Toronto Raptors who are still playing Alumni thread ....

[guyroch]

Norm was really inconsistent until the second half of Tampa.. but he was also a free agent. I never liked the Norm trade because I was team "win now". Never been a big Trent guy. Good for Norm though. He is a big time playoff performer.

If Gary leaves that will another player lost from that championship team which didn't get us a 1st round pic ..

[A.I]

If Gary leaves that will another player lost from that championship team which didn't get us a 1st round pic ..

Gary wasn't on our championship team. Norm was, and we traded him for Gary.

People have way too high of an expectation. Guys like Serge or Gasol wasn't getting us a first round pick.

Most championship teams kind of just fall apart. Happened to the Mavs, the Heat, the Lakers.

Celtics got lucky by how big of a splash the Nets owner wanted to make and the big names of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

[golden]

Norm came off the bench for Portland I think, and is now doing the same in LA. Seems like Raps had the role best suited for him figured out a long time ago.

Actually, no. Norm’s starter vs bench splits are insane. His team’s have got it wrong.

[LJ2]

Actually, no. Norm’s starter vs bench splits are insane. His team’s have got it wrong.

All three teams huh? And is that 4 or 5 coaches? You'd think they have access to nba.com

[guyroch]

Gary wasn't on our championship team. Norm was, and we traded him for Gary.

People have way too high of an expectation. Guys like Serge or Gasol wasn't getting us a first round pick.

Most championship teams kind of just fall apart. Happened to the Mavs, the Heat, the Lakers.

Celtics got lucky by how big of a splash the Nets owner wanted to make and the big names of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

Yes Norm was and yes he was traded for Gary and so if Gary leaves then we really got nothing for Norm but 2.5 years of service of
Trent .

The Raptors overachieved in 2019/20 season which means we didn't trade Serge or Gasol who were on expiring contracts .. I
am pretty sure we could have at least got a 1st round pic for Serge ...

I think it was easy for Masai to trade any of Raptors who belonged to Colengelo era but when it was his players
then he has been very loyal to a fault ..

[planetmars]

Yes Norm was and yes he was traded for Gary and so if Gary leaves then we really got nothing for Norm but 2.5 years of service of
Trent .

The Raptors overachieved in 2019/20 season which means we didn't trade Serge or Gasol who were on expiring contracts .. I
am pretty sure we could have at least got a 1st round pic for Serge ...

I think it was easy for Masai to trade any of Raptors who belonged to Colengelo era but when it was his players
then he has been very loyal to a fault ..

You're using a lot of hindsight. That 2020 team was a true contender. They had the second best record in the NBA (after the Bucks). Giannis was still in the East, but there were no other stars there. Lebron went West. Tatum was young. Embiid just wasn't right (that year Philly had an atrocious road record). Jimmy was in Miami but he had no real help other than a bunch of kids like Bam and Herro. Out West, the Warriors weren't even the Warriors as Klay was out for the year and KD was in Brooklyn rehabbing.

So not trading Marc and Serge was fine. If Covid didn't happen.. we had a chance to be in the mix for one of the last teams standing. Maybe we would have needed some luck.. but that's the case for most contenders.

The best time to really blow things up was the summer after. The Tampa tank year. I'm using hindsight again here, but we were trying to go after Giannis and it backfired. We should have cut ties with Kyle earlier. We should have traded Norm that summer instead of at the deadline. Maybe we should have thought about splitting Pascal and Fred or trading both too. We took half measures that summer, and replaced Marc and Serge with Baynes and Len and ended up with Scottie eventually.

But we were never going to get real assets for Serge or Marc. Marc was washed up. Serge was almost washed up and got hurt that year anyway. Guys who make the mid-level typically don't have much value in the NBA.

[Primer]

Yes Norm was and yes he was traded for Gary and so if Gary leaves then we really got nothing for Norm but 2.5 years of service of
Trent .

The Raptors overachieved in 2019/20 season which means we didn't trade Serge or Gasol who were on expiring contracts .. I
am pretty sure we could have at least got a 1st round pic for Serge ...

I think it was easy for Masai to trade any of Raptors who belonged to Colengelo era but when it was his players
then he has been very loyal to a fault ..

2.5 years of another player is a pretty reasonable return on a trade.

[The Claw Reborn]

Kawhi…lol

[G____Deane]

I'm surprised Kawhi didn't use his laser eyes and set a few of them on fire....

[MixxAOR]

Save us Obi-wan Dekobe you are our only hope

[The Great One]

Save us Obi-wan Dekobe you are our only hope

No offense to DeMar but If we didn't have Kawhi in 2019, the Sixers would've swept us in the playoffs.

The Sixers that year had Butler, Embiid, Harris and Simmons(good version) and Kawhi outplayed them all.

[Maury]

I wonder if he truly believes that deep down in his heart or if he feels compelled to feel that way knowing he needs to have irrational confidence to be successful as an athlete at that level.

[Primer]

No offense to DeMar but If we didn't have Kawhi in 2019, the Sixers would've swept us in the playoffs.

The Sixers that year had Butler, Embiid, Harris and Simmons(good version) and Kawhi outplayed them all.

Yep, had they retained Butler they probably won a chip by now. I'm glad their management is incompetent.

[A.I]

No offense to DeMar but If we didn't have Kawhi in 2019, the Sixers would've swept us in the playoffs.

The Sixers that year had Butler, Embiid, Harris and Simmons(good version) and Kawhi outplayed them all.

I am a firm believer that if the Raptors lost in Game 7, the Sixers would have went on to win the championship that year. That team was ridiculous with Embiid, Simmons and Butler.

[guyroch]

No offense to DeMar but If we didn't have Kawhi in 2019, the Sixers would've swept us in the playoffs.

The Sixers that year had Butler, Embiid, Harris and Simmons(good version) and Kawhi outplayed them all.

Oh my DeMar .. Kawhi when healthy is a top 5 player in the league .. Kawhi Leonard had 11 games with at least 30 points in the 2019 NBA Playoffs. The only players in postseason history with more such games prior to the Finals are Michael Jordan (13 in 1989, 12 in 1990) and Hakeem Olajuwon (12 in 1995). The Raptors needed everyone of those performances to advance and win ..