#FireCasey

[golden]

I'd hope so, but part of me can't see him canning Casey one year after extending him. I think Lowry walking is the most likely major change that we'll see.

Lowry leaving is also unlikely from both sides. Even if MU lowballs him on annual salary, he could still gets a very nice paycheck 5 years from now. Nobody else can give him that, and with the way Kyle plays, his injury history and how PGs age in general, the odds aren't in his favor for longevity. And from the Raps side, MU needs to keep that perception around the league that the Raps best players don't leave anymore.

It all depends on just how low the low-ball is. If the number is say within 80% of the max on 5-year deal, then it's probably a done deal, IMO. At the first sign of trouble though, we could see Lowry traded out of here, sooner than later.

[JawsGT]

I'd hope so, but part of me can't see him canning Casey one year after extending him. I think Lowry walking is the most likely major change that we'll see.

I just wonder if not canning him means admitting to his bosses that his roster might indeed be very flawed. A roster he has been building for years, culminating in the trades before the deadline that produced, on paper at least, the best roster ever to wear a raptors uniform. And here they are, performing even more poorly against a CLE team that they managed to take 2 games from last season, a CLE team that may indeed be even worse then last season (defensively anyways). How can your roster be better but be performing worse against the same team? That may be a dangerous question MLSE brass are asking of Ujiri. By firing Casey, it signals to them that MU believes the biggest issue is coaching and that he believes in this roster that he has built and that it can perform better.

[JimiCliff]

That may be a dangerous question MLSE brass are asking of Ujiri.

The thing you have to remind yourself as a fan of this team - any conversation that MLSE and Ujiri are having is about one thing and one thing only: money. MLSE doesn't care about winning; or, they do only insofar as it relates to how much money they make. I don't think MLSE would be paying any heed to this (awful) series UNLESS there was a good reason to believe that attendance (and other associated forms of revenue) next year would drop significantly, and I don't see any reason to think it will.

UNLESS, of course, the team gets blown up. Which is a good reason to think that that won't happen.

By firing Casey, it signals to them that MU believes the biggest issue is coaching and that he believes in this roster that he has built and that it can perform better.

Again, I think it would mostly come down to money. If MU could present an airtight case as to how hiring a new coach would increase revenue enough to offset the cost of swallowing Casey's contract, then I'm sure MLSE would be fine with it. But it would be a hard, if not impossible, case to make.

[JawsGT]

The thing you have to remind yourself as a fan of this team - any conversation that MLSE and Ujiri are having is about one thing and one thing only: money. MLSE doesn't care about winning; or, they do only insofar as it relates to how much money they make. I don't think MLSE would be paying any heed to this (awful) series UNLESS there was a good reason to believe that attendance (and other associated forms of revenue) next year would drop significantly, and I don't see any reason to think it will.

UNLESS, of course, the team gets blown up. Which is a good reason to think that that won't happen.



Again, I think it would mostly come down to money. If MU could present an airtight case as to how hiring a new coach would increase revenue enough to offset the cost of swallowing Casey's contract, then I'm sure MLSE would be fine with it. But it would be a hard, if not impossible, case to make.

I don't agree that it's just a money issue. I'm sure the bottom line is very important mind you, but this isn't the OTPP run MLSE, this is the Bell/Rogers MLSE. They want champions. They want great teams, they want playoff revenue and they want people eating this stuff up at home and tuning in. The real money is in the advertising revenue, which only increases if the team is doing well and going deep into the playoffs. But at the end of the season, MU is gonna have a sit down with MLSE brass, and they are going to want to know why they only had 5 home playoff games, and (maybe) only 10 in all. They'll want to know why this roster that he built, and on paper looks pretty good, didn't live up to expectations. And he had better answer more than Lebron James. So in the interest of self preservation, maybe MU throws Casey under the bus, so to speak. I guess it wouldn't really be that as Casey is the most obvious choice to go, but MU has to throw his confidence somewhere, either in his roster or in his coach, and if it's the coach, then it's admitting that he failed at building a good enough roster. Ultimately, that doesn't look good on his abilities.

[special1]

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[special1]

I just wonder if not canning him means admitting to his bosses that his roster might indeed be very flawed. A roster he has been building for years, culminating in the trades before the deadline that produced, on paper at least, the best roster ever to wear a raptors uniform. And here they are, performing even more poorly against a CLE team that they managed to take 2 games from last season, a CLE team that may indeed be even worse then last season (defensively anyways). How can your roster be better but be performing worse against the same team? That may be a dangerous question MLSE brass are asking of Ujiri. By firing Casey, it signals to them that MU believes the biggest issue is coaching and that he believes in this roster that he has built and that it can perform better.

Do you honestly think MLSE would even question Masai??

Before Masai, do you remember where we were?

My guess is that MLSE is happy just making the playoffs compared to the past years of garbage.


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[special1]

#FireCasey

I don't agree that it's just a money issue. I'm sure the bottom line is very important mind you, but this isn't the OTPP run MLSE, this is the Bell/Rogers MLSE. They want champions. They want great teams, they want playoff revenue and they want people eating this stuff up at home and tuning in. The real money is in the advertising revenue, which only increases if the team is doing well and going deep into the playoffs. But at the end of the season, MU is gonna have a sit down with MLSE brass, and they are going to want to know why they only had 5 home playoff games, and (maybe) only 10 in all. They'll want to know why this roster that he built, and on paper looks pretty good, didn't live up to expectations. And he had better answer more than Lebron James. So in the interest of self preservation, maybe MU throws Casey under the bus, so to speak. I guess it wouldn't really be that as Casey is the most obvious choice to go, but MU has to throw his confidence somewhere, either in his roster or in his coach, and if it's the coach, then it's admitting that he failed at building a good enough roster. Ultimately, that doesn't look good on his abilities.

Again, I think you have completely lost perspective.

Masai didn't fail at anything and has nothing to explain to MLSE. His job is in no way of being in Jeopardy and he would likely get offers within the first day, if he was fired.

If anything, MLSE wouldn't want to piss him off and would likely trust in him, as we all do, until the team crumbles and/or the team stops making the playoffs.

There would be an outrage among fans, if they were to ever fire Masai.


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[S.R.]

I don't agree that it's just a money issue. I'm sure the bottom line is very important mind you, but this isn't the OTPP run MLSE, this is the Bell/Rogers MLSE. They want champions. They want great teams, they want playoff revenue and they want people eating this stuff up at home and tuning in. The real money is in the advertising revenue, which only increases if the team is doing well and going deep into the playoffs. But at the end of the season, MU is gonna have a sit down with MLSE brass, and they are going to want to know why they only had 5 home playoff games, and (maybe) only 10 in all. They'll want to know why this roster that he built, and on paper looks pretty good, didn't live up to expectations. And he had better answer more than Lebron James. So in the interest of self preservation, maybe MU throws Casey under the bus, so to speak. I guess it wouldn't really be that as Casey is the most obvious choice to go, but MU has to throw his confidence somewhere, either in his roster or in his coach, and if it's the coach, then it's admitting that he failed at building a good enough roster. Ultimately, that doesn't look good on his abilities.

The manner in which they're losing this round sucks, but I doubt losing to the defending champions led by a GOAT-calibre player is really lacking as an excuse.

I hope there are changes. I don't really want most of the band back then fingers crossed for something synergistically magical to happen next time around...

[LJ2]

The only teams that give the Cav's problems are ones with a player that can slow down Lebron's offence and make him work on defence. The list is short...George, Draymond, Kawhi, and maybe Butler.

Much like how the Spurs moved up in the draft to nab Kawhi, I really hope there is someone out there which MU thinks can be a perfect fit for the Raptors. It's pretty clear LBJ is just toying with us at this point.

[golden]

The only teams that give the Cav's problems are ones with a player that can slow down Lebron's offence and make him work on defence. The list is short...George, Draymond, Kawhi, and maybe Butler.

Much like how the Spurs moved up in the draft to nab Kawhi, I really hope there is someone out there which MU thinks can be a perfect fit for the Raptors. It's pretty clear LBJ is just toying with us at this point.

The common denominator there is length. I don't think Butler fares that well. The Bucks gave the Cavs a lot of trouble in the regular season and probably have a good chance in the future to be the Lebron stoppers.

[JimiCliff]

But at the end of the season, MU is gonna have a sit down with MLSE brass, and they are going to want to know why they only had 5 home playoff games, and (maybe) only 10 in all.

Assuming the MLSE people are reasonable and smart, I don't think this would be a conversation. Firstly, because losing to the Cavs was basically a foregone conclusion. And secondly, because they have to understand the randomness involved in this business, which means you can't get hung up on 5 vs. 10 vs. 15 playoff games. They're going to be looking at the big picture: are we selling out every game? How are TV ratings? And how do these things project over the next few years?

As a couple of others just wrote: given the success Masai's brought this franchise, MLSE would be crazy to force him into self-preservation-decision-making-mode based on this year's playoffs.

[LJ2]

The common denominator there is length. I don't think Butler fares that well. The Bucks gave the Cavs a lot of trouble in the regular season and probably have a good chance in the future to be the Lebron stoppers.

I could see Giannis giving LBJ problems with his length, but he isn't really a player that is going to make LeBron work hard on the other end because of his one dimensional offence. We need someone other than PJ or Norm is for sure.

[SkywalkerAC]

I could see Giannis giving LBJ problems with his length, but he isn't really a player that is going to make LeBron work hard on the other end because of his one dimensional offence. We need someone other than PJ or Norm is for sure.

*CoughBruno*

[rocwell]

It has been exactly one year since the last NBA head coach was fired. https://t.co/fi0siZNM18

— SB Nation NBA (@SBNationNBA) May 7, 2017

[slaw]

Assuming the MLSE people are reasonable and smart, I don't think this would be a conversation. Firstly, because losing to the Cavs was basically a foregone conclusion. And secondly, because they have to understand the randomness involved in this business, which means you can't get hung up on 5 vs. 10 vs. 15 playoff games. They're going to be looking at the big picture: are we selling out every game? How are TV ratings? And how do these things project over the next few years?

As a couple of others just wrote: given the success Masai's brought this franchise, MLSE would be crazy to force him into self-preservation-decision-making-mode based on this year's playoffs.

I had beers last Friday with two guys in management at MLSE. Based on the glowing terms they used when they were talking about the management of all of the sports teams, I am 100% confident that Ujiri has nothing to worry about..... they love the guy.