Future of the Raptors?

[ReubenJRD]

VanVleet, Wright, Powell, Anunoby, Siakam and Poeltl, I think, are as good a young group you can have in building a team for the future. For god's sakes, their impact on the bench rating says a lot.

I get that they're playing against opposing benches, but, there's a lot to takeaway from how effective they are. If there's a question about who's the closest to having star potential, Anunoby is a good guess.

[DogeLover1234]

I like the interest the team has shown in developing the young talent. You get much more from a late pick than you normally would.

I'm a bit concerned with how you pay these role players though. If you end up giving guys like Powell, Siakam, Purtle, Wright all mid sized contracts then what do you have left to go after the big fish? You have to get some bargains for your role players don't you?

I do think a lot of drafting is luck, but it seems like Masai and co is good at everything else. This is why part of me wonders what could have happened in the offseason if Raps didnt bring back any free agents, and get a high pick in last years draft with DD. I think thats a bad team for a year or two, but then you talk about adding a star player or two to the young guys and things get interesting. Not saying necessarily that should have happened, cause I would argue this is Raptors team is the best iteration with this core and still has a bit of a window to make a run, but would have been interesting.

[KeonClark]

The bottom line is our teams too good to get draft picks and not good enough to be considered in the topic of championship. We have a coach that has no concept or players that have no concept of what a back door play is I don’t know what’s worst. Our scouts suck, our coaching direction sucks ..we are a copy cat organization that realize too heavily on stats and statistics. No one in this organization not even MU has a eye to fit the individual skills sets of players into a contending product. A+ for puting ppl in the stands and marketing the only team in Canada for the nba. D- for building a championship team.

Is the weather as nice where you are as it is here in calgary? Sunny daaaays, sunny sunny sunny days...

[LJ2]

I like the interest the team has shown in developing the young talent. You get much more from a late pick than you normally would.

I'm a bit concerned with how you pay these role players though. If you end up giving guys like Powell, Siakam, Purtle, Wright all mid sized contracts then what do you have left to go after the big fish? You have to get some bargains for your role players don't you?

[grindhouse]

The bottom line is our teams too good to get draft picks and not good enough to be considered in the topic of championship. We have a coach that has no concept or players that have no concept of what a back door play is I don’t know what’s worst. Our scouts suck, our coaching direction sucks ..we are a copy cat organization that realize too heavily on stats and statistics. No one in this organization not even MU has a eye to fit the individual skills sets of players into a contending product. A+ for puting ppl in the stands and marketing the only team in Canada for the nba. D- for building a championship team.

[grindhouse]

Our future is we stay at 50 wins for the remainder
Of Lowry derozan contact lose first second round in the playoffs. Tank for 3 years and rebuild.

[Deems]

I'm comfortable with the future, 3 years from now we'll have a boat load of cap space. Til then either keep the ball rolling of playoff purgatory or fire sale every starter in case of some sort of epic downfall. The young guys are keeping me entertained this year so hopefully they'll get better with more minutes in the future.

[psrs1]

Okay. So Masai's a smart guy. He must be planning for the future. So what will happen? Will they just develop players and all and hope they turn out well? I remember saying Masai something like "developing players is going to be more important"...
ANyway

Here is the theory:
- Fred Vanvleet becomes Kyle Lowry, takes over as starter once Kyle retires or is too old.
- Norman Powell becomes Demar, so in 3/4 years I guess he's an all star
- OG Anunoby becomes Kawhi Leonard, no problem, that's an easy one
- Pascal Siakam becomes I dunno, just better at what he does, is able to shoot lots of 3s and defend well (a guy who does what Terrence Ross was supposed to do but is also amazingly fast in transition)
- Delon Wright becomes healthy and is one of the most unique players ever
- Poeltl becomes everything JV was supposed to be and more, defends well, is quiet but quietly great and everytime we play the warriors (or an other good team) gets 10+ offensive rebounds
- Bruno. Makes the team? (or maybe he becomes Brazillian CJ, who knows?)
- Bebe becomes Manute Bol who can shoot 3s (grows a few inches)

Will this team win??

Time to cut Bruno loose. Good players develop consistency —our young guys need learn to be consistent. Making the transition to a core player you can plug in for the next 3+ years is hard. Does anyone remember JJ Reddick when he first turned pro on Orlando Magic? He was horrible defensively. He used to piss off SVD his coach at time but slowly year by year he became better defensively and became a complete player. He came off the bench for many years but eventually was able to make the transition to starter/core player. It is a process. It doesn’t happen over night. An example for us of a bench player who clearly is unable to make the transition to a solid contributor if not a core player is Lucas Noguera . Some young players can progress and make the transition many cannot.

[Puffer]

So hard to predict what can happen 3/4 years from now.. nobody really plans that far ahead unless there is a star player who you're waiting on to become a UFA. Like Cleveland did with James the second time around.

Maybe we do that for Wiggins.. but I'm not even sure he's worth the wait.

Just have to take it year by year. I do see the league changing up the playoff formats by then anyway. Collapsing the whole east vs west thing. They are already changing up the lottery format. These changes in 3-4 years can impact what we do as a club after Lowry/Ibaka's windows are up.

Changes to the draft rules, changes to the CBA, changes to the cap, changes to where the taxes start, all of these things can have a huge impact. A GM has plans and makes some moves and it can all turn to crap because of stuff out of your control.

[planetmars]

So hard to predict what can happen 3/4 years from now.. nobody really plans that far ahead unless there is a star player who you're waiting on to become a UFA. Like Cleveland did with James the second time around.

Maybe we do that for Wiggins.. but I'm not even sure he's worth the wait.

Just have to take it year by year. I do see the league changing up the playoff formats by then anyway. Collapsing the whole east vs west thing. They are already changing up the lottery format. These changes in 3-4 years can impact what we do as a club after Lowry/Ibaka's windows are up.

[KHD]

we're fucked lol

[Vanuatu]

Amazing how the answers to so much of this speculation fall entirely on how well the young guys will hit 3s (even JP eventually?). If they can hit at an above average rate from deep most have the defensive chops to be exceedingly good players, even centrepieces. Otherwise, role players. Put another way, if FVV can hit 40% from deep and Lonzo Ball continues to hit less than 30%. I'd rather have the former.

[KeonClark]

[consmap]

There's an old saying for life about worrying too much about the future and not living your today's. On raptors republic, we gnash our teeth and chew our fingernails about 3 years from now in late November.

In season talk is supposed to be more fun.

[charlesnba23]

DeMar will stay for the rest of his career