Everything 2018 Off Season

[Shaolin Fantastic]

I think we need to temper ourselves a bit. The expectation should still be that Kawhi will only be here one season. Expecting more than that is setting yourself up for disappointment tbh.

[omgsomuchpotential]

At this point the five best players are Lowry, Kawhi, OG, Pascal, JV right?

1. Kawhi
2. Lowry
3. JV
4. FVV (even though OG has more potential, Fred is the better player at the moment, in my opinion)
5. Pascal

[Apollo]

That Woj report is very good to hear.

- He's healthy
- He's going to report to training camp
- He's going to play
- He likes the idea of being on a winning team

Masai. *claps*

[Apollo]

I think we need to temper ourselves a bit. The expectation should still be that Kawhi will only be here one season. Expecting more than that is setting yourself up for disappointment tbh.

Every message from every direction is that he's one and done.

[Apollo]

MU is good but he's not Obewan Kenobi.

[KHD]

I think we need to temper ourselves a bit. The expectation should still be that Kawhi will only be here one season. Expecting more than that is setting yourself up for disappointment tbh.

IMO Kawhi Leonard is worth getting your hopes up for though. I'm willing to risk being disappointed.

[Just Is]

Some of the things I'm reading from Raptors fans are incredible. I didn't see this kind of comradery and spirit after the 2nd round exit. Where were the DD defenders then?

This is typically why I avoid talking Raptors outside of here. It actually came to be too much in real life so I legit started asking people (people who explicitly were sh*tting on him and the Raptors during that Cleveland series) where these feelings were then. Some say the issue is that the guy coming in doesn't want to come in. Others just more honestly say "that was then."

[golden]

Great trade but, Raps are back to over paying free agents. Players wont forget what we did to the best player in franchise history. That includes Kawhi as well. Basketball wise great trade but, the perception of the raps has to changed.

This is a BS narrative. Chris Haynes was on the Fan with Bob McCown last night and he said that players would forget about it. When the time comes to do their deals, it's every man for himself and they won't care about what happened with Demar - it's all about the money and a winning situation. He also said that Toronto has never and probably will never be a destination for Tier 1 free agents, so the only perception issue would be re-signing your own free agents and Toronto has the hammer there. He said it's nothing like the Blake Griffin situation where he was signed and flipped within months.

[Apollo]

This is a BS narrative. Chris Haynes was on the Fan with Bob McCown last night and he said that players would forget about it. When the time comes to do their deals, it's every man for himself and they won't care about what happened with Demar - it's all about the money and a winning situation. He also said that Toronto has never and probably will never be a destination for Tier 1 free agents, so the only perception issue would be re-signing your own free agents and Toronto has the hammer there. He said it's nothing like the Blake Griffin situation where he was signed and flipped within months.

The Spurs aren't Tier 1. I think management provides a greater advantage than location. You can't win with location alone. You can win on management alone.

[Apollo]

Cris Carter is now saying:

• Toronto ownership doesn't want to pay tax.
• The trade was essentially a cap dump.
• This move is win/win because they can go to the finals to trick the fans that they care about winning and then blow it up when Kawhi leaves and save a lot of money in a rebuild.
• A deal with the Lakers is still an option later on.

[A.I]

Cris Carter is now saying:

• Toronto ownership doesn't want to pay tax.
• The trade was essentially a cap dump.
• This move is win/win because they can go to the finals to trick the fans that they care about winning and then blow it up when Kawhi leaves and save a lot of money in a rebuild.
• A deal with the Lakers is still an option later on.

Just fake ass news. Its already been said by Masai, tax isn’t a concern.

He is friends with Kawhi’s camp, no surprise he wants Kawhi in LA.

[Apollo]

Just fake ass news. Its already been said by Masai, tax isn’t a concern.

He is friends with Kawhi’s camp, no surprise he wants Kawhi in LA.

Well they got $5M in the trade to cover the tax. If tax was an issue would he admit tax was an issue? Wouldn't that hurt the optics of the team with the fans(customers) and the league(trade market & FA market)?

I don't know what to believe but if Kawhi does go one & done then the outcome of what Cris Carter said would be true, regardless of the reason.

[A.I]

Well they got $5M in the trade to cover the tax. If tax was an issue would he admit tax was an issue? Wouldn't that hurt the optics of the team with the fans(customers) and the league(trade market & FA market)?

I don't know what to believe but if Kawhi does go one & done then the outcome of what Cris Carter said would be true, regardless of the reason.

He is right about the last 2 points, but that’s basically what everyone has been saying, including Raptors fans.

[DanH]

Well they got $5M in the trade to cover the tax. If tax was an issue would he admit tax was an issue? Wouldn't that hurt the optics of the team with the fans(customers) and the league(trade market & FA market)?

I don't know what to believe but if Kawhi does go one & done then the outcome of what Cris Carter said would be true, regardless of the reason.

If you can get $5M in a deal, why would you not do that?

They added about $10M to their tax bill and $5M to their salary, making the cost of this deal $15M. The $5M doesn't exactly cover that - it's just Masai being a jerk and squeezing SA even more.

The likeliest event is that Kawhi goes one and done, even if what Carter said is just him making up crap. You can see how he's just playing the odds, even though his most recent report (that Kawhi would not go to Toronto) is already proven garbage within days.

The tax avoidance in 19-20 is a nice side benefit as a plan B. For sure that was part of the consideration. But plan A is definitely to try to re-sign Kawhi. Obviously. And if they pull it off, they will likely be even deeper in the tax than this year, even before deciding whether to bring back Green or Wright.

[Nilanka]

One thought I have from this is how much of a fucking shill Chris Carter is. It's so plainly obvious he was pumping that horseshit on behalf of Kawhi's camp: "I can tell you. Don't ask them, ask me, Kawhi ain't going to Toronto!" Seems clear as day that due to his relationship with Kawhi's uncle he was spouting that on their behalf as a last ditch effort to deter the Raps organization from making a move, and have Kawhi waltz to LA with no other options. Zero percent surprised that Masai called the bluff. I hope Carter loses a lot of respect for that bullshit, conflict of interest reporting. Dink.

Is Carter actually close to Kawhi's camp? I haven't been keeping up with that angle of the saga.