Everything Off Season

[golden]

Big name FA's are gone this year, looks like there won't be many available next offseason, there's a lot of uncertainty in the air, teams and players are both interested in taking care of business and locking in.

Masai and OG remain completely unfazed. No surprise.

The revenue uncertainty and potential cap drop has the players (and probably more importantly, their agents) scared sh*tless. Grab the bag and run is the motto for this off-season. When Lebron signed early, that was the clear sign.

[planetmars]

John Collins and Lauri Markkanen didn't get extended so are RFA's next summer.

[007]

Compared to the contracts given to Kennard, Fultz, White and Isaac, OG's looks pretty solid

[inthepaint]

We were a very complete team when we traded for him and I fear we are more than a couple of years away to getting to that level again. They literally built around DeMar for years...not one or two but four or five.

Do you really think building up assets for years to bring in a "hired gun" on an expiring contract is an effective strategy? From a management perspective it has to be a less than ideal strategy.

And thinking about it the "Kawhi experience" it was a heck of a Hail Mary. One shot to win it all and we did.

Masai was right to target Giannis, a player who would have actually wanted to be here for years.

You are probably right on the bold. If Marc & Serge were still here though (i.e last year's team minus RHJ plus Flynn), I'd take that team over the pre-Kawhi, Derozan-led team.

With them gone and replaced by cap space vacuum though, it might take a season or two like you say, to have the assets to really be able to compete on bids for superstars (and still have a non-gutted, competitive team around the superstar so you can contend).

Swinging and missing for Giannis may have been well worth it, but the cost for the miss is not zero. We'll never know, but it could very well be the difference between having enough pieces to bid for Harden and not.

[The Great One]

This is the guy the Raptors should target next offseason.

[chris]

This is the guy the Raptors should target next offseason.

i get the impression atlanta doesn't think very highly of him, given that they've traded for capela, signed gallo, drafted a big at # 6, and are willing to let him go to restricted free agency.

[planetmars]

Raptors have about $33M in free agency (not including Norm and Lowry). If we keep Lowry for say $10M.. I don't think $23M will cut it for Collins.. Atlanta would just match that.

So I don't think we use cap space next off season.. I'd be surprised if we did to be honest. We should fill it with a trade now. And then try to keep Lowry. For Norm I think we should use him in that trade to fill that cap space.

I'm hoping for a Norm/McCaw/Stanley/Boucher type of trade at the deadline. My current target is Vucevic. But I'd settle for someone like Kevin Love too (I know he's expensive, but I think he'd be great for our team).

Or we go after Harden

[DogeLover1234]

John Collins and Lauri Markkanen didn't get extended so are RFA's next summer.

Not thrilled about the notion of maxing either of those guys, but we probably cant resign Norm and losing another guy for nothing would really suck. If you are fine locking in this core by the trade deadline Id look into one of them or maybe Aaron Gordon.

I just dont see us trading for a bad defender though, just doesnt fit our MO

[Rudy Bargnani]

Raptors have about $33M in free agency (not including Norm and Lowry). If we keep Lowry for say $10M.. I don't think $23M will cut it for Collins.. Atlanta would just match that.

So I don't think we use cap space next off season.. I'd be surprised if we did to be honest. We should fill it with a trade now. And then try to keep Lowry. For Norm I think we should use him in that trade to fill that cap space.

I'm hoping for a Norm/McCaw/Stanley/Boucher type of trade at the deadline. My current target is Vucevic. But I'd settle for someone like Kevin Love too (I know he's expensive, but I think he'd be great for our team).

Or we go after Harden

Agreed. Kinda at the point Lowry is the best free agent next year anyway. Trade market is way to go

[planetmars]

Not thrilled about the notion of maxing either of those guys, but we probably cant resign Norm and losing another guy for nothing would really suck. If you are fine locking in this core by the trade deadline Id look into one of them or maybe Aaron Gordon.

I just dont see us trading for a bad defender though, just doesnt fit our MO

Masai doesn't bring in bad defenders.. hasn't since Lou and Vasquez.. and we got swept by the Wizards that year.

So you're right. With Magic extending Fultz and Isaac, I wonder if they would be willing to move Gordon? We have Weltman connections in Orlando as well. Could be a decent fit off the bench to replace Norm.


My rational for a Vucevic type of player though is that we are really thin at the 5. Baynes is like 35 already. And Boucher has a lot of work to do this year to prove he can be a starter long term. Vucevic or even Love would be big upgrades at the 5.

[LJ2]

With the roster the way it is there isn't a trade out there that would make us a contender. There would be too much going the other way in the deal.

[JawsGT]

I'm a hard no on any bigs that cant defend. Vucevic, Love, and Collins all have that knock. I hope we avoid those types of players. And wings/guards that cant shoot. Need to avoid that as well. That eliminates some options, but works to narrow our focus. We need to keep a defensive focus IMO. You can work with a pure scorer like harden when you got good defenders up and down the lineup, but bigs that cant defend are a big problem, regardless of how well they score.

[DogeLover1234]

Masai doesn't bring in bad defenders.. hasn't since Lou and Vasquez.. and we got swept by the Wizards that year.

So you're right. With Magic extending Fultz and Isaac, I wonder if they would be willing to move Gordon? We have Weltman connections in Orlando as well. Could be a decent fit off the bench to replace Norm.


My rational for a Vucevic type of player though is that we are really thin at the 5. Baynes is like 35 already. And Boucher has a lot of work to do this year to prove he can be a starter long term. Vucevic or even Love would be big upgrades at the 5.

Yeah Baynes is clearly a stop gap. Boucher and Len could become good rotation guys but theyve got to prove a lot before becoming 30 minute guys in the playoffs. I think we see a lot of small ball, Gordon makes those lineups really interesting. I dont love the guys you suggested but theyd definitely be upgrades, they just dont fit with our makeup though. If nobody you want is avaiable, Id rather just try and cash in Norm for a pick to keep assets up.

[A.I]

I'm a hard no on any bigs that cant defend. Vucevic, Love, and Collins all have that knock. I hope we avoid those types of players. And wings/guards that cant shoot. Need to avoid that as well. That eliminates some options, but works to narrow our focus. We need to keep a defensive focus IMO. You can work with a pure scorer like harden when you got good defenders up and down the lineup, but bigs that cant defend are a big problem, regardless of how well they score.

We went through that with JV, post up big, good offensive player, not good defensively. We know how that went. Obviously Vucevic is a better player, but I'd prefer my star power at the wing positions and a defensive big.

[Rudy Bargnani]

^^^
Myles Turner would check a lot of boxes and might be available too.