Everything 2021-2022 Season

[bertarapsfan]

I think this kind of stuff is common now in the NBA.

Iggy never played for Memphis all season.
Horford was shut down last year with OKC.
Kemba as well with OKC.
Wall with Houston right now.

Overpaid vets that don't fit with what a team is doing will be shelved until an opportunity comes. If he wants to work out in Toronto, Miami, LA, Slovenia, or Japan it doesn't really matter. He's not really a Raptor anymore. Just a contract on the books.

I think this is different then horford and iggy. He is literally working out with team resources he was traded from while we are paying him... seems over the line for the NBA to turn a blind eye

[golden]

I think this is different then horford and iggy. He is literally working out with team resources he was traded from while we are paying him... seems over the line for the NBA to turn a blind eye

IIRC, Dragic can’t be traded back to the Heat this year, so there is no risk of tampering during the season. It actually makes sense when you think of it.

[Bendit]

I think this kind of stuff is common now in the NBA.

Iggy never played for Memphis all season.
Horford was shut down last year with OKC.
Kemba as well with OKC.
Wall with Houston right now.

Overpaid vets that don't fit with what a team is doing will be shelved until an opportunity comes. If he wants to work out in Toronto, Miami, LA, Slovenia, or Japan it doesn't really matter. He's not really a Raptor anymore. Just a contract on the books.

But the cases you mention did not have them go and reside in their previous city/team of employment and practice at that facility. There is a brazeness (the pic) here that Miami was Dragic's team which also was dinged by the NBA for the Lowry transaction in which GD was involved. Riley & the Heat also had previous negative personnel/trade events with the Raptors. GD may well re-sign with the Heat if the Raptors buy him out and this maybe an attempt to fast track that.... and Riley gets the better of the Raps... again!!

I had no issues with GD going to Slovenia and being with his family. I view this as a negative for the culture of the Raptors org. Other players on the team witness this and .... why I made the point of whether this was permitted by the Raps.

[A.I]

I believe Dragic still has his home in Miami, so he is staying there with his family I guess. He has played for the Heat for many years, so they're okay with it and looks like the Raptors are too. I doubt it falls under tampering since he can't be traded back to the Heat anyway. I doubt he practices with the Heat players, which would probably be the real issue if it happened. Its probably just by himself. I don't see it as a big deal.

[planetmars]

But the cases you mention did not have them go and reside in their previous city/team of employment and practice at that facility. There is a brazeness (the pic) here that Miami was Dragic's team which also was dinged by the NBA for the Lowry transaction in which GD was involved. Riley & the Heat also had previous negative personnel/trade events with the Raptors. GD may well re-sign with the Heat if the Raptors buy him out and this maybe an attempt to fast track that.... and Riley gets the better of the Raps... again!!

I had no issues with GD going to Slovenia and being with his family. I view this as a negative for the culture of the Raptors org. Other players on the team witness this and .... why I made the point of whether this was permitted by the Raps.

Iggy worked out in the Bay area while with Memphis. Maybe not in the Warriors practice facility.. but he could have, and they just didn't have cameras or reporters seeing it.

This is likely all moot. We want a decent buyout from Dragic.. and are doing everything to help him get back in the NBA.

There were two choices:

1) Lowry leaves for nothing, and we have cap space to get someone, but likely use that on Birch anyway. Bobby did say they felt the market was too hot, and preferred to be an over the cap team going into free agency.
2) We get Precious out of it. The Heat get an opportunity to use the MLE on PJ Tucker who they replaced Precious with. Dragic gets $19M (if they didn't do the S&T, Dragic would have been waived, and would be a UFA.. likely commanding way less than $19M).

I think we figured we could get something of value for Dragic.. but that doesn't seem likely now. Even if he ends up back in Miami.. It is what it is.

[planetmars]

I think this is different then horford and iggy. He is literally working out with team resources he was traded from while we are paying him... seems over the line for the NBA to turn a blind eye

Iggy was in the bay area. Says so here:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...nba-sabbatical

So he could have been using the Warriors facilities. We don't know that detail. But it's possible he could have, if he was still there.

[inthepaint]

Iggy worked out in the Bay area while with Memphis. Maybe not in the Warriors practice facility.. but he could have, and they just didn't have cameras or reporters seeing it.

This is likely all moot. We want a decent buyout from Dragic.. and are doing everything to help him get back in the NBA.

There were two choices:

1) Lowry leaves for nothing, and we have cap space to get someone, but likely use that on Birch anyway. Bobby did say they felt the market was too hot, and preferred to be an over the cap team going into free agency.
2) We get Precious out of it. The Heat get an opportunity to use the MLE on PJ Tucker who they replaced Precious with. Dragic gets $19M (if they didn't do the S&T, Dragic would have been waived, and would be a UFA.. likely commanding way less than $19M).

I think we figured we could get something of value for Dragic.. but that doesn't seem likely now. Even if he ends up back in Miami.. It is what it is.

Raps' FO went out of their way to accommodate Lowry and his wishes at the end of his run here. That's really at the centre of it. He was the most coveted "gettable" player at the last trade deadline he was here, but he wanted to finish the year here (went on the record saying so later on), so they didn't move him then. He also wanted to leave at the end of the year (had already won his title, the team was in rebuild mode, he's old, etc), so they moved him at that time.

Dragic and Achiuwa were simply a "take what you can get" return that came with the constraints of getting Lowry to the precise team he wanted at the precise time he wanted. People can debate whether or not that was the right approach from a team's standpoint (I personally see the merit/reasoning on both approaches), but ultimately, I think that return was pretty good (a prospect that could still pan out plus a 1-yr dead salary) considering the route the org chose to take with Lowry.

[The Great One]

DeRozan just hit a ridiculous game winner for the Bulls. Holy shit.

[planetmars]

DeRozan just hit a ridiculous game winner for the Bulls. Holy shit.

He's the MVP in my books. Still early in the season, but it's between him and Steph. Bulls however were one of the worst teams in the East until they got DeMar.

[A.I]

Derozan has gotten a lot better since his Raptor days. Props.

It would be fantastic if he can continue this in the Playoffs.

[The Great One]

[golden]

He's the MVP in my books. Still early in the season, but it's between him and Steph. Bulls however were one of the worst teams in the East until they got DeMar.

DeRozan, Lavine and Vucevic are giving a big middle finger to analytics nerds.

[Rudy Bargnani]

But the cases you mention did not have them go and reside in their previous city/team of employment and practice at that facility. There is a brazeness (the pic) here that Miami was Dragic's team which also was dinged by the NBA for the Lowry transaction in which GD was involved. Riley & the Heat also had previous negative personnel/trade events with the Raptors. GD may well re-sign with the Heat if the Raptors buy him out and this maybe an attempt to fast track that.... and Riley gets the better of the Raps... again!!

I had no issues with GD going to Slovenia and being with his family. I view this as a negative for the culture of the Raptors org. Other players on the team witness this and .... why I made the point of whether this was permitted by the Raps.

Right but perhaps this is on the raps. Dragic may well be better than Flynn, Banton, and whoever else is playing backup PG. They didn't want to play him even though he's better. That's not on Goran Dragic. I'm not saying the raps are wrong---they are giving minutes to youth, know they won't win this year and won't resign him (GD) after this year. He's probably thinking, hey I will show up work hard and be a pro. Mentor Scottie Barnes. If you don't want to trade me, release me, or play me ahead of weaker players then WTF are we even doing here. Kinda like a John Wall situation unfortunately.

[golden]

Right but perhaps this is on the raps. Dragic may well be better than Flynn, Banton, and whoever else is playing backup PG. They didn't want to play him even though he's better. That's not on Goran Dragic. I'm not saying the raps are wrong---they are giving minutes to youth, know they won't win this year and won't resign him (GD) after this year. He's probably thinking, hey I will show up work hard and be a pro. Mentor Scottie Barnes. If you don't want to trade me, release me, or play me ahead of weaker players then WTF are we even doing here. Kinda like a John Wall situation unfortunately.

Dragic is undeniably much better than Banton and Flynn. One of the reasons he looked bad was because he was learning a new system that was counter to his PG instincts. He mentioned it in interviews. Basically, he was being asked to sprint up the floor like a wing and let whoever rebounded the ball bring it up the floor. Imagine a veteran PG coming in here and having to watch Boucher and Precious fumble the ball trying to lead the break in transition. Dragic was probably like…. ok, I’ll sit this one out.

[Primer]

Raps' FO went out of their way to accommodate Lowry and his wishes at the end of his run here. That's really at the centre of it. He was the most coveted "gettable" player at the last trade deadline he was here, but he wanted to finish the year here (went on the record saying so later on), so they didn't move him then. He also wanted to leave at the end of the year (had already won his title, the team was in rebuild mode, he's old, etc), so they moved him at that time.

Dragic and Achiuwa were simply a "take what you can get" return that came with the constraints of getting Lowry to the precise team he wanted at the precise time he wanted. People can debate whether or not that was the right approach from a team's standpoint (I personally see the merit/reasoning on both approaches), but ultimately, I think that return was pretty good (a prospect that could still pan out plus a 1-yr dead salary) considering the route the org chose to take with Lowry.

Everyone pay attention.

Miami could have signed Lowry to his current contract outright. No sign and trade needed. We had ZERO leverage. None. Nada. Zilch. They gave us Precious in exchange for taking on Dragic, not for Lowry, because they didn't need us to get Lowry. Us taking Dragic allowed them to resign some bench guys and they didn't like Precious so were fine giving us him for the extra cap space. They didn't really trade for Lowry, they had the cap space already.

This has been said a bazillion times but obviously a lot of people are still unaware.

It's better for us that Dragic is staying healthy and in shape ready to be dealt if possible. Otherwise we are gonna buy him out at a big discount at the deadline to get below the tax. We don't need him here. We don't want him here. So stop freaking out about Dragic.

Some team is gonna have PG issues before the deadline and we may be able to get something for Dragic. We don't want him playing and getting hurt or covid. Him staying in shape in Miami is GOOD!

Rant over.