beer that they finish closer to 6 than 3.

Virtual beer it is. I think Levert makes the all-star team this year. Dinwiddie is a real weapon too.

Kurucs and Allen will both be better this year. Jordan is still pretty solid. Then they have all these nice little pieces like Harris, Prince, and Musa.

That's a team with a good mix of star potential, improving youth, quality role players, a good system and a good coach. I think they'll win 50+ games.

[Demographic Shift]

Virtual beer it is. I think Levert makes the all-star team this year. Dinwiddie is a real weapon too.

Kurucs and Allen will both be better this year. Jordan is still pretty solid. Then they have all these nice little pieces like Harris, Prince, and Musa.

That's a team with a good mix of star potential, improving youth, quality role players, a good system and a good coach. I think they'll win 50+ games.

OK.. you are on.

I like Levert and Dinwiddee..
Not as high as you on Kurucs and Allen....Allen just needs some more time to get stronger as he will be out bodied by the likes of Embiid....Gasol....Lopez1&2.... maybe Vuc and Adebyo.
Atlanta seemed to give up on Prince... don't know why.. .or maybe Marks insisted he be part of the deal.... He played well in Atlanta on a bad team... hard to to. We shall see how he fills the wing for them. Harris will get his from the arc....

Still thinking its a mid 40s team 44-38 ... largely on Irvings health.

Next year when Durant gets back they are on the clock.

[Demographic Shift]

Is a 50 win season myth or do-able for the Raps ?

If there are no trades at the deadline or earlier for the 3 UFA's and regardless of where they rank in the OFF and DEF top 10 rankings to me anyway the Raps have a decent shot at being over on 49 wins.

Gorilla math on how to get to 50 looks like this.

Against the top tier in the East.. The Bucks and Philly... say we go 3 and 5.

Against the teams in the next tier Indy.. Chowders... Nets...the Heat... Detroit and Orlando.... say they go 14 and 10... thats around 575 ball against teams that they will be reasonably expected to beat on equal footing. Back to Backs and Schedule anomalies will even themselves out for and against them. .

Against The Hawks and Bulls.. two teams who may or may not be playing to win depending on when you draw them... Say they go 6 and 2.

Against the tank brigade of the Knicks, Charlotte, Wizards and the team formerly known as the Lebrons.. The Raps beat who they are supposed to beat. Its not out the question to whomp these teams and say Raps do that and go 13 and 3. The Knicks all PF lineup should be fun to watch.

A split with the West is not an unreasonable assumption.....but a nod that the west is tough... 14 and 16.

Thats 50 wins... and would put them in the mix for 3rd or 4th. .

[SkywalkerAC]

50+ wins, all the way.

[DogeLover1234]

Virtual beer it is. I think Levert makes the all-star team this year. Dinwiddie is a real weapon too.

Kurucs and Allen will both be better this year. Jordan is still pretty solid. Then they have all these nice little pieces like Harris, Prince, and Musa.

That's a team with a good mix of star potential, improving youth, quality role players, a good system and a good coach. I think they'll win 50+ games.

They could be good, but to play devils advocate, Levert has had injury problems, they kinda lack bigs to matchup with a lot of the good eastern conference teams and if Kurucs and Musa dont improve they are really thin at 3/4.

[007]

50+ wins, all the way.

Hell yeah! Confidence baby, confidence!

[Scraptor]

They could be good, but to play devils advocate, Levert has had injury problems, they kinda lack bigs to matchup with a lot of the good eastern conference teams and if Kurucs and Musa dont improve they are really thin at 3/4.

Prince could be good in the hands of Atkinson imo. Between him and Kurucs, and Levert at the 3, I think they'll probably be fine.

[GOLDBLUM]

Prince could be good in the hands of Atkinson imo. Between him and Kurucs, and Levert at the 3, I think they'll probably be fine.

Yeah, I feel like people are under-rating or forgetting about Prince. I think he'll be a great piece of the puzzle for them and in a way is their biggest x-factor.

[G__Deane]

Is a 50 win season myth or do-able for the Raps ?

I think they fall short or just short

I think any of Kyle, Serge or Gasol can fall off fast or at least regress again (I could also argue the opposite lol), A lot is being asked of Siakam to take the next huge step immediately, I'm not super high on OG and he has a lot to prove this season imo. I actually think Norm is going to impress but he's got to find consistency. And the West will be more of a death row than you might think.

I think they'll going to struggle offensively a bit.....how quickly we forget that 50 wins is a real accomplishment.

Without changes and some Masai magic, I think there a second round out too....would be glad (and surprised) to be proven wrong.

[SkywalkerAC]

I'm not even thinking about playoffs at this point, 50 wins and homecourt in the first round has to be the goal for now. Defense, winning veterans, coaching, and talent depth should take us there.

[Scraptor]

Zach Lowe has us as a borderline playoff team because he thinks we'll make some trade dumps. I guess that really is the deciding factor.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...rs-bottom-tier

[SkywalkerAC]

Sixers strike me as overrated (not that they shouldn't be slotted in at #2). They're counting on internal development to compensate for losing two key players (one allstar).

[The Great One]

Sixers strike me as overrated (not that they shouldn't be slotted in at #2). They're counting on internal development to compensate for losing two key players (one allstar).

The Sixers are 100% overrated.

Listen, they lost their BEST player in the playoffs last year. The ONLY guy on their team who can create his own shot. I believe that in order to win a championship, you have to have that all star perimeter player who can create his own shot. They don't have that.

Look at the past NBA Champions. They all have a perimeter guy who can create their own shot. The 2011 Mavs was an exception. But they had Dirk. He's a big but really plays in the perimeter. And he's one of those rare big who can create his own shot.

Raptors
Warriors
Heat
Cavs
Lakers
Celtics
Spurs
Bulls

They all had that special perimeter player who can create his own shot.