Everything 2018 Off Season

[Apollo]

Vegas odds are out:

NBA seas wins

Atl 23.5
Bos 57.5
Brk 32.5
Cha 35.5
Chi 27.5
Cle 30.5
Dal 34.5
Den 47.5
Det 37.5
GS 62.5
Hou 54.5
Ind 47.5
LAC 35.5
LAL 48.5
Mem 34.5
Mia 41.5
Mil 46.5
Min 44.5
NO 45.5
NY 29.5
OKC 50.5
Orl 31.5
Phi 54.5
Phx 28.5
Prt 41.5
Sac 25.5
SA 43.5
Tor 54.5
Uth 48.5
Wsh 44.5

— Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) August 5, 2018

54.5 wins for Raptors. Tied with Philly in the East for 2nd.

I would bet over.. but Kawhi and a new head coach could bring that down if things don't go according to plan.

The Raptors add a top five player and somehow take a step back?

[golden]

The Raptors add a top five player and somehow take a step back?

Makes sense, actually. Raps always started the season great because continuity & chemistry always gave us a few extra wins compared to teams that made changes. Casey & Derozan were steady regular season performers that eventually got us 59 wins. Kawhi and Nurse are huge changes, so I expect the team to lose a few games early on figuring things out, but come on strong down the stretch. The biggest improvement, of course, is expected to be in the playoffs. 59 wins aren't easy to replicate.

That said, if the Raps find chemistry early, then look out. We could be looking at 60+ wins and a legit contender to give Golden State a run for their money.

[Hotshot]

Looks like things are starting to dry up in the NBA landscape.

Trevor Booker is nearing a deal with the Shanxi Brave Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to league sources.

Last season, Shanxi had Brandon Jennings (prior to Jennings' NBA comeback with Milwaukee) and Luis Scola (who is a free agent).

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) August 5, 2018

[GLF]

Looks like things are starting to dry up in the NBA landscape.

Trevor Booker is nearing a deal with the Shanxi Brave Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to league sources.

Last season, Shanxi had Brandon Jennings (prior to Jennings' NBA comeback with Milwaukee) and Luis Scola (who is a free agent).

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) August 5, 2018

Yea I've noticed. There are still some good players who don't look like they'll be getting an NBA contract and might have to go oversees. I'm shocked Jamaal Crawford and Nick Young still haven't signed anywhere for example

[planetmars]

Was hoping Booker would be our 4th big.. oh well.

[white men can't jump]

Was hoping Booker would be our 4th big.. oh well.

Don't think we could have given him the right combination of role and money.

He's a natural PF, and kind of an old school one. We have enough guys who can play the 4, and if Ibaka is bound to get C minutes, we can't even promise Booker a decent amount of nightly minutes at the 5.

Don't think it was ever really a good fit, even though he's one of the few serviceable bigs out there.

[Hotshot]

I think the only MLE which is $5.3 millions the Raps are willing to give is for Monroe but he probably looking for a better deal elsewhere (which is why his agent probably leaked the story).

[tenforthewin]

Raptors out: Kyle Lowry, Malachi Richardson
Raptors in: Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala, Markelle Fulz

We acquire one year service of Chandler who would backup Danny Green or Kawhi along with Mike Muscala who could move to the backup C role, while Markelle Fulz, we mold him as our future starting PG. We also acquire a first round pick from the Sixers. Lowry gets to play for his hometown

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ybq4ttw8

[planetmars]

Don't think we could have given him the right combination of role and money.

He's a natural PF, and kind of an old school one. We have enough guys who can play the 4, and if Ibaka is bound to get C minutes, we can't even promise Booker a decent amount of nightly minutes at the 5.

Don't think it was ever really a good fit, even though he's one of the few serviceable bigs out there.

I don't think we have enough guys that can play the 4. Lots of people are hoping OG can play the 4.. but to me it feels more like an experiment that has a chance to fail (if Tatum is the opposing 4 than sure.. but if it's Griffin or Love or one of the Morris twins than I don't think he'll do well at all). Siakam and Serge are our only natural PF's and as you just said.. Serge is bound to get C minutes.

I get that we could use a third center in case JV gets injured.. but I like a guy like Booker because he can play both positions. You can play him with JV and as an injury replacement to JV. Can't really say the same for guys like Monroe or Wood in my opinion (I see Wood as a 5 not a 4).

[golden]

Looks like things are starting to dry up in the NBA landscape.

This PF/C is available. Mwa-ha-ha-ha......

[golden]

I don't think we have enough guys that can play the 4. Lots of people are hoping OG can play the 4.. but to me it feels more like an experiment that has a chance to fail (if Tatum is the opposing 4 than sure.. but if it's Griffin or Love or one of the Morris twins than I don't think he'll do well at all). Siakam and Serge are our only natural PF's and as you just said.. Serge is bound to get C minutes.

I get that we could use a third center in case JV gets injured.. but I like a guy like Booker because he can play both positions. You can play him with JV and as an injury replacement to JV. Can't really say the same for guys like Monroe or Wood in my opinion (I see Wood as a 5 not a 4).

We should have grabbed Ed Davis for a cheap $4M bucks, but he signed with the Nets right when all the Kawhi/Derozan stuff was going down, so I could see how Masai & Bobby weren't really focused on that. F*** Brooklyn.

Jason Thompson is probably the best veteran PF/C still available. He was even starting to shoot 3's when he played for the Raps (his last year in the NBA).

[Blacklash2k4]

https://twitter.com/shamscharania/st...591652866?s=21


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[white men can't jump]

I don't think we have enough guys that can play the 4. Lots of people are hoping OG can play the 4.. but to me it feels more like an experiment that has a chance to fail (if Tatum is the opposing 4 than sure.. but if it's Griffin or Love or one of the Morris twins than I don't think he'll do well at all). Siakam and Serge are our only natural PF's and as you just said.. Serge is bound to get C minutes.

I get that we could use a third center in case JV gets injured.. but I like a guy like Booker because he can play both positions. You can play him with JV and as an injury replacement to JV. Can't really say the same for guys like Monroe or Wood in my opinion (I see Wood as a 5 not a 4).

Wood is probably quicker at the 4 spot than Booker, but Booker is also very short for a C. Other than Booker being stronger, Wood has better physical tools in every other way for both positions.

Regardless, the problem is we can't sell Booker on being a 3rd string anything, and that's what he will be on this team.

Very likely Ibaka still starts at PF most nights, even if it's just the start of each half. Siakam should see a minute bump, and he plays almost exclusively as a PF. OG will likely get some minutes at the PF spot. So there's not going to be more than scraps, if anything, at PF, and Booker would only get minutes over Pascal or OG against certain matchups. There aren't a lot of Loves and Griffins in the league anymore. Post up PFs who rebound are rare, and even Love is probably likely to see some amount of minutes at C as well, meaning we can match up Ibaka and JV against him for most of the game. In any lineups where there isn't a strong PF, Siakam and OG would be ahead of Booker in the rotation.

As for the C position, if JV is closer to 30 mpg and Ibaka gets at least 10-15 minutes at C, there is not much if anything left at C for a guy like Booker, who also doesn't match up great against taller Cs or stretch Cs. He can hold his own in the post, but too many guys can finish over him, and he's not that quick-footed.

Booker probably doesn't want to take the minimum, and we can't offer him much playing time at either big spot. Why would he take the minimum to maybe play 10-15mpg if he's lucky?

We definitely have an issue with lacking another big body who can bang, but basically we need a guy who would probably need to be paid a minimum-type deal, who's ok being a 3rd stringer most nights and would only play a bigger role in case of an injury. Basically the only veteran big who fits what we need is David West, and it's unclear if he'll even play at all this season as he doesn't need to ring-chase and could just decide to retire. That's why it feels like we'll just end up having to add some unproven youth like Wood.

[white men can't jump]

https://twitter.com/shamscharania/st...591652866?s=21


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That's kind of surprising. I wonder how much we're paying him and what Greg's motivation is? He may not get many minutes at all some nights.

Didn't expect him to sign with us but not sure how much money we gave him. If it's a minimum deal that surprises me since he is still in his prime and I didn't think he'd want to go ring-chasing yet. Figured he'd sign the biggest offer he could get for 1 year where he could still get minutes, then try to get a paybump of some kind next summer. If it's more like a MLE deal, that surprises me from the Raps perspective given our already high payroll.

[Hotshot]

https://twitter.com/shamscharania/st...591652866?s=21
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Damn im good at predicting shit an hour before they happen! I think im going to go fill the lottary today, ive got a good feeling about it as well..