what do you see for next year?

[G__Deane]

You're not going to keep being competitive (for the Finals) if you just keep trotting out an aging core. Roster have to change, educated gambles have to be taken or you'll fall off the cliff one season with a high 40-s win team and a first/second round exit.

Honestly, if we can't somehow land Giannis (looking at the alternatives), I think the odds are pretty good that the Raptors become a bit of a competitive also-ran for a few seasons, with or without Lowry, Serge and Gasol who need to move on in the next season or two.
Not what fans want to hear but I think realistic. Keep Fred but Siakam needs a Batman.

Trust in Masai.

[planetmars]

The aging core to be honest is just Lowry. Marc and Serge are pretty much interchangeable. I don't think it would be too hard to get a stretch 5 to replace either one. I've always liked Aaron Baynes (who's in Phoenix) and should be available for the mid-level. And a young kid like Giles from Sacramento I think can be pretty good assuming he stays healthy.

For Lowry I think he's going to always be a Raptor until he retires. Or he wants to become Tony Parker and plays for a crappy team for a year or something. I just hope we can bring him in for cheap.. eventually Fred will take the reigns most likely. Lowry is like Paul. Aging point guards with big contracts. Not many teams will take flyers on them especially if the cap goes down, even though they are win producers.

And even though Masai has no issues trading guys or walking away from guys that love this city (DeMar, Amir, Bismack, CoJo) I still think moving Lowry will be a big deal since he still over performs every year beyond expectations. Father time will get to him though eventualy.


If this was a fantasy.. I'd talk to Philly about trading Kyle for Joel Embiid. If Philly can't move out of their Horford and Harris contracts and want to be in a win now situation.. perhaps they bite on that deal. Lowry loves Philly. He's the type of player they absolutely need. Of course Joel is so much younger, but it's sort of a logical trade that makes sense a little bit. We would absolutely have to throw in draft picks and a young cheap asset like a Matt or Terrence and see if they bite. But that's a big no probably from Philly. I think they try to move Horford for a guard if they can.

Anyway, I think the free agency situation looks really meek and mild outside of Giannis. No real difference makers that will hit the open market IMO. I'm a hard no on Gobert. And Oladipo isn't as bright and shiny as he once was.

[inthepaint]

You're not going to keep being competitive (for the Finals) if you just keep trotting out an aging core. Roster have to change, educated gambles have to be taken or you'll fall off the cliff one season with a high 40-s win team and a first/second round exit.

Honestly, if we can't somehow land Giannis (looking at the alternatives), I think the odds are pretty good that the Raptors become a bit of a competitive also-ran for a few seasons, with or without Lowry, Serge and Gasol who need to move on in the next season or two.
Not what fans want to hear but I think realistic. Keep Fred but Siakam needs a Batman.

Trust in Masai.

It's not about trotting out an aging core, is about adjusting their new deals and roles with the team, while bringing in and developing new blood as the older guys phase out, so you stay competitive, and therefore appealing to free agents.

If we blindly let all your vets walk just because we're depsrate for some "Batman", that's when you fall off cliff and start losing, at which point no Batman will want to come here. The only way a destination like Toronto will attract and retain free agents is by continuing to be elite, on the court and in the front office. That involves carefully managing your assets (including the ones that are aging), otherwise you're like the Knicks, clearing out a bunch of space for Durant, losing Porzingis, and ending up with Julius Randle.

Gotta stay balanced and winning, then pounce on a trade or realistic free agent when the opportunity comes

[The Great One]

First order of business, we need to sign Masai and Nurse to a long term extension.

[DanH]

The Raptors definitely are going to be careful to leave their options open. Even if Giannis extends, there are FAs to be had that summer that the Raptors will want to be in the hunt for.

They won’t sacrifice the guys they see as core players or guys they don’t need to sacrifice to be able to be in that hunt. So OG and TD are safe, they have relatively low cap holds that summer. Pascal is locked in. FVV they certainly see as a core piece at this point and they will keep him while doing what they can to keep his cost reasonable particularly in 2021 (don’t be surprised if his deal starts high, dips in year two, and increases annually after that). Lowry will be a FA summer 2021, and so they can wait for that summer to make any decisions, which is perfect for them. Leaves them the option to chase guys if they find they have a shot during that moratorium and then re-sign Lowry if not, even if his price is still high.

The good news is they are in the same position with other players too. Norm in particular seems almost certain to opt out that summer, meaning he’ll be there with Bird Rights like Lowry as well, or renounceable if they land a big fish. Another decision that likely doesn’t need to be made ahead of time.

And thats why they’ll try to keep one of the centres on a one year deal. That would again leave them with Bird Rights in 2021 to keep as much talent as possible if they miss out on a big signing.

It’s this summer that will drive them losing one of Serge or Marc. They still have a lot of salary on the roster, and if they want their centres on one year deals, they will need to overpay them in that one year (sort of like Lowry’s extension). Marc seems more likely to be open to that, as noted he is older than Serge and so likely has less of a market for a long term deal elsewhere. But regardless which C they keep, if they sign on to say a 20M deal (it may actually be a bit higher) they’ll be right up near the tax line this summer. Depends what happens to the tax line (they may keep the cap flat but have a higher tax line to save owners who were banking on the cap rising), but assuming the tax line is flat to this season, they’ll be right there. Signing their other FA C to a deal in the 20M range would cost them something like 60M in taxes. They simply are not going to do that. And it would make a repeater tax scenario in 2022 and 2023 very realistic, which is not what you want if that’s when you are going all in on a roster around a star signing. And would be undesirable even if they end up keeping the team together.

So they can take most of the roster into summer 2021 with options open to re-sign guys or let them walk in favour of signing a star. But they do have to make a decision at the centre position this summer.

[DanH]

First order of business, we need to sign Masai and Nurse to a long term extension.

True though those will be gimmes so long as Masai still wants to be managing a basketball team. If he wants to move on to saving the world or something we can fall back on Bobby. Failing that both will be asked what they want and given it without question.

[MixxAOR]

Re-establish our foundation. Masai, Bobby and Nurse. After that I'm willing to wait a couple of years before we contend again. But we gotta make sure our management remains top of the league.

[TrueTorontoFan]

The Raptors definitely are going to be careful to leave their options open. Even if Giannis extends, there are FAs to be had that summer that the Raptors will want to be in the hunt for.

They won’t sacrifice the guys they see as core players or guys they don’t need to sacrifice to be able to be in that hunt. So OG and TD are safe, they have relatively low cap holds that summer. Pascal is locked in. FVV they certainly see as a core piece at this point and they will keep him while doing what they can to keep his cost reasonable particularly in 2021 (don’t be surprised if his deal starts high, dips in year two, and increases annually after that). Lowry will be a FA summer 2021, and so they can wait for that summer to make any decisions, which is perfect for them. Leaves them the option to chase guys if they find they have a shot during that moratorium and then re-sign Lowry if not, even if his price is still high.

The good news is they are in the same position with other players too. Norm in particular seems almost certain to opt out that summer, meaning he’ll be there with Bird Rights like Lowry as well, or renounceable if they land a big fish. Another decision that likely doesn’t need to be made ahead of time.

And thats why they’ll try to keep one of the centres on a one year deal. That would again leave them with Bird Rights in 2021 to keep as much talent as possible if they miss out on a big signing.

It’s this summer that will drive them losing one of Serge or Marc. They still have a lot of salary on the roster, and if they want their centres on one year deals, they will need to overpay them in that one year (sort of like Lowry’s extension). Marc seems more likely to be open to that, as noted he is older than Serge and so likely has less of a market for a long term deal elsewhere. But regardless which C they keep, if they sign on to say a 20M deal (it may actually be a bit higher) they’ll be right up near the tax line this summer. Depends what happens to the tax line (they may keep the cap flat but have a higher tax line to save owners who were banking on the cap rising), but assuming the tax line is flat to this season, they’ll be right there. Signing their other FA C to a deal in the 20M range would cost them something like 60M in taxes. They simply are not going to do that. And it would make a repeater tax scenario in 2022 and 2023 very realistic, which is not what you want if that’s when you are going all in on a roster around a star signing. And would be undesirable even if they end up keeping the team together.

So they can take most of the roster into summer 2021 with options open to re-sign guys or let them walk in favour of signing a star. But they do have to make a decision at the centre position this summer.

i think i would worry if OG signed an early extension.. because that would be a very bad sign

[TrueTorontoFan]

The Raptors definitely are going to be careful to leave their options open. Even if Giannis extends, there are FAs to be had that summer that the Raptors will want to be in the hunt for.

They won’t sacrifice the guys they see as core players or guys they don’t need to sacrifice to be able to be in that hunt. So OG and TD are safe, they have relatively low cap holds that summer. Pascal is locked in. FVV they certainly see as a core piece at this point and they will keep him while doing what they can to keep his cost reasonable particularly in 2021 (don’t be surprised if his deal starts high, dips in year two, and increases annually after that). Lowry will be a FA summer 2021, and so they can wait for that summer to make any decisions, which is perfect for them. Leaves them the option to chase guys if they find they have a shot during that moratorium and then re-sign Lowry if not, even if his price is still high.

The good news is they are in the same position with other players too. Norm in particular seems almost certain to opt out that summer, meaning he’ll be there with Bird Rights like Lowry as well, or renounceable if they land a big fish. Another decision that likely doesn’t need to be made ahead of time.

And thats why they’ll try to keep one of the centres on a one year deal. That would again leave them with Bird Rights in 2021 to keep as much talent as possible if they miss out on a big signing.

It’s this summer that will drive them losing one of Serge or Marc. They still have a lot of salary on the roster, and if they want their centres on one year deals, they will need to overpay them in that one year (sort of like Lowry’s extension). Marc seems more likely to be open to that, as noted he is older than Serge and so likely has less of a market for a long term deal elsewhere. But regardless which C they keep, if they sign on to say a 20M deal (it may actually be a bit higher) they’ll be right up near the tax line this summer. Depends what happens to the tax line (they may keep the cap flat but have a higher tax line to save owners who were banking on the cap rising), but assuming the tax line is flat to this season, they’ll be right there. Signing their other FA C to a deal in the 20M range would cost them something like 60M in taxes. They simply are not going to do that. And it would make a repeater tax scenario in 2022 and 2023 very realistic, which is not what you want if that’s when you are going all in on a roster around a star signing. And would be undesirable even if they end up keeping the team together.

So they can take most of the roster into summer 2021 with options open to re-sign guys or let them walk in favour of signing a star. But they do have to make a decision at the centre position this summer.

I do think that I agree about the summer decision.. do they continue on with serge or marc... and at what capacity.. personally I am starting to learn more towards giving serge a one year inflated deal.


I think marc is amazing but you can't have outside of an iggy type role after this year.. He is literally just useful defensively at this point. I don't think he will ever get back to what he was outside of the passing of course.

Now hypothetically we could go after AD... but I doubt we actually get him... I doubt he leaves bron bron especially now that he is under clutch.. but that would be VERY interesting indeed.


Another big fish we could try to swing but I would opt against would be joel.


I think that lowry will remain with us and I think he will sign very cheap deals moving forward that will be team friendly but longer term deals. I think we are stuck with lowry which is a good thing. I think he will continue to slowly transition into a bench role.. which will continue next year ... and unless some team is willing to offer lowry insane money which I doubt... I think its safe to say lowry will be on the team in some capacity for the next 4 years.

I think Giannis is free agent 1A. I think Gobert is another.. and Steven Adams and Oladipo are others... I like norm but I think norm is just unfortunately not ever going to be a top 3 player on a championship team. but I LOVE NORM.

[TrueTorontoFan]

Someone mentioned Masai. I think masai is likely to reup... Curious to see for how long but I don't think there are many other decent options that exist... I know the US media likes to always bring up Masai because they are the US media.. but why would he go to the knicks when they just got a new GM... and also its the knicks... outside that I don't see other options at all. The only way masai leaves in my honest opinion is if he really has an opportunity to become commissioner of the African League that they are planning. THEN he would go in a heartbeat, which is very fair.


Nurse also isn't going any where lets be real.




So yeah I don't think Masai is going anywhere at all. I can see Webster going in the next few years... but I don't think he will want to go for the kings job....

[DanH]

i think i would worry if OG signed an early extension.. because that would be a very bad sign

If OG signs an extension this summer, they are bailing on 2021 free agency. Full stop.

[TheWaterboy]

So much of the direction to take the team next year is going to depend on the decision of pivoting the team from its current window to its next window.

If you are pessimistic about signing Giannis, do you start paying more attention to your need to find another serviceable-or-better high-minutes big with size for when Gasol and Ibaka age out, while keeping some of our existing roster as a bridge to the new Siakam/Anunoby/Van Vleet core? Do you try to position the team to hold this window open as long as possible? Do you try to find a trade package for Kyle (e.g. to the Mavericks for a year of Hardaway Jr. plus Powell and/or other agreeable pieces) in order to retool the team while retaining financial flexibility?

If you are optimistic about signing Giannis, do you aim for a soft landing in the event he signs elsewhere, preserving continuity while signing the best available other free agent(s)? Or do you push your chips all in and look for the wisest use of cap space possible if Giannis signs elsewhere, even if that means holding on to unused space or gaining future assets for facilitating present-day deals?

I don't know whether to be optimistic or pessimistic about signing Giannis. If we repeat, defeating Milwaukee again in the process, that might be reason to be optimistic (or it might not). If Milwaukee makes it to the finals and wins - or even pushes it to six or seven games - that might be reason to be pessimistic. About the only thing I'm clear on is that we should have a plan B (and perhaps a Plan C and Plan D) in the event that things don't go as expected either way.

[planetmars]

So much of the direction to take the team next year is going to depend on the decision of pivoting the team from its current window to its next window.

If you are pessimistic about signing Giannis, do you start paying more attention to your need to find another serviceable-or-better high-minutes big with size for when Gasol and Ibaka age out, while keeping some of our existing roster as a bridge to the new Siakam/Anunoby/Van Vleet core? Do you try to position the team to hold this window open as long as possible? Do you try to find a trade package for Kyle (e.g. to the Mavericks for a year of Hardaway Jr. plus Powell and/or other agreeable pieces) in order to retool the team while retaining financial flexibility?

If you are optimistic about signing Giannis, do you aim for a soft landing in the event he signs elsewhere, preserving continuity while signing the best available other free agent(s)? Or do you push your chips all in and look for the wisest use of cap space possible if Giannis signs elsewhere, even if that means holding on to unused space or gaining future assets for facilitating present-day deals?

I don't know whether to be optimistic or pessimistic about signing Giannis. If we repeat, defeating Milwaukee again in the process, that might be reason to be optimistic (or it might not). If Milwaukee makes it to the finals and wins - or even pushes it to six or seven games - that might be reason to be pessimistic. About the only thing I'm clear on is that we should have a plan B (and perhaps a Plan C and Plan D) in the event that things don't go as expected either way.

There is one key decision Giannis can make this off season. And that is if he wants to sign a super max extension. If he remains undecided and wants to hit free agency instead, then you have to stick with the plan where you think he might come here. If he signs that extension then we go onto plan B or C.

[G__Deane]

I go all in and give Giannis a key to the CN Tower and anything else he wants to sign here.
My fear is he's the most likely superstar ever to sign here. If he doesn't, odds that we slip to a next level down competitive franchise....Masai needs to change the narrative on superstars signing here or it might never happen....go get 'im

[TrueTorontoFan]

If OG signs an extension this summer, they are bailing on 2021 free agency. Full stop.

that's why that would signal to me GGWP on next summer