possible rotations 2019/2020

[Maury]

Let's just hope we don't become the Mavs.. they won the title in 2011, and since then have yet to win a single playoff round... 8 years later (and counting).

Didn’t the mavs get passed the spurs that year that Vince hit that game winner?

i wouldn’t mind being the mavs. Field some competitive and fun teams and then happen into a potentially top 3 in the league duo of young talent.

[planetmars]

Didn’t the mavs get passed the spurs that year that Vince hit that game winner?

i wouldn’t mind being the mavs. Field some competitive and fun teams and then happen into a potentially top 3 in the league duo of young talent.

No.. they ended up losing that series in 7 games.

[Jclaw]

So iso scoring is important for an offense. Hope Siakam is ready for it.

I can see a few comical moments coming this season when the ball keeps getting passed back and fourth with nobody wanting to take a shot.

I know it's a small sample size but both home and visitor announcers often commented on how well the ball was moving and the assists came easier in the non Kawhi games. Danny would be the only difference there (and, to a lesser extent, JV/CJ/Delon when they were here). I guess we'll see if it can work again.

[LJ2]

Let's just hope we don't become the Mavs.. they won the title in 2011, and since then have yet to win a single playoff round... 8 years later (and counting).

I expect to surpass what the Mavs have done since their championship year, this season.

[planetmars]

I expect to surpass what the Mavs have done since their championship year, this season.

Yeah.. we are in an easier conference so the chances are higher that we will. I just don't want to wait 8 years+ to become elite again. I mean the Mavs have a good future but they aren't going to be great this year.

I believe in Masai. Thank god he didn't go to the Wizards.

[KeonClark]

If you look at it right now, this is basically the team that got swept by Cavs in round 2 IF you subtracted Derozan, Poeltl, JV, Miles, Wright, and added Marc Gasol and an improved Siakam.

We are in tough, first round fodder, maybe 2nd if we get the right opponent. I don't expect Masai to be content for too long

[slaw]

If you look at it right now, this is basically the team that got swept by Cavs in round 2 IF you subtracted Derozan, Poeltl, JV, Miles, Wright, and added Marc Gasol and an improved Siakam.

We are in tough, first round fodder, maybe 2nd if we get the right opponent. I don't expect Masai to be content for too long

Well, except there are some wild cards. If OG takes a big leap then you've got much better players at the forward positions than the pre-Leonard teams ever had. Matt Thomas is a name that seems to have been forgotten amidst all the new end-of-rotation guys but if he can shoot that would give them better shooting than any of those teams.

I think they need to let this play out for awhile and see what happens. We may be pleasantly surprised. If not, I'm not that concerned. Team won a title. They've bought at least 5 years of goodwill from me and it's not as though MLSE sold its future to win the title. Organizationally, Raptorland is in great shape.

[Demographic Shift]

Yikes.. our offense is going to be terrible for long stretches into the season. Especially if Lowry gets the yips again.

Pascal can get you maybe 25 if we're lucky. Lowry can get another 13-14 (but he can be inconsistent). That's only 40 points. Marc is not reliable. Neither is Serge. Fred can help but he's a role player.

Defensively we'll be really good.. but offensively it will be tough to watch.

I don't trust Norm to start but I think he's going to have to be the default SG unless Fred gets it (which will hurt our bench - do we really want Loyd or Payne be our primary PG off the bench?)

So I guess we'll see: Marc/Pascal/OG/Norm/Kyle.

Serge & Fred should still be our most important bench guys. RHJ to expel Pascal. Stan to expel OG. And some combo of McCaw/Matt/Boucher/Payne (or Loyd) to round it off. I suspect Davis and Hernandez to stick with the 905's like Fred and Pascal did in year 1. They will give some minutes here and there to the big club but it will be rare.

I'm impressed with Davis the little I've seen of him, but I still don't see him getting the 3rd string PG duties off the bat. Anything is possible but I'm skeptical.

The Raps have had a top 10 offense for years now.... I don't think they are going to be horrible...
What they don't have right now is an iso guy who can get his own shot....Maybe Kyle defaults to that role.. but I am not seeing who else right now.

I think I am alone walking the point on night patrol on this one but I see Boucher getting a chance this year.
He has followed the Raptor development regimen fairly closely.. He played D League and he dominated there. I think he won some kind of MVP award for something there but he shone. Post the D League he was brought up to the varistiy last year and got a bit of run.. not much but some. He got the benefit of practice practice practice with the big team in their sets. Next up he got featured at Summer League this year and didn't muff his chance. He made shots and got inside. When hie missed inside he got fouled and got to the line. I think this summer his marching orders are going to be to put a gazillion shots fromt he arc... If he shows he can make that shot in the mid 30's% he will get his chance as a stretch 4 and a guy who can make baskets in transition....His defense is also going to have to get better but he can blocks shots. He is 26.

Siakam is going to spend his summer getting better at ball handling and continue to improve on that 3 point shot. If Pascal makes a breakthrough getting his own shot off the bounce the raps fortunes on offense improve dramatically.

OG will get Pascals to do list from last summer... a gazillion 3's and to improve his handle.

Heres hoping !!

[slaw]

The Raps have had a top 10 offense for years now.... I don't think they are going to be horrible...
What they don't have right now is an iso guy who can get his own shot....Maybe Kyle defaults to that role.. but I am not seeing who else right now.

They simply lack playmaking on the wing without Leonard. Siakam can, and will, have to do more in that regard. Powell and OG are the obvious candidates to step forward but whether they can do it consistently (or at all) remains to be seen.

[inthepaint]

Let's just hope we don't become the Mavs.. they won the title in 2011, and since then have yet to win a single playoff round... 8 years later (and counting).

They'll make the playoffs this year I think, may even get home court. The team still has 7 rotation players with lots of deep playoff experience, all coming out of a championship run (Lowry/FVV/OG/Siakam/Gasol/Ibaka/Norm). That's the real team. That's not that different in terms of aggregate talent than the Casey-Derozan years, and that team would usually make it at least to the second round, once to the ECF.

All these other guys are raffle tickets. They're not that likely to payout, but you increase your odds by getting a bunch of them. Raptors have a good track record of turning guys no one expected anything out of into playoff rotation players (Siakam/FVV/Norm), so they're casting a wide net to see if they get another one or two, and keep the ship afloat till 2021 when we actually have cap space.

Here's the thing with these guys though: you actually need to give them real NBA minutes to truly see what you got. Practice time, training camp, last 2 minutes of decided games and the 905 will give you glimpses but won't truly tell you. You only truly know Alfonzo McKinnie (all his strengths and limitations) if you really play him, like Golden State did.

It would be unorthodox, but if you play all of these guys say 20 mpg for two weeks each with your main core (as opposed to the blind-leading-the-blind, all-of -them-on-the-floor-together in spurts), one of these guys will likely show they can give you 7 to 9 ppgs with serviceable defence. That's all you need out of your 8th to 10th man anyway.

So I'd say Nurse should really put his experimentation hat this year. It's a retooling year with low expectations anyway. Find 1 or 2 rotation players out of these guys (by actually giving them real minutes) and put a good playoff fight with your main core. If you do that, you keep the long term culture/vision Masai is bulding, which is a team that is able to have a winning culture and develop young talent at the same time. Do that and they're poised to land someone big in 2021.

[KeonClark]

My question is, how hard are the old guys working this summer? Gasol, how drunk are you? Ibaka, how hungry are you? I haven't seen Lowry in weeks but that booty may be growing even further

[planetmars]

My question is, how hard are the old guys working this summer? Gasol, how drunk are you? Ibaka, how hungry are you? I haven't seen Lowry in weeks but that booty may be growing even further

I heard Lowry and Serge have been working out. Marc is still probably drunk lying in a ditch somewhere.

[LJ2]

If you look at it right now, this is basically the team that got swept by Cavs in round 2 IF you subtracted Derozan, Poeltl, JV, Miles, Wright, and added Marc Gasol and an improved Siakam.

We are in tough, first round fodder, maybe 2nd if we get the right opponent. I don't expect Masai to be content for too long

Yeah, but that team that got swept by LeBron was pretty much a championship team missing one really good player. It validates everything Masai, the analytics team, scouting, coaching etc. had worked towards. Their plan, their formula works, but they need to get an elite level guy to take them over the top. Knowing that it works I think he will keep a competitive roster and make trades for the final pieces when he can.

[Demographic Shift]

My question is, how hard are the old guys working this summer? Gasol, how drunk are you? Ibaka, how hungry are you? I haven't seen Lowry in weeks but that booty may be growing even further

The benefit of being a vet who has posted winning numbers.... Just stay in shape... and bring it
Marcs brilliance at the top of the circle as a distributor doesn't need honing... It doesnt take a thousand reps .. he has it... can his motor skills and BB IQ defy his age... I think they do. For at least a year...

BTW.. I am off to St. Micheals to light a candle on that statement.

[slaw]

My question is, how hard are the old guys working this summer? Gasol, how drunk are you? Ibaka, how hungry are you? I haven't seen Lowry in weeks but that booty may be growing even further

Well, Lowry is supposedly going to play for the US in the World Cup, so, he'll be in good shape I imagine as long as the hand surgery goes well. Gasol is also playing for Spain. Haven't heard anything about Serge since he's not playing for Spain.