Everything 2018 Off Season

[Apollo]

The initial PR reaction was pretty negative. I don't think a) Masai gives the slightest damn about people falling on swords, based on his not firing Casey the other times he had the chance to, or b) that firing Casey, given the backlash, remotely accomplished that if that's what they were going for.

I disagree. This is textbook stuff you see in all four major pro leagues in North America. This was the play that had to happen.

[Apollo]

I like Masai.. I still think he's a good manager in this league. But the one thing I'm afraid of is that we're not going to get much out of our stars when they eventually leave... just like Atlanta did with Horford and Millsap.

Winning every trade/transaction has a cost. Once your best players' contracts are coming to an end.. there is no way to get value out of them. Cap space is not value when you are a bad team. It can be used to absorb bad contracts to take on picks.. but most teams are shy about trading picks these days. The cost/benefit of a pick is well known. You'll always have NY and Sacramento.. but even they are becoming smarter.

We have a 2 year window now. That's fine. I can still see a competitive match up against Boston with their stars playing. We'll be an underdog but the fear factor against Boston wouldn't be as high as it would be against Lebron. Philly would only be scary if they got a Lebron or Kawhi.. and I think they will strike out. Feels like both those guys will end up in LA which is good for us. The Bucks are still going to continue to struggle. Wizards are probably worse than Toronto. Miami still needs a lot of work to do. Chicago/Orlando/Brooklyn/NY are still way too young to make an impact. Atlanta/Charlotte are just bad. Cleveland will probably suck too with Lebron gone.

So being the 2nd best team in the East with a chance to get to the Finals is actually alright for me. I can watch a season like that for another year. A tad disappointing since we'd have a ceiling.. and we lose our best guys for nothing. That rebuild might be painful since we'd probably have to suck to get good picks instead of picks from other teams for our stars. But I think that's the new NBA. If you want picks for your stars.. you need to trade them pretty early and before they get fat raises.

The one thing I heard over and over and over about Masai when he came in was "asset management". If he rides this to the final destination in cruise control then that's all a load of shit. In two years time if they do nothing significant then it was all a waste. These guys still have some value right now. It's trade them for 75 cents on the dollar now versus nothing or best case 50 cents on the dollar in two years.

I like watching winning basketball, I really do. I appreciate DeMar for his support of the city but if the team is going down anyway, why not get the rebuild off to a quick start instead of a five year total overhaul?

[saints91]

I would t be surprised if MLSE just told them to roll the same thing out, but try to keep us out of the tax.

As an owner, your team is competitive and making a ton of money, why change??? Especially when this franchise was in the dump so long.

As die hard fans we want to see a major retooling but I doubt ownership wants that.

[planetmars]

The one thing I heard over and over and over about Masai when he came in was "asset management". If he rides this to the final destination in cruise control then that's all a load of shit. In two years time if they do nothing significant then it was all a waste. These guys still have some value right now. It's trade them for 75 cents on the dollar now versus nothing or best case 50 cents on the dollar in two years.

I like watching winning basketball, I really do. I appreciate DeMar for his support of the city but if the team is going down anyway, why not get the rebuild off to a quick start instead of a five year total overhaul?

It's not the end of the world to not get anything back for your star guys. It stings a bit.. but it happens. The natural tank is not a bad thing. It's worked out for a lot of teams. You lose your stars.. get big chunks of money in your cap space and trade for bad contracts with picks. You can still get some value back.. just have to be smart about it after the contracts are off the books. 50 cents on the dollar maybe worse than the alternative. You start trading them for mediocre contracts just to make a deal happen could also be a really bad deal.

[Apollo]

It's not the end of the world to not get anything back for your star guys. It stings a bit.. but it happens. The natural tank is not a bad thing. It's worked out for a lot of teams. You lose your stars.. get big chunks of money in your cap space and trade for bad contracts with picks. You can still get some value back.. just have to be smart about it after the contracts are off the books. 50 cents on the dollar maybe worse than the alternative. You start trading them for mediocre contracts just to make a deal happen could also be a really bad deal.

I've sat through approx. 15 years of proper tanking for the future. Getting swept by the Cavs is the greatest moment of all that. Tanks but no tanks.

[Apollo]

And by the way Ainge unloaded TWICE for a load of picks. TWICE. It was vital to building the big three and it was vital to the full house he has right now.

[Other Scott]

The initial PR reaction was pretty negative. I don't think a) Masai gives the slightest damn about people falling on swords, based on his not firing Casey the other times he had the chance to, or b) that firing Casey, given the backlash, remotely accomplished that if that's what they were going for.

I think there was a PR hit FROM THE LEAGUE, and especially the coaches, on the Casey firing. But I think Masai cares less about them than he does the Raptors fans. And to keep up excitement and to keep people coming at the same numbers and at the same ticket prices to random February regular season games, he needs to sell them that there's something different this time.

I don't think the market is there for Derozan. I don't think it's there for Lowry. He could only use the culture change card once, as he stated in the exit press conference. Casey had to take the fall, just to keep hope alive for the fans that we'd see a different Raptors in the playoffs next year.

[Abbas]

This is like saying Draymond Green = Michael Jordan because they both wear the number 23

Lol I hope y'all know I was being sarcastic Lmfao

[Other Scott]

And by the way Ainge unloaded TWICE for a load of picks. TWICE. It was vital to building the big three and it was vital to the full house he has right now.

Because someone was there to give them all those picks. Do you really think the trade is there for Derozan and Lowry for 3 first round picks and 2 pick swaps or whatever it was?

Plus, he then got lucky that the owner of the team he traded them to went from "SPEND SPEND SPEND" to "actually this is costing me too much let's get back under the tax now" and completely dismantled the team, then making all those picks that were looking like they would float around the 20s to actually being almost all top 5.

I don't think expecting your GM to do the KG/ Pierce deal is fair.

[planetmars]

I've sat through approx. 15 years of proper tanking for the future. Getting swept by the Cavs is the greatest moment of all that. Tanks but no tanks.

Well its just the new NBA now. No teams are giving up good picks for anybody unless you have a nice contract (ie, rookie deal or something). And even then there will be protections on them.

Building a team with the 10th pick in a draft is not going to help you win in the end. You need to be in the top 3. So a pure tank is the best way to achieve that. Like Atlanta is going through now.

[Apollo]

Because someone was there to give them all those picks. Do you really think the trade is there for Derozan and Lowry for 3 first round picks and 2 pick swaps or whatever it was?

Plus, he then got lucky that the owner of the team he traded them to went from "SPEND SPEND SPEND" to "actually this is costing me too much let's get back under the tax now" and completely dismantled the team, then making all those picks that were looking like they would float around the 20s to actually being almost all top 5.

I don't think expecting your GM to do the KG/ Pierce deal is fair.

The first tear down was a playoff team and it didn't have better assets than this team.

Also luck is when preparation intersects opportunity. Ainge isn't a statistical anomaly. He's just incredibly good at what he does.

[Barolt]

One thing I see a lot is people complaining about the Lowry/Ibaka contracts last summer. That wasn't the moment we locked in on this core. The DeRozan extension mandated those contracts, because it meant we were committed to building a core to win around him, and we couldn't replace Lowry and Ibaka within that core.

[Apollo]

Well its just the new NBA now. No teams are giving up good picks for anybody unless you have a nice contract (ie, rookie deal or something). And even then there will be protections on them.

Building a team with the 10th pick in a draft is not going to help you win in the end. You need to be in the top 3. So a pure tank is the best way to achieve that. Like Atlanta is going through now.

Its still a diluted league teeming with opportunities for a savvy GM to strike. Good players are still found outside the top five of the lotto.

[LJ2]

When does free agency start?

[Barolt]

When does free agency start?

July 1st teams can start talking to players, July 7th teams can start actually signing players.