Elite, pure shooters from deep.

[inthepaint]

Let's get some!

It's an astonishing stat that I don't think many people actually heard yet, and it should be more out there, because it's at the heart of what's happening with the Raptors: The TOR-CLE 2017 playoff series had the highest discrepancy in 3-pts made in a 4-game playoff stretch in NBA history. Let's allow that to sink in for a bit.

The difference was over 100 points, essentially amounting to a full game. That's the reason for the sweep. Period.

I mean, if it wasn't for this, sure, we probably would have still lost the series (there were other factors of course, banged up/injured starting PG, coach slow to adapt etc..), but we would've won a couple of games, and the losses would have been in a much more valiant, noble effort (more like our game 4), which would have completely changed the narrative of how things are being talked about right now.

So let's dream. Let's ponder on who we could get (or wish we could get) to address this glaring deficiency. Just fans speaking from the heart. Sure, some names will be straight up pipe dreams, others probably won't work because of cap space, positional dynamics or any other complexity of NBA player movement, but some put out by the RR's savvy fan base would probably work quite nicely, so let's ponder.

1. JJ Redick - The clippers have Chris Paul, Griffin and JJ all going into FA this summer. They'd probably like to resign them all, but word is that they may only do 2, likely Griffin and Paul, leaving Redick open. I think he'd be awesome.
2. Otto Porter Jr - Probably more on the pipe dream category because the Wizards are doing well, but free agent, forward, 4th in the NBA in 3P% (43.4%)
3. Bogdanovic - also a wizard, so same as above, but we've seen what he can do from deep.
4. Patty Mills
5. Joe Ingles - main feature here is that it wouldn't break the bank, relatively easy to fit in the cap; I think he's a pretty underrated guy. Undrafted, now 3rd in the NBA in 3Pt%. If you develop him it's really a guy the defence has to respect.

Free agency, trade, draft, doesn't matter, we need a couple of snipers!

[ball4life]

Terrence Ross

[JamesNaismith]

Bring in Patty Mills just to make Corey cry.

[ball4life]

With all honesty, just think about it, if we actually have pace and space system and Ross is playing in it. wouldn't he be at least as good as Eric Gordon?

[golden]

Serge Ibaka
DeMarre Carroll

[MixxAOR]

With all honesty, just think about it, if we actually have pace and space system and Ross is playing in it. wouldn't he be at least as good as Eric Gordon?

a guy who shot 90-50-40 for a couple of months? nah

[inthepaint]

Serge Ibaka
DeMarre Carroll

Lol..Problem solved then!

Yeah I get it, there's a lot of resentment out there toward the system, probably more so than toward players, and the argument that we have/had the pieces but the system didn't let them produce as much as they could from deep is not wrong. I think it's both (system & players). We're an ISO oriented team, and that's gotta change. But both the Bucks and Cavs series showed that we may have 3-shooters on the paper, but not when the rubber meets the road. They trapped derozan forcing ball movement, and even if not by Casey's design, we got quite a bit of open looks as a result. The outcome? We missed a ton of open looks (and got punished on the other end), or worse, often passed an open look because they were scared to shoot, leading to a turnover or a brick on the glass against the shotclock. We lack deep shooters, and the system is not helping.

As for T-Ross, I loved him. I was in the minority that didn't quite jump for joy when we brought Ibaka for him. I would have preferred anyone else to go (other than Kyle and Demar). But the reality is Ross and Serge are pretty much equivalent in 3-point firepower. Both get some respect from the opposing D, both can change a game's momentum with a couple of back-to-back 3's, and both can go through long, inconsistent cold stretches. The trade made sense because of added rim-protection/defence from Serge, but when it comes to the 3, it didn't move the needle much one way or the other. Ross's efficiency from deep actually went down in Orlando, after being given more minutes than in Toronto, which is too bad, I was really hoping he would take off.

[Ball]

Terrence Ross

Never showed up in a playoff game. Ever.

[SkywalkerAC]

Yup, not just the difference ion this series but the difference this season between being great and being trash. The almighty equalizer.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

The tricky thing with 3pt shooters is that aside from a small elite group, they're like relief pitchers in baseball; all-stars one season, dime-a-dozen the next.

It's also hard to find a guy that can consistently hit 3pt shots within the role/system in place on the Raptors, as opposed to his own team. Look at Kapono and Carroll, for local examples.

A guy may only have to hit 3's on his old team, but will he also be required to defend on the Raptors, since they already have to cover one wing's defensive shortcomings (DeRozan)? Suddenly the role and expectations completely change on the Raptors, and the guy is setup to fail, either individually or as a 5-man unit.

[magoon]

5. Joe Ingles - main feature here is that it wouldn't break the bank, relatively easy to fit in the cap; I think he's a pretty underrated guy. Undrafted, now 3rd in the NBA in 3Pt%. If you develop him it's really a guy the defence has to respect.

Yeeeeeeeah no. Joe Ingles is going to get seriously paid this summer, because every exec in the league knows he's demonstrated 3-and-D skill. He's at least going to get a PJ contract (10-12m) and probably better than that because he's younger and hasn't peaked yet.

[KeonClark]

We have pretty good regular season shooters. It seems the biggest issue for a large contingent of raptors is that space between the ears.

We should be looking to target big game players. Winners. Trim the fat of guys who constantly don't show up (patterson, carroll) and find guys who will

[ceez]

our entire team plays exponentially better during the regular season then completely poops the bed in the playoffs. only Tucker and JV came to play and even they had their issues.

[tDotted]

If Masai goes out and gets shooters then Casey will just complain about not having enough defenders again

[golden]

Joseph doesn't shoot the 3 enough. He had a very good 3P% in the regular season (.356) and even increased that in the playoffs (.402). If he stays, CoJo should be developed as a 3 & D PG in the Pat Beverley mode, which is what I thought was going to happen when he came from San Antonio.