Masai Guarantees a Title... Eventually

[Scraptor]

PS. The worst case scenario last year was do nothing, lose in first round, keep Casey, and use capspace to overpay for role players. The first three came true and the jury's out on the fourth, depending on whether or not Carroll can give us something meaningful or not.

[Scraptor]

I really don't see a scenario where things could go horribly wrong.

I laid it out earlier in the season, and again it's only one possibility, but here it is:
-we retain the Knicks pick at the trade deadline. The Knicks make a deadline trade and improve enough to move the pick to say 13th or worse.
-we do nothing at the trade deadline, or trade assets for say Kenneth Faried
-Raps lose in first round of the playoffs
-as a three-time first round failure we do not attract free agents
-DeMar is signed for the max
-we are capped out
-our mid-round pick offers only a role player
-the following off season the capspace increase is required to re-sign Lowry to a max

So you have a capped out team that can't get out of the first round and has limited means of improving itself. Our picks and the Clippers pick aren't competitive trading chips for a star and would at best earn us role.players.

The amazingly right scenario is:
-we consolidate assets and trade for a key piece at the deadline
-we make serious noise in the playoffs
-if we have not moved the Knicks pick for a star at the deadline, the Knicks fail to improve in a meaningful way and our pick is say top 8
-we attract the attention of a Durant or Horford and are able to S&T for a key piece this summer, perhaps by using the Knicks pick
-we are able to compete for a Finals berth in 2017

I don't believe letting Casey go is an ace card. I believe it's a nine or a ten, or a Jack at best. It's also a card played too late, given that if it needs to be played it will have solidified our reputation as a playoff loser and thus hurt us deeply in the free agency game.

I also don't believe one has to be a negative Nancy to think about worst case scenarios. I think properly assessing risk is an essential part of building a team--or a career, or a life. It's not pessimism, it's realism. And as far as the Raptors go, it's something we hopefully learned from the annual hopeful reload of guys like Shawn Marion, Jermaine O'Neal, and Hedo Turkoglu.

[Barolt]

I do.

- Lowry burns out, blows his knee in game #82 (*knock on wood*)
- DeMarre Carroll never comes back from injury (*knock on wood*)
- We get the Bulls in the first round, Jimmy Buckets comes back and locks DD up and throws away the key. 5ppg on the series.
- Jonas is drafted to the Lithuanian Army and forced to leave Canada, voiding his contract
- Terrence Ross decides to sign up as an MLG pro gamer for NBA 2K and leaves the NBA.
- Bruno, Delon, Powell and Bebe bust. The Brazilians return to their native land and pursue careers in soccer instead
- We select Toluwanishime Orakogwondu Alemayehu with the Knicks pick (which ends up 14th) a 7'9 C from an undisclosed island location in the Pacific, he unsurprisingly busts.
- The Raptors are forcibly relocated to real Vegas instead of White Vegas by Adam Silver

Being a negative Nancy is kinda fun!

You forgot:

-Masai resigns to start a basketball program in Uganda and we decide to re-hire Rob Babcock, who immediately hires Sam Mitchell as our head coach.

[JWash]

I really don't see a scenario where things could go horribly wrong.

I do.

- Lowry burns out, blows his knee in game #82 (*knock on wood*)
- DeMarre Carroll never comes back from injury (*knock on wood*)
- We get the Bulls in the first round, Jimmy Buckets comes back and locks DD up and throws away the key. 5ppg on the series.
- Jonas is drafted to the Lithuanian Army and forced to leave Canada, voiding his contract
- Terrence Ross decides to sign up as an MLG pro gamer for NBA 2K and leaves the NBA.
- Bruno, Delon, Powell and Bebe bust. The Brazilians return to their native land and pursue careers in soccer instead
- We select Toluwanishime Orakogwondu Alemayehu with the Knicks pick (which ends up 14th) a 7'9 C from an undisclosed island location in the Pacific, he unsurprisingly busts.
- The Raptors are forcibly relocated to real Vegas instead of White Vegas by Adam Silver

Being a negative Nancy is kinda fun!

[JimiCliff]

It's why I've said Masai is walking the razor's edge. Things could either go amazingly right or horribly wrong depending on how he plays his cards the next few months.

I really don't see a scenario where things could go horribly wrong.

[JWash]

Leaves a gaping hole at GM. Caseys not ready

Can you imagine Casey as a GM?

I imagine his scouting method for the draft would be to give each prospect a hammer and see who pounds the giant rock he had placed in the Raptors facility the best.

[golden]

It's why I've said Masai is walking the razor's edge. Things could either go amazingly right or horribly wrong depending on how he plays his cards the next few months.

Not really. Depending on how you feel about Casey as a playoff coach, Masai still has the #DoNotExtendCasey ace up his sleeve, which may or may not get the team to ECF level with only minor tweaks to the existing roster. The off-season would once again rely on further development of JV, Ross, CoJo and even DD (3-pt shot) + the young prospects (Powell, Wright) with the addition of a new coach. This assumes the Raps badly under-perform in the playoffs this season and that there is a next level coach available that's worth the risk.

[KHD]

Clearly, Lowry didn't play enough minutes last season for us to be elite.

John salmons avatar, salmon coloured font.

Barolt is taking the sarcasm to a whole new level

[Nilanka]

It's why I've said Masai is walking the razor's edge. Things could either go amazingly right or horribly wrong depending on how he plays his cards the next few months.

Yup, more so this year, than the previous 2 years (thanks to looming decisions on Casey and DeRozan).

[Scraptor]

Treadmill can only be confirmed/denied at the end of the season.

It's why I've said Masai is walking the razor's edge. Things could either go amazingly right or horribly wrong depending on how he plays his cards the next few months.

[Nilanka]

Right? So now 2 games out of 1st place and loads of draft picks is treadmill.

Treadmill can only be confirmed/denied at the end of the season.

[Primer]

TBH, Cleveland isn't that much better than us right now.

Right? So now 2 games out of 1st place and loads of draft picks is treadmill.

[golden]

Couple of points:

1. Although, I understand how terribly run this franchise was in the past, I don't like comparing our current situation to those years. The bar has been raised since Masai took over. He's done a masterful job so far, but (perhaps it's the impatient fan in me), I want to see more. I want to see management go balls out and turn this club in a serious threat while the iron is still hot. I'm no longer just happy to be here. I want more dammit!

2. LeBron is human. Kyrie is overrated, and Love is made of styrofoam. Oh, and Lue will always be that pylon who Iverson stepped over . We shouldn't concede the conference just because LeBron hasn't retired yet.

There was a legendary Toronto sports GM who used to be called "Stand Pat" for being too patient, even though he was an excellent talent evaluator and shrewd dealer. He brought the franchise a lot of unexpected and sustained success, but couldn't get to the big dance. Fans and media got impatient. But as history turned out, Stand Pat was just being his shrewd self and waiting for the right opportunity to pounce, while keeping the team competitive for a decade. Dude brought this city our last 2 world chips. Back-to-back, no less.

Status Quo Ujiri sounds a lot like Stand Pat Gillick.

[iblastoff]

i still think its a shame that fuckin hedo turkoglu has played in finals games and this team hasn't.

[Triplethreat89]

I believe in masai!!!! Best gm raptors have ever seen!!!