Everything 2018 Off Season

[Apollo]

He fails the eye test, he fails the stats and he fails in the contract department. I don't know why anyone would want him right now, there are better and cheaper options to be had in July regardless if they can squeeze him in early before his raise kicks in. No value to be had here.

[DanH]

He fails the eye test, he fails the stats and he fails in the contract department. I don't know why anyone would want him right now, there are better and cheaper options to be had in July regardless if they can squeeze him in early before his raise kicks in. No value to be had here.

I mean, that's very reasonable of you. If NBA GMs were nearly as reasonable as that as a group, I'd be worried. But the history of players who fail the eye test, fail the stats test, and have sizable contracts suggests that a trade is always possible.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

As boring as the draft was, once the price for 2nd rounders got set at future seconds plus cash, the Raptors were never going to buy their way in. I'd have liked to see DeMar move, but the LeBron paralysis is strong this year. Hard to complain about Masai not finding a landing place for him yet when literally zero players moved.

Still need to see if Norm finds a landing spot in the next week and a bit before his price goes up. Once it does, the odds of a different salary (Miles, DeMar, JV, Lowry, Serge, FVV) leaving goes way up. Of course, they could always just pay the tax. In any case, it looks like everyone is waiting on LeBron.

I don't think Masai's looking for a landing place for any of our top 4 guys.

Easier to stand pat, ensure 50 wins and fail in the 2nd or if you get a good draw, 3rd round of the playoffs.

[DanH]

I don't think Masai's looking for a landing place for any of our top 4 guys.

Easier to stand pat, ensure 50 wins and fail in the 2nd or if you get a good draw, 3rd round of the playoffs.

That is easier, and you are free to think that. It would have been easy to keep Casey if that's what they were going for, of course, instead of taking the PR hit of firing a potential COY.

I'm certain Masai is looking for options on all 4 guys, plus Norm, and Miles. Whether he finds one he likes the return from is the question. Ultimately Masai will be judged on results, and that's fair, it's in the job description. Judging him before those results happen seems a little silly though. The off-season is just starting! Why abandon optimism and fun now?

[A.I]

That is easier, and you are free to think that. It would have been easy to keep Casey if that's what they were going for, of course, instead of taking the PR hit of firing a potential COY.

I'm certain Masai is looking for options on all 4 guys, plus Norm, and Miles. Whether he finds one he likes the return from is the question. Ultimately Masai will be judged on results, and that's fair, it's in the job description. Judging him before those results happen seems a little silly though. The off-season is just starting! Why abandon optimism and fun now?

To be fair, he was never an optimist to start with.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

That is easier, and you are free to think that. It would have been easy to keep Casey if that's what they were going for, of course, instead of taking the PR hit of firing a potential COY.

I'm certain Masai is looking for options on all 4 guys, plus Norm, and Miles. Whether he finds one he likes the return from is the question. Ultimately Masai will be judged on results, and that's fair, it's in the job description. Judging him before those results happen seems a little silly though. The off-season is just starting! Why abandon optimism and fun now?

No actually keeping Casey would've looked bad for Masai. It would be putting the blame on himself.

Removing the coach puts the blame on the coach for at least a year and takes pressure off him.

I didn't "abandon optimism" and please stop telling me what to do. I said before the draft that we weren't going to do anything as usual and don't expect any major moves this summer either.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

To be fair, he was never an optimist to start with.

When the team gives me a reason to be optimistic I will be.

[Apollo]

I mean, that's very reasonable of you. If NBA GMs were nearly as reasonable as that as a group, I'd be worried. But the history of players who fail the eye test, fail the stats test, and have sizable contracts suggests that a trade is always possible.

Anything is possible. If I'm betting on this though my money is on him being here until the trade deadline. Hopefully by then his image has been Nurse'd back to health.

[Apollo]

That is easier, and you are free to think that. It would have been easy to keep Casey if that's what they were going for, of course, instead of taking the PR hit of firing a potential COY.

I'm certain Masai is looking for options on all 4 guys, plus Norm, and Miles. Whether he finds one he likes the return from is the question. Ultimately Masai will be judged on results, and that's fair, it's in the job description. Judging him before those results happen seems a little silly though. The off-season is just starting! Why abandon optimism and fun now?

I don't know about that. Someone had to pay for the embarrassment. Casey had to fall on the sword for that one. Don't underestimate the optics. Masai picked a new coach that brings the least amount of change to the club. It was a very safe pick.

[A.I]

I don't know about that. Someone had to pay for the embarrassment. Casey had to fall on the sword for that one. Don't underestimate the optics. Masai picked a new coach that brings the least amount of change to the club. It was a very safe pick.

Its a safe pick that gives you an option to rebuild. I highly doubt Messina would have agreed to be a part of a rebuild.

[Apollo]

Its a safe pick that gives you an option to rebuild. I highly doubt Messina would have agreed to be a part of a rebuild.

I get a vibe that the Raptors are going to take one last head first run at a locked door.

[DanH]

I don't know about that. Someone had to pay for the embarrassment. Casey had to fall on the sword for that one. Don't underestimate the optics. Masai picked a new coach that brings the least amount of change to the club. It was a very safe pick.

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.

[DanH]

No actually keeping Casey would've looked bad for Masai. It would be putting the blame on himself.

Removing the coach puts the blame on the coach for at least a year and takes pressure off him.

I didn't "abandon optimism" and please stop telling me what to do. I said before the draft that we weren't going to do anything as usual and don't expect any major moves this summer either.

Don't recall telling you what to do. Pretty sure I explicitly said you were free to think what you wanted. I was questioning why, and what benefit there is to over-reacting to stuff that hasn't happened yet.

[planetmars]

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.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

I don't know about that. Someone had to pay for the embarrassment. Casey had to fall on the sword for that one. Don't underestimate the optics. Masai picked a new coach that brings the least amount of change to the club. It was a very safe pick.

Exactly. Now he can make zero roster moves of note and still sell a "culture change" under Nurse.

The dangerous move for him would've been to keep Casey. Running back the exact same roster with the exact same coach would be very hard to spin.