Everything 2018 Off Season

[DanH]

I disagree with this a bit. He has a reputation of being opportunistic maybe because he took advantage of a desperate Knicks team in that Bargnani trade, but outside of that what has he done to earn a reputation for winning trades? There was the Salmons for Lou and Nog trade, but I might be wrong but that was I think the Hawks, much like the Knicks being in a bad situation.

All GM's are careful when making trades with all teams. Trading with Masai doesn't make them more or less nervous. They all have different motives..need to win now, need to keep their stars happy, need to shed salary to get out of a big tax hit etc.

Not exactly a negative, but if Masai has a rep for taking advantage of desperate teams only then it's not really a great promotion of his GM skills. It means he basically sits and watches for a chance to scavenge what another team doesn't want or are forced to drop. I would rather he have a rep for turning smaller assets into bigger pieces. Easier said than done in Canada of course.

The Melo deal where he made his name in Denver (again to the Knicks) is the biggest reason he has that reputation, though his move to acquire Iggy was pretty shrewd at the time, and then of course the Bargnani deal, the Rudy Gay deal resulting in a near-50 win team somehow (while Sacramento remained absolutely awful)... These all add up to a reputation.

[S.R.]

The Melo deal where he made his name in Denver (again to the Knicks) is the biggest reason he has that reputation, though his move to acquire Iggy was pretty shrewd at the time, and then of course the Bargnani deal, the Rudy Gay deal resulting in a near-50 win team somehow (while Sacramento remained absolutely awful)... These all add up to a reputation.

It's also a bit of a disservice to what he's done to only look for individual trades. Step back and look at the multi-year improvement here in Toronto: Colangelo left behind a 34 win non-playoff team with Lowry/DD/JV/Casey on it. Masai took those pieces and made Lowry/DD/JV/Casey a 59 win 1st seed. That's pretty insane, you're lucky if adding a legit superstar gets you a 25 win improvement eventually.

(Much credit to the guys in the locker room, obviously.)

[golden]

One thing to be noted with the discussion about the value of drafting a superstar - keep in mind that the further back you go in your data sample, the more differences there are between the active CBA at the time and the current one. It is far easier to keep talent nowadays than it once was. Restricted free agency, rookie scale extensions, and veteran extensions have all been modified to dramatically help the home team to keep their players. So if you want to acquire top talent, it is easier than ever before to do so at the draft and be able to be confident that you can keep that player for potentially their entire career.

Since 1990 there have been 140 top 5 draft picks. Guess how many of those 140 players have won a championship with the team that originally drafted them? (not counting coming back to that team, via trade or free agency).

Answer: 4 (Kyrie, Tristan Thompson, Duncan & DWade).

That's it..... only 4. That number balloons to 6, lol, if you count Jason Kidd and Lebron.

[MixxAOR]

Since 1990 there have been 140 top 5 draft picks. Guess how many of those 140 players have won a championship with the team that originally drafted them? (not counting coming back to that team, via trade or free agency).

Answer: 4 (Kyrie, Tristan Thompson, Duncan & DWade).

That's it..... only 4. That number balloons to 6, lol, if you count Jason Kidd and Lebron.

Raps have to take that risk. We're not a destination city. No star is coming here.

[KeonClark]

Raps have to take that risk. We're not a destination city. No star is coming here.

We need to find our James Harden..a superstar, offensively becoming an all time great, playing on somebody's bench.

No biggie

[MixxAOR]

We need to find our James Harden..a superstar, offensively becoming an all time great, playing on somebody's bench.

No biggie

I'm not going to say it's impossible but it's difficult and odds of finding a superstar in a trade is probably worse than draft odds

[planetmars]

Need to really define what a superstar is. I think for me its a guy that can elevate his game in the playoffs.. ie, steal a series on his own. Donovan Mitchell and Jason Tatum will be superstars. I don't think Ben Simmons will be one because he can't shoot/score.

OG has the defensive chops, but he's going to be a role player on offense. Can't drive.. can't create but he's the closest on the team (of the young guys we have).

That's why the hope is a DeMar trade can net us a guy like that. Trust in Masai's drafting acumen and hope to get a stud without having to tank.

[LJ2]

The Melo deal where he made his name in Denver (again to the Knicks) is the biggest reason he has that reputation, though his move to acquire Iggy was pretty shrewd at the time, and then of course the Bargnani deal, the Rudy Gay deal resulting in a near-50 win team somehow (while Sacramento remained absolutely awful)... These all add up to a reputation.

In no way am I saying he isn't a good GM, but that Melo trade was going to happen one way or another and he took full advantage of the Knicks and a an idiotic owner and management group. I think this idea of him being feared to deal with by other GM's is more in the minds of Raptor fans than anyone he might actually work with.

[LJ2]

It's also a bit of a disservice to what he's done to only look for individual trades. Step back and look at the multi-year improvement here in Toronto: Colangelo left behind a 34 win non-playoff team with Lowry/DD/JV/Casey on it. Masai took those pieces and made Lowry/DD/JV/Casey a 59 win 1st seed. That's pretty insane, you're lucky if adding a legit superstar gets you a 25 win improvement eventually.

(Much credit to the guys in the locker room, obviously.)

Completely agree. You have to look at his entire body of work. The only hole that is missing in his resume is being able to sign a true top level talent but if anyone can do that in Toronto, it's Masai.

[007]

Since 1990 there have been 140 top 5 draft picks. Guess how many of those 140 players have won a championship with the team that originally drafted them? (not counting coming back to that team, via trade or free agency).

Answer: 4 (Kyrie, Tristan Thompson, Duncan & DWade).

That's it..... only 4. That number balloons to 6, lol, if you count Jason Kidd and Lebron.

So what you're saying is, we need to tank to get the next Tristan Thompson

[golden]

So what you're saying is, we need to tank to get the next Tristan Thompson

He's broken the Kardashian Kurse. TT is special.

[rocwell]

He's broken the Kardashian Kurse. TT is special.

When Tristan Thompson Had His Thotourage™ at Games He Averaged 14 & 11; Since Khloe Took Him Back He’s Averaging 2 & 2; The New Rules She Has in Place for TTK (Video) https://t.co/byLqZMeaFh pic.twitter.com/uNzFbp8mEG

— Robert Littal (@BSO) May 9, 2018

[KeonClark]

When Tristan Thompson Had His Thotourage™ at Games He Averaged 14 & 11; Since Khloe Took Him Back He’s Averaging 2 & 2; The New Rules She Has in Place for TTK (Video) https://t.co/byLqZMeaFh pic.twitter.com/uNzFbp8mEG

— Robert Littal (@BSO) May 9, 2018

Hahaha khloe..go from former NBA big and noted womanizer and crack head Odom, to current NBA big and noted serial cheater womanizer and overall douchebag Canadian Thompson.

Women will never cease to amaze me. Gotta always go for the assholes that'll break their heart.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Pierce's individual numbers were good, but his teams were trash.

He was a good player, don't get me wrong. But people tend to over-value him because of his ring (which was mainly Garnett changing the culture), and because of his longevity in Boston.

Vince's teams were "trash" too if Pierce's were.

Again you're just being flat out dishonest or a homer or don't know basketball if you're calling Vince a superstar and Pierce not one. Pierce was just as good and he was actually that good for a lot fucking longer.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

I'm not going to say it's impossible but it's difficult and odds of finding a superstar in a trade is probably worse than draft odds

Not probably. It is worse.