Everything 2018 Off Season

[Mindlessness]

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.

lmao Kyle was smirking in the clip too.

https://streamable.com/ub9ra

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Christian is right in his assumption that this will be a one season rental and nothing more (that doesn't mean it's guaranteed, but it should be the expected/anticipated outcome). However that doesn't make it a bad trade. If it was very likely that Kawhi would re-sign with the team he was traded to, the asking price would've been much higher, and we would've been outbid by Boston (at that point they'd put Hayward, Brown or Kyrie in probably, along with the bevy of draft assets they had).

We were able to get him because of a perfect storm. We're the one top team that's kind of maxed out its ceiling and needed a change, we had an all-star to give the Spurs that no one else would give up and were in a unique position to take a risk.

I'm not even really sure DeRozan would've been re-signed in 2 years anyway given that we'd probably be forced to rebuild by then. He, Kyle, Ibaka and JV would've likely been moved at the end of 2018-19 for whatever assets we could get.

So what we've lost in this trade is the asset return we would've gotten for DeMar and Jakob Poeltl. In exchange for a year of a top 5 player and one of the better 3+D wings in the league. It's a great deal if you look at it from that perspective.

I suggested doing this a long time ago, my issue arose when people started talking about including OG in the trade. That's when it starts becoming bad because you're throwing away your best (and only really high-end) prospect in addition to losing DeRozan.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

The Kawhi stuff was cool.. but this part made my ears perk up:




Playoff success.. that's all I want as a fan. I'm expecting a lot of variety of line ups. May lose some games, but it could all be worth it in April and May.

Casey said similar things. I want to see the results from Nurse when the games start. He hasn't been a very good defensive coach looking at his track record, but now he has a bevy of excellent defenders so there's really no excuse not to be.

[golden]

Christian is right in his assumption that this will be a one season rental and nothing more (that doesn't mean it's guaranteed, but it should be the expected/anticipated outcome). However that doesn't make it a bad trade. If it was very likely that Kawhi would re-sign with the team he was traded to, the asking price would've been much higher, and we would've been outbid by Boston (at that point they'd put Hayward, Brown or Kyrie in probably, along with the bevy of draft assets they had).

We were able to get him because of a perfect storm. We're the one top team that's kind of maxed out its ceiling and needed a change, we had an all-star to give the Spurs that no one else would give up and were in a unique position to take a risk.

I'm not even really sure DeRozan would've been re-signed in 2 years anyway given that we'd probably be forced to rebuild by then. He, Kyle, Ibaka and JV would've likely been moved at the end of 2018-19 for whatever assets we could get.

So what we've lost in this trade is the asset return we would've gotten for DeMar and Jakob Poeltl. In exchange for a year of a top 5 player and one of the better 3+D wings in the league. It's a great deal if you look at it from that perspective.

I suggested doing this a long time ago, my issue arose when people started talking about including OG in the trade. That's when it starts becoming bad because you're throwing away your best (and only really high-end) prospect in addition to losing DeRozan.

After a couple more years of playoff flameouts, you have to wonder if DeMar's trade value will ever be this high again. Maybe Pop provides that mental toughness and playoff smarts that he needs to get him over that bizarre psychological barrier that affects him every year.

And it's not just Lebron.... DeMar has been benched vs. Wiz, Bucks and Pacers. But wouldn't it be hiliarious if the Spurs face the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs this season?

[A.I]

After a couple more years of playoff flameouts, you have to wonder if DeMar's trade value will ever be this high again. Maybe Pop provides that mental toughness and playoff smarts that he needs to get him over that bizarre psychological barrier that affects him every year.

And it's not just Lebron.... DeMar has been benched vs. Wiz, Bucks and Pacers. But wouldn't it be hiliarious if the Spurs face the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs this season?

Its Derozan’s nightmare. He has to go up against Lebron again and we’re also forgetting Lance as well.

[inthepaint]

Casey said similar things. I want to see the results from Nurse when the games start. He hasn't been a very good defensive coach looking at his track record, but now he has a bevy of excellent defenders so there's really no excuse not to be.

Yeah if our defence is not good next playoffs that will likely be because of coaching; the player talent is certainly there on that end. I like that we got Griffin as assistant coach. He did a solid job on OKC's defence at the time he was there, and also was a good defender himself as a player. He seems to always have been passioned about that end of the floor, so I hope hope he'll be the one taking care of our D.

[Apollo]

Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse describes his introductory meeting with Kawhi Leonard (via @dfeschuk)https://t.co/e4dOZ9Mduo pic.twitter.com/0QfpL2BOF0

— Chris Walder (@WalderSports) July 28, 2018

But America told me that Kawhi will hate everything. They also told Toronto is their favorite city but not without reminding me again that no one likes Toronto.

[A.I]

But America told me that Kawhi will hate everything. They also told Toronto is their favorite city but not without reminding me again that no one likes Toronto.

Yeah I never believed what Cris Carter or Chris Haynes said.

[The Claw Reborn]

Lowry playing safe with his “no comments” which I fully understand. He was around with his BFF and he doesn’t want to offend the person who is still recovering from the personal devastation of the trade.

He on the other hand also dont want his boss Ujiri to think that he too is not agreeable of the move with his best bud no longer donning the same uniform. Though you can fully sense from Kyle that he really liked being a Raptor. His family including his two sons after all these years have already established the sense of comfort in Toronto and Canada. He may think that anything can happen to him from now until start of training camp. He too is untouchable.

I would however only be concerned if he sulk during the season especially we all know how he plays his heart out every game.

He partially owes Ujiri, what he is now is because of Ujiri. He was a very difficult player to deal with back in the days. I would appreciate him more if he shares his early experiences with Kawhi.

[Scraptor]

Christian is right in his assumption that this will be a one season rental and nothing more (that doesn't mean it's guaranteed, but it should be the expected/anticipated outcome).

Nah there's option value in Kawhi re-signing plus value in his Bird rights. Valuing the trade with an assumption that Kawhi leaves is not an accurate assessment imo.

The value of both will fluctuate and still exist until the point at which he decides to sign with another team. As trade value both will be highest the first few weeks he shows he can play and then will diminish up to the trade deadline. But that trade value is almost moot unless Masai gets strong signals that Kawhi hates it here (which I don't expect to happen).

I agree with the rest of your post though.

[planetmars]

Casey said similar things. I want to see the results from Nurse when the games start. He hasn't been a very good defensive coach looking at his track record, but now he has a bevy of excellent defenders so there's really no excuse not to be.

Did Casey talk about playoffs early on in the summer last year? I only heard about changes to the offense.. but not about how they will use all year as basically practice for the playoffs. Which to me is all that really matters. If Casey brought it up he sure didn't practice what he preached. All season long he was trotting out the exact same line ups.. and only changed things up when the playoffs started.

Either way.. the one thing I've learned watching basketball for a long time is that coaching is sort of insignificant. It can help and it can make situations worse.. so there is an impact.. but not a huge one. I really don't think Phil Jackson would have won all those rings if he wasn't coaching Jordan/Pippen or Shaq/Kobe.

We have talent defensively. Most everyone that's a Raptor knows how to play on that side of the ball. If you have the talent you will succeed more often than not.. even with terrible coaching.

[Yuri Gagarin]

What a contrast. Caseys good bye letter was one of the classiest letters i ever read. He thanked for the fact his children could start their life in a great country like canada. Derozan said nothing of the sort. He acted like it was all one sided like he was being charitable to stay. Like he just gave but got nothing in return. He doesnt seem to understand its nothing personal. If the team stayed the same i swore i wouldnt bother watching a reg season game. Now i dont want to miss a game in the regular season. Thats what this is about

[Truth Teller]

Did Casey talk about playoffs early on in the summer last year? I only heard about changes to the offense.. but not about how they will use all year as basically practice for the playoffs. Which to me is all that really matters. If Casey brought it up he sure didn't practice what he preached. All season long he was trotting out the exact same line ups.. and only changed things up when the playoffs started.

Either way.. the one thing I've learned watching basketball for a long time is that coaching is sort of insignificant. It can help and it can make situations worse.. so there is an impact.. but not a huge one. I really don't think Phil Jackson would have won all those rings if he wasn't coaching Jordan/Pippen or Shaq/Kobe.

We have talent defensively. Most everyone that's a Raptor knows how to play on that side of the ball. If you have the talent you will succeed more often than not.. even with terrible coaching.

I wouldn't say its insignificant. Some coaches can bring out the best in role players - Like a Brad Stevens or Pop. Some coaches also have excellent out of time out plays.

[saints91]

What a contrast. Caseys good bye letter was one of the classiest letters i ever read. He thanked for the fact his children could start their life in a great country like canada. Derozan said nothing of the sort. He acted like it was all one sided like he was being charitable to stay. Like he just gave but got nothing in return. He doesnt seem to understand its nothing personal. If the team stayed the same i swore i wouldnt bother watching a reg season game. Now i dont want to miss a game in the regular season. Thats what this is about

Same, I would've went to 1 or 2 games this year if they brought the same roster back. I can't wait to watch them now.

[saints91]

Watching the Lowry video isn't as bad as it reads. It was just best for him to ignore the questions altogether or anything he would have said would have be blown out of proportion. He could've handled it better though. Like saying " I will only take questions about USA Basketball, I'm not ready to talk about the trade or the upcoming season". Lowry is just an abrasive personality.