Does this team need a trade to stay competitive?

[inthepaint]

There’s no “likely” with Fred. He will opt out and he is going to want Lowry money on his next deal, i.e., $30M+ and Masai/Bobby will pay it. He’s the face of the franchise for the foreseeable future. That’s been in the works for years.

I can tell you're happy about it

[planetmars]

Don't see why, Bouch has never played for Dwane so there's no connection there. Bouch could serve a playoff team bench energy, hopefully teams remember last year more than this year when the bidding starts

Was thinking the Canadian angle more than anything. They have 3 Canadian's why not a 4th

[KeonClark]

Was thinking the Canadian angle more than anything. They have 3 Canadian's why not a 4th

Maybe they heard "we the north" chanted so much in their own barn they started to get confused

[c-troop]

I think we can break the team down into 3 categories; Starters, Role Players and Youngins

Starters: FVV, Trent, OG, and Pascal. There would have to be a pretty big name player to trade any of these players. Not saying I wouldn't, but it would need to be something big. I also feel like these players will be given a longer leash, as they have proven themselves (other than Trent obviously) They are all high character guys, a fact that can be overlooked on a young team. Without leadership, a bunch of high upside, highly paid, young men would struggle to learn how to win. See any perennial lottery team for examples of said issue.

Role Players: Birch, Svi, Dragic, Yuta, Boucher. No one here is untouchable, I think Yuta would be the closest thing as he has the most potential. Although none of these guys are untouchable, I don't think they would move the needle too much if they were traded (other than Dragic, who's salary would get something back, but I feel like he will be a buyout)

Youngins: Barnes, Banton, Precious, Flynn, Bonga, Champagnie, Johnson. These guys are the closest thing to truly untouchable, except for maybe Flynn. These guys are the future and it obviously looks like we have a "type". Length and Strength.

So tldr. Yes it could, but will they? Who knows.

Assuming Dragic gets bought out, who is our package? Svi, Boucher and Flynn? That probably won't net you a crazy player/s. Maybe a more relevant player, a true 5, but not necessarily a game changer.

However if a young, high potential player becomes available (cough*** Shai), then all bets are off. At that point I think only OG, Barnes, Banton and Precious (as there is no way Masai is letting go of a Giants of Africa kid) will be untouchable.

this post is gold man.

[grindhouse]

I gotta imagine this is just a poorly constructed sentence? It's one thing to say they can't truly compete at this stage / win a chip. Not gonna argue with anyone there...

You saying they're "not good enough to take us to the playoffs" is either misstated or just plain stupid though.

If these three are healthy and afforded a full season together they are absolutely "good enough to take us to the playoffs."

IF
As a business there is not if what reality is atm which sucks tbh.

1. OG has never played a full season.

2. Both OG and pascal have had mental health concerns. (no one ever says its a factor but its a factor)

3. Fred is not lowry i dont care how much the media wants to compare they are different people different skills sets.

4. all of them are inconsistent (fred could have had multi turnovers, multi bad decision plays, gave up multi baskets on defence and be the top scorer and he cant do nothing wrong)

5. make all the excuses you want last year fred pascal OG took us to….. the lottery top 10 worst teams in the league. that is a fact.

so when i say what core? how where when why is thing a thing thats what i mean. i get it most candians say nice things then kick u in the back on your way out. (ex i never liked demar game, i said it from the jump.)

none of these starters play the right way i dont see champions. in my eyes we waiting for the right deal.

[TrueTorontoFan]

IF
As a business there is not if what reality is atm which sucks tbh.

1. OG has never played a full season.

2. Both OG and pascal have had mental health concerns. (no one ever says its a factor but its a factor)

3. Fred is not lowry i dont care how much the media wants to compare they are different people different skills sets.

4. all of them are inconsistent (fred could have had multi turnovers, multi bad decision plays, gave up multi baskets on defence and be the top scorer and he cant do nothing wrong)

5. make all the excuses you want last year fred pascal OG took us to….. the lottery top 10 worst teams in the league. that is a fact.

so when i say what core? how where when why is thing a thing thats what i mean. i get it most candians say nice things then kick u in the back on your way out. (ex i never liked demar game, i said it from the jump.)

none of these starters play the right way i dont see champions. in my eyes we waiting for the right deal.

pause..... are you suggesting that OG had mental health concerns because his dad died the season we won the chip?

[A.I]

pause..... are you suggesting that OG had mental health concerns because his dad died the season we won the chip?

Bigger question is is he using mental health as a negative thing towards why players aren't fit to lead a team.

[Dvdvideo]

IF
As a business there is not if what reality is atm which sucks tbh.

1. OG has never played a full season.

2. Both OG and pascal have had mental health concerns. (no one ever says its a factor but its a factor)

3. Fred is not lowry i dont care how much the media wants to compare they are different people different skills sets.

4. all of them are inconsistent (fred could have had multi turnovers, multi bad decision plays, gave up multi baskets on defence and be the top scorer and he cant do nothing wrong)

5. make all the excuses you want last year fred pascal OG took us to….. the lottery top 10 worst teams in the league. that is a fact.

so when i say what core? how where when why is thing a thing thats what i mean. i get it most candians say nice things then kick u in the back on your way out. (ex i never liked demar game, i said it from the jump.)

none of these starters play the right way i dont see champions. in my eyes we waiting for the right deal.

This post almost deserves a thumbs down button, if it existed.

1. So what, find me an nba player who has. A lot of it has been different and or bad luck vs a lingering issue of one injury, completely different than some players.

2. I have no idea what your talking about in regards to OG. As far as siakam goes, the only difference between him and other players is that he admitted to his issues publicly. All players and people have struggles. All people for that matter. I'd take these two with thier "mental health issues" with thier elite work ethic, 40 + points a game, and top notch defense. I swear, I'm starting to think for real your not actually a raptor fan but rather celtics fan posting here for fun.

3. Fred is not Lowry, but they play a fairly similar game, position, size, etc. In some ways Fred is actually a more skilled player, I'd say lowry is just a bit more crafty.

4. Fred has been inconsistent, but so is/was lowry. Always was, are you forgetting? 5 points one game, 25 the next.

5. Last year had many issues, you can't blame the core considering we had basically a large useless lump for a center, everything fell apart. You seem to forget this is a team sport.

Lastly, all 3 play the right way, your just flat out wrong here.

[grindhouse]

to each his own i choose to say thats not good enough when its not good enough. listen to a eagles podcast u will get a understanding of brotherly love. we sound like a bunch of carebears thats cool be yourself.i am not going to hold no punches this is a bad team.

goldbrum said it the nice way. my way is everyone is on the god damn trading block!

[GOLDBLUM]

IF
As a business there is not if what reality is atm which sucks tbh.

1. OG has never played a full season.

2. Both OG and pascal have had mental health concerns. (no one ever says its a factor but its a factor)

3. Fred is not lowry i dont care how much the media wants to compare they are different people different skills sets.

4. all of them are inconsistent (fred could have had multi turnovers, multi bad decision plays, gave up multi baskets on defence and be the top scorer and he cant do nothing wrong)

5. make all the excuses you want last year fred pascal OG took us to….. the lottery top 10 worst teams in the league. that is a fact.

so when i say what core? how where when why is thing a thing thats what i mean. i get it most candians say nice things then kick u in the back on your way out. (ex i never liked demar game, i said it from the jump.)

none of these starters play the right way i dont see champions. in my eyes we waiting for the right deal.

(You literally do see Champions.)

So to reiterate, your initial post said"Fred/Pascal/OG are not good enough to take us to the playoffs" ... I asked what the eff you were talking about and you said some speculative bullshit about mental health and "IF As a business there is not if what reality is atm which sucks tbh." whatever the eff that means. (...and I ain't confused about the abbreviations.)

Between all this and you wishing Scottie was injured last game, and saying "you know what I mean", honestly man, it's pretty hard to understand what you mean.

I guess, like you prompted us re OG.. I'm just gonna have to lower my expectations on your thoughts being cogent.

But I won't start a thread about it.

There's some Canadian niceness for ya

[GOLDBLUM]

goldbrum said it the nice way.

get fukked, glindhouse.

[saints91]

I would think only Barnes, and OG. A combination of any other players could net an upgrade.

I think it would take a lot for this team to move off Siakam and Freddie. Freddie's leadership is hard to replace, and Siakam is the player they are trying eliminate.

The best possible scenario is trading Dragic, Boucher for salary matching, and then add a couple young guys and some picks to upgrade.

[TrueTorontoFan]

I would think only Barnes, and OG. A combination of any other players could net an upgrade.

I think it would take a lot for this team to move off Siakam and Freddie. Freddie's leadership is hard to replace, and Siakam is the player they are trying eliminate.

The best possible scenario is trading Dragic, Boucher for salary matching, and then add a couple young guys and some picks to upgrade.

I think Fred has a very nice tradeable salary. But you outlined the best scenario. Dragic and Boucher and try to get either a 3rd big and some one potential piece or two or a pick.

[TrueTorontoFan]

I don't like commenting on mental health. its very serious. I don't think that means we are being carebears. I think there is a difference with trying to accommodate a guy like Royce White, who didn't want to get on planes because of a generalized anxiety disorder, and Siakam and OG. Not crapping on Royce but its hard to accommodate that in the NBA


It should not be weaponized. The take is either incomplete as others have suggested or just straight up bad. That isn't being soft or anything to that effect. No one has coddled these guys on our fan base. Not sure what you mean when it comes to OG especially. Either way this was not a great take.

If a guy doesn't love the game enough to be on the court that is one thing like Bynum or others. I suspect Simmons to an extent. This is something else.

[saints91]

Ya, I don’t know where the mental health angle is coming from.

Calvin Ridley stepped away from the Falcons mid year to deal with person matters… as a fan it would be disappointing but you have to commend a guy for taking care of himself.

Siakam struggled for about a year due to unprecedented playing conditions…playing in the bubble wasn’t easy for a lot of players. Playing in Tampa wasn’t easy for the team. Lots of the guys spoke out about it. He’s doing pretty well this year. I think under similar circumstances we all would under perform in our jobs.

OG’s situation was difficult. His Dad passed away, his brother was still in high school in the states…he had family obligations to take care of… plus I’m sure he was grieving as well.

At some point you have to look at the players you cheer for as people.