Does this team need a trade to stay competitive?

[A.I]

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.

Siakam gets shit every bad game hes had since the bubble, he doesn't get coddled. He talked about his issues during the bubble and its warranted. No one has ever been in the situation they were in during that time.

Fred gets less shit, why? Because hes been a damn good PG this season. Grindhouse can go on about how Fred isn't a good player and a bad defender, people just ignore him because he is wrong.

OG had struggles during the 2019 season with his dad's passing and his appendix injury. He never talked about mental health issues so its just speculative bullshit. Some people have questioned if he should be a shot creator, which is fair. He is a fantastic 3 and D guy though.

[saints91]

As fans we tend to set our expectations based on the contract a player receives. I think Siakam is underperforming his contract, but by a small margin. He’s an awesome player, and we have 3 or four players out performing their contracts, so it’s a wash.

The big thing for me is the wasted 19-20M contract we have currently away from the team. If that contract was actually contributing we would have another good rotation player coming off the bench. 19-20M should get you a pretty damn good 6th man…. Our starting 5 is actually performing, it’s our bench that’s weighing us down.

[JawsGT]

I think Barnes, OG and FVV are the untouchables from a front office perspective. Those are the players they would try and avoid trading if the right opportunity presented itself. They might be willing to move off Fred or OG if it was necessary to get a player they really wanted, but I think they’d prefer to work a deal using the other key pieces first.

If you could keep that core and add, say, SGA and a JV or Turner, would you do it? And would it make us better?

[grindhouse]

get fukked, glindhouse.

still got love for you lol. i agreed with most of what u said as to when they should be trade if they are to be traded.

the mental health stuff i personally want these players to get better with whatever they dealing with but where i come from and the things i have seen their situations are light weight. sometimes i forget its these peoples jobs /workplace. example terrance ross i am glad he got paid and can support his family just not on my team. is that wrong to say? anyways loong story short i cant relate to manybof the issues i hear.

[TrueTorontoFan]

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.

not saying this to compare the situations but focusing on the OG situation.. he still showed up he only wasn't part of the playoff run because of what happened with his appendix

[TrueTorontoFan]

Siakam gets shit every bad game hes had since the bubble, he doesn't get coddled. He talked about his issues during the bubble and its warranted. No one has ever been in the situation they were in during that time.

Fred gets less shit, why? Because hes been a damn good PG this season. Grindhouse can go on about how Fred isn't a good player and a bad defender, people just ignore him because he is wrong.

OG had struggles during the 2019 season with his dad's passing and his appendix injury. He never talked about mental health issues so its just speculative bullshit. Some people have questioned if he should be a shot creator, which is fair. He is a fantastic 3 and D guy though.

I have my issues with fred as an on ball creator vs his ability to be optimized off ball. OG still needs to continue to work on his... fluidity. Pascal just needs to be who he is. I think he needs to get his defence back but offensively I am happy with what I see and the decisions he is making overall.



I have my issues with fred but I agree everyone is shitting on our top two players not named OG every game.

[A.I]

I have my issues with fred as an on ball creator vs his ability to be optimized off ball. OG still needs to continue to work on his... fluidity. Pascal just needs to be who he is. I think he needs to get his defence back but offensively I am happy with what I see and the decisions he is making overall.



I have my issues with fred but I agree everyone is shitting on our top two players not named OG every game.

Fred has his flaws still mainly due to his height, but he has fixed a lot of his weaknesses that I and others didn't like from last season. Less drives to the rim and forcing up a shot through contact, thats probably the biggest one. His FG% and 3P% is a lot better this season with a larger role. He has been picking his spots well.

If this is the Fred that we get from now on, he can definitely continue to be the PG for this team long term, and his role should lessen as Scottie gets better.

OG I'm not worried about at all. He is kind of playing with house money. He is working on expanding his game as a shot creator, but I'm perfectly happy if he goes back to his role as a 3&D specialist which he is terrific at.

[TrueTorontoFan]

Fred has his flaws still mainly due to his height, but he has fixed a lot of his weaknesses that I and others didn't like from last season. Less drives to the rim and forcing up a shot through contact, thats probably the biggest one. His FG% and 3P% is a lot better this season with a larger role. He has been picking his spots well.

If this is the Fred that we get from now on, he can definitely continue to be the PG for this team long term, and his role should lessen as Scottie gets better.

OG I'm not worried about at all. He is kind of playing with house money. He is working on expanding his game as a shot creator, but I'm perfectly happy if he goes back to his role as a 3&D specialist which he is terrific at.

I think For this year it works when everyone is healthy. Long term Scottie playing a psuedo point forward role would be best but I think these things happen over time. I am also kind of happy we aren't going to be likely to have a super high seeding even if we do make the play-in/playoffs because having a middling draft pick to help fill out the bench with a shooting guard/solid center prospect or just another guy who is solid would be VERY useful. helping to restock our bench units back up long term.

[Scraptor]

I guess the answer to this thread title depends on what you mean by competitive.

If we want to build organically and compete along the way, we do not need a trade.

If we want to compete for a championship, we probably need a superstar, and we can either draft one (Scottie?) or trade for one. We aren’t signing one in free agency.

Personally I think we are fine building organically and being opportunistic depending on what the trade landscape offers. Which is why I think we were reported as sniffing around Ben Simmons.

I do think we have a bit of an overlap issue with OG/Scottie/Pascal once all three are healthy. To maximize our roster I feel like one of them would probably need to be moved (Pascal makes the most sense). But that doesn’t need to happen this year. I don’t think this is the year where we push our chips in.

[Puffer]

...I do think we have a bit of an overlap issue with OG/Scottie/Pascal once all three are healthy. To maximize our roster I feel like one of them would probably need to be moved (Pascal makes the most sense). But that doesn’t need to happen this year. I don’t think this is the year where we push our chips in.

I think this is accurate. It takes more than a training camp with 8 new players and 3 that had a cup of coffee with the team last season and 23 games to know what you have in your hand. Five of those 11 players are new to the NBA. Four of them only had bit parts on their team. Forget the part that the coach is trying to get them to seamlessly flow together in a complicated defensive scheme. If this was a brand new franchise they would have more NBA experience under their belts than the current roster does.

[A.I]

I guess the answer to this thread title depends on what you mean by competitive.

If we want to build organically and compete along the way, we do not need a trade.

If we want to compete for a championship, we probably need a superstar, and we can either draft one (Scottie?) or trade for one. We aren’t signing one in free agency.

Personally I think we are fine building organically and being opportunistic depending on what the trade landscape offers. Which is why I think we were reported as sniffing around Ben Simmons.

I do think we have a bit of an overlap issue with OG/Scottie/Pascal once all three are healthy. To maximize our roster I feel like one of them would probably need to be moved (Pascal makes the most sense). But that doesn’t need to happen this year. I don’t think this is the year where we push our chips in.

Also depends who is available to trade for Pascal and how the Raptors and other teams value him. We don't need to rush to move him.

For example, if the Warriors get Klay back and fail to win a championship, do they push a trade for Pascal? He would fit perfectly there and Warriors have a combination of Wiseman, Kuminga, Poole, etc, they can offer.

[LJ2]

A trade to set the team up to contend is further down the priority list than I thought at the start of the season. Young guys got to develop and be ready to be high level role players.

[Scraptor]

I am 100% behind adding Myles Turner. Our offense is pretty egalitarian so he could be more than a role player, but I don’t know if he wants to be featured the same way as a Jokic or KAT. From The Athletic:

“It’s clear that I’m not valued as anything more than a glorified role player here, and I want something more, more opportunity,” Turner told The Athletic Tuesday. “I’m trying really hard to make the role that I’m given here work and find a way to maximize it. I’ve been trying to the past two, three seasons. But it’s clear to me that, just numbers-wise, I’m not valued as more than a rotational role player, and I hold myself in a higher regard than that.”

He’s in his seventh season, yet still somehow just 25. He’s put the skill set together over those years, morphed into one of the league’s best defenders, and tried to be whatever the Pacers needed from him. Now he is trying to figure out how to seize this moment and make the leap to the all-star class of the league. But he feels he can’t do it on just 8.8 shots per game.

“I’ve been given many roles in the years that I’ve been here, and I feel like I’ve been able to produce at a high level in the roles I’ve been given,” Turner said. “I’ve shown that I can do the things they ask me to do, and I think it’s time to put that all together and be a more prominent night-in, night-out guy on the offensive side of the ball instead of someone who is asked to be a floor spacer and hide in the shadows.”

[golden]

I am 100% behind adding Myles Turner. Our offense is pretty egalitarian so he could be more than a role player, but I don’t know if he wants to be featured the same way as a Jokic or KAT. From The Athletic:

Well, if we've given Boucher the opportunities to dribble the ball up the floor and make plays..... step right up, Myles.

[KeonClark]

I am 100% behind adding Myles Turner. Our offense is pretty egalitarian so he could be more than a role player, but I don’t know if he wants to be featured the same way as a Jokic or KAT. From The Athletic:

He's not wrong. He's got a 121 Orating 104 Drating. His shooting is at an all time from both 2 and 3 (53/40/71 splits), and his rebounding his higher than ever. By all looks he's having a career year, and yet his minutes, shots and usage are down, and despite his positive advanced stats and plus minus, the team stinks. In other words, the problem ain't Myles.