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  • Where do we go, Sweet Child? Where do we go?

    So all the mad hype about major changes coming draft night appears to be just, well, mad.

    Ujiri has fired long-time scouts and dismissed fan favourites in Alvin Williams. He’s thrown his weight behind Dwane Casey as head coach and has been burrowed into his phone the past 48 hours trying to get the Raptors a draft pick they can use Thursday night.

    And he’s done it all with minimal input from Colangelo, according to sources.

    http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/n...nge-is-coming/
    Many thought, myself included, Colangelo stepping down was a precursor to something B-I-G. Turns out it appears BC just doesn't like standing in the corner being ignored.... who can blame him?

    So in the immortal words of Axl Rose: "Where do we go now? Where do we go?"

    Ryan Wolstat says a decision is necessary because, well, you can read the last line:

    Will Canada’s team enter the hunt for Andrew Wiggins and his talented classmates? Will the Raptors beef up for a playoff run?

    Either way, a decision needs to be made. sooner rather than later.

    The rest of the division has laid out its path, the Raptors must decide on a plan as well.

    The team can do little and hope for good health, given the paper-thin roster, and a playoff berth. That wouldn’t make much sense. It can tear the foundation down and aim for lottery luck (an option that would take work and patience with no guarantees of a payoff). Or Toronto could retool. Using the amnesty provision on Linas Kleiza, would open up room to use the mid-level exception ($5.15 million) and/or the bi-annual exception ($2.01 million); Or, perhaps Andrea Bargnani could be an amnesty victim? That would open up even more money ($10.75 million vs. Kleiza’s $4.6 million), allowing the Raptors to perhaps use both cap exceptions as well as move Kleiza’s expiring contract for a solid veteran on a multi-year deal a team is trying to clear from its books.

    Or Bargnani could be swapped, perhaps with another starter as a sweetener.

    Ujiri has options then. And he was given a lot of money to pick the right ones.

    It’s time to get the ball rolling.

    Because right now, Toronto is the most listing, irrelevant franchise in the Atlantic.



    http://www.torontosun.com/2013/06/28...pt-for-raptors

    There there is Koreen at The National Post who is hardly sunshine and gum drops in his assessment:

    7. … the Raptors, too, are mired in purgatory, with no obvious direction. They tried to get into the draft last night at various spots, with particular interest in Giannis Adetokunbo (15th to Milwaukee) and Tony Mitchell (37th to Detroit). But the Raptors have more than US$70-million committed to just 10 players next season, even after declining to pick up the option on John Lucas’s contract. They will get further below the luxury tax by using the amnesty clause (likely Linas Kleiza, although Andrea Bargnani is also eligible and a possibility), but that will leave them with precious little room in free agency. Unlike Boston, they do not have veterans with championship resumes that would be enticing to a contender; unlike Philadelphia, they do not have an affordable all-star to move. Rudy Gay, DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Amir Johnson would all be varying degrees of interesting to other teams. But Gay and DeRozan are likely too expensive to bring much in return, and Lowry and Johnson are undervalued around the league. This is what Masai Ujiri signed up for: All he can do is be patient and opportunistic.

    http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013/...medium=twitter
    But despite the impatience (I am VERY guilty here) of Raptor fans, all is not lost. Lets review:

    1) With JL3 declined and luxury tax reported to be going up by a million or two, Raps are now under the luxury tax with the amnesty at their disposal (Bargnani or Kleiza). They can theoretically take on another ~$4-6M in salary than they send out in any sign and trade to avoid apron ($4M for current apron of $74M or up to $6M if luxury tax rises by $2M).

    2) Raptors will have MLE at their disposal in free agency. This can be used on one player or broken down for multiple. If they use the full MLE (4 years, $5Mper) then they have a hard cap of $74M to look at.

    3) Teams are still jockeying for free agency. Dallas (Marion) and Houston (Robinson, Lin) still have salary to shed. Can the Raptors get in here or somewhere else?

    4) With the excitement of draft night (Bennett #1, KG-PP trade, Holiday to NO/Philly blow up), a lot of other things were left undone. Bledsoe is still a Clipper, for example. Robinson still a Rocket as another.

    5) Just because a team drafted a player and kept him past draft night doesn't mean he is a lock to be on the roster opening night. Harkless was traded in August last year (#15) and Lamb (#12) in October.

    6) Like how teams struck out on draft night either not getting in (hey, Toronto!) or not getting who they wanted (hey, Toronto!), teams will also strike out in free agency. When teams have cap space and can't get who they want in free agency let the trade proposals fly.

    7) There are still teams out there with holes at SG which, like it or not, is Toronto's most likely and valuable trade asset.... especially in a year with a weak free agent wing crop.







    Minnesota:







    Utah:

    **No tweets but look at their roster plus they have S&T candidate**



    All is not lost. Moral of the day for TL and MU is to go all in on their policy of keeping cards close to chest and say nothing to no one at all about anything. I think, well speaking mainly for myself, the only reason so many are disappointed is because we heard them say direction known by draft night and roster as is is not good enough.... well guess what?!?! Draft night has come and gone and the roster is still not good enough. Oh yeah, not totally on them, too many people, again myself included, assumed Colangelo leaving meant something much more than it actually did.

    You keep being patient and opportunistic, Masai!

    ..... and #tradeBargnani
    Last edited by mcHAPPY; Sat Jun 29, 2013, 09:18 AM.

  • #2
    As I noted in the draft day thread, I see no activity on Masai's part as encouraging. It means he couldn't find a good enough deal to pull the trigger, so he didn't. I prefer that to making a bad deal.

    Letting Lucas go, sitting Bargnani's ass on the bench until he get's amnestied or traded, and parking Kleiza there as well until he gets amnestied, traded or comes out of his zombie like induced coma (or heals properly, if that is the problem) and securing a pass first backup point guard would automatically improve the team.

    I fully expect Gay to be better, now that the can see the basket and has a chance to go through training camp with this team.

    I fully expect Lowry to be better, and come into camp in better shape, and injury free, able to play his style of game effectively, as he and Casey come to some reasonable compromise.

    I fully expect Fields to get better now that it doesn't have an automatic clutch reflex screwing with his shot.

    I fully expect JV to get better, with the past years experience, and a summer of gaining weight and working with McKechnie while he works on his defense.

    I fully expect Amir and JV to be used properly together, now that the raps staff have had a chance to read Craigers post.

    I fully expect Demar to get better, because we have seen incremental improvement from him every year.

    I fully expect Ross and Quincy to improve, after both got a little run at the end of the season and a chance to feel how much fun it is to actually play in games. I expect this will give them the incentive (if they needed it) to work on the things they didn't realize they needed to work on last summer and didn't have time to through the season last year.

    I fully expect Casey to be a better coach, because I do believe BC had an influence on how he was forced to play his team, and I think Casey is smart enough to know what he did wrong with the team he had.

    The Raps can improve significantly through organic growth and addition by subtraction. If they can pick up a couple of dependable role players, that will be enough for them to get to the playoffs, in my opinion. They will have picks in next years draft and players coming off the books the season after, as well as some financial flexibility.

    I don't think any of these suppositions are unrealistic. I don't expect to see another unbelievably putrid start to the season. I don't expect the ref's to consequently automatically give other teams the benefit of the doubt on every call. The East is measurably weaker. The Raps will not be involved in the "tank-off."

    I do expect Masai to make two smart moves, over the course of the next 6 months, that improve the team, on top of the "organic growth" I am expecting to see.

    I don't think any of my statements stretch credulity or are wildly optimistic. I am sure they are not going to all be fulfilled, but I believe the majority of them will be.

    Toronto's defense this coming season will improve. So will their scoring. So will their rebounding. This is what I believe. If they improve by 1 point a game in scoring, by 1 point a game in defense and by 1 rebound a game in rebounding they will probably finish 14th in the league overall and 6th in the East.

    There you go. That is my vision of where the Raps will be this time next year and I am looking forward to it. I will worry about a championship sometime after 2015.

    Comment


    • #3
      Bargnani will breakout and have a monster season averaging 35 points on 62% shooting with 55 boards in 30 mpg to limit his chances of injury, only thing is it wount be for the Toronto Raptors.

      Comment


      • #4
        confusing time to be a raptor fan. It seems like the 2014 draft has more than just wiggins meaning that tanking isn't just for the chance of getting #1. But, as bad as we are, we'd have to divest of some young talent to compete with the real tankers. Unfortunately, the talent level is so weak we are not just a piece or two away from something. I would love to have the slightest clue as to what Masai is thinking. I guess just look at the roster and say "who should still be on this team in three years?" If the answer is "not him", let him go for something. Hard to wax sentimentally about demar when boston ships pierce to a division rival. Not to say demar's not a piece of the future..he's just a guy where one of his strengths is that we like him. That's a rare raptor quality these days.

        Comment


        • #5
          What happened yesterday(draft) did not surprise me at all. When Masai mentioned they were trying to acquire a pick, it did not sound like they were going to get one at any cost. He said they'd try and they must have.

          I remember him saying in the 'introduction press conference' that people will get an idea of the teams direction in time. I don't remember him saying 'around draft night' but I'm sure he did. Not just yesterday but for a little while now, the indication I'm getting is that they've decided to build on what's there. I think some trades are in the works.
          Attitude Is A Choice.

          Comment


          • #6
            I am a firm proponent of tanking with a purpose and a plan.

            Let's be honest here: this is not a serious playoff team. This is not even a playoff team that is missing one or two pieces (the "we just need a backup PG" theory). Yes, all of our players are decent players, in a couple of cases potentially great ones. But they're a badly mismatched group of players. Incremental improvements are not going to turn us into a team that can beat the New York Knicks, and the Knicks are a mid-level playoff team at best this year (although if they trade for Rajon Rondo, as is rumoured, then who knows). The worst thing is that a 2014 playoff run, when half the league is actively losing on purpose, might give Raps fans the illusion that this is a competitive team. But it isn't and we aren't. So let's tank, but tank smartly.

            No definite-lottery team right now (your Charlottes, your Bostons, etc.) is going to trade their first round pick for talent. We shouldn't look at that route. What we should look at doing is netting later first-round picks from contenders and using them to trade up.

            Target teams that aren't tanking. Atlanta won't tank, most likely, but they're not going to go far in the playoffs either: their pick is going to end up mid-range like this year, somewhere in the 16-20 range. Dallas won't tank either and in fact prefers to trade picks rather than draft, and their pick will likely end up in the 16-20 range as well. Golden State wants to move up very badly and their first-rounder in 2014 is now available because they traded themselves back into the 2013 draft (thanks, Golden State!). And so on: you can also look at the Knicks, Lakers and maybe even the Wizards, Cavs and Bucks (although the Bucks might be tanking, but the noise they're making about Brandon Jennings indicates that they aren't).

            If you want to gamble, you go talk to Charlotte, who has Portland's pick this year but protected 1-12, and Detroit's protected 1-8 (both of which are reasonably likely, but not certain, to end up with Charlotte - and therefore might be tradeable).

            Then you look at our assets. Rudy Gay can most likely be moved for a pick if you're willing to buy a little trash with his contract (for example, taking Richard Jefferson and/or Andris Biedrins from Golden State, who have always craved Rudy). Both Atlanta and Dallas are looking for a point guard and Kyle Lowry is probably worth a pick. Some combination of DeMar, Ross, Amir and Acy might be able to get a pick, although at this point we're into players I'm much less interested in trading.

            (Jonas is our most valuable asset and worth a 2014 lottery pick all by himself, but I don't want to trade him at all.)

            Then you tank, but you tank with a purpose: you get a lot of good unsigned young guys in summer league, play the hell out of them, and see what comes up. One or two will show promise and competitive teams will start to ask as the season progresses. At this point you start talking about picks from THOSE teams. Nobody wants to trade 2014 picks now, but get close to the trade deadline and teams will start thinking about how badly they want a mid-to-late-rounder versus moving up in the playoff picture. (Especially L.A., because Kobe wants to win and L.A. doesn't draft players, they buy them outright. See also: New York.)

            Do all of that. Enter the playoffs with your own, preferably lottery pick - say we get the #8, that seems to be our ceiling when we tank. Then say we get three picks - #15, #18 and #22. At this point, you start working the room: maybe the team with #9 wants 2-3 picks because there are good guys they want that they can get lower (that's what Utah did with Minnesota this year), and now you've got the 8 and 9 in the draft, that's not a bad position at all. Or maybe the team with #3 or #4 will take your #8 along with two or three of the other picks.

            That's how you do it. In 2014 you still have your core players, and they're a year better (and I fully expect Jonas to be All-Star level or close to it by the end of his second season). In 2014 you add either one superstar-level talent or 2-3 just-below-that players. Now you have a team that, going forward, is viable in the long term.

            Comment


            • #7
              No one should ever be concerned about the draft night misgivings.

              BC fucked us completely and put us in this position. If you're looking for a scapegoat, we all know exactly who to point to. Maybe that's the real reason why BC up and bounced.

              Still though, teams were offloading big contracts in order to completely tank for next year, and I didn't see Masai going down that road. So in the end it doesn't affect my opinions of the draft any way.

              I still believe Kleiza will get amnestied. I still believe Bargs will be gone. Freeing up $15mill in capspace will do wonders for the superclass 2014 freeagency and won't hurt our bottom line.

              Comment


              • #8
                Puffer wrote: View Post
                As I noted in the draft day thread, I see no activity on Masai's part as encouraging. It means he couldn't find a good enough deal to pull the trigger, so he didn't. I prefer that to making a bad deal.

                Letting Lucas go, sitting Bargnani's ass on the bench until he get's amnestied or traded, and parking Kleiza there as well until he gets amnestied, traded or comes out of his zombie like induced coma (or heals properly, if that is the problem) and securing a pass first backup point guard would automatically improve the team.

                I fully expect Gay to be better, now that the can see the basket and has a chance to go through training camp with this team.

                I fully expect Lowry to be better, and come into camp in better shape, and injury free, able to play his style of game effectively, as he and Casey come to some reasonable compromise.

                I fully expect Fields to get better now that it doesn't have an automatic clutch reflex screwing with his shot.

                I fully expect JV to get better, with the past years experience, and a summer of gaining weight and working with McKechnie while he works on his defense.

                I fully expect Amir and JV to be used properly together, now that the raps staff have had a chance to read Craigers post.

                I fully expect Demar to get better, because we have seen incremental improvement from him every year.

                I fully expect Ross and Quincy to improve, after both got a little run at the end of the season and a chance to feel how much fun it is to actually play in games. I expect this will give them the incentive (if they needed it) to work on the things they didn't realize they needed to work on last summer and didn't have time to through the season last year.

                I fully expect Casey to be a better coach, because I do believe BC had an influence on how he was forced to play his team, and I think Casey is smart enough to know what he did wrong with the team he had.

                The Raps can improve significantly through organic growth and addition by subtraction. If they can pick up a couple of dependable role players, that will be enough for them to get to the playoffs, in my opinion. They will have picks in next years draft and players coming off the books the season after, as well as some financial flexibility.

                I don't think any of these suppositions are unrealistic. I don't expect to see another unbelievably putrid start to the season. I don't expect the ref's to consequently automatically give other teams the benefit of the doubt on every call. The East is measurably weaker. The Raps will not be involved in the "tank-off."

                I do expect Masai to make two smart moves, over the course of the next 6 months, that improve the team, on top of the "organic growth" I am expecting to see.

                I don't think any of my statements stretch credulity or are wildly optimistic. I am sure they are not going to all be fulfilled, but I believe the majority of them will be.

                Toronto's defense this coming season will improve. So will their scoring. So will their rebounding. This is what I believe. If they improve by 1 point a game in scoring, by 1 point a game in defense and by 1 rebound a game in rebounding they will probably finish 14th in the league overall and 6th in the East.

                There you go. That is my vision of where the Raps will be this time next year and I am looking forward to it. I will worry about a championship sometime after 2015.
                This is exactly what i envision next season to be. The negativity needs to go, BC has left so there is no reason to be negative anymore.

                Comment


                • #9
                  More specifically, this is what I would do:

                  1. Rudy Gay to Golden State for Richard Jefferson, Andris Biedrins, Harrison Barnes and Golden State's 2014 first-rounder. (If GS won't trade Barnes, Draymond Green will serve, but aim for Barnes.)

                  2. Kyle Lowry to Dallas for Dallas' 2014 first-rounder. Or Atlanta. Either/or. Dallas is more likely to buy in, though.

                  3. Terrence Ross to the Lakers for L.A.'s 2014 first-rounder.

                  4. Kleiza and Bargnani for whatever we can get, or amnesty them. If Bargs puts in a good showing at Eurobasket we might even be able to get something good for him, although a 2014 pick is probably a pipe dream. But maybe we can get a rook who later on can BECOME a 2014 pick.

                  5. Spend the season working on developing your core: Jonas, Amir, DeMar, Acy, Landry (who probably can't be traded, so make the most of it - he's not a bad player). Don't be afraid to lose, but don't lose for the sake of losing. Lose because we're developing offensive and defensive strategies for our core.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    magoon wrote: View Post
                    More specifically, this is what I would do:

                    1. Rudy Gay to Golden State for Richard Jefferson, Andris Biedrins, Harrison Barnes and Golden State's 2014 first-rounder. (If GS won't trade Barnes, Draymond Green will serve, but aim for Barnes.)

                    2. Kyle Lowry to Dallas for Dallas' 2014 first-rounder. Or Atlanta. Either/or. Dallas is more likely to buy in, though.

                    3. Terrence Ross to the Lakers for L.A.'s 2014 first-rounder.

                    4. Kleiza and Bargnani for whatever we can get, or amnesty them. If Bargs puts in a good showing at Eurobasket we might even be able to get something good for him, although a 2014 pick is probably a pipe dream. But maybe we can get a rook who later on can BECOME a 2014 pick.

                    5. Spend the season working on developing your core: Jonas, Amir, DeMar, Acy, Landry (who probably can't be traded, so make the most of it - he's not a bad player). Don't be afraid to lose, but don't lose for the sake of losing. Lose because we're developing offensive and defensive strategies for our core.
                    You should be our need GM *Sarcasm*

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Puffer wrote: View Post
                      As I noted in the draft day thread, I see no activity on Masai's part as encouraging. It means he couldn't find a good enough deal to pull the trigger, so he didn't. I prefer that to making a bad deal.

                      Letting Lucas go, sitting Bargnani's ass on the bench until he get's amnestied or traded, and parking Kleiza there as well until he gets amnestied, traded or comes out of his zombie like induced coma (or heals properly, if that is the problem) and securing a pass first backup point guard would automatically improve the team.

                      I fully expect Gay to be better, now that the can see the basket and has a chance to go through training camp with this team.

                      I fully expect Lowry to be better, and come into camp in better shape, and injury free, able to play his style of game effectively, as he and Casey come to some reasonable compromise.

                      I fully expect Fields to get better now that it doesn't have an automatic clutch reflex screwing with his shot.

                      I fully expect JV to get better, with the past years experience, and a summer of gaining weight and working with McKechnie while he works on his defense.

                      I fully expect Amir and JV to be used properly together, now that the raps staff have had a chance to read Craigers post.

                      I fully expect Demar to get better, because we have seen incremental improvement from him every year.

                      I fully expect Ross and Quincy to improve, after both got a little run at the end of the season and a chance to feel how much fun it is to actually play in games. I expect this will give them the incentive (if they needed it) to work on the things they didn't realize they needed to work on last summer and didn't have time to through the season last year.

                      I fully expect Casey to be a better coach, because I do believe BC had an influence on how he was forced to play his team, and I think Casey is smart enough to know what he did wrong with the team he had.

                      The Raps can improve significantly through organic growth and addition by subtraction. If they can pick up a couple of dependable role players, that will be enough for them to get to the playoffs, in my opinion. They will have picks in next years draft and players coming off the books the season after, as well as some financial flexibility.

                      I don't think any of these suppositions are unrealistic. I don't expect to see another unbelievably putrid start to the season. I don't expect the ref's to consequently automatically give other teams the benefit of the doubt on every call. The East is measurably weaker. The Raps will not be involved in the "tank-off."

                      I do expect Masai to make two smart moves, over the course of the next 6 months, that improve the team, on top of the "organic growth" I am expecting to see.

                      I don't think any of my statements stretch credulity or are wildly optimistic. I am sure they are not going to all be fulfilled, but I believe the majority of them will be.

                      Toronto's defense this coming season will improve. So will their scoring. So will their rebounding. This is what I believe. If they improve by 1 point a game in scoring, by 1 point a game in defense and by 1 rebound a game in rebounding they will probably finish 14th in the league overall and 6th in the East.

                      There you go. That is my vision of where the Raps will be this time next year and I am looking forward to it. I will worry about a championship sometime after 2015.
                      Hey wow a bit of faith and optimism! You don't see that very often in these forums lol
                      You come at the King, you best not miss.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I honestly think that the failure to move in to the draft means MU is going to retool not rebuild. I don't mind that approach at all.

                        Since Philly and Boston are tanking, I'd work with them to make them worse.

                        Perhaps Philly would be interested in a Bargs/Young swap. Young is better but I think a Noels/Bargnani tandem could work better than a Noels/Young tandem. Philly needs scoring from someone, and if Bargs doesn't work out well they're tanking anyway. Bargnani has one year less on his contract over all as compared to Young too.

                        I would then pursue Rondo. If Rondo can be had for DeRozan/Lowry and a future pick then I'd do it. Lowry is an expiring.. DeRozan is young and can fit into their nucleus (plus they need a good starting SG). A 2015 pick could be enough I think to make it happen.

                        You would then have a line up of:

                        JV/Gray
                        Young/Amir/Acy
                        Gay
                        Fields/Ross
                        Rondo

                        Then they could fill in the roster by getting a 3 and D guy and backup PG. That may get you into the 2nd round of the playoffs next year. Well maybe 1st round but it shouldn't be a sweep.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          planetmars wrote: View Post
                          Perhaps Philly would be interested in a Bargs/Young swap. Young is better but I think a Noels/Bargnani tandem could work better than a Noels/Young tandem. Philly needs scoring from someone, and if Bargs doesn't work out well they're tanking anyway. Bargnani has one year less on his contract over all as compared to Young too.
                          There's two problems with this idea.

                          1.) Nick Young is a free agent so we don't need to trade for him

                          2.) The idea that the solution to our problems is Nick fucking Young

                          Then they could fill in the roster by getting a 3 and D guy and backup PG. That may get you into the 2nd round of the playoffs next year. Well maybe 1st round but it shouldn't be a sweep.
                          And here's the other problem: deciding that being mediocre enough to get into the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs is somehow a winning objective. I want to aim for a championship, not some idle notion of "respectability."

                          The worst bit is that we are seeing this work, right now, before our eyes - Cleveland and Orlando are both willing to make the necessary sacrifices in order to build back up to longterm contender status. And Raps fans just aren't willing to do it. I don't know why we bothered firing Colangelo, really: he was the perfect GM for this franchise, filled with fans who think that Rudy Gay is the man to take us to the top or we just need one more small piece.
                          Last edited by magoon; Sat Jun 29, 2013, 01:54 AM.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            NoPropsneeded wrote: View Post
                            You should be our need GM *Sarcasm*
                            It's a better plan than the "let's just hope everybody gets better and that solves everything" plan.

                            That was BC's plan, remember? We fired the dude for a reason. People here seem to think that getting rid of Bargs will magically solve everything.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              magoon wrote: View Post
                              There's two problems with this idea.

                              1.) Nick Young is a free agent so we don't need to trade for him

                              2.) The idea that the solution to our problems is Nick fucking Young



                              And here's the other problem: deciding that being mediocre enough to get into the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs is somehow a winning objective. I want to aim for a championship, not some idle notion of "respectability."
                              The guy was talking Thaddeus Young, not Nick (or I hope he was)!

                              Comment

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