Raptors Offseason 2022

[Hotshot]

Portland should of rebuild..good luck trading him now, 61 million...just f$$$%% dumb.

That's just the thing, they won't be trading him. At least it's a short contract.

The Beal one is actually worse cause its 5 years, Beal just had a mediocre shooting season on a contract year & they gave him a no trade clause! Simply insane.

[Primer]

I am not that opposed to trading FRPs as much as trading UNPROTECTED FRPs for next 7 years unless an absolute elite player near prime.
First of all, all the FRPs you mentioned above were non lottery (OK, lets give Jak lottery label, though clearly not an elite nor all star -Never from day 1 had that potential). There was always certainty (likely in mid to late 20s) since we were trading when team was generally top 2-4 in East.
Secondly, we are dealing with 34 yo Durant WAY past his prime. Granted still a very good player, but 34 yo with some injuries last 3 years. Look at his performance vs Boston. Aberration or age related? Even a best year in last 3 -absolutely no guarantee of even East final next 2 years. Expect much worse in years 3-4.
In the end -we MIGHT challenge for East final (Bos & Mil both stronger, 76ers likely too; Nets? NY, Atlanta -better; Chicago healthier) next year or 2, but potential ramification 4,5,6 yrs from now could be devastating.
Hard pass.

A team can trade a maximum of 4 first round picks at a time spread out over 7 years so we would still have 3 picks during that time span in the alternating years. For someone like KD that is well worth it because those picks will be end of the 1st round and much lower value. Doesn't matter that they're unprotected. That only matters if your team sucks which has never happened under Masai tenure except the Tampa year when we purposefully tanked for Scottie. If someone else had our pick we could have made the play in for sure.

[G__Deane]

Wall is still getting $40M from Houston. No need to pay him under the table. He's ring chasing and getting a massive payday at the same time.

I broke my own rule and didn't use pink font for sarcasm

[TrueTorontoFan]

A team can trade a maximum of 4 first round picks at a time spread out over 7 years so we would still have 3 picks during that time span in the alternating years. For someone like KD that is well worth it because those picks will be end of the 1st round and much lower value. Doesn't matter that they're unprotected. That only matters if your team sucks which has never happened under Masai tenure except the Tampa year when we purposefully tanked for Scottie. If someone else had our pick we could have made the play in for sure.

I just dont' understand the issue overall with giving up 5 years of control if you keep scottie and pascal.

[Apollo]

So Lillard is getting 61 million per year...lol..
Why? His ok, he ain't a winner.
U all know I'm not the biggest Freddy fan, but I rather have Freddy for less than half the price than Lillard, bc I know his a winner, competior, clutch, leader.
Portland should of rebuild..good luck trading him now, 61 million...just f$$$%% dumb.

He's not a winner because they never did enough to provide him a championship cast. Put it this way, he's a better baller than Kyle Lowry and always has been and I'm a big fan of Kyle.

I find this refreshing. He likes the team and the city and the team and city like him. They're choosing to prioritize keeping him there over all else. Nothing wrong with that, he's a great baller and the heart of that team. No one would have objected to the Raptors paying Carter as the highest paid player in the league had he chosen to stay for good and Carter wasn't a winner either.

[Primer]

He's not a winner because they never did enough to provide him a championship cast. Put it this way, he's a better baller than Kyle Lowry and always has been and I'm a big fan of Kyle.

I find this refreshing. He likes the team and the city and the team and city like him. They're choosing to prioritize keeping him there over all else. Nothing wrong with that, he's a great baller and the heart of that team. No one would have objected to the Raptors paying Carter as the highest paid player in the league had he chosen to stay for good and Carter wasn't a winner either.

In Carters era one player couldn't take up half the cap. It's insanity now.

[G__Deane]

He's not a winner because they never did enough to provide him a championship cast. Put it this way, he's a better baller than Kyle Lowry and always has been and I'm a big fan of Kyle.

I find this refreshing. He likes the team and the city and the team and city like him. They're choosing to prioritize keeping him there over all else. Nothing wrong with that, he's a great baller and the heart of that team. No one would have objected to the Raptors paying Carter as the highest paid player in the league had he chosen to stay for good and Carter wasn't a winner either.

And never was again!
Sorry .... couldn't help myself

[golden]

He's not a winner because they never did enough to provide him a championship cast. Put it this way, he's a better baller than Kyle Lowry and always has been and I'm a big fan of Kyle.

I find this refreshing. He likes the team and the city and the team and city like him. They're choosing to prioritize keeping him there over all else. Nothing wrong with that, he's a great baller and the heart of that team. No one would have objected to the Raptors paying Carter as the highest paid player in the league had he chosen to stay for good and Carter wasn't a winner either.

It would truly be "refreshing" if Lillard took less money, so the franchise could put more players around him.

The Blazers can pay him more than any other team. People keep conveniently forgetting that part. His nickname isn't Dame DOLLA for nothing.

[TrueTorontoFan]

He's not a winner because they never did enough to provide him a championship cast. Put it this way, he's a better baller than Kyle Lowry and always has been and I'm a big fan of Kyle.

I find this refreshing. He likes the team and the city and the team and city like him. They're choosing to prioritize keeping him there over all else. Nothing wrong with that, he's a great baller and the heart of that team. No one would have objected to the Raptors paying Carter as the highest paid player in the league had he chosen to stay for good and Carter wasn't a winner either.

well the issue is they never had a balanced team. They always struggled with their front court in terms of health and defence. They struggled to consistently provide Dame and CJ with wing perimeter help. You had two guys who were seemingly undersized yet extremely offensively gifted scorers. The issue is defensively they had nothing to give. I think defensively you may struggle defensively with that size even if you have two solid smart defenders .... You can afford to have one not two.. and as I stated above it was made worse since they were bad defensively either way.


This just locks them into mediocrity. If Dame wanted to build something in Portland he would get a no trade clause and sign a contract that is more team friendly given the amount of money he has already made in his career. Now if they can't build around him he can't get mad. Jeremi Grant was a smart choice to pick up but the future isn't necessarily bright.

[Primer]

well the issue is they never had a balanced team. They always struggled with their front court in terms of health and defence. They struggled to consistently provide Dame and CJ with wing perimeter help. You had two guys who were seemingly undersized yet extremely offensively gifted scorers. The issue is defensively they had nothing to give. I think defensively you may struggle defensively with that size even if you have two solid smart defenders .... You can afford to have one not two.. and as I stated above it was made worse since they were bad defensively either way.


This just locks them into mediocrity. If Dame wanted to build something in Portland he would get a no trade clause and sign a contract that is more team friendly given the amount of money he has already made in his career. Now if they can't build around him he can't get mad. Jeremi Grant was a smart choice to pick up but the future isn't necessarily bright.

Didn't get OG so pay Dame $60M per year,... Missing step...., profit!

[TrueTorontoFan]

Didn't get OG so pay Dame $60M per year,... Missing step...., profit!

like even if they got OG that would be a capped out team.... I really thought they would try and grab ayton but I guess the grant trade made that difficult. I can't remember where they were at after the grant trade but hypothetically they should have been "there"....


Also Shaedon Sharpe didn't look great and also tore his shoulder.

[Apollo]

well the issue is they never had a balanced team. They always struggled with their front court in terms of health and defence. They struggled to consistently provide Dame and CJ with wing perimeter help. You had two guys who were seemingly undersized yet extremely offensively gifted scorers. The issue is defensively they had nothing to give. I think defensively you may struggle defensively with that size even if you have two solid smart defenders .... You can afford to have one not two.. and as I stated above it was made worse since they were bad defensively either way.


This just locks them into mediocrity. If Dame wanted to build something in Portland he would get a no trade clause and sign a contract that is more team friendly given the amount of money he has already made in his career. Now if they can't build around him he can't get mad. Jeremi Grant was a smart choice to pick up but the future isn't necessarily bright.

It locks them into being a playoff team. There were many, many years where us Raptors fans would have been happy with a team that made the playoffs every year but nothing else.

I stand by what I said, there's nothing wrong with Dame being a one team player and being the highest paid in the league. The team stays relevant, makes some money and he gets to stick it out in the place he loves while being financially rewarded. Both sides win. We like to say there's only one goal in the NBA but that's inaccurate.

[Apollo]

It would truly be "refreshing" if Lillard took less money, so the franchise could put more players around him.

The Blazers can pay him more than any other team. People keep conveniently forgetting that part. His nickname isn't Dame DOLLA for nothing.

Why? He busted his ass and deserves to be in the position he's in. It's really easy to sit back and say a guy should take a discount that costs him potentially tens of millions. You have no skin in the game. He should accept whatever he's offered and feels comfortable with. More power to him. He gets it all, he gets to be where he wants and gets all the money he could ever want.

[TrueTorontoFan]

It locks them into being a playoff team. There were many, many years where us Raptors fans would have been happy with a team that made the playoffs every year but nothing else.

I stand by what I said, there's nothing wrong with Dame being a one team player and being the highest paid in the league. The team stays relevant, makes some money and he gets to stick it out in the place he loves while being financially rewarded. Both sides win. We like to say there's only one goal in the NBA but that's inaccurate.

and a bottom tier one at that.

I see nothing wrong with it... but there are other ways to reward a guy... like haslem with Miami.... or dirk with the mavs. So far their overall moves have been good not great we will see if that continues. They should be patient.

[golden]

Why? He busted his ass and deserves to be in the position he's in. It's really easy to sit back and say a guy should take a discount that costs him potentially tens of millions. You have no skin in the game. He should accept whatever he's offered and feels comfortable with. More power to him. He gets it all, he gets to be where he wants and gets all the money he could ever want.

Don’t disagree with that viewpoint, but the loyalty narrative has also been spun that Lillard is a mega-talent who has been wasting his career in Portland and he should go to a franchise that can put a championship roster around him. Dame’s reputation is un-tarnished from a winning standpoint.

Maybe it’s all actually Lillard’s fault, i.e. (1) he’s just not good enough, (2) he doesn’t play defense and that sets the team culture, like GTJ said & (3) he takes up way too much of the salary cap to get players around him to cover for his flaws.

He can take all the money or be respected as a winner. He chose money.