Everything Gary Trent Jr.

[LJ2]

The Raptors only went into last season with Pascal not initiating because he wasn't playing. When Pascal was healthy he should always have been the initiator, the role he had been developing into more and more over the two previous seasons. And yet when playing with that lineup, he rarely got to play that role, which he got to play basically exclusively in other lineups.

Even as the season went along, as Pascal increased his primary scorer role, usage, and scoring, his increases within that lineup were less pronounced. 16.9 PP36 all year, after Feb 1 it was down to 15.3! After March 1st they only had like 3 games together but in that tiny sample he was down to 13 PP36 with that lineup! It was getting worse, not better.

I have very little hope re: that lineup being more functional offensively this year than last, in terms of scoring and role distribution. So I'm mostly hoping we just see a heck of a lot less of it.

Like I said there were a lot of injuries and experimenting last season and it allowed for a fairly even distribution of shots among the top 5 guys. We'll have a healthy roster, a couple of playable vets and likely a couple of young guys ready to contribute some meaningful minutes. I don't see the even distribution of shots continuing.

[DanH]

Like I said there were a lot of injuries and experimenting last season and it allowed for a fairly even distribution of shots among the top 5 guys. We'll have a healthy roster, a couple of playable vets and likely a couple of young guys ready to contribute some meaningful minutes. I don't see the even distribution of shots continuing.

Well with any luck we won't see much of that lineup to start games and the problem will solve itself.

The games where this lineup played were the games where we were predominantly healthy. Experimentation, sure, but I don't see the logic why that wouldn't continue this year, Nick always experiments.

I'd really love to see the reason to be so optimistic about the lineup suddenly being used correctly. Happy to hope for it, but expectation seems unfounded.

[TrueTorontoFan]

O is a athlete not a basketball player dont know why u guys love him so watch. slow plotting ugly ackward foot steps. basketball iq of a moron.kid can’t even string together more than 5 word sentences. i will never get the cock stroking for this guy.

Cock stroking? I dont know about that. The comment about the 5 word sentences... again don't know about that I think its just his personality he is quiet.

Why do I advocate for him staying. This one is super easy to explain. I am ok with trading OG but the league clearly has shifted towards liking 3 and D wings. This is part of why OG was in rumors twice this off season. The portland thing was interesting because it demonstrated both what the raptors felt but also what would be a .. bare minimum asking price. Top 7 pick and a decent player.

Given that he is worth this... I would want to not trade OG unless it is part of a package outgoing to consolidate to get a star. The other thing is I am all in on positionless basketball. For that reason, I think I have said SINCE BARNES WAS DRAFTED, that I would want a line up of him Siakam, and Barnes. The defensive potential is very high especially when you add other defensive players you can be VERY aggressive on that end.


The other thing is OG does a lot of the small little important things. He plays a very tough physical brand of ball offensively and defensively and at worst if you have one of the other two go down he can step into that place. I believe it is important to have some redundancy if you are going to do positionless. They each have different skill sets but can step into different roles. He can legit guard 1-5.



I don't want to put words in your mouth but perhaps you are assuming I see the offensive potential? I don't I have always said he is like Ron Artest. I have also stated multiple times he is not a number one option, is not great on isolations, and is not a fluid athlete. So on this point, I will say try to actually read what has been written rather than randomly being reactionary

I never said I LOVE watching him. I think he is a coveted asset and is important and would trade said coveted asset if the correct opportunity comes around. You don't just trade for the sake of shuffling the deck.. that is what BC used to do and it is not the best way to GM in my opinion. Depending on who you trade OG for you will be looking for a player just like him to replace what he does on this team.

The take about him being a moron who can barely speak..given the sentence you just semi-coherently strung together is... a unique take.

TLDR: elite role players are very important at times and are now coveted around the league. Sometimes you need depth and elite role players. Especially young ones.

[chris]

O is a athlete not a basketball player dont know why u guys love him so watch. slow plotting ugly ackward foot steps. basketball iq of a moron.kid can’t even string together more than 5 word sentences. i will never get the cock stroking for this guy.

i always read his media persona as being kind of sly or mischievous because he finds it all absurd. his father was a professor, i'm sure he's pretty intelligent.

we can't all be as articulate as you are

[Heatdreamer]

WCJ is amazing and I can't imagine the Magic trading him. I would not trade either of Trent or OG for either of those prospects. Trent for WCJ would be great, but that's not happening, never mind with an extra prospect coming back. OG I would not trade unless I'm getting a star back, and honestly I doubt they trade Gary barring a star return either.

WCJ may be available due to the plethora of bigs that Orlando has... and the great desire by the Magic for a SG- they are dreaming about Poole and have the cap room, Poole is two years away from joining anyone once Warriors due the Qualifying offer for 2023/24. This way the Magic can upgrade their SG, combined with Banchero ,Suggs , Mo Bamba and the return of Jonathan Issac.

The prospect beside receiving WCJ of Cole Anthony who is #3 behind Fultz and Suggs. would supplant the backup of FVV for a fixed period of time, instead of Flynn or Banton (who is being played in the wrong position) Bruno II.

[DanH]

WCJ may be available due to the plethora of bigs that Orlando has... and the great desire by the Magic for a SG- they are dreaming about Poole and have the cap room, Poole is two years away from joining anyone once Warriors due the Qualifying offer for 2023/24. This way the Magic can upgrade their SG, combined with Banchero ,Suggs , Mo Bamba and the return of Jonathan Issac.

The prospect beside receiving WCJ of Cole Anthony who is #3 behind Fultz and Suggs. would supplant the backup of FVV for a fixed period of time, instead of Flynn or Banton (who is being played in the wrong position) Bruno II.

I think you are way off on what Orlando is looking to do. I suspect WCJ might be the player they value most besides Paolo, and all those other guys would be the ones they look to move.

As for trading Gary for him, if they have cap room coming up, don't you think they would just target him as a pending UFA next summer? Why trade away prospects to add a guy you can likely get with a cash overpay less than a year from now?

[TrueTorontoFan]

I think you are way off on what Orlando is looking to do. I suspect WCJ might be the player they value most besides Paolo, and all those other guys would be the ones they look to move.

As for trading Gary for him, if they have cap room coming up, don't you think they would just target him as a pending UFA next summer? Why trade away prospects to add a guy you can likely get with a cash overpay less than a year from now?

not interested in this player but what happens to Isaac... THAT is interesting.

[TrueTorontoFan]

WCJ may be available due to the plethora of bigs that Orlando has... and the great desire by the Magic for a SG- they are dreaming about Poole and have the cap room, Poole is two years away from joining anyone once Warriors due the Qualifying offer for 2023/24. This way the Magic can upgrade their SG, combined with Banchero ,Suggs , Mo Bamba and the return of Jonathan Issac.

The prospect beside receiving WCJ of Cole Anthony who is #3 behind Fultz and Suggs. would supplant the backup of FVV for a fixed period of time, instead of Flynn or Banton (who is being played in the wrong position) Bruno II.

I don't know if WCJ is someone they want to trade. I think they have a problem with the Guard spot with Fultz, Suggs, Harris, Anthony.


I personally do not like Anthony's game. Suggs is not going anywhere from orlando although it would be cool to add him to the team I like his defence and he is a smart player but I stick with my Brogdan comparison. He will be a solid talent for years to come but isn't going to really shift a ton of things for us if you are suggesting that.



Franz..... can play the 2/3/4 Paolo can play the 2/3/4, Suggs can play the 1/2 last year they used him more as a combo guard which is correct in terms of usage. WCJ plays the 4/5. Why are they trading WCJ when he is better than Mo Bamba on both ends of the court? If anything they will look long term to potentially either trade Bamba after the deadline if it is possible. Maybe AT the deadline. Alternatively Fultz or Isaac. I don't think Isaac fits our team culture... and hasn't played ball since the bubble...

The only guy I would be interested in trying to pick up would be Fultz.


Why are we going to target WCJ? What is the reasoning behind this what skill set is he bringing that is not provided for right now? Are you ok with him Playing over some of our guys who are good and need development. I really like Koloko, and I really like Precious, and I really like that those two are in our center rotation. I do not want to completely bury either guy.

[Kagemusha]

Franz..... can play the 2/3/4 Paolo can play the 2/3/4, Suggs can play the 1/2 last year they used him more as a combo guard which is correct in terms of usage. WCJ plays the 4/5. Why are they trading WCJ when he is better than Mo Bamba on both ends of the court? If anything they will look long term to potentially either trade Bamba after the deadline if it is possible. Maybe AT the deadline. Alternatively Fultz or Isaac. I don't think Isaac fits our team culture... and hasn't played ball since the bubble...

Why do you think Isaac doesn't fit our team culture?

[Hotshot]

Why do you think Isaac doesn't fit our team culture?

The only thing I can think about is that he means Isaac isn't a BLM supporter (the organization that is) and the Raptors pretty much plastered it on their team bus.

[planetmars]

The only thing I can think about is that he means Isaac isn't a BLM supporter (the organization that is) and the Raptors pretty much plastered it on their team bus.

He's also apparently an anti-vaxxer.

[Hotshot]

He's also apparently an anti-vaxxer.

Well he refused to take the vaccine so he can't enter Canada anyway.

So it no longer matters the cultural fit discussion if he can't even enter the country.

[planetmars]

Well he refused to take the vaccine so he can't enter Canada anyway.

So it no longer matters the cultural fit discussion if he can't even enter the country.

Yeah.. now he may change his stance if traded. A Royals player in baseball didn't get vaccinated either, but then once he got traded to the Jays he got vaccinated. But that might be an issue. Raptors aren't going to bring a guy in that can't or won't play.

[G__Deane]

They also may drop the vax issue at the border soon.

[TrueTorontoFan]

They also may drop the vax issue at the border soon.

aw man I liked having that as a thing it was a competitive advantage.... but maybe keep this in the off season tab at least.