Wojnarowski: Wouldn't Be Surprised If Ujiri Goes After Durant In Free Agency

[planetmars]

although I would love for Bebe and Bruno to be our bench mob just doesn't seem likely, in that both pan out and become solid contributers. I hope so, but I'm not counting on it

my math (and salary cap stuff is my weakness

DeRozan is going up 15 - 20million per after opting out of his fourth year
Lowry will still be 12 million
Valanciunas will clock in anywhere between 10 and 15 million per thanks to the TV deal
Whatever we pay Amir this year 8 - 10million
2Pat will be a 6m expiring that year

so with five players on the hook for UP TO 64 million (took high end) you add 25 million (89 million)


6 guys between 80 and 90 million and 9 Roster spots left to fill.

The advantage the Raptors have in 2016 is that they will have Bird rights for Ross, JV and DD. Their cap holds will probably be less than their market value.. so we could sign KD then resign those guys. We will probably be a tax team but who the heck cares.. we'll have KD on the team!

[mcHAPPY]

although I would love for Bebe and Bruno to be our bench mob just doesn't seem likely, in that both pan out and become solid contributers. I hope so, but I'm not counting on it

my math (and salary cap stuff is my weakness

DeRozan is going up 15 - 20million per after opting out of his fourth year
Lowry will still be 12 million
Valanciunas will clock in anywhere between 10 and 15 million per thanks to the TV deal
Whatever we pay Amir this year 8 - 10million
2Pat will be a 6m expiring that year

so with five players on the hook for UP TO 64 million (took high end) you add 25 million (89 million)


6 guys between 80 and 90 million and 9 Roster spots left to fill.

I think both Bebe and Bruno become contributors.

Bebe was the DPOY in the 2nd best league in the world at 21 years of age. I'm not thinking All-Star but I would be shocked if he doesn't become a Brandan Wright-type back up C.

Bruno is going to be sick. 'Nuff said. lol


I did the math earlier in the thread.

KL/DD/KD/Bruno/Bebe/JV/PP is $72M (JV is a $11.6M cap hold, DD is $15.15 cap hold).



Cap in 2016-17 is likely to be more than $80M but I went $80M to be conservative.

$8M for 3 draft picks and remaining cap holds.


People might have to accept Ross and Amir might not be part of the team if it means getting in on big name/max free agent.


However if that cap comes in at $90M, suddenly there might be room for one of or both Amir and Ross.


Someone get Bobby Webster an account here - stat.

[mcHAPPY]

The advantage the Raptors have in 2016 is that they will have Bird rights for Ross, JV and DD. Their cap holds will probably be less than their market value.. so we could sign KD then resign those guys. We will probably be a tax team but who the heck cares.. we'll have KD on the team!

Assuming the cap is $80M, the luxury tax is going to be around $96/97M.

Lots of room in there for Bird Rights before worrying about tax.

[KeonClark]

But the 'we are one borderline all-star away' from domination mess has got to stop.

Why does it to stop? Do explain. This is starting to remind me of the tank brigade that almost made me never come back last year. Is it a raptor fan requirement to be a sour pessimist?

[Nilanka]

Why does it to stop? Do explain. This is starting to remind me of the tank brigade that almost made me never come back last year. Is it a raptor fan requirement to be a sour pessimist?

My assumption is that the claim isn't based on evidence. It's based on hope.

The reality of the situation is that this current team has not yet accomplished anything. If (for example) we were perpetual conference finalists, then the "we just need 1 more piece" idea would have stronger legs.

[KeonClark]

My assumption is that the claim isn't based on evidence. It's based on hope.

The reality of the situation is that this current team has not yet accomplished anything. If (for example) we were perpetual conference finalists, then the "we just need 1 more piece" idea would have stronger legs.

Still there is nothing wrong with parts of the fan base believing we're 1 piece away.

I like hope. I hoped last year that the rudy gay trade was addition by subtraction, while all the tankers were friggin dancing in their underwear dreaming of 60 losses and Andrew Wiggins

[Nilanka]

Still there is nothing wrong with parts of the fan base believing we're 1 piece away.

I like hope. I hoped last year that the rudy gay trade was addition by subtraction, while all the tankers were friggin dancing in their underwear dreaming of 60 losses and Andrew Wiggins

Still, there's nothing wrong with dancing in underwear

But let's not conclude that tanking was the 'wrong' approach. The pro-tankers thought of tanking as a way to acquire the superstar talent needed to win championships. That hasn't been disproven yet.

[Raptor Jesus]

My point has nothing to do with tanking. It's delusional to set unrealistic expectations.

It's not pessimistic to pull for a team striving to improve with expectations short of a Title shot.

Hope is great, it's also a vowel swap away from Hype.

[KeonClark]

Still, there's nothing wrong with dancing in underwear

But let's not conclude that tanking was the 'wrong' approach. The pro-tankers thought of tanking as a way to acquire the superstar talent needed to win championships. That hasn't been disproven yet.

And we could lose like the Sixers for 10 years and still never get that guy. And is your ONLY goal championships? Do you not want a franchise with pride? Cause its a 30 team league, and you could get old and die and never see a title. Me personally, i like this continual growth, this being in quasi-contention, this talk of being in deep playoff runs, this ACTUAL EXCITEMENT, because that's actually what team sports are about. Not taking a desperate crack at the top of the mountain, but sustaining a reasonable chance to be at or near the top year in, year out.

But im done arguing against tanking, i really dont see how it hasn't been disproven yet by this thing masai is building, and frankly i find it nauseating.

[Nilanka]

But im done arguing against tanking, i really dont see how it hasn't been disproven yet by this thing masai is building, and frankly i find it nauseating.

What if we continue to lose in the 1st round? Wouldn't that prove that the current core isn't good enough to be considered among the league's elite? And what if we strike out in 2016 free agency?

Yes, we have a good/fun team right now. But we won't know for another 3-5 years whether Wiggins, Parker, Smart, Exum, etc. are the type of players that contenders are built around. That's when we can look back to 2013-14 and say whether tanking was a good or bad idea.

[KeonClark]

What if we continue to lose in the 1st round? Wouldn't that prove that the current core isn't good enough to be considered among the league's elite? And what if we strike out in 2016 free agency?

Yes, we have a good/fun team right now. But we won't know for another 3-5 years whether Wiggins, Parker, Smart, Exum, etc. are the type of players that contenders are built around. That's when we can look back to 2013-14 and say whether tanking was a good or bad idea.

Hindsight is always 20/20. We also won't know for another few years if masai can keep building off of this. We are Better than we were last year i think that is fairly safe to say. Hes not done building yet. Its almost like youre assuming this is our ceiling already.

Winking attracts talent that much is obvious. So with that, we are much closer to attracting that star talent everyone covets so much than we would be by tearing it all apart and praying for an 18 year old pimply faced saviour to come walking through the door.

[Nilanka]

Hindsight is always 20/20. We also won't know for another few years if masai can keep building off of this. We are Better than we were last year i think that is fairly safe to say. Hes not done building yet. Its almost like youre assuming this is our ceiling already.

Winking attracts talent that much is obvious. So with that, we are much closer to attracting that star talent everyone covets so much than we would be by tearing it all apart and praying for an 18 year old pimply faced saviour to come walking through the door.

I'm not saying we've hit our ceiling at all. But I am saying that it's too early to tell whether we'll become a legit championship contender, or just another version of the Atlanta Hawks.

The pro-tankers were hoping to avoid being a perpetual 50-win team that can't get past the 2nd round (i.e. "mediocrity treadmill"). And right now, that is certainly a possibility.

But anyways, all I'm saying is that the debate on tanking (regarding the Raptors specifically) is far from settled. But I'm enjoying the ride