Everything 2021 Tank

[magoon]

The City of Tampa-St Petes and the Lightning also put up a pro arena to share.....
They converted a hotel for a walled off campus like setting to live in and practice in if they wanted to.

You understand that this wasn't a charitable act and the Raptors spent millions of dollars renting these places, right?

[Demographic Shift]

You understand that this wasn't a charitable act and the Raptors spent millions of dollars renting these places, right?

Yes I do.
But when your jammed up your ability to get both selection and price are compromised.
They weren't going to be out of the eastern time zone...
TPA got them an airport.. an arena.. a good tax state....sunshine... a smattering of canadian snowbirds for what turned into no fan support....
Better than playing in Billings Montana.

But it ain't home.

[MixxAOR]

It's too late for that. Once stories like this start it's pretty much over. Coaches don't survive those type of stories. I hope they are not true. But at this point it doesn't matter

Boom

[The Claw Reborn]

Boom

Great call.

once in a while, you get lucky and hit the lottery…for every 1000 premature guesses, you hit 1. Lol

Now hopefully your irish luck would befall us this coming draft lottery

[The Claw Reborn]

Skywalker you are the O.P. Of this thread…

​​serious question…it is too early to start a new thread Everything Tank 2022 after hearing the news that Siakam just had surgery and may require 5 months which is around November until he is subject to contact?

or this tank thread is just a 1 time thing?

[TrueTorontoFan]

Skywalker you are the O.P. Of this thread…

​​serious question…it is too early to start a new thread Everything Tank 2022 after hearing the news that Siakam just had surgery and may require 5 months which is around November until he is subject to contact?

or this tank thread is just a 1 time thing?

looool

[TrueTorontoFan]

Skywalker you are the O.P. Of this thread…

​​serious question…it is too early to start a new thread Everything Tank 2022 after hearing the news that Siakam just had surgery and may require 5 months which is around November until he is subject to contact?

or this tank thread is just a 1 time thing?

definitely a one time thing.

[planetmars]

definitely a one time thing.

There is a chance they slip out of the playoffs again.

Pascal not playing for the first 3-4 weeks is not my concern. But losing Lowry could be. A first round pick, even a #1 overall rarely has impact on winning in their first year. I believe the last time a rookie made a significant impact on a team was Lebron. We'll be a worse team without Lowry, and he's 50/50 at this point to not being here. Free agency is underwhelming and there are no game changers.. even then we struggle to find anyone good in free agency. Richaun Holmes for example is still a role player. And yet I feel like if Lowry leaves, it would be a S&T, which means we'll have no cap space anyway.

And we are still missing depth. Even going back 1 season back, we had guys like RHJ and Terrence Davis producing. Norm averaged 16ppg that year too. We'll have potentially 3 rookies, with Harris, Gilliie and Flynn as sophomores. That's 5 really young players. Throw in guys like Yuta and Watson and that's 7 really young players.

Then on top of that you have to consider the growth in most other Eastern conference teams. Atlanta is a much better team with a lot more depth, and better coaching. Boston and Miami are still going to be in the thick of things. Washington will finally get their center back, who's all-star caliber. Indiana is going to get a new coach.. which may or may not give them stability.. at least they have a lot to prove after being eliminated the way they did. Is Charlotte going to be a playoff team finally? The one hope is NY takes a fall back.. but they have some crazy cap space and a lot to prove after being bounced in the first round.

And Toronto may not even have fans for awhile, assuming they even come home. Our politicians are idiots and I could see them fumbling this all up.

I just think there is likely as good of a chance that this team isn't good enough for the playoffs again next year. If we are far enough back of the play-in / playoffs by the all-star break.. I could see the front office resting a lot of guys again and hoping for more ping-pong balls.

Of course I could be optimistic. We had a positive net rating for most of the year despite all our rest/injuries/etc. We'll likely play more games in Toronto then not. And we are really good at home. Lowry could be back. There is a 50/50 chance he's back and not gone. And we need his veteran leadership more now than ever before (especially if we have 7-8 kids on the team next year). Birch has been good and could come back.. far better than Baynes. Boucher looks like he could become an all-star one day, so even if Pascal misses games it may not be so bad. And a team like Miami or Boston could actually miss the playoffs. Who's to say they don't have a worse season even next year. Philly could drop in the standings. Thibs always tends to wear out his welcome by the second year. And Charlotte, Indiana and Washington could all continue to stink and be mediocre.

But there is no guarantee we're a playoff team next year. This tank could extend into one more season.

[DanH]

With an even half decent C like Birch, this team walks to a playoff spot even without Lowry next season. Unless they have a similar disaster of context like this season, which seems exceedingly unlikely.

[LJ2]

Just my opinion, but I think Raps are and will be better than at least one of the teams remaining in the playoffs. Atlanta, get outta here.

[golden]

Just my opinion, but I think Raps are and will be better than at least one of the teams remaining in the playoffs. Atlanta, get outta here.

Atlanta played most of the year without DeAndre Hunter. And he’s out for the playoffs now. He’s one of the few guys who plays good defense on that team. Basically our equivalent of OG, with better offense. If he’s available for a full season, that makes the Hawks a lot better.

[planetmars]

I think Atlanta has surpassed Toronto.

Toronto's competition is Boston, Miami, NY, Washington, Indiana and Charlotte. 4 of these teams make the playoffs. Not a sure bet that Toronto will be one of them.. especially if Lowry isn't here next year.

If Lowry stays I'd feel a lot better with our chances.

[Kagemusha]

I think Atlanta has surpassed Toronto.

Toronto's competition is Boston, Miami, NY, Washington, Indiana and Charlotte. 4 of these teams make the playoffs. Not a sure bet that Toronto will be one of them.. especially if Lowry isn't here next year.

If Lowry stays I'd feel a lot better with our chances.

Atlanta has a superstar dynamic young PG, a solid defensive anchor in the middle, lots of knockdown shooters. Yeah, they are currently better than the Raps.

[The Claw Reborn]

I think Atlanta has surpassed Toronto.

Toronto's competition is Boston, Miami, NY, Washington, Indiana and Charlotte. 4 of these teams make the playoffs. Not a sure bet that Toronto will be one of them.. especially if Lowry isn't here next year.

If Lowry stays I'd feel a lot better with our chances.

Yes and I would say this too…I see them as those young Warriors who became elite after they got Iggy. They need that 1 more piece like the impact that Iggy had given Golden State elevating them to elite status and to win it all.

Raptors have too many holes to fill and just like what Axel had said, the team is a jack of all trades team master of none.

not a single position is elite but yet we are close to paying 100 million to a core who most likely may miss another play in or possibly if lucky a fodder in a first round playoffs

[LJ2]

Atlanta played most of the year without DeAndre Hunter. And he’s out for the playoffs now. He’s one of the few guys who plays good defense on that team. Basically our equivalent of OG, with better offense. If he’s available for a full season, that makes the Hawks a lot better.

"A lot better than the Raptors"? I disagree the Hawks are better than the Raptors, and think the type of defense Raps play under normal circumstances can stifle far better teams. Best yet we will be adding what should be a significant piece in the draft or as a result of a trade.