I think there's plenty of reasons to look forward to next season. The Raptors should still be amongst the best teams in the Conference and have a chance to win 50 games again, and while I feel like I'm in the minority a lot on here these days, I've actually found that pretty enjoyable over the last couple of years.
The 3 year deals for Lowry and Serge still keeps the overwhelming majority of our roster relatively liquid if there was ever a reason to veer off course and start moving some of the core pieces. At the same time, I feel like the back half of our roster is a lot younger and more intriguing than most of the other teams who won 45 games or more last season. We've used the D League very effectively to help give our young guys a blend of spending time with the professional team while still getting a lot of actual reps with the 902. Norm seems poised to take another step and I remain high on Poetl and Wright. Plus the OG pick was a great home run swing at 23. I know there's some talk about how they've failed to develop young talent in recent years but I think we've out kicked our coverage in that respect. The organization definitely seems to be invested in player development even if Casey doesn't always coach that way.
I'm sort of surprised that there wasn't at least some chatter about DC losing his job after the playoffs, but it seems like for better or for worse, Masai is a guy who doesn't let a coach toil in the wind like that. Masai seemed serious after getting knocked out about the 'culture reset' so I'll be disappointed if it's the same players doing the same shit every game next season. I'm generally neutral on Casey as a coach but I kind of like that we still have replacing him as a card to play if necessary.
This is literally the first time that we've been stable enough to enjoy any type of sustained success in a quarter of a century history of being a franchise. And I'll gladly admit that the path to get from good to great isn't particularly clear but rarely is it for most teams. Masai has proven himself to be one of the best execs in the game and I'm alright with trusting him that he'll continue to either explore ways to improve the current version of the team, or pull the trigger on a significant roster shake up if necessary.
Overall I'm enjoying meaningful basketball on a night to night basis and am good with Masai holding steady for the time being and trying to be opportunistic (or let's face it, just lucky) in a very shaky Conference right now. The Lebron leaving again thing seems real, there's been a mass exodus of talent from East to West this summer, none of the teams beneath us in the standings have decidedly jumped over us in the pecking order. In fact, three of the teams in the playoffs last year have just stopped trying. It's not the worst time to try and run it back with a pretty good team.
The 3 year deals for Lowry and Serge still keeps the overwhelming majority of our roster relatively liquid if there was ever a reason to veer off course and start moving some of the core pieces. At the same time, I feel like the back half of our roster is a lot younger and more intriguing than most of the other teams who won 45 games or more last season. We've used the D League very effectively to help give our young guys a blend of spending time with the professional team while still getting a lot of actual reps with the 902. Norm seems poised to take another step and I remain high on Poetl and Wright. Plus the OG pick was a great home run swing at 23. I know there's some talk about how they've failed to develop young talent in recent years but I think we've out kicked our coverage in that respect. The organization definitely seems to be invested in player development even if Casey doesn't always coach that way.
I'm sort of surprised that there wasn't at least some chatter about DC losing his job after the playoffs, but it seems like for better or for worse, Masai is a guy who doesn't let a coach toil in the wind like that. Masai seemed serious after getting knocked out about the 'culture reset' so I'll be disappointed if it's the same players doing the same shit every game next season. I'm generally neutral on Casey as a coach but I kind of like that we still have replacing him as a card to play if necessary.
This is literally the first time that we've been stable enough to enjoy any type of sustained success in a quarter of a century history of being a franchise. And I'll gladly admit that the path to get from good to great isn't particularly clear but rarely is it for most teams. Masai has proven himself to be one of the best execs in the game and I'm alright with trusting him that he'll continue to either explore ways to improve the current version of the team, or pull the trigger on a significant roster shake up if necessary.
Overall I'm enjoying meaningful basketball on a night to night basis and am good with Masai holding steady for the time being and trying to be opportunistic (or let's face it, just lucky) in a very shaky Conference right now. The Lebron leaving again thing seems real, there's been a mass exodus of talent from East to West this summer, none of the teams beneath us in the standings have decidedly jumped over us in the pecking order. In fact, three of the teams in the playoffs last year have just stopped trying. It's not the worst time to try and run it back with a pretty good team.
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