Upgrade the team for $5M/yr without affecting the cap

[Kuh]

I believe the cap affects player salaries, not coaching salaries.

Given the number of young players on the team, wouldn't the team be well advised to:
1. Hire a great big man coach for JV (and others), for say $1M/yr?
2. Hire a full time shooting coach, again for up to $1M/yr?
3. Hire 4 superstar personal trainers to work with Alex McKechnie and the team (say another $1M/yr)?
4. Hire a psychologist, a couple of life coaches, a full time nutritionist, maybe an investment advisor (say another $1M/yr)?
... and toss in $1M for miscellaneous.

Surely $5M thrown at the right people to build the off-court support team could provide a lot of that counseling and attitude adjustments that we were hoping Stevie Nash would bring? And imagine if the Raptors were known around the league as being leaders in player development and player support (though I have no idea what other people spend that we don't)?

We're saving money on younger players. Why not spend that money on a team to help support and develop them?

Your thoughts? And what would you say the money should be spent on?

[swingman]

I say we invest $8 in rope, and tie Jv's hands behind his back. Maybe that way he won't foul out six minutes into a game.

[Joey]

I say we invest $8 in rope, and tie Jv's hands behind his back. Maybe that way he won't foul out six minutes into a game.

If you look at his track record, I think a large part of it would say that JV having that kind of foul trouble, is an outlier in his career.

[Red and White]

I say we invest $8 in rope, and tie Jv's hands behind his back. Maybe that way he won't foul out six minutes into a game.

This makes me think of this:

While I do not think it will be a big problem with JV in the long haul, the Raptors did foul a ton last year. Didn't we lead the league in fouls? Amir foul'd less with Casey as coach (about half a foul a game less) so it makes me think that Casey will be able to get around JV foul trouble.

[jshchn]

Don't we have 300 less fouls because we played 15 less games?

[LBF]

yes, that's exactly why. actually, that's 20 a game so, it seems maybe even that number would be higher.

[Red and White]

Don't we have 300 less fouls because we played 15 less games?

Oh wow my bad.

[ceez]

i'll take the miscellaneous 1 million

[ezz_bee]

I think that the new CBA will change how team's spend salary, and I do think that more emphasis will be put on (and paid to) peripheral staff like coaches, PTs, psychologists etc. However, it's hard enough evaluating how much a player brings to the game, imagine trying to figure develop performance metrics for your psychologist.

It's definitely worthwhile spending money on the periphery guys, but I personally have no idea how much the raptors spend on these things versus other teams or the quality of the personal we currently have. I order to say whether 5 mil is worth spending, I'd like to know a little bit more about what the raps are doing as an organization as well as what other orgs are doing as well.

But I agree with the sentiment that getting quality periphery staff is worth the investment.

[jbml]

Agree with what you are saying Kuh. There are ways to build a winning organization that will attract players. You alluded to quite a few of them. We are having our difficulties, but the problem is not insurmountable.

[ebrian]

Holy moly, do these guys really earn that much? I believe the average head coach salary in 2010 was $2M. A big man coach gets $1M now? And the shooting coach makes as much as the psychologist, 2 life coaches, a full time nutritionist and an investment advisor -- combined? That better be one helluva shooting coach!

[Bendit]

The suggestions were fine but did you have some benchmark before assigning those salaries? Some of the items do not need a full-time employee but rather a consultant. I believe Roth is the big man coach...whether he is good is another matter.

[theycallmeZZ]

The suggestions were fine but did you have some benchmark before assigning those salaries? Some of the items do not need a full-time employee but rather a consultant. I believe Roth is the big man coach...whether he is good is another matter.

Well I remember in last year's behind the draft, Roth (?) mentioned that he helped Pau Gasol in Memphis

[KingMaxwell47]

The Toronto Raptors are a professional multi-million dollar organization. I'm sure they already have all of the staff listed, we just aren't told about it. "Raptors Hire a New Nutritionist" isn't exactly front-page news.

[Puffer]

The Toronto Raptors are a professional multi-million dollar organization. I'm sure they already have all of the staff listed, we just aren't told about it. "Raptors Hire a New Nutritionist" isn't exactly front-page news.

I'll go along with this, but I have posted similar thoughts (maybe mot on RR, but on some other forum).

Presumably there are stand out shooting coaches, conditioning coaches, defensive specialists, rehab guys, whatever, just as there are outstanding shooters, ball handlers, lock down defenders in the league. I know which class of guys make the least money. It's not the players.

I am surprised that we haven't read of some team making an all out effort to collect the best teaching/coaching/support staff by analysing the impact these guys have had on players games. Kind of a staff moneyball scenario. We know how much of the game is mental, because you see widely varying results when two teams play each other over the course of a season. Raps lose by 15, then win by 20 next time the teams meet. That is a huge variance in a sport where most games are decided by 10 points or so.

How much could a specific coach improve a players game? It wouldn't have to be much to have a significant difference in the team results. Two players improving their rebounding by 1 rebound per game has the possibility of creating an eight point swing (I recognize this is best possible outcome, but I use it to make a point). Likewise, a small improvement in FT % could generate 2-3 points extra every game. A small improvement in conditioning (which facilitates fast break points, or getting back on defence as well as mediating against stupid fouls made from lack of energy and missed shots from tired legs) impacts in many areas.

Anyway, as I said, I wonder why we haven't read about some team going all out to corral the best support organization in the NBA. Seems like a waaaay cheaper way to improve your roster than paying for obvious talent on the floor.