Raptors Offseason 2022

[Shredder]

The Lakers are kind of an odd choice of landing spot for a player that's ostensibly a point guard or perhaps a combo guard, given that Lebron is going to be the primary ball-handler and initiator much/most of the time, and Westbrook will likely eat up a lot of minutes in the point guard/shooting guard role being ball dominant as well. (I don't think the Lakers will be able to trade him away, either.)

I mean, there are still reasons one might go to the Lakers anyway, I suppose, but surely there were better spots on other teams for him if he was signing this contract with the goal of playing for his next contract?

I feel like with this signing, as well as beverly, that the lakers are trying to get Westbrook off the bench. Which might actually be the best spot for him. He could actually play really well as a spark plug bench player. Obviously you would have to have him buy in. But if he did, he would feast on team's second units.

[DanH]

Maybe.. we'd have to rely more on Malachi or Dalano to get an extra ball handler on the floor when Pascal, Scottie and Fred can't play or need a rest. That's not something we did much of last year.

Knock on wood we have a healthier season then the last 2-3. Its a big reason why I have them #1 in the East since I have this feeling that the injury gods will be coming through for us this season.

I see no reason, outside of actual injuries (in which case you aren't going ten deep, you are just filling in the top 9 rotation you were working with) for Fred, Pascal and Barnes to ever all be on the bench at the same time.

Absolutely Flynn and Banton will get their chances as injuries inevitably crop up. But they likely won't be in the regular rotation until that happens.

[G__Deane]

Yuta gone, now Svi gone.
Who's next?

[planetmars]

I see no reason, outside of actual injuries (in which case you aren't going ten deep, you are just filling in the top 9 rotation you were working with) for Fred, Pascal and Barnes to ever all be on the bench at the same time.

Absolutely Flynn and Banton will get their chances as injuries inevitably crop up. But they likely won't be in the regular rotation until that happens.

My point is that Nurse likes his ball handlers. And he likes to have at least 1 if not 2 on the floor at all times. Pascal, Fred, Scottie, Dalano, Malachi and that Dowtin kid are the only ball handlers on the team. Last year we didn't even like having OG and Gary without one.

So if Pascal, Fred and Scottie need more rest or days off than last year.. then we're going to have to see Dalano and Malachi play. It's not a fixed 9-10 man rotation.. we don't play hockey line ups.. but we do have guys with roles. Not everyone can handle the ball on this team. We tried that early last year and it was a failure. Now guys like Chris, Khem, Thad, Precious all hand the ball off to a handler as soon as they get it. Gary, OG and Otto can do that in bits and pieces, but again they'll need someone to play with.

We should try to get all our key starters to play around 35mpg. That will only happen if Malachi and Dalano have improved or Nurse trusts them more. It's likely why we were in on Schroeder so that we could get a vet playmaker on the roster.

[DanH]

My point is that Nurse likes his ball handlers. And he likes to have at least 1 if not 2 on the floor at all times. Pascal, Fred, Scottie, Dalano, Malachi and that Dowtin kid are the only ball handlers on the team. Last year we didn't even like having OG and Gary without one.

So if Pascal, Fred and Scottie need more rest or days off than last year.. then we're going to have to see Dalano and Malachi play. It's not a fixed 9-10 man rotation.. we don't play hockey line ups.. but we do have guys with roles. Not everyone can handle the ball on this team. We tried that early last year and it was a failure. Now guys like Chris, Khem, Thad, Precious all hand the ball off to a handler as soon as they get it. Gary, OG and Otto can do that in bits and pieces, but again they'll need someone to play with.

We should try to get all our key starters to play around 35mpg. That will only happen if Malachi and Dalano have improved or Nurse trusts them more. It's likely why we were in on Schroeder so that we could get a vet playmaker on the roster.

Really not following why our key starters playing say 36 MPG would mean we need another ball handler. That would mean each of those three key guys need 12 minutes of rest bought for them. You can rest two of them at once, so those 36 minutes of rest could happen over 18 bench minutes, during which one of the three would be supporting the bench groups (with some bonus OG sometimes, and with Trent as the bench scorer). That's 30 minutes of playing your top three guys together and 18 minutes of one at a time supporting bench groups. Alternatively, you can cut down your minutes of all three guys on the floor (say, 24 minutes, 6 to start and close each half), and then you have 24 minutes to spread your 36 minutes of ball handler time across (so only 12 minutes of one ball handler, 12 minutes of two of them).

If we get injured, yes, we will need another ball handler to enter the rotation. If healthy, though, not really.

[planetmars]

Really not following why our key starters playing say 36 MPG would mean we need another ball handler. That would mean each of those three key guys need 12 minutes of rest bought for them. You can rest two of them at once, so those 36 minutes of rest could happen over 18 bench minutes, during which one of the three would be supporting the bench groups (with some bonus OG sometimes, and with Trent as the bench scorer). That's 30 minutes of playing your top three guys together and 18 minutes of one at a time supporting bench groups. Alternatively, you can cut down your minutes of all three guys on the floor (say, 24 minutes, 6 to start and close each half), and then you have 24 minutes to spread your 36 minutes of ball handler time across (so only 12 minutes of one ball handler, 12 minutes of two of them).

If we get injured, yes, we will need another ball handler to enter the rotation. If healthy, though, not really.

Yeah if fully healthy we don't even need minutes for Thad. But being fully healthy is a near impossibility. In today's NBA only a handful of guys play more than 75 games.

[planetmars]

^^ sorry hit post to quick.

Also wanted to add that having one guy out there for 12 minutes is not going to really work for Nurse. He likes having multiple options for ball handling. One of Flynn, Dalano or Downtin is going to have to play with that other guy to keep pressure off of him. Otherwise guys could just trap that one guy getting the ball out of his hands.

[DanH]

^^ sorry hit post to quick.

Also wanted to add that having one guy out there for 12 minutes is not going to really work for Nurse. He likes having multiple options for ball handling. One of Flynn, Dalano or Downtin is going to have to play with that other guy to keep pressure off of him. Otherwise guys could just trap that one guy getting the ball out of his hands.

I think our fringe ball handlers like Trent are good enough that they can be used as outlets in those scenarios. We certainly ran a LOT of one ball handler stuff last season, most out of necessity, but we still landed on 48 wins even with that so I don't think a few bench minutes here and there of it will cause us major issues or be something Nick can't stomach.

If fully healthy we likely play all three of Thad, Boucher and Otto off the bench alongside Trent, though Thad's minutes or Otto's (might be a bit of a shared load there) may be less from night to night if OG is making guest appearances in bench groups. 9 deep is about right for keeping the minutes manageable for everyone. 8 deep is more likely the playoff rotation, and the 10th guys are likely only seeing the floor for injuries or missed games from the top 9.

[TrueTorontoFan]

My point is that Nurse likes his ball handlers. And he likes to have at least 1 if not 2 on the floor at all times. Pascal, Fred, Scottie, Dalano, Malachi and that Dowtin kid are the only ball handlers on the team. Last year we didn't even like having OG and Gary without one.

So if Pascal, Fred and Scottie need more rest or days off than last year.. then we're going to have to see Dalano and Malachi play. It's not a fixed 9-10 man rotation.. we don't play hockey line ups.. but we do have guys with roles. Not everyone can handle the ball on this team. We tried that early last year and it was a failure. Now guys like Chris, Khem, Thad, Precious all hand the ball off to a handler as soon as they get it. Gary, OG and Otto can do that in bits and pieces, but again they'll need someone to play with.

We should try to get all our key starters to play around 35mpg. That will only happen if Malachi and Dalano have improved or Nurse trusts them more. It's likely why we were in on Schroeder so that we could get a vet playmaker on the roster.

I mean... OG can't dribble or do game speed iso's without half losing it .... and Gary doesn't pass at all so the offence being run solely through gary leads to inefficient offence

The hope is that OG has continued to work on that handle... I do agree with you on the point about shroeder but i think others will come up

[Hotshot]

Boston waived Bruno.

[planetmars]

Not wanting to get into a debate on this topic but Trudeau is planning to lift the vaccine mandates on September 30th. So that means Kyrie (and other players that are anti-vaxx) will be able to come into Toronto next season. I guess that home court advantage is now neutralized.

[G__Deane]

Not wanting to get into a debate on this topic but Trudeau is planning to lift the vaccine mandates on September 30th. So that means Kyrie (and other players that are anti-vaxx) will be able to come into Toronto next season. I guess that home court advantage is now neutralized.

But now we'll have the chance to give them COVID while they're here

[TrueTorontoFan]

jae crowder is available

[TrueTorontoFan]

Not wanting to get into a debate on this topic but Trudeau is planning to lift the vaccine mandates on September 30th. So that means Kyrie (and other players that are anti-vaxx) will be able to come into Toronto next season. I guess that home court advantage is now neutralized.

wish he kept that going one more year for you know that advantage

[Kagemusha]

Not wanting to get into a debate on this topic but Trudeau is planning to lift the vaccine mandates on September 30th. So that means Kyrie (and other players that are anti-vaxx) will be able to come into Toronto next season. I guess that home court advantage is now neutralized.

Masai can now get Isaac