GAME #1 : Toronto Raptors 94 - Houston Rockets 83

[Puffer]

Pretty fun scrimmage. Harden and Russ were really good. Russ is so good around the rim, and Harden is such a good playmaker/scorer. I know they both get a bad rap, but they'll be a tough out in the playoffs. They just have some pretty crappy depth pieces and that's how the Raptors were able to win handily in the end.

It's tough to really analyze a scrimmage.. but will try anyway.

Siakam struggled to hit the 3 off the dribble. Hope he settles into that, as that's a big half court weapon we need. Wasn't great defensively, but used his biggest strength which is his speed. Ran like a gazelle. Was super lethal in transition which he usually is.

I thought Serge was awesome. He had elevated his game in March before the break and he still has it. Hit some nice looking 3's. Really controlled the paint area. A little easier for him without a true big man in his way.. but was still good to see. He defended well. Best Raptor last night.

Fred looked out of sorts. He hit a 3 which was nice. Nothing around the rim which was the usual for him. But again hard to really take too much from a 1 game sample from a scrimmage game no less.

Kyle looked like he was playing hard. Loved the 3 to finish the first half. I think he upped his intensity because of Russ. He looks like he's really in shape. Going to love to see a couple of KLOE games sometime soon. He took a charge in a scrimmage game.. love that.

TD was fantastic. Kept the offense moving. Some great defensive moments to. Forget who lost the ball on an inbound, but TD recovered with a great defensive play. Smooth 3pt stroke. Driving to the rim for a put back. Just overall great stuff. Him and Norm is a pretty awesome back court pairing for our bench.

Norm had some old Norm moments where he would drive into traffic, and throw the ball away. But for the most part he was really good.

OG had some really good defensive sequences. Good defense on Harden. He seemed a bit stiff on offense. Missed a bad wide open 3. But made another one later on. He got called on a stupid offensive foul but that's easy to call because he plays like a robot at times.

RHJ was a lot of fun. Looking like he's more comfortable driving with the ball. Really solid defense.

Matt was pretty bad defensively early on. Had to foul to keep a guy from blowing by him. And was shy offensively until the 4th. Just wish he was a little more aggressive with his shots. He would be a super star if he had a guy like Lebron, Harden or Giannis passing him the ball. Maybe one day he'll develop into more than just a catch and shoot guy. Probably wishful thinking.

Boucher was meh. Still getting beaten up despite gaining those 15 pounds. SJ was a walking turnover but defended well. Oshae didn't do anything but hardly played.

Overall it was a good game. I thought Matt/Jack did a decent job talking about the game from a remote location. So I guess Jack is considered an essential worker? Or is he in Toronto permanently now?

Weird to see the bench all social distancing when they huddle during timeouts and still sweat on each other during play. Plus everyone has tested negative.. so what's the point? The sneaker noise can get annoying. A little music in the arena would have been cool. Overall though, just happy to see basketball back, and looking forward to seeing Skinny Marc next game.

I was pleased to see Siakim taking and making some mid-range shots. that's next on the list of things to demonstrate skill at. Then he will be a magnet anywhere on the floor. He was thinking "makes some passes" and tried about three that would have been spectacular if they had gone through, but good on him for trying.

[DanH]

Why were Marc and McCaw sitting?

Nick had said he wouldn't play a full rotation for any of the scrimmages, with a couple rotation guys getting nights off each game. I guess to give the others guys more meaningful run in terms of being involved, and to prevent any early injuries due to lack of conditioning.

[KeonClark]

Nick had said he wouldn't play a full rotation for any of the scrimmages, with a couple rotation guys getting nights off each game. I guess to give the others guys more meaningful run in terms of being involved, and to prevent any early injuries due to lack of conditioning.

I love how nurse regards McCaw as part of the "big 8"...he was never part of the championship rotation unlike the big 7. Hed never been part of any regular rotation, other than stints with gs where they had one of the worst benches in the league.
Even now his stats here are bad. Raw stats, advanced stats, whatever. Theres a clear drop off from the big 7 to him, and hes worse than at least 2 more guys.

nick is a great coach obviously but it's absolutely ludicrous that McCaw STILL has a spot written in pen. In convinced he has nudes of nick sitting there strumming his....guitar

[G__Deane]

Serge couldn't miss. Which obviously helps. But overall I wasn't super impressed with the rest of his game. Did make a nice pass or two, which I appreciate. But can't wait to watch Marc orchestrate the offence.

I certainly hope the Raps don't give Serge term.

I'm not sure what the alternative is. You may disagree but I wouldn't give marc extended term either.

[Ebonhawke]

So there's a possibility that Lou Williams will miss a game or two. He had left the bubble for 'personal reasons' and subsequently appeared in an IG at an Atlanta strip club

[DanH]

I'm not sure what the alternative is. You may disagree but I wouldn't give marc extended term either.

Of course not, the team shouldn’t consider giving either player term. The difference is Serge will certainly get term on the market, while Marc might be available on a one year overpay.

[007]

Hey Mixx, we need a new game thread!

[Jclaw]

Hey Mixx, we need a new game thread!

we don't need much...it's only preseason. Just toss up a gif of Melo's game winner to get out blood boiling and call it a day

[G__Deane]

Of course not, the team shouldn’t consider giving either player term. The difference is Serge will certainly get term on the market, while Marc might be available on a one year overpay.

Gotcha.
I have read some want to give one of the other a longer term deal. Regretfully, I just couldn't do either.
Would do a 1+ team option for Marc and for Serge, maybe 2+ max

I don't think Marc will see much in terms of offers and would very likely want to stay here. Serge may get more interest if teams believe his birth certificate for some reason.

[planetmars]

With rings now, I think both Marc and Serge will get offers for more than 1 year deals in the league. Horford got a 4 year contract from Philly for example. These are two centers that can stretch the floor. In Marc's case he makes others better. In Serge's case we know he's a really good locker room guy that can still play in this era very well.

I don't see why teams don't give them at least 3 year deals. For Marc it's riskier since he was hurt a lot this season, but everyone saw what he did against Vucevic, Embiid and Giannis in the playoffs last year. Everyone also saw how much Marc lost during the break. If Marc wants term he might get it.

What can hurt them is the salary cap.. but I'm thinking the league will approve a cap smoothing this time around. The players will want that.. especially all the guys becoming free agents in 2021.

The first day of free agency is when Giannis decides on the super max extension. My guess is if he signs that, we're bringing everyone back. If Giannis decides to wait, we're going to have a much different looking team next season or Masai/Bobby do their magic and welcomes everyone back on 1 year deals.

[DanH]

I'd be surprised if there was a rich deal with term for Gasol on the market given his age and low production. Serge will absolutely have a market. If Gasol has an offer with term, it's likely an MLE type deal for 2-3 years - in which case the Raps would be smart to throw 20M at him for one season, see if that's enough to keep him around.

There is no scenario where I give either guy 2+ years (assuming they are making significant dollars, which they will be). Even if Giannis signs his extension, the team likely still targets a talent upgrade with their one year window of opportunity before their core needs to get paid (OG, Davis, alongside FVV, Pascal). Now, they'll still want to have a contingency in place for that summer if they swing and miss in that window, so will let Lowry expire that summer, and hope to have one of the vet C's expiring then too (almost certainly Marc), so they can pivot to re-signing those guys if their plans are for naught.

[planetmars]

[Demographic Shift]

I'd be surprised if there was a rich deal with term for Gasol on the market given his age and low production. Serge will absolutely have a market. If Gasol has an offer with term, it's likely an MLE type deal for 2-3 years - in which case the Raps would be smart to throw 20M at him for one season, see if that's enough to keep him around.

There is no scenario where I give either guy 2+ years (assuming they are making significant dollars, which they will be). Even if Giannis signs his extension, the team likely still targets a talent upgrade with their one year window of opportunity before their core needs to get paid (OG, Davis, alongside FVV, Pascal). Now, they'll still want to have a contingency in place for that summer if they swing and miss in that window, so will let Lowry expire that summer, and hope to have one of the vet C's expiring then too (almost certainly Marc), so they can pivot to re-signing those guys if their plans are for naught.

Thats a shit tonne of what ifs in that outline.

So heres a couple of What ifs back...
What if ..

The Raps repeat?
Do you roll it back ? If you do ... do you cement your standing as a destination franchise by taking care of the guys that got you to the top of the heap twice ?
If you don't bring the band back.. do you then look small town cheap ? Theres more to running a franchise than being on, or around, or under the cap.

The Raps new core going forward is .. Pascal, OG, Fred, Norm.
As far as I can see none of those guys play at the 5 so why not Serge on a three year deal ? If you believe in that core then you can't give them a non dollar store guy to play in the middle. Serge gets bonus points for a good locker room guy along. Its not like they are going to find anyone better on the FA market or in the draft and its out of character for Ujiri to bail on the development curve for the guys deemed to be the new core before this years draft. h

Floors yours... remember .. your running a franchise

[G__Deane]

Thats a shit tonne of what ifs in that outline.

So heres a couple of What ifs back...
What if ..

The Raps repeat?
Do you roll it back ? If you do ... do you cement your standing as a destination franchise by taking care of the guys that got you to the top of the heap twice ?
If you don't bring the band back.. do you then look small town cheap ? Theres more to running a franchise than being on, or around, or under the cap.

The Raps new core going forward is .. Pascal, OG, Fred, Norm.
As far as I can see none of those guys play at the 5 so why not Serge on a three year deal ? If you believe in that core then you can't give them a non dollar store guy to play in the middle. Serge gets bonus points for a good locker room guy along. Its not like they are going to find anyone better on the FA market or in the draft and its out of character for Ujiri to bail on the development curve for the guys deemed to be the new core before this years draft. h

Floors yours... remember .. your running a franchise

I think the underlying assumption is that there's always something better out there in trade or FA. If Serge is the best that's out there, of course you bring him back....but not at all costs. It's not like he's bad or anything, I just don't want to see albatross contracts going out to reward Marc, Serge .... or even Kyle.

[DanH]

Thats a shit tonne of what ifs in that outline.

So heres a couple of What ifs back...
What if ..

The Raps repeat?
Do you roll it back ? If you do ... do you cement your standing as a destination franchise by taking care of the guys that got you to the top of the heap twice ?
If you don't bring the band back.. do you then look small town cheap ? Theres more to running a franchise than being on, or around, or under the cap.

The Raps new core going forward is .. Pascal, OG, Fred, Norm.
As far as I can see none of those guys play at the 5 so why not Serge on a three year deal ? If you believe in that core then you can't give them a non dollar store guy to play in the middle. Serge gets bonus points for a good locker room guy along. Its not like they are going to find anyone better on the FA market or in the draft and its out of character for Ujiri to bail on the development curve for the guys deemed to be the new core before this years draft. h

Floors yours... remember .. your running a franchise

Repeating doesn't change much. Still have to plan for future success. You obviously try to bring back as much of the team as possible for next season - which is already plan A, but with the understanding that Serge is just very likely to price himself out of that "possible" group. C'est la vie. Maybe the difference is in what one year deals you offer - maybe you happily go deep into the tax for that season, even at risk of future planning, so you offer a one year max salary to Serge to get everyone to stay. But you still don't offer term.

For the second question, I agree, who plays C moving forward is a question (Norm being in the core and TD not in it are both wrong IMO, but still, point remains). And that question needs an answer. The one thing I'm quite confident of is that if we are planning the long term, neither Serge nor Marc is the answer. I do think Ujiri is quite capable of finding someone better in the draft, maybe not in year one but two, three years from now? Heck yes. And Marc may well be affordable on short term deals as a veteran presence/big C to cushion any prospect they draft. But if not there are always vet C's floating around for relatively cheap. Heck, for all we know, it ends up being a C they grab in that 2021 FA period. Of course there is also the option they trade for a relatively stable experienced C with a fairly affordable deal who projects to maintain performance better than Serge (and Serge as a C who you can pick and choose when to shield with Marc vs Serge as your primary C option are two very different Serges) - maybe that's a Powell trade (he's likely not going to be worth his market in 2021), maybe something else. Point is, there are a lot of avenues to explore before settling on screwing their one window to add real talent to the current projected core in order to keep a mediocre big man.