Everything 2022-2023 Season

[slaw]

Well that's the whole thing though, right? Kawhi staying healthy is hardly a given even if they've smartened up and will do aggressive load management like the Raps did.

Kawhi played fewer games and minutes in his 2 LA seasons than he did in Toronto. His leg is fucked. Load management can't help you when your knee is shot.

My prediction would be he plays about ~50 games again and his leg is worn out or injured by the second round of the playoffs.

[TrueTorontoFan]

Wasn't Pascal also extension eligible up until some sort of deadline which passed yesterday?

No it starts now

[LJ2]

No it starts now

Well if something doesn't get done with Pascal it's probably because Fred is asking his good buddy to play hardball until they give Fred the contract he wants. Just like Kyrie and KD....you know 'cause Fred is the root of all evil.

[chris]

According to reports this summer... Fred was really close to a max extension at 114M/4 years (28.5M AAV). That's quite a bit lower than 35M AAV, which is not insignificant in helping with cap flexibility. And Fred on a team-friendly deal makes him more attractive to other teams if we needed to trade him for a superstar upgrade. Not sure how the negotiations went down this summer, but I'm speculating that the KD trade talks put all Raptor player contract discussions on hold (even Koloko's rookie deal)... and that delay screwed us royally with Fred.

but if we're more than 6.5 M over the cap when he signs the deal, it's only saving ownership tax money and can't be used towards team building anyhow, yeah?

i agree recent developments have probably caused his team to dig their heels in and he is unlikely to sign an extension

[Dvdvideo]

Kawhi played fewer games and minutes in his 2 LA seasons than he did in Toronto. His leg is fucked. Load management can't help you when your knee is shot.

My prediction would be he plays about ~50 games again and his leg is worn out or injured by the second round of the playoffs.

I agree, a healthy Kawhi is amazing, we were super lucky the timing lined up for the playoffs for us, but it seems really unlikely now that he will stay healthy.

[Kagemusha]

Would they make the playoffs if he was shutdown for the regular season?

Easy
they have the best roster, better than last year when he was out

[Yuri Gagarin]

Ya kawhi is done unfortunately. He rested like crazy and couldnt get through a round. Even if he makes it to the playoffs he cant get through the rigours of playoff ball

[Kagemusha]

Ya kawhi is done unfortunately. He rested like crazy and couldnt get through a round. Even if he makes it to the playoffs he cant get through the rigours of playoff ball

And the Spurs thought his injury was no big deal

[DanH]

According to reports this summer... Fred was really close to a max extension at 114M/4 years (28.5M AAV). That's quite a bit lower than 35M AAV, which is not insignificant in helping with cap flexibility. And Fred on a team-friendly deal makes him more attractive to other teams if we needed to trade him for a superstar upgrade. Not sure how the negotiations went down this summer, but I'm speculating that the KD trade talks put all Raptor player contract discussions on hold (even Koloko's rookie deal)... and that delay screwed us royally with Fred.

More likely Fred and his agent did the math and decided they wanted to bet on next season, or at least wait until they had a reason not to (say, an injury in pre-season or during the season). There is no deadline on an extension, so no rush for either party, so it was only ever going to get signed at a time when both sides were 100% ready to do so. I doubt there was a delay to do with KD, he was always an unlikely inclusion in that deal, and if he was ready to sign I think they prioritize that and then move onto a KD deal.

The entire point of the bet, though, is that they think there is a significantly higher deal next summer than this summer. The lower cap hit buys a year of injury insurance basically.

You bring up an interesting point though - perhaps Fred does not want to be a team player to the extent that he can be traded away from the team more easily. I don't think it's reasonable to expect that level of team first from any player.

[Primer]

According to reports this summer... Fred was really close to a max extension at 114M/4 years (28.5M AAV). That's quite a bit lower than 35M AAV, which is not insignificant in helping with cap flexibility. And Fred on a team-friendly deal makes him more attractive to other teams if we needed to trade him for a superstar upgrade. Not sure how the negotiations went down this summer, but I'm speculating that the KD trade talks put all Raptor player contract discussions on hold (even Koloko's rookie deal)... and that delay screwed us royally with Fred.

There is no urgency to sign the extension so occams razor says Fred and his agent wanted to wait to see what the market was. Herro and Poole have bumped the market up quite a bit to the point the extension isnt likely.

Had Herro come in closer to $25M per year Fred may have taken his extension. Makes zero sense for him to take a deal less than what Herro got.

[golden]

More likely Fred and his agent did the math and decided they wanted to bet on next season, or at least wait until they had a reason not to (say, an injury in pre-season or during the season). There is no deadline on an extension, so no rush for either party, so it was only ever going to get signed at a time when both sides were 100% ready to do so. I doubt there was a delay to do with KD, he was always an unlikely inclusion in that deal, and if he was ready to sign I think they prioritize that and then move onto a KD deal.

The entire point of the bet, though, is that they think there is a significantly higher deal next summer than this summer. The lower cap hit buys a year of injury insurance basically.

You bring up an interesting point though - perhaps Fred does not want to be a team player to the extent that he can be traded away from the team more easily. I don't think it's reasonable to expect that level of team first from any player.

If he’s worried about getting traded, he can negotiate a trade kicker, which keeps his deal team friendly for as long as he’s here.

[Ebonhawke]

So the opening night of the season, and the 76ers/Celtics are kicking things off - refs must think the game is about them - 15 minutes played so far, and 17 foul calls.

[bertarapsfan]

Harden looks like Houston Harden

[The Great One]

I hate the cold weather but I must say, it's pretty cool to watch basketball again.

[slaw]

So the opening night of the season, and the 76ers/Celtics are kicking things off - refs must think the game is about them - 15 minutes played so far, and 17 foul calls.

The people who want everything called strictly by the book are thrilled. Exactly what they want. 60 fouls per game. Have they called 23 carrying violations though?