Game #7 Toronto Raptors vs Phoenix Suns - Jan 6 - 9:00pm ET

[G__Deane]

Not rose colored at all, there is still a lot of talent on this team. The league and fans have constantly underrated the raotors. Even last year, playing poorly, they were a hairs breath from making the finals.

Ummm they were close maybe perhaps to making the ECF, not finals

[DanH]

Nope. Trade Lowry and we’re a lottery team.

Real big gap between lottery and tanking. If you are going to lose on purpose, you'd better be in that top 5 pick range. And this team has too much talent for that. Don't let an uneven start fool you - this team with Lowry will be solidly in the playoffs even with the slow start, and without him would be something like 10th/11th in the East with a very outside shot at a top 3 pick.

[DanH]

Ummm they were close maybe perhaps to making the ECF, not finals

Yeah but if they get past Boston they beat the Heat.

[golden]

Yeah but if they get past Boston they beat the Heat.

If only Gasol had "won his minutes" in Game 7.....

[DogeLover1234]

Real big gap between lottery and tanking. If you are going to lose on purpose, you'd better be in that top 5 pick range. And this team has too much talent for that. Don't let an uneven start fool you - this team with Lowry will be solidly in the playoffs even with the slow start, and without him would be something like 10th/11th in the East with a very outside shot at a top 3 pick.

Plus the lottery can be ... unkind. Team with the 3 worst record has a greater chance of picking outside the top 4 than in the top 4. Top 2 lotto teams both have 52% chance of picking in the top 4 (and just 14% landing number 1). The last time the great tank debate was relavent you were the worse team and you were guarenteed a top 4 pick with a 25% chance at picking 1st. You really want to trade away productive players to lose a pile of games and end up getting jumped by a couple teams to end up picking 6? Compare that to the teams in the hunt for the playin like probably Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, NYK who will end up with a good chance at either making the playoffs or landing a top 4 pick. There has never been a better time in NBA history to be middle of the pack.

[DanH]

If only Gasol had "won his minutes" in Game 7.....

Agreed! That would have been nice, and also in line with his typical performance.

Also, if only Serge had won his minutes in the 2nd half of game 7. Either would have sufficed!

[golden]

Agreed! That would have been nice, and also in line with his typical performance.

Serge won his minutes of game 7. Tied for highest on the team with Matt Thomas

Fixed that for you.

[DogeLover1234]

Fixed that for you.

If we are being honest both got played off the floor by the end of the series. Niether could contain Kemba in the spread PnR, nor did they make up for it on the offensive end. I dont exactly care what plus/minus says in a couple minute stretch, the tape says they were both much worse than going small. Same thing happened the year before in the Philly series, Fred was a very poor matchup and got played off the floor. Would Marc/Serge have came back better against Miami and even LAL? Probably.

[G__Deane]

Yeah but if they get past Boston they beat the Heat.

Heat was Cinderella last year, we weren't beating Jimmy Buckets, Raps fold like a cheap suit against intense players.....

[big boi]

Real big gap between lottery and tanking. If you are going to lose on purpose, you'd better be in that top 5 pick range. And this team has too much talent for that. Don't let an uneven start fool you - this team with Lowry will be solidly in the playoffs even with the slow start, and without him would be something like 10th/11th in the East with a very outside shot at a top 3 pick.

I've been a proponent of trading Lowry and developing, and building around, our young core. Whether that qualifies as 'tanking' or not, I'll let others decide. It likely means different things to different people.

I found this definition: "Tanking in sports refers to the practice of intentionally fielding non-competitive teams to take advantage of league rules that benefit losing teams"

Of course people will have different interpretations of what competitive means too