The Raptors and the 2015 Draft

[Joey]

... or we could trade DD and play Ross at the 2 where he belongs. And Lowry is a pretty good perimeter shooter, though the streaky bit did apply last year.

He said we need Perimeter shooters ... not lazy floaters who don't impact the game at all. Lol

[Primer]

I tried reading through all the comments since I just watched the draft instead of posting on here, but the stupidity was overwhelming, so I just skipped to the end.

Anyone upset with the return for Vasquez is delusional, Masai absolutely trade raped Milwaukee, the Bucks are getting a D grade or worse from every outlet. Vasquez is a no defense mediocre backup PG, and we got a 1st and 2nd round pick for him and dumped his salary to boot. Vasquez was worth a 2nd round pick at best, but now we have a 2nd first in 2017 that will likely be somewhere in the 20's, just like our pick this year, which clearly has a lot of value.

The cap space will allow us to make a max offer to one of the PF's on the market like Millsap, Aldridge, Love, Thompson, etc.. and still have money to sign other free agents. Mcrealistic kept talking about the cap jump, but that's not for another fucking year, we have cap space NOW, which is what's important.

Delon Wright is instantly better than Vasquez. He's a big long PG who is an awesome defender and won PG of the year in the NCAA. He does everything you want expect shoot 3's, he's above average offesnively everywhere else and also really good in the pick n roll. He will contribute right away as Lowry's backup and can be the heir apparent when Lowry is done.

2nd round pick we got a nice piece for our DLeague squad with solid rotational player potential after a year or two of seasoning.

This was a great draft night for us. None of the big sexy trades we were hoping for, but that Vasquez deal was amazing and we dropped some no defense dead weight.

[Axel]

From SIs "Winners and Losers" column

Winner: Raptors GM Masai Ujiri

It doesn't take a home-run pick to have a good draft. Put Ujiri down as a low-key winner for his deft handling of his back-up point guard spot. The Raptors' backcourt includes a 2015 All-Star in Kyle Lowry, a 2014 All-Star in DeMar DeRozan and, assuming he re-signs, the 2015 Sixth Man of the Year in Lou Williams.

That group lacks a real defensive stopper, and last year's back-up point guard, Greivis Vasquez, certainly wasn't helping in that regard. Ujiri managed to send out Vasquez in a trade with Milwaukee, netting a future first-round pick and a second-round pick in return. Then, Ujiri snagged Vasquez's replacement by using his first-round pick to draft a big, defensive-minded guard in Delon Wright. Not only did Ujiri get an NBA-ready player on a cheap rookie deal, he also added multiple assets for the replaceable Vasquez. Next summer, when Vasquez is a free agent, it's possible that Wright will have already established himself as a better fit for coach Dwane Casey. That's a good day's work.

http://www.si.com/nba/2015/06/26/nba...-lakers-wolves

[Jangles]

^ Agree that it was a very solid evening for the Raps. Unfortunately, I let the hype of a potentially huge night get me down immediately after the draft a little bit, but once you take a step back and look at the 3 moves, no complaints at all.

[mcHAPPY]

^ Agree that it was a very solid evening for the Raps. Unfortunately, I let the hype of a potentially huge night get me down immediately after the draft a little bit, but once you take a step back and look at the 3 moves, no complaints at all.

A lot going to happen in the next two weeks.

I really believe the whole league is bottle necked right now by Cousins.

[Axel]

From SIs "Winners and Losers" column

Winner: Raptors GM Masai Ujiri

It doesn't take a home-run pick to have a good draft. Put Ujiri down as a low-key winner for his deft handling of his back-up point guard spot. The Raptors' backcourt includes a 2015 All-Star in Kyle Lowry, a 2014 All-Star in DeMar DeRozan and, assuming he re-signs, the 2015 Sixth Man of the Year in Lou Williams.

That group lacks a real defensive stopper, and last year's back-up point guard, Greivis Vasquez, certainly wasn't helping in that regard. Ujiri managed to send out Vasquez in a trade with Milwaukee, netting a future first-round pick and a second-round pick in return. Then, Ujiri snagged Vasquez's replacement by using his first-round pick to draft a big, defensive-minded guard in Delon Wright. Not only did Ujiri get an NBA-ready player on a cheap rookie deal, he also added multiple assets for the replaceable Vasquez. Next summer, when Vasquez is a free agent, it's possible that Wright will have already established himself as a better fit for coach Dwane Casey. That's a good day's work.

http://www.si.com/nba/2015/06/26/nba...-lakers-wolves

Suppose I should add the next part of the column too

"Loser: Milwaukee Bucks

It's hard to find the logic in trading for Vasquez from Milwaukee's perspective. He's fairly expensive by back-up point guard standards ($6.6 million), he's a one-way guy, and he's not a major upgrade over Jerryd Bayless, who is already under contract for next season. How that adds up to sacrificing a first-round pick, even a conditional one, is unclear. "

[thead]

A lot going to happen in the next two weeks.

I really believe the whole league is bottle necked right now by Cousins.

If I was him even if I wanted to stay I'd just be like get me the fuck out of this dysfunctional shit hole

[thead]

How that adds up to sacrificing a first-round pick, even a conditional one, is unclear. "

No matter how we end up looking at Masai's reign here long after the fact. The man has an elite ability to pick out the idiot GMs of the league, butter them up, take them out, have his way with them, and wonder if he will ever call again

[JimiCliff]

(Defence) starts on the ball,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “You’ve got to get the ball under control before you can even think about your bigs protecting the rim. That was our issue, it’s going be where we start training camp and in training camp, guys guarding the ball. This young man does an excellent job of that.

I guess it's nice to hear, but the double speak of this compared to the narrative being spouted throughout the season is a little maddening.

[Jangles]

A lot going to happen in the next two weeks.

I really believe the whole league is bottle necked right now by Cousins.

Im just going to take a different approach to avoid dissapointment

[Primer]

I guess it's nice to hear, but the double speak of this compared to the narrative being spouted throughout the season is a little maddening.

Haha, wow. So Casey gets it now, after a full year of throwing JV under the bus every chance he got.

[Axel]

I guess it's nice to hear, but the double speak of this compared to the narrative being spouted throughout the season is a little maddening.

Is he finally learning?

[Axel]

No matter how we end up looking at Masai's reign here long after the fact. The man has an elite ability to pick out the idiot GMs of the league, butter them up, take them out, have his way with them, and wonder if he will ever call again

Thankfully, there is also a new idiot GM hired every couple of years. The talent pool will never end!

[mcHAPPY]

No matter how we end up looking at Masai's reign here long after the fact. The man has an elite ability to pick out the idiot GMs of the league, butter them up, take them out, have his way with them, and wonder if he will ever call again

Don't forget Weltmans connection to milwaukee. Was assistant GM there for 6 years or so.

[mcHAPPY]

I guess it's nice to hear, but the double speak of this compared to the narrative being spouted throughout the season is a little maddening.

I really can't stand him.

He flip flops from one interview to the next and one game to the next.

Hopefully he gets same fate as last guy who played those games.