Scottie Barnes' Era is Here!

[Primer]

Why are we presuming koloko is out all year, I've heard nothing except respiratory and zero updates.

I think you answered your own question.

[chris]

It's still early in the season so I don't want to get too carried away with the Scottie hype. Teams are going to start game planning for him soon so we're going to get to see if he's the type of star Pascal is or if he's the type Kawai is. Not throwing shade at Pascal, he's a great player, but we know his limitations.

????

he's a few months removed from his 22nd birthday.

when the inevitable regression does come, due to the roster limitations around him and defenses keying in on him more, let's please not bury him and jump to the conclusion that he is not capable of being the guy.

he's shown every sign as a 22 year that he will become that guy

[LJ2]

he's a few months removed from his 22nd birthday.

when the inevitable regression does come, due to the roster limitations around him and defenses keying in on him more, let's please not bury him and jump to the conclusion that he is not capable of being the guy.

he's shown every sign as a 22 year that he will become that guy

You can question whether he's a number one option without burying him can't you?

He's seemingly made his third year leap and we'll see how big it is over the season. I'd speculate there's another big leap to come in the near future when they start putting better fitting players around Scottie. Kind of crazy he's doing what he's doing in a cramped frontcourt as the Raps have.

[chris]

You can question whether he's a number one option without burying him can't you?

i would argue not, no. at least not until the roster context around him improves. concluding he's incapable of being a number one under the current context is premature, same as it was to question it during last year's dumpster fire.

i would argue (and have argued) that he's shown flashes of a top 5 to MVP caliber ceiling in each year of his career, he's just rarely been put in ideal situations for success.

but ppl rarely consider the context a player is in when evaluating them

again, he just turned 22 and entered the league as a "zero level scorer". to assume he could never become a number one option if he starts playing at anything less than an all-NBA level on this particular team (with all its limitations) at his age and with his physical gifts and basketball IQ and the growth he's already shown is totally dumb, in my opinion

[DanH]

If Boucher could bring back a shooter I'm fine upgrading Thad to his break in case of emergency C role. When were all healthy Boucher is our 4th string C.

Thad is truly awful, so can't co-sign this idea. When healthy Boucher should play some backup PF minutes and even SF minutes depending on the lineup, hopefully making McDaniels a non-factor. When we're not healthy he provides that C optionality.

I don't mind trading him but not until his role is actually emergency status (ie Koloko is healthy, Precious is healthy, and any injuries to either are a future possibility and not a present certainty).

[LJ2]

i would argue not, no. at least not until the roster context around him improves. concluding he's incapable of being a number one under the current context is premature, same as it was to question it during last year's dumpster fire.

i would argue (and have argued) that he's shown flashes of a top 5 to MVP caliber ceiling in each year of his career, he's just rarely been put in ideal situations for success.

but ppl rarely consider the context a player is in when evaluating them

again, he just turned 22 and entered the league as a "zero level scorer". to assume he could never become a number one option if he starts playing at anything less than an all-NBA level on this particular team (with all its limitations) at his age and with his physical gifts and basketball IQ and the growth he's already shown is totally dumb, in my opinion

I don't agree that you couldn't question last season whether Scottie might be a number one option on a team, and I don't agree that means you're burying him. He wasn't event given the opportunity to prove it at that point. I never assumed he'll never get there, but if questioning whether a young player would reach his potential is dumb then okay, what can I say to that. Most that have been around know I've been one of his bigger supporters since pre-draft.

[Primer]

Thad is truly awful, so can't co-sign this idea. When healthy Boucher should play some backup PF minutes and even SF minutes depending on the lineup, hopefully making McDaniels a non-factor. When we're not healthy he provides that C optionality.

I don't mind trading him but not until his role is actually emergency status (ie Koloko is healthy, Precious is healthy, and any injuries to either are a future possibility and not a present certainty).

Still would much rather have a reliable bench shooter over Boucher. He does way too many dumb things and he can't shoot.

We're literally not even playing Boucher some games as it is when he's completely healthy and our best option at backup PF/C (see Spurs game).

Once Precious comes back Boucher is out of the rotation entirely.

[A.I]

Ideally you have Precious/Koloko as the main backups so Thad would only play if there are injuries.

[Kagemusha]

Doug Smith's positive article on Scottie is the funniest shit ever lol
Wagoning fool!

[The Claw Reborn]

Scottie has finally won Doug Smith over
funny shit lol

LOL.

Doug feeling like a clown…saw him at the Wynn Casino outside the practice facility set up of the Raptors (org basically rented one of the ballrooms at the Wynn and converted the entire place as their practice facility). He was out there with the rest of media including Grange waiting for the practice to finish. The guy is a relic, he should retire.

[DanH]

Ideally you have Precious/Koloko as the main backups so Thad would only play if there are injuries.

Right. So once that's the case, finding a trade for Boucher would make a lot of sense. No idea how close we are to that being reality, though, Koloko's situation in particular is very unclear.

[Primer]

Right. So once that's the case, finding a trade for Boucher would make a lot of sense. No idea how close we are to that being reality, though, Koloko's situation in particular is very unclear.

How is Bouchers ability to poorly play C more important than getting some shooting off the bench?

That's what I'm not understanding from you. We're better off playing with no C (like we closed against Spurs) than playing Boucher at C.

If we could swap him for bench shooting that makes the team better hands down.

[MixxAOR]

Clippers lost Mason Plumlee maybe Raps could send Boucher there

[G____Deane]

Clippers lost Mason Plumlee maybe Raps could send Boucher there

Boucher for Westbrook, straight up

[DanH]

How is Bouchers ability to poorly play C more important than getting some shooting off the bench?

That's what I'm not understanding from you. We're better off playing with no C (like we closed against Spurs) than playing Boucher at C.

If we could swap him for bench shooting that makes the team better hands down.

I don't think so. Boucher has always had a positive impact whenever he's seen the court. Some bench shooter some team wants to jettison will likely end up buried in the rotation, we want to play Gradey, we won't be sitting Gary, they won't play over Malachi unless they are a true PG which seems an even less likely option in a Boucher swap unless we start handing out picks which seems like a terrible idea, we tend to play one of Pascal or Scottie as the PF with the bench, and that leaves aside OPJ filling in some minutes as a shooter... Where is this mystery shooter getting minutes?

I'm not seeing how this is more valuable than Boucher's ability to play C (we are not better off with no C, we can't play small for large chunks of every game all season long and Boucher has magically somehow managed to be the one bench player outside of OPJ who has a positive impact even while he's out of position), and also play in the spot the shooter would be in.