Morning Coffee - Sun, May 11 | Raptors Republic ESPN TrueHoop

by Sam Holako May 11, 2014

Toronto Raptors: Sign Greg Monroe; Add A Third Star | HoopStuff

What would Monroe bring to the Raptors? 1st is a go-to big man scorer, who will score 16-19 points per game. Jonas Valanciunas is a very talented young center, but he isn’t a go-to big man option in the NBA. He is an excellent rebounder, he is a very capable scorer and defender and is a strong hustle player, but scoring 16 points or more is a lot to ask from him, especially as he hasn’t even averaged 12 points per game in the NBA. Monroe scored 15.2 points per game this season, but Josh Smith’s inclusion in the rotation was a big reason why and he only played 32.8 minutes per game. Regardless, Monroe has the talent to score at least 18 points per game if he is given the chance. Monroe is also an excellent rebounder, averaging at least 9.3 rebounds the previous 3 seasons and a very gifted playmaker, as he averaged 3.5 assists per game during his best season (coincidentally, when he was the 1st option and Josh Smith was in Atlanta). How would he fit on the Raptors? He would slide right into the starting power forward spot and give them a 2nd or 3rd option offensively, teaming with All Star DeMar DeRozan and star point guard Kyle Lowry. He would team with Valanciunas to give them elite rebounding in their frontcourt, a player who can hit a mid range shot or score in the paint and someone who they can run their offense through. He is a versatile and very talented big man on offense and would take the Raptors’ offense to a new level. Still only 23, he would team with DeRozan (24), Valanciunas (22) and Lowry (28), assuming they resign him, to give them a young and ridiculously talented Big 4.

It’s Time For Vince Carter To Return To The Raptors (audio) | Pro Bball Report

The rumors have already started to fly about the possibility of the 37-year-old soon to be free agent returning to Toronto to finish his career with the franchise that he single-handedly put on the NBA map. This would be more than just a farewell tour. Carter has lost a step from his prime, but he accepted a role off the bench in Dallas these past two seasons and still averaged double-digit scoring in about 24 minutes per game. Carter also averaged about 40 percent from three point range which fits into Head Coach Dwane Casey’s offense perfectly. Carter can still play. Also, from a practical side, after earning over $160 million in his NBA career, if Carter is truly interested in returning to Toronto for a season or two, money is not going to be an issue. Carter could be that veteran wing player off the bench that gives the Raptors some additional scoring punch and in a winning environment, his return could add a very positive vibe to the ACC. It would almost certainly sell truck loads of Raptors jerseys with his name on them again. It is past time to bury the hatchet with the Raptors most famous player and bring him back to finish his career.

Vince Carter Would Be A Good Fit For Toronto Raptors | Rant Sports

Like it or not, Toronto may be on to something if the price is right, and despite the widespread belief that Terrence Ross is headed for greatness, Carter outperformed the struggling sophomore in every major offensive category during both the regular season and the playoffs. Most importantly, even if Ross develops into the offensive threat that many feel he could one day be, the minute he takes the final step towards becoming an All-Star, the chemistry in Toronto is likely to revert to what it was when Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan ran the floor together. No, Carter’s return won’t lead to an NBA title, erase the disappointment felt when he left, or make that missed jump shot against the Philadelphia 76ers fall. But it would add an experienced veteran who has done a lot of maturing over the years to a team looking to gain stability.

Toronto Raptors: 5 Inexpensive Free Agents To Target For 2014-15 | Hoops Habit

There probably won’t be much financial wiggle room left after some or all of those priorities are taken care of, so the Raptors will have to do some bargain hunting to address their remaining roster needs. The draft and trades will also play a likely role in shaping the roster for next season. For now, though, here is my opinion of five inexpensive free agents who could wind up in a Raptors uniform in 2014-15.

Kyle Lowry on OTR | TSN

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Top 10 Raptors Moments of 2013-14 | Raptors Watch

10. Patterson’s Game Winner. In the midst of “Patman” coming to fruition, Patrick Patterson wore his now famed mask while facing off against the Brooklyn Nets, who would later take on Toronto in the playoffs. Being a spark off the bench all season and playing great with the mask on, it was a no-brainer to keep Patterson in the game until the very end. He was having a good night already, and it only got better as he stole the ball off a poor pass by Deron Williams that was intended for Joe Johnson. He hesitated as Williams flew by and then rose up to cleanly knock down the jumper and seal the game for the Raps. In a season where close games weren’t Toronto’s friend, this was a great moment.

Deputy Mayor to declare Monday ‘Raptors Day’ | CTV Toronto News

The City of Toronto will proclaim this coming Monday “Raptors Day” in celebration of the team’s “incredible” season. Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly will make the announcement at Nathan Phillips Square on Monday morning at 8:30 a.m., alongside Toronto Raptor Greivis Vasquez and coach Dwane Casey. “Toronto! Join me, @greivisvasquez & Dwane Casey on Monday morning (8:30am) at Nathan Phillips Square to proclaim @Raptors day! #WeTheNorth,” Kelly tweeted on Saturday.

I’ll print much link to anything until pre-season starts at this point; send me what you got: [email protected]

Microaggressive

“Valanciunas is a very talented young center, but he isn’t a go-to big man option in the NBA. He is an excellent rebounder, he is a very capable scorer and defender and is a strong hustle player, but scoring 16 points or more is a lot to ask from him, especially as he hasn’t even averaged 12 points per game in the NBA.”

By Mike Elworth: Owner and Publisher/Hoopstuff

It’s too bad that this statement is made in ignorance of how Valanciunas was deliberately underutilized by Casey. Of course one could just call JV’s second season a training season. That’s how I see it anyways. Moving forward, JV must have more plays run for him to score. This will force Derozan to have less shot attempts. Hopefully Derozan becomes more efficient similar to how Rudy Gay did by being forced to be a second banana with the Kings.

One major thing for JV is to just shoot and hit open mid range shots instead of ALWAYS pump faking even when nobody is around.
- smh
  
  it’s like it was written by someone who just looked at the stats vs seeing him play
- Raymond
  
  haahaa, just like you will see lots of comments about Demar one years ago.
  e.g.: Demar is a very talented young SG, but he isn’t a go-to guy option in the NBA…..
  so, what about now? Young kid need time to grow, otherwise, we need to hire KG if we only look at the paper.
- jakdripr
  
  Never mind the fact that he’s only 21. Even Monroe(who I definitely think would improve our front court) at 23 is older than him.
Bo4

Scorers are the easiest kind of player to find in the draft every year, especially if one only means to plug them in as a sub. Although Terrance hasn’t grown into a starter’s role yet, it probably wouldn’t be wise to demote him (or Jonas) at this point. We will all just have to be patient with them. They do have the potential we want, though! Forget about paying for a free agent. They’ll end up not being worth it, and out of the rotation by the time JV & TR are entering their peak years. Get those two a team-mate to grow with. Draft him!
Riverdale Rat

Seriously, how does someone talk about signing Greg Monroe without ever mentioning the name ‘Amir’? I’d love to have Monroe, but that leaves you, still, with no true center backup to Jonas, and you need to ship out or not resign one or two of the other bigs.
- Raymond
  
  Also, Amir’s job is more than just score. He is the soul of D, his the big man but also the person who make decision to pass the ball from high post to low post or back to PG/SG under Raps’ system. Thats something Monroe can’t satisfy at this age.
- webfeat
  
  When JV needs a rest, you can shift Monroe to C and have someone else play the 4.
  
  Amir was very good off the bench before Casey moved him to starting. I would even argue that he played better without the pressure of having to cover for JV’s weaknesses.
  
  What would having Monroe mean for Hansbrough, Patterson and Novak? Perhaps Ujiri might exercise Hansbrough’s $1M buyout and not elect to sign Patterson. I really like 2Pat, though…
  - TheSpiceTyrant
    
    Don’t touch Patterson. He was the biggest surprise of the trade and we haven’t seen his ceiling . And his attitude is priceless.
- Lyall
  
  The guy who wrote that about Monroe is left handed, that’s why lol.
- ckh26
  
  Monroe averages 16 points and 10 rebounds per game. Amir is about 10 and 7.
  Monroe is younger and has less miles on his body. Amir is a warrior but his knees and ankles are held together with spit and duct tape. Monroe doesn’t have these types of injuries and is 23.
  For a backup centre you can go after Emeka Okafor or stick with the Chuckster for the 15 mins needed as a backup 5.
  Monroe is a proven talent after 4 years in the league. He is not a best chances draft pick with potential/upside who may or may not pan out. IF Detroit is dumb enough he can be had for just money. Even if we don’t get him and Detroit matches its a great chance to see if that blowhard Liewiki backs up his mouth by putting up some cash. Money talks.
ckh26

At this point all it would cost to make a play at Greg Monroe is money. Cash. Filthy Lucre. This is something the 4th largest market and an organization with as deep a set of pockets as MLSE has in spades. Why not make a bid for a young big man who plays in the post such as Monroe. You know what your going to get as its not a draft pick and it doesn’t cost anything in terms of current personnel on the roster. Only money. Nice litmus test to see if Tim Liewiki is more than a gas bag and the Raps act like a team who are serious about making a run at a championship as he pontificates every chance he gets. Its not a rule breaker to go over the cap. It just costs some money which MLSE has in spades. Nice problem to have to sort out which of your now quality personnel plays in what sets and rotations.
- TheSpiceTyrant
  
  I’d agree. But it’s the defence that worries me.
  - ckh26
    
    Raps defense has room to be better for sure.
    On Monroe I am leaning towards the old adage that you can teach defense but you can’t teach offense and he comes with the offense aspect on his resume and it looks very good. We have a home and a need for a consistent low post player to compliment JV. We are a young team on the upswing and we have the money. Unfortunately all the cards are with Detroit on this one as he is an RFA.They can simply match whatever offer sheet he signs and its game over. SIgn and trade is an option but the asking price is going to be steep. Detroit needs a floor spacer type wing who can hit the 3… Would you give up a first (maybe this years or the 2016 NYK’s) AND TRoss for Monroe ?
    - TheSpiceTyrant
      
      I agree Monroe would be a nice piece and he could learn the defensive schemes. But if we go that route we’re becoming a team of bigs as opposed to (what seems to be a successful) team of athletic wings (I’d hate us to become a grind it out Memphis style team with two bigs) It would be great if Monroe was willing be a high minutes rotation player who could give some serious post presence, but his price may be too high. I also think there could be a lot more to Patterson’s game that we’ve not seen yet. In short, I’d say sure if money is no object, but realistically I don’t that happens unless a big (not named Chuck) is moved. I think Detroit is more likely to keep Monroe and give up on that (horrible) JSmoove experiment.
cdub

I really don’t see the big deal about Monroe when we have a cheaper version in Amir Johnson who is also a better defender. Johnson can score we just don’t utilize our bigs very well. There are only so many touches to go around so if we continue to run our offense through the me first guards it doesn’t matter because nobodies getting touches in the paint.
Ghotte

Signing Munroe doesn’t address our chief weakness of the bigs – rim protection.

Scoring and rebounding are not major weaknesses unless spoken from the perspective of depth. JV is a poor to average defender at present so adding Munroe won’t magically mask that. Also, they both play inside which makes for redundancy in the offensive sets… It’s not like JV can play high-low at this stage.
- Jeev Kiriella
  
  Agreed the Raps need a shot blocking big. According to this list (http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9947573/nba-free-agents-2014-2015) there isn’t any shot blocking bigs available (unrestricted or restricted).
  
  I’d still take Monroe.
DryDry

“Jonas Valanciunas is a very talented young center, but he isn’t a go-to big man option in the NBA.”

He’s 21 and underused ffs. This guy obviously doesn’t watch Raptor games so he should shadddddap.
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