Everything 2018 Off Season

[Rudy Bargnani]

I'm on the side of retool not rebuild.. our young guys are too good to tank properly. But what I see in these playoffs (including the Washington series) and playoffs prior to this one is that the team's core is just too mentally weak. The 3 highest paid players and our coach seem mentally weak and unprepared for playoff games.

And it's that mental deficiency that I can't stand anymore. Replace one or two of our "leaders" with guys that don't panic in big moments is all I'm asking for.

I’m with you.

There is a middle ground between bringing everyone back and tanking. We have a lot of youth that should improve but I still think a year from now Casey will make some silly rotation or in game decisions that will cost us And Derozan’s defensive effort will be sub par for a playoff effort.

[Nilanka]

The fact that we have a rookie and second year guy guarding Lebron? That Carroll and Patterson combined for 11 over the series and OG scored 18 points in one game?

If I'm reading between the lines, you're saying that we should feel good going into next year because OG and Siakam will be better at guarding LeBron.

Ok, I'll give you that. But we'll still have Casey costing us a few games with bonehead decisions, combined with DeRozan's disappearing act in 25% of the games he suits up for.

So the positive is cancelled out by the negative, and all we're left with is wins (of which the Raptors have zero).

[KeonClark]

If I'm reading between the lines, you're saying that we should feel good going into next year because OG and Siakam will be better at guarding LeBron.

Ok, I'll give you that. But we'll still have Casey costing us a few games with bonehead decisions, combined with DeRozan's disappearing act in 25% of the games he suits up for.

So the positive is cancelled out by the negative, and all we're left with is wins (of which the Raptors have zero).

Are we so sure of that?

[Rudy Bargnani]

The seeming limits of DeMar DeRozan's abilities form the Raptors' ceiling, writes @michaelgrange.https://t.co/WkL3larya4

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 6, 2018

[Nilanka]

Are we so sure of that?

I may be convinced to revise my stance if a reputable coach is brought in. Someone of a Popovich, Jerry Sloan, Pat Riley, calibre.

Stackhouse or Nurse? Can't do it.

[hotfuzz]

I’m with you.

There is a middle ground between bringing everyone back and tanking. We have a lot of youth that should improve but I still think a year from now Casey will make some silly rotation or in game decisions that will cost us And Derozan’s defensive effort will be sub par for a playoff effort.

Fuck no. Retooling is how you end up with 6th to 10th seed middle of the road team with no future.

We need to pick a strategy and commit to it instead of half assing it and going along with the flow like masai has seemingly done past 5 years.

Personally, I'm on the side of tank, but a proper rebuild, not a half assed raptors always do.

[planetmars]

Fuck no. Retooling is how you end up with 6th to 10th seed middle of the road team with no future.

We need to pick a strategy and commit to it instead of half assing it and going along with the flow like masai has seemingly done past 5 years.

Personally, I'm on the side of tank, but a proper rebuild, not a half assed raptors always do.

Are you saying we should trade OG, Wright, Siakam etc and not bring back Fred? How do you tank when your young players are good enough to win?

[Scraptor]

Absolutely ridiculous. I see the offseason silliness has truly begun.

EDIT: Just because the strategy isn't your preferred strategy, doesn't mean there isn't one.

Aside from using the Raptors 905 as a farm system, what is the strategy?

We've seen so much evidence to date that Masai engages in short-term tactics rather than long-term strategy.

-was willing to dump Lowry before Dolan cancelled the deal
-pursued Wes Matthews to play alongside DeMarre Carroll as the 3/4
-dumped Carroll after two years at the cost of picks
-signed JV to a sizable deal and waited too long to trade him despite Casey clearly not using him
-signed Powell to a sizable deal with no clear role
-gave $65 million to a guy who doesn't move the needle and was benched for game 3
-continually extended Casey on a "let's see what happens" basis

The team is poised to have a payroll of $128 million next year without paying Fred VanVleet or Lucas Nogueira. We don't have a pick this year. We are locked into some grotesque contracts for two more years. How did we end up here? Was it a conscious strategy or just the slow accumulation of a series of tactical decisions? My money is on the latter.

It's nice that we're developing some young players. It feels good to watch home grown talent. But as our young players improve our older ones will fade, keeping us firmly in the middle, or maybe upper middle.

In terms of team-building in the NBA, seven years to develop role players isn't really much of a strategy.

[Nilanka]

Are you saying we should trade OG, Wright, Siakam etc and not bring back Fred? How do you tank when your young players are good enough to win?

As much as I love the youngsters, I don't think a team of OG, Wright, Siakam, Poeltl, Freddy playing 35 mpg, has the capacity to win more than 30 games.

And depending on who the coach is, the strategy should be to emphasize skill development over winning (which would expectedly cost us a few additional wins).

If we tank, we keep the kids, give them heavy minutes, win maybe 27 games, and end up with a top 10 pick. And that's not including any picks/prospects we receive from unloading some of our established players.

[S.R.]

SVG out per Woj.

Thought they would work out better there, the coach/GM thing really doesn't seem to work too well.

[Deems]

I don't see a difference between any of these years in terms of our star players, if you think we got all these accolades from Demar, Lowry and Ibaka you're kidding yourself. These 3 will be who they are for the rest of their careers. It's the young role players that brought about the change in the regular season, they fit the modern day NBA playstyle. It wasn't Casey that brought about this system either, it's Nick Nurse with the help of Stackhouse' development of the young guns to see it through. It goes to show how overrated our stars are when it's the younger players and an assistant coach that had to show them how it's done.

This is the ceiling of our core, there is literally no way around it. You can re-tool all you want, when it comes to the playoffs who's going to have the ball in their hands? Take the L, that we should've taken last year, and move on. Unfortunately now it's probably impossible for the next 2 years, I don't see how we can move any of DeMars, Lowry's or Ibaka's contracts. If by some miracle we move them, the only one untouchable for me is OG, Siakam and Poetl. The rest can be thrown in to move the weight of the others.

[slaw]

SVG out per Woj.

Thought they would work out better there, the coach/GM thing really doesn't seem to work too well.

Those jobs are too much for one person. Not to mention the conflicts between them. I have become convinced over the years that the President-GM-Coach construct, where you have three people in those roles, is ideal.

[hotfuzz]

Are you saying we should trade OG, Wright, Siakam etc and not bring back Fred? How do you tank when your young players are good enough to win?

No, bring them back. In my head, keeping the main core together and making changes around them = retooling.

Rebuilding would be getting rid of the main core completely. (Demar, Lowry, jv, ibaka)

[Nilanka]

Those jobs are too much for one person. Not to mention the conflicts between them. I have become convinced over the years that the President-GM-Coach construct, where you have three people in those roles, is ideal.

I still don't know what the difference between a president and GM is....

[slaw]

Aside from using the Raptors 905 as a farm system, what is the strategy?

We've seen so much evidence to date that Masai engages in short-term tactics rather than long-term strategy.

-was willing to dump Lowry before Dolan cancelled the deal
-pursued Wes Matthews to play alongside DeMarre Carroll as the 3/4
-dumped Carroll after two years at the cost of picks
-signed JV to a sizable deal and waited too long to trade him despite Casey clearly not using him
-signed Powell to a sizable deal with no clear role
-gave $65 million to a guy who doesn't move the needle and was benched for game 3
-continually extended Casey on a "let's see what happens" basis

The team is poised to have a payroll of $128 million next year without paying Fred VanVleet or Lucas Nogueira. We don't have a pick this year. We are locked into some grotesque contracts for two more years. How did we end up here? Was it a conscious strategy or just the slow accumulation of a series of tactical decisions? My money is on the latter.

It's nice that we're developing some young players. It feels good to watch home grown talent. But as our young players improve our older ones will fade, keeping us firmly in the middle, or maybe upper middle.

In terms of team-building in the NBA, seven years to develop role players isn't really much of a strategy.

Using the Raptors 905 team is not a strategy. So, right there, this post has problems.

Your examples are either contra evidence to your position (Powell, JV, Casey, Ibaka) or are compromised by your false characterizations of them, which leaves a lot to be desired.

As per your bold, yes, that's what they've been doing for 7 years. Developing role players. That's the single, most material event that has occurred in 7 years. That's the key takeaway to highlight. Okay, then.