Everything 2018 Off Season

[DanH]

LOL, guys, have you like just met Kyle Lowry? Several times a year he has an interview where he's curmudgeonly and won't give the media a straight answer and everybody freaks out because for some reason everybody forgets the last dozen times he gave an interview like this.

It's Lowry. This is to be expected.

Heck, if you really want to waste your time coming up with reasons why he wouldn't want to talk, he's at USAB with DeRozan and understandably wouldn't want to be gushing praises for the guy DD got traded for.

[golden]

'I don't know if I've spoken to him' means he already did spoke to him.

Yeah. That's the most likely scenario. Kyle has already welcomed Kawhi to the team. But if Kyle actually says that to the media, then everyone will spin it like he's picking sides being cold-hearted to his buddy DeMar. Lowry's in a bit of a no-win situation for the time being.

[inthepaint]

You think it's just me? Check instagram and twitter.

Oh hold on. Instagram and twitter are complaining about something? You should have said so before, the majority of people on instagram and twitter know a lot about basketball, trades and interpersonal relationships in general. They never complain, so if they are, head to the bunkers, we're screwed.

[MixxAOR]

Oh hold on. Instagram and twitter are complaining about something? You should have said so before, the majority of people on instagram and twitter know a lot about basketball, trades and interpersonal relationships in general. They never complain, so if they are, head to the bunkers, we're screwed.

a lot of basketball writers, journalists and bloggers are on it too and they are not impressed with Lowry

[Barolt]

So, here's my thoughts...

If Lowry says he's excited, or looking forward to playing with Kawhi, all of those reporters immediately turn around and start pestering DeMar on why Kyle would be excited.

He's basically giving 'no comment' to avoid making things harder for DeMar.

[inthepaint]

a lot of basketball writers, journalists and bloggers are on it too and they are not impressed with Lowry

Of course they're not impressed with Lowry. They want content and drama out it, it's they're job. However, Lowry didn't give them shit, so they're mad, and hence we'll spin it negatively anyway. What matters is this:

--As for Lowry: he already got paid, what he wants is a ring more then anything else. This is his best chance ever, so he'll be professional and leave it all there, he's getting old and won't have another chance like this

--As for Kawhi: This is his contract year, his chance to make a finals appearance and prove to the rest of the league he's still Kawhi Leonard.

Winning is the most important thing for both these guys right now. That's it. Anything else other than these two realities are cheap off-season distractions.

[planetmars]

Capella and the Rockets have reportedly agreed to a 5 year $90 million dollar deal

That's a good deal for Houston. Was expecting $20M/year. And they have him locked up for a long time. Big time luxury tax payers though going forward.

[planetmars]

So....Gerald Henderson anyone? 30 year old vet shooting guard who could bring some added experience to the backcourt...after Lowry and Green we are pretty young. 1 year minimum deal to prove himself....

I think we're pretty stacked with wing players: Kawhi, OG, Green, Miles, Powell. Could include Wright in the mix too (although he's really just a combo guard).

Would prefer to find a 4th big after JV, Serge and Siakam. Ideally a guy that can rebound the ball since that seems to be our weakness (once JV sits).

[Scraptor]

But seriously, Kyle and Demar sounding like spoiled rich kids who just got their allowance and driving privileges cut off.

More like RR is looking for reasons to portray their responses in the most negative way possible.

Reporters are badgering both guys and they're giving brief responses. Neither clip from the past two days shows them looking petulant or pouty, but people here seem to be looking for reasons to be upset.

Usually this is the most reasonable Raptors board but I'm embarrassed that redditors are being more level-headed about the trade than some of the posters here.

[planetmars]

So say Lowry truly is upset, like "I don't want to play for this coach, with this guy, for this team in this city" upset.

What realistically could we get for him? (DanH I'm looking to you. You had quite the handle on Demar's worth)

Could we send him out and get back someone who would match Kawhi's timeline. It's not like continuity is much of an issue, we have a new franchise player, coach and system.

Something like Lowry for Butler, Gibson.

I don't see Masai trading Lowry. He's always been a "difficult". He's just wired that way. But I think Kyle likes winning, and we're a pretty good team.

With that said.. prior to the Kawhi rumours most were hoping for a tank by swapping one of DD or KL for a prospect/pick package. Now that Kawhi is here.. feels like it would be hard to make a win now move with Lowry going the other way. How confident are we in Fred being the #1 PG on the team?

If Lowry really wants to get the hell out of here.. I'd see if Denver would be willing to do a Millsap+Murray for Lowry+prospect kind of move. Problem is our prospect pool has shrunk with Poeltl already taken away. I'd be willing to give up Wright, but would still want to hold on to OG and Siakam.

Millsap has 1 year on his deal and becomes a UFA. Murray is on his rookie contract for another 2 years, and becomes an RFA in 2020.. just when we might blow this up. Denver needs a #1 PG to contend for the playoffs. IT is so unreliable. And with them giving a max deal to Jokic and a big contract to Harris.. they may not want to do the same for Murray in 2 years.

And we get to bring a young Canadian home.


But realistically chances of Masai moving Lowry are probably very slim.

[golden]

More like RR is looking for reasons to portray their responses in the most negative way possible.

Reporters are badgering both guys and they're giving brief responses. Neither clip from the past two days shows them looking petulant or pouty, but people here seem to be looking for reasons to be upset.

Usually this is the most reasonable Raptors board but I'm embarrassed that redditors are being more level-headed about the trade than some of the posters here.

DeMar granting ESPN a full feature interview to vent at Masai is not remotely similar to Kyle being badgered and giving a brief response. DeMar doesn’t have to be professional on behalf of the Raptors, but Kyle does.

And the other thing is... what exactly is "badgering" a professional sports athlete? It's standard fare media availability at USAB. The reason these guys get paid $30M a year is because the media pays so much attention to them.

[Bendit]

Really good article by Josh Lewenberg

https://www.tsn.ca/business-of-baske...tors-1.1148948

Good piece and well balanced. Specifically on/because of the bold I am with Masai. He was in a tough spot & being in Africa too. The deal could have been messed up if he went soft. Did MU ever unequivocally tell Demar that he would never get traded? No I dont believe so. Trade offers can fall out of the air where an immediate decision needs to be made. DD just starting to come across as not understanding MU's position as President of the club. Not very mature and somewhat selfish where upto that point he had all the respect in the world for the org. and Masai.

[Chr1s1anL]

This whole thing is really bizaare. The Raptors just traded for a FRANCHISE player -- and I haven't heard any current Raptor players comments about the trade or Kawhi. It's been a week now.

When Woj announced that the Lakers signed LeBron James. You can see all the tweets from Ingram, Hart, Ball, Kuzma etc...congratulating the Lakers/LeBron. They've also done a lot of interviews, basically commenting about the trade ON THE SAME DAY.

In the Raptors case? nothing.

Teammates arent going to be jumping up and down for a player that quit on his last team. The Spurs of all teams too. One who also doesn't want to be here. On paper this team looks great but I'm concerned with chemistry.

Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk

[DanH]

A Millsap+Murray deal seems too good to be true.

Lowry, as great as he is, will have far less value than DeMar. He's on the wrong side of the aging curve, and point guards are a saturated market.

It's possible he could be the centerpiece of a Jimmy Butler trade if Minny decides they need to move him (because he hates their young players, and is an UFA at the end of the year). But would definitely need to take the form of Lowry plus prospect value for Butler plus dead/bad salary (Dieng? I actually like him but he fell out of the rotation last year). Or maybe if they want to bet on keeping Butler, they are willing to move KAT and Wiggins as a package to get off that big contract. Either way, Lowry seems like a good fit at PG there.

Not a lot of choices for Lowry with his contract size and age. I'd have to brainstorm a few options. But I'm not going to bother putting much work into it - I love head first into the DeMar possibilities because it seemed super likely they would shop him this summer. It seems really unlikely they move Lowry.

[golden]

Teammates arent going to be jumping up and down for a player that quit on his last team. The Spurs of all teams too. One who also doesn't want to be here. On paper this team looks great but I'm concerned with chemistry.

Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk

lol. Lowry is the poster child for the player who got traded to the Raptors and wanted no part of the franchise. Kyle is on record as saying he was just going to play out his time in exile here. Here's hoping Kawhi doesn't want to be here as badly as Lowry did.