Everything 2020 Offseason

[LJ2]

I honestly think the Raps fall back a rung.

Durant/Irving may not bounce back perfectly but they'll be a contender at least. Bucks will be a formidable team as long as Giannis is there. Any of Boston, Philly and a full strength Pacer team can take a first round.

I absolutely believe the Raps can't afford to trot this crew back out again next year. Age and injuries have finally caught up to them which is why it's a shame if they don't get to test this version in the 2020 post season. Masai has to work some magic to keep then in the upper tier of the East in order to take a real run at the Alphabet.

I definitely think OG or one of the other young players need to take a bigger step forward in order to maintain the Raptors' current placement in the East. Can't expect our aging vets to keep up the same level of play.

[G__Deane]

I definitely think OG or one of the other young players need to take a bigger step forward in order to maintain the Raptors' current placement in the East. Can't expect our aging vets to keep up the same level of play.

If OG can take a big step and Norm can be proven to finally have turned the corner to consistency and Pascal continues his ascension ....is it enough to offset regression from Gasol, Kyle or Serge?
Who can turn into a major bench piece? Terrence Davis or RHJ?
Can Masai bring in an unexpected contributing piece?
At this point, Serge and FVV have to be brought back imo

There's a whole lot of Brissett, Dewan Hernandez, Stanley Johnson and Malcolm Miller on this team

[WJF]

The 3 big concerns are what gets done with Serge, Marc, and Fred. To a lesser extent decisions need to be made on RHJ, Boucher, and to an even lesser extent, Malcom Miller.

I would think that Serge and Marc both take pay cuts, although Serge has had a great year stats wise for him. If we only bring back one of these guys I would like it to be Serge on a 3 year deal if team friendly. Gasol has the impact that numbers don't show, but I feel at 35 he is slowing down.

Fred will get a pay raise for sure and that should not be hard to handle as a team as our other guards/wings (other than Kyle) are on good deals. Norm at 10 mil is a steal they way he is playing, OG will be at 3.8 next year, Terence Davis will be n a 1.5 team option and Matt Thomas 1.5 and Patrick McCaw 4.

Of the second tier guys I don't see any of them as not being replaceable. Boucher is interesting but not crucial. I like RHJ energy but he is hard to watch offensively. A guy I would like to see back is Oshea Brisett, can be a nice 3/4 back up.

[Puffer]

If OG can take a big step and Norm can be proven to finally have turned the corner to consistency and Pascal continues his ascension ....is it enough to offset regression from Gasol, Kyle or Serge?
Who can turn into a major bench piece? Terrence Davis or RHJ?
Can Masai bring in an unexpected contributing piece?
At this point, Serge and FVV have to be brought back imo

There's a whole lot of Brissett, Dewan Hernandez, Stanley Johnson and Malcolm Miller on this team

I would be surprised to see any significant regression from Lowry. And a big yes to improvement from Terence, Fred and RHJ. All three have had some success, now it just requires time to eliminate weaknesses by identifying them and putting in an offseason of work on the corrections. Davis just has that hungry look. His whole story so far is a repeat of the "Bet on Yourself" mantra that has carried VanVleet to where he is. I think RHJ has seen himself have some big moments and wants more. Shouldn't be any problem with motivation. I think he comes back next year with a mid range shot, which would be huge for him. If this indeed turns out to be the season of Norm finding consistency and it carries over to next year, all he has to do to improve his game is not get hurt. No question marks about what happens to Pascals improvement arc. It continues to go up. Watching the rerun of the playoffs has really highlighted for me how much Serge has improved this season. What kind of regression is he going to have. Going form his best career year to his second best career year? I'll take it.

Agree with you about Serge and Freddy. What interests me most is "Can Masai bring in an unexpected contributing piece." Watching Butler in the Philly series replay made be wish he could be on the Raptors. He would fit in perfectly and would have a great time. He deserves to be part of Toronto's organization.

[The Great One]

Isn't Bobby the heir apparent to Masai?

[Hotshot]

Isn't Bobby the heir apparent to Masai?

Fuck the Bulls.

[007]

Is this the first time Webster has been linked in one of these reports?

[golden]

Isn't Bobby the heir apparent to Masai?

Nick Nurse is a huge Chicago Cubs fan. Don't you dare, Bobby.

[G__Deane]

Isn't Bobby the heir apparent to Masai?

Booby is already the GM. I don't think he has any aspirations (or qualifications?) to necessarily be President of Basketball Operations.
And Masai's never leaving

[planetmars]

Knicks were interested too at one point. Makes sense though. Raptors have a hell of a program. Orlando took Weltman. And the Bulls are now looking at Webster.

One guy gets poached everyone else gets elevated one spot. And on and on we go. If Bobby leaves, Tolzman probably gets upgraded to the GM spot. Key is and always will be Masai. He's the maestro. I mean it's not like we got worse when Weltman left.

[Jclaw]

Would Bobby leave for the cesspool of the Bulls? Kind of Knicks like. But, it's a job

[G__Deane]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/...bobby-webster/

TORONTO — The NBA has gone dormant. The Toronto Raptors, like almost every other club, are having video meetings mostly just to meet — making plans mostly just to plan for contingencies that may never arise.

What else is there to do in the midst of a pandemic that keeps asking questions that no one has answers for?

But late last week came some news, or at least the hint of it: As reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Chicago Bulls are moving on from their current management team after three years out of the playoffs and no clear path to contending any time soon.

Among their reported targets, not surprisingly, is Raptors general manager Bobby Webster, the mid-30s executive who has taken on a more public-facing role with the team over the past couple of seasons.
It is the price of success: When you help put together the first team to win an NBA title without a lottery pick on the roster, and when that team loses an MVP candidate and another starter and comes back the next year on pace to have a better record and poised to finish top four in the East for the seventh straight season, you get noticed.

Raptors president Masai Ujiri isn’t doing this by himself.

Keeping his executive team together as long as possible was one of the reasons Ujiri relinquished the general manager’s title and promoted Webster into it after the Orlando Magic head-hunted former Raptors GM Jeff Weltman in May of 2017.

It’s customary that teams don’t stand in the way of their people being recruited for promotions in the NBA. Bumping up Webster meant that only teams looking for a president or director of basketball operations role could realistically come looking.

But that’s what the Bulls are on the hunt for, and — recent struggles aside — the franchise that Michael built is still one of the premier destinations in the NBA.

Which doesn’t mean Webster is likely to end up in Chicago, his father’s hometown.

[bertarapsfan]

I dont think the raptors are giving permission for bulls to even talk to Bobby. It's not even a promotion. If it was for president maybe bobby could be swayed but I'd rather be gm of the defending champs then a shitty bulls team regardless of history of the franchise raptors are a better organization to be a part of

[golden]

Just for laughs. This is what a typical Toronto Raptors off-season used to look like, circa 2009:

https://heelsonhardwood.wordpress.co...7/27/lets-nba/

Action – The Toronto Raptors have signed Rasho Nesterovic to a 1 year deal worth approx. $1.9M
Reaction – LET’S NBA!

Note to readers: The name Rasho Nesterovic will always go hand in hand with the phrase “Let’s NBA!” If you don’t know why – This should explain it all. (Kudos to Lockdown from RealGM)

The Details: The whirlwind summer continues for Raptor fans. Bryan Colangelo kept the ball rolling by locking up Rasho Nesterovic for the 2009-10 season. This marks the 7th new addition to the team over the span of 2 months. The signing comes as no surprise as it wasn’t a matter of “if”, more a when and for how long. Colangelo made it pretty clear at the Jarrett Jack press conference that his next goal was to bring back Rasho. Lucky for him, he was working with some leverage. Rasho is one of a growing number of players who WANTS to play in the great white north. He maintains his off-season home in Toronto and mentioned in almost every interview since he was traded that he never wanted to leave. Both sides seemed keen to get this deal done and the one year contract is a bonus. Once again, the mastermind of BC comes through – He gets the veteran he wants while maintaining flexibility for next summer

The Benefits: I liked the Rasho deal with the Spurs and I like it even better this time around. This move isn’t going to make headlines outside of Toronto, but Rasho brings to the table a lot of the intangibles that went missing last season. He is the definition of a “know your role” player. A perfect compliment to backup Bargnani at C – Doesn’t demand the ball on offense, rebounds well, can hit the occasional jumper and plays defence. My only concern would be having him and Evans on the floor at the same time as the front line on the second unit (hopefully won’t happen since Jay has shown a lot more competence with his rotations than the Smitch). As a Pacer, Nesterovic averaged 6.8ppg and 3.4rpg over 70 games but it’s not his numbers that make this signing a positive one. In his previous stint with the Raptors, he was a veteran presence in the locker room who served as a mentor for Bargnani. This time shouldn’t be any different. The stat sheet may be lacking but those aforementioned intangibles along with the ability to play one-on-one defense makes one believe this is another step to get the team back on track.

Looking Ahead: I love this deal for the team but it pretty much kills any chance of the team bringing back Pops Mensah-Bonsu. With only one roster spot remaining, it will likey be used on a wing player. Unless Pops was serious about his transformation, the list of probable players is a pretty short one which includes Carlos Delfino, Joey Graham or any available player that can be had for the league minimum. Personally, I would be perfectly OK if Colangelo stopped right now and left that spot available for possible tweaking during the season.

[G__Deane]

Rasho, Bargs, BC, Jarrett Jack, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Carlos Delfino, Joey Graham .... ouch my head hurts, we have come sooooo far. Poor Jay Triano lol