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Everything 2021-22 Free Agency / Off-Season
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KeonClark wrote: View PostKnicks and Bulls are currently probably better than Raps. Add to Bucks, 6ers, Heat, Nets. That dreaded 7 to 11 seed looks likely if the season started today.
The Sixers are still desperately trying to find a trade for Ben Simmons to get them past the hump. Danny Green probably isn't returning, Dwight's gone - those aren't deadly losses, but losing good rotation players hurts.
The Bucks are still the real deal: losing PJ Tucker hurt them, but Semi Ojeloye is a decent poor man's Tucker. The Nets and the Heat will both be serious. The Hawks will be better than any other team other than the top three, and on a good night they're better than them. Those four are the real contenders in the East.
Everybody else will be bad and in their rebuild process (Cavs, Magic, Pistons) unless one of their rooks balls out to a ridiculous extent, or they're just going to be kind of mediocre (Wiz, Hornets, Pacers). I'd say the Raps aiming for 5-6th seed is a perfectly reasonable goal.
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planetmars wrote: View PostHow have the Knicks improved? Kemba has no knees. And Fournier was a really mediocre shooting guard that is past his prime now.
Walker's injuries are a concern but all of these signings assume guys stay healthy. If he is healthy, he's a very good PG.
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slaw wrote: View Post
Fournier had a good year last year. He's 28. How is he past his prime?
Walker's injuries are a concern but all of these signings assume guys stay healthy. If he is healthy, he's a very good PG.
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planetmars wrote: View Post
If he was healthy Boston would not have traded him for pennies on the dollar, and OKC would not have bought him out. I didn't realize Fournier was 28.. he plays like he's 32-33. Just really meh IMO.
I hate the Knicks but think they had a decent offseason. Obviously, a lot is going to depend on Barrett making another big jump like he did this past season and Randle playing well.
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magoon wrote: View Post
The Knicks and the Bulls are both fake contenders. They've got a lot of good players, but no transcendent stars and really nobody even close to it on either team - Zach Lavine and Julius Randle are the closest to true stars on each team, and neither one of them actually is that. The Celtics are in that category too. They are all eminently beatable teams.
The Sixers are still desperately trying to find a trade for Ben Simmons to get them past the hump. Danny Green probably isn't returning, Dwight's gone - those aren't deadly losses, but losing good rotation players hurts.
The Bucks are still the real deal: losing PJ Tucker hurt them, but Semi Ojeloye is a decent poor man's Tucker. The Nets and the Heat will both be serious. The Hawks will be better than any other team other than the top three, and on a good night they're better than them. Those four are the real contenders in the East.
Everybody else will be bad and in their rebuild process (Cavs, Magic, Pistons) unless one of their rooks balls out to a ridiculous extent, or they're just going to be kind of mediocre (Wiz, Hornets, Pacers). I'd say the Raps aiming for 5-6th seed is a perfectly reasonable goal.
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magoon wrote: View Post
That's a team that plays competitively in a second-round exit. I mean, Knicks fans will take it because the second round would feel like manna from heaven at this point, but that's who that team is with that roster unless one of the young players makes a massive jump.
Fournier and Kemba would provide a balance especially in the playoffs when Derrick Rose was the only offensive weapon they have in the 2nd round against the Hawks while the regular season phenom Julius Randle disappeared.
Maybe they will make it close this time reaching game 7 lol
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I compare the Knicks like those years of the Raptors with Derozan and Lowry. Regular season wonder then not enough when it matters most.
We never know, they have assets now to trade for their own Kawhi and get them over the hump. Lillard is no Kawhi but Dame can probably take them to a finals appearance especially when he is surrounded with better defense and Thibs.
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Last fall the Celtics had to spend Desmond Bane (1st round pick) to dump Kanter for the season. And now they just signed FA Kanter. Bane just had a good year and looks solid.
The Celtics are really screwing up this whole Tatum/Brown era and I love to see it."We're playing in a building." -- Kawhi Leonard
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S.R. wrote: View PostLast fall the Celtics had to spend Desmond Bane (1st round pick) to dump Kanter for the season. And now they just signed FA Kanter. Bane just had a good year and looks solid.
The Celtics are really screwing up this whole Tatum/Brown era and I love to see it.
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S.R. wrote: View PostLast fall the Celtics had to spend Desmond Bane (1st round pick) to dump Kanter for the season. And now they just signed FA Kanter. Bane just had a good year and looks solid.
The Celtics are really screwing up this whole Tatum/Brown era and I love to see it.
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DanH wrote: View Post
So, you just ignored my whole post? You are assuming what they wanted was what you wanted - open cap space. Maybe what they wanted was not cap space.
But sure, let's say they now see how dry this class is and no longer want cap space. Ok, then sign Lowry (the best UFA in this class), and wait for the best trade offers, like they did at the deadline. Lowry chooses to not sign here? Ok, then fall back to the original plan to pursue free agents with your cap, which albeit now less than ideal, is the outcome they had planned for years with the way they time the expiring of the contracts.
Instead, they're now stuck in some incomplete SnT to get Lowry to the place he wanted making the $ he wanted, while we depend on a 3rd/4th team to figure out what the team's return will be while the pool available players continue to dry as time goes by. Again, may turn out great, but we'll have to wait and see.Last edited by inthepaint; Wed Aug 4, 2021, 01:41 PM.
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inthepaint wrote: View Post
Nope, not "ignoring your whole post", on the contrary I commented on several points on it. And actually, I personally don't want cap space. In fact I've been against that since we were saving cap space for Giannis, said many times here the Raptors suck in free agency and their best avenue for team building is draft and trades. The org on the other hand, had had a long term strategy to save cap space for the summer of 2021 for years, so it's far from unreasonable to take that as at least an acceptable goal for them.
But sure, let's say they now see how dry this class is and no longer want cap space. Ok, then sign Lowry (the best UFA in this class), and wait for the best trade offers, like they did at the deadline. Lowry chooses to not sign here? Ok, then fall back to the original plan to pursue free agents with your cap, which albeit now less than ideal, is the outcome they had planned for years with the way they time the expiring of the contracts.
Instead, they're now stuck in some incomplete SnT to get Lowry to the place he wanted making the $ he wanted, while we depend on a 3rd/4th team to figure out what the team's return will be while the pool available players continue to dry as time goes by. Again, may turn out great, but we'll have to wait and see.
Why do you assume the original plan was to chase free agents with cap space? The original plan was to add a superstar. After that was gone, there's no reason for them to stubbornly stick to the same method of improving the team. That would be very silly.
The plan with the sign and trade was to move Lowry, take back an expiring and assets along with it, and use the MLE to re-sign Birch. That was the plan with the SnT.
They saw an opportunity with Dragic to flip him either for cap flexibility (if he was going to NOP) or for more assets (if going to Dallas) and are pursuing those options now because they don't need to have that nailed down until the SnT (and everybody else's moves) can be official on Friday. If those fail, they are just back to the original sign and trade idea: take in Dragic, assets from Heat, and look to flip Dragic at the deadline.
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The Claw Reborn wrote: View PostI compare the Knicks like those years of the Raptors with Derozan and Lowry. Regular season wonder then not enough when it matters most.
We never know, they have assets now to trade for their own Kawhi and get them over the hump. Lillard is no Kawhi but Dame can probably take them to a finals appearance especially when he is surrounded with better defense and Thibs.
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