Amir's free agency

[Triplethreat89]

Not gonna lie, I did not pay much attention to raptors before Masai Ujiri came in
I see! hopefully he earns his money this year
I still think he really needs to work on his lower body strength tho

[StaytheCourse]

I'd definitely bring Amir back.. The whole 'home court discount' thing usually doesn't have merit but with Amir who knows? He's worth $10M a year if healthy. But health's been an issue (he plays 70+ games but not at full strength).

Because he's usually playing hobbled I'd have to see if he'd resign for $9M or less.. 2+1 is the kind of deal I'd give him. That wouldn't hand cuff the team too much in 3 years assuming he picks up his player option that year - especially with the cap going up the way it will.

That makes sense to me!

[StaytheCourse]

It would be sad if such an ambassador for the franchise were ever to leave our city!

[NaijaBoy17]

why is demar not taking full money worthy of hilarity? do you think he is a horrible person who puts himself before the team? if a guy like bosh can sacrifice money to win why not demar? i don't see why you have such a low opinion of his personal character

Bosh was sacrificing money to get LeBron and DWade on the squad.

Not seeing LBJ or DWade anywhere

[DanH]

Bosh was sacrificing money to get LeBron and DWade on the squad.

Not seeing LBJ or DWade anywhere

Also, Bosh sacrificed a little bit - took about a million off his max starting salary of 15M.

15M for DeRozan would be compared to his max starting salary of 24M. Not really the same scenario. Not that I'm making a value judgment in whether he is worth the max, but the two described situations are not the same.

[Nilanka]

As much as I love Amir's heart and hustle, I might consider trading him mid-season. The Raptors need a true low-post offensive threat, and neither Amir, Jonas or Patterson is that guy.

Jonas and Patterson aren't going anywhere, so Amir appears to be the odd man out. This team needs a stud PF (e.g. Millsap, Monroe) to take the next step, and keeping Amir around would prevent that from happening (in terms of both salary cap and playing time).

[MACK11]

why is demar not taking full money worthy of hilarity? do you think he is a horrible person who puts himself before the team? if a guy like bosh can sacrifice money to win why not demar? i don't see why you have such a low opinion of his personal character

Sure go ahead and think DeMar is gonna sacrifice about 9mill per. Also where's LeBron? Where's wade?
Players sacrifice when they know they have a fantastic chance to win it. Also DeMar has been under payed for this contract so you better believe he wants to get PAID on his upcoming contract

[planetmars]

As much as I love Amir's heart and hustle, I might consider trading him mid-season. The Raptors need a true low-post offensive threat, and neither Amir, Jonas or Patterson is that guy.

Jonas and Patterson aren't going anywhere, so Amir appears to be the odd man out. This team needs a stud PF (e.g. Millsap, Monroe) to take the next step, and keeping Amir around would prevent that from happening (in terms of both salary cap and playing time).

My only concern about getting a high profile PF to replace Amir is on the defensive side. Amir has been our most valuable defensive player for a long time now.. until JV becomes a stopper (and right now he is still a long ways away) you need a guy like Amir. Neither Millsap or Monroe are really defensive juggernauts. Horford is the guy I'd want but he brings a different issue and that is usage. Horford typically demands the ball and with high usage guards like DD and KL it might be difficult for him to get his shots up.. and if the ball is forced into him we might be seeing a Rudy Gay scenario again (although Horford is a lot better at scoring the ball then RG is).

Personally I'd rather have Amir over Patterson simply for defensive reasons. If we can flip Patterson for Millsap or Monroe I'd feel better. But then you have to hope Amir does resign.

[Miekenstien]

Sure go ahead and think DeMar is gonna sacrifice about 9mill per. Also where's LeBron? Where's wade?
Players sacrifice when they know they have a fantastic chance to win it. Also DeMar has been under payed for this contract so you better believe he wants to get PAID on his upcoming contract

where is 9 million coming from? and no one can know what demar wants except demar.

[WJF]

While I think all Raptor fans will agree that Amir gives his all and is a stand up guy, I would also like to think that all fans would agree that Amir is missing something as a starting 4 on a team that wants to be better than average.

If we are looking for Amir to be a prime time back up after this season I am all for signing him to a 3 year deal, if he is looking to sign on as a starter, I say move him while we can.

[MACK11]

where is 9 million coming from? and no one can know what demar wants except demar.

Obviously nobody knows exactly what DeMar wants except for himself but if you think he's signing for the cheap your mistaken. If players like Parsons and Hayward are getting max deals how can Masai tell DeMar he's not getting a max?

[Puffer]

Sure seems easy for fans to give away players money. How many of the fans here give away even 5% of their income for the good of their community/school/country/church/favourite charity/whatever.

[007]

I think Millsap is the best replacement we could have at PF.

Amir or Millsap Masai! Make it happen!

[thead]

Amir @10 million per year...are you shitting me?

Amir gets 3 years 21 million or 4 years 26 million

[white men can't jump]

My only concern about getting a high profile PF to replace Amir is on the defensive side. Amir has been our most valuable defensive player for a long time now.. until JV becomes a stopper (and right now he is still a long ways away) you need a guy like Amir. Neither Millsap or Monroe are really defensive juggernauts. Horford is the guy I'd want but he brings a different issue and that is usage. Horford typically demands the ball and with high usage guards like DD and KL it might be difficult for him to get his shots up.. and if the ball is forced into him we might be seeing a Rudy Gay scenario again (although Horford is a lot better at scoring the ball then RG is).

Personally I'd rather have Amir over Patterson simply for defensive reasons. If we can flip Patterson for Millsap or Monroe I'd feel better. But then you have to hope Amir does resign.

I don't think Horford really demands the ball as much as you seem to think. After Atlanta destroyed their old treadmill roster, his shot attempts and usage went up over the last 2 seasons...but his efficiency and productivity were pretty much just as good before that putting up 10ish shots on fairly low usage (never cracked over 20% until the team was dismantled). Obviously he'd demand more than Amir, but it would probably not really affect DeMar or Lowry....it should affect whoever remains at SF, and if that's Ross, I have no problem with some of his usage going to Horford.

Also, if that worries you with Horford, it would probably be at least as bad with Millsap or Monroe. Not like either of those guys are low-USG players. And while Millsap can shoot, he tends to do a lot of his scoring on-the-ball, not off it. And I just don't like Monroe. Still not sold on him as a PF in today's NBA, especially defensively.

Oh, and random, but for whoever hasn't checked it, there's a thread with a good read on our medical staff and their preventative approach. The part about "soft tissue injuries" made me think of how good it would be for Horford and his weird history of torn pecs to be here in Toronto.