What our GM needs to really Reevaluate.

[psrs1]

Our GM needs to re-evaluate Dwane Casey's brain, oh wait he doesn't have one

If MU doesn't know what needs to be done at this point we are screwed.

[draps]

I don't know why anybody is so worried about massai, he needs to be the foundation here and stay for a long time.

His first 2 years are franchise bests, hes proven that he is capable of getting good value in trades, is patient and keeps his options open, and has shown good drafting ability later in the draft.

Our guys just got 2 years of playoff experience, we have no bad contracts left, cap space and flexibility, and multiple draft picks. This is the best situation this team has ever been in and all of these assets should eventually materialize.

[hotfuzz]

Can't mods ban this peanut troll?

[McRealistic]

I don't know why anybody is so worried about massai, he needs to be the foundation here and stay for a long time.

His first 2 years are franchise bests, hes proven that he is capable of getting good value in trades, is patient and keeps his options open, and has shown good drafting ability later in the draft.

Our guys just got 2 years of playoff experience, we have no bad contracts left, cap space and flexibility, and multiple draft picks. This is the best situation this team has ever been in and all of these assets should eventually materialize.

That is true and this is what makes this summer a critical ones for Raptors. It will start with the right coach and then the draft and the FA.

[enlightenment]

Masai can choose to either plug the holes in a sinking ship, or go build a new yacht.

Capspace and draft picks plz.

[OldSkoolCool]

I like Porzingis, portis, and Looney.

Was high on wood too but he is returning to school.

2016 draft is getting stronger with guys like LaVert, Wood, Dunn all returning to school.

Not high on Porzingis for some reason. Has tools though

Portis I don't know too much about yet.

Bro. I'm contemplating making this my sig once I can get rid of my current shit show lol

Permission granted

Awkward comments with no/inapropriate context = my life story

[murphturph]

Firing Masia would be the worst decision this franchise could make. He isnt rushing this team. He is building the team the right way. As a long time raptor fan I appreciate a good General manager who doesn't try to build this team as fast as possible crippling future success, and limiting cap space. Masai has done a splendid job. I enjoy watching this Raptor team now. And I cannot wait to see what Masia will do this offseason, and very thankful he did not make a trade for the sake of making a trade during the last trade deadline.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

To fit well beside JV, we will need a player who can stretch the floor at the 4.

I think this is why a lot of people are high on Vonleh here

I've been saying for the last two years that the Raptors need an upgrade at the starting PF spot, but I'm not convinced they need a pure stretch 4. One of the biggest concerns I've had this season (and certainly throughout the playoffs) is that JV is usually left trying to rebound 1-on-2 at both ends of the court (often 1-on-3/4 on the offensive glass). Teams can also crowd the paint to push JV outside the key, since he's the only low-post threat. I would really like the starting PF to be a solid low-post player and rebounder.

I understand the concern with spacing, but ideally both JV and the starting PF could play down low or extend out to 12-15'. I would love to see JV expand his offensive game along the lines of Luc Longley (and Rasho to a lesser extent), who often knocked down jumpers from the foul line and along the baseline. If the PF can also stretch out a mid-range game, it would give the Raptors a 1-2 punch inside, that would prevent defenses from keying on a single player and/or a single spot. Let the guards/wings provide the spacing from 3pt range.

[MACK11]

I've been saying for the last two years that the Raptors need an upgrade at the starting PF spot, but I'm not convinced they need a pure stretch 4. One of the biggest concerns I've had this season (and certainly throughout the playoffs) is that JV is usually left trying to rebound 1-on-2 at both ends of the court (often 1-on-3/4 on the offensive glass). Teams can also crowd the paint to push JV outside the key, since he's the only low-post threat. I would really like the starting PF to be a solid low-post player and rebounder.

I understand the concern with spacing, but ideally both JV and the starting PF could play down low or extend out to 12-15'. I would love to see JV expand his offensive game along the lines of Luc Longley (and Rasho to a lesser extent), who often knocked down jumpers from the foul line and along the baseline. If the PF can also stretch out a mid-range game, it would give the Raptors a 1-2 punch inside, that would prevent defenses from keying on a single player and/or a single spot. Let the guards/wings provide the spacing from 3pt range.

Miles Turner is the only player who is both a plus rebounder and shot blocker who can also shoot the 3.

Problem is that he's gonna be drafted in the 10-15 range.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Miles Turner is the only player who is both a plus rebounder and shot blocker who can also shoot the 3.

Problem is that he's gonna be drafted in the 10

I think it's more likely to target the starting PF via trade or free agency.


1st PRIORITY
- 1a: starting PF
- 1b: young starting PG, if Lowry is traded

2nd PRIORITY
- 2a: 3&D starting SF (Ross is a SG), assuming DeRozan stays to start at SG
- 2b: true backup C
- 2c: young backup/3rd string PG to groom


DEPTH CHART
- C: Valanciunas, 2b, Bebe
- PF: 1a, Patterson, ???
- SF: 2a, JJ, Bruno
- SG: DeRozan, Ross, ???
- PG: Lowry/1b, Vasquez, 2c

[MACK11]

I think it's more likely to target the starting PF via trade or free agency.


1st PRIORITY
- 1a: starting PF
- 1b: young starting PG, if Lowry is traded

2nd PRIORITY
- 2a: 3&D starting SF (Ross is a SG), assuming DeRozan stays to start at SG
- 2b: true backup C
- 2c: young backup/3rd string PG to groom


DEPTH CHART
- C: Valanciunas, 2b, Bebe
- PF: 1a, Patterson, ???
- SF: 2a, JJ, Bruno
- SG: DeRozan, Ross, ???
- PG: Lowry/1b, Vasquez, 2c

Someone who is going under the radar right now is Cameron Payne from Murray State, he reminds me of Damian Lillard.

[magoon]

And if we can't acquire a legit first option, and we're not grooming Val to be one, then we'll probably end up being a treadmill team.

Well, yes. The only true contender that doesn't have a legit first option is the Hawks, and the Hawks basically get around that by having second options who are alpha dogs in a very specific portion of the game - and having an elite coach. Ironically the Hawks are probably harder to build than several other playoff contenders; I mean, the Rockets were basically "James Harden and whatever else we could find" for most of the season due to all their injuries, but they're still a contender because they've got James Harden for crissake.

But simply saying "welp we need a first option" is like Magic Johnson saying that you win basketball by scoring more points than the other team. Which is to say: yes, duh, everybody knows that, but it's not as simple as just saying "well, do it." The opportunities to acquire a legitimate first option are difficult.

1.) You can try to sign one in free agency - but you're competing against more glamorous destinations like Miami or LA, against the Texas teams with no state income tax. It's not easy, and you have to already be a winning team to even have a shot at it. And even then it doesn't always work: Dallas, a team with structural free agency advantages (large market, no income tax, established superstar player) hasn't hit most of its primary free agency targets for years - they missed Dwight, missed Bosh, etc.

2.) You can try to trade for one. Sometimes superstars are available! But usually they're available because they're unhappy with their current loser sad-sack team or because they really have their heart set on playing somewhere specific (Carmelo Anthony, for example). Which means your team has to be A) good enough that when you trade for the superstar, he isn't in sad-sack land all over again (see: Dwight Howard and the Lakers) and B) have enough assets that you still have the core of your team AFTER you trade for the superstar. Cleveland's really the only team that's managed to do it so far and they did it by stockpiling draft picks when the league undervalued picks; that's probably not replicable at this point.

3.) Finally, you can try to draft one, which means either obtaining a really high draft pick or drafting insanely well in the lower range by finding that superstar every lottery team somehow missed. The former are expensive to acquire and don't work with the other two methods because you can't suck and be competitive at the same time. The latter course is possible - see Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert, etc - but pointing out that it's possible doesn't change the fact that the overwhelming majority of players drafted post-lottery become bench guys and roleplayers.

There's no easy answer. Do we go after LMA this year? Try to prep for a run at Durant next year? The only certain thing here is that, thanks to the cap, you can't do both of those things. Do you accumulate assets if you think it likely that Boogie Cousins becomes completely disheartened with Sacramento (because there aren't really any other potentially dissatisfied superstars out there right now) or use those assets to build the team right now?

[Scraptor]

I agree but look at it slightly differently - rather than this summer being Masai's last chance to make a big change, I think it's his first chance to make a big change. The team started playing well immediately after dumping the worst contracts (Bargs and Gay) and he rode out. The ride's over and it's time to make some moves.

Choosing to stay with the status quo was a choice. It's not like his hands were tied after we won a few games post-Rudy. He came in with a massive amount of goodwill and could have justified any move he made.

Instead we put two full years into this core. That is a very real opportunity cost, depending on where we choose to go next.

In any case, we'll revisit after this summer. But I don't think it's fair that Masai gets a two-year mulligan. Either this summer is a continuation of his big plan or we wasted two years on a hapless coach and first-round exits in a historically weak conference.

[Scraptor]

Well, yes. The only true contender that doesn't have a legit first option is the Hawks, and the Hawks basically get around that by having second options who are alpha dogs in a very specific portion of the game - and having an elite coach. Ironically the Hawks are probably harder to build than several other playoff contenders; I mean, the Rockets were basically "James Harden and whatever else we could find" for most of the season due to all their injuries, but they're still a contender because they've got James Harden for crissake.

But simply saying "welp we need a first option" is like Magic Johnson saying that you win basketball by scoring more points than the other team. Which is to say: yes, duh, everybody knows that, but it's not as simple as just saying "well, do it." The opportunities to acquire a legitimate first option are difficult.

1.) You can try to sign one in free agency - but you're competing against more glamorous destinations like Miami or LA, against the Texas teams with no state income tax. It's not easy, and you have to already be a winning team to even have a shot at it. And even then it doesn't always work: Dallas, a team with structural free agency advantages (large market, no income tax, established superstar player) hasn't hit most of its primary free agency targets for years - they missed Dwight, missed Bosh, etc.

2.) You can try to trade for one. Sometimes superstars are available! But usually they're available because they're unhappy with their current loser sad-sack team or because they really have their heart set on playing somewhere specific (Carmelo Anthony, for example). Which means your team has to be A) good enough that when you trade for the superstar, he isn't in sad-sack land all over again (see: Dwight Howard and the Lakers) and B) have enough assets that you still have the core of your team AFTER you trade for the superstar. Cleveland's really the only team that's managed to do it so far and they did it by stockpiling draft picks when the league undervalued picks; that's probably not replicable at this point.

3.) Finally, you can try to draft one, which means either obtaining a really high draft pick or drafting insanely well in the lower range by finding that superstar every lottery team somehow missed. The former are expensive to acquire and don't work with the other two methods because you can't suck and be competitive at the same time. The latter course is possible - see Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert, etc - but pointing out that it's possible doesn't change the fact that the overwhelming majority of players drafted post-lottery become bench guys and roleplayers.

There's no easy answer. Do we go after LMA this year? Try to prep for a run at Durant next year? The only certain thing here is that, thanks to the cap, you can't do both of those things. Do you accumulate assets if you think it likely that Boogie Cousins becomes completely disheartened with Sacramento (because there aren't really any other potentially dissatisfied superstars out there right now) or use those assets to build the team right now?

Uh yes, I understand all this.

My point was made in the context of an argument that Masai made a conscious choice to build from the middle. It's not like we suddenly found ourselves here by accident.

For a team with a perception problem like ours, one that is only compounded by getting punked by Paul Pierce, the free agency route seems unlikely to get it done, as it has for the past twenty years.

But who knows? Maybe Masai has some secret plan to turn us into an Atlanta-style team, or some other grand vision. All I'm saying is that if no plan emerges, we should really question whether Masai is a strategist or a tactician. Because flying by the seat of your pants probably won't work for a market like ours.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Choosing to stay with the status quo was a choice. It's not like his hands were tied after we won a few games post-Rudy. He came in with a massive amount of goodwill and could have justified any move he made.

Instead we put two full years into this core. That is a very real opportunity cost, depending on where we choose to go next.

In any case, we'll revisit after this summer. But I don't think it's fair that Masai gets a two-year mulligan. Either this summer is a continuation of his big plan or we wasted two years on a hapless coach and first-round exits in a historically weak conference.

I understand and agree with what you're saying, but there's another side to the coin.

Media caught wind of the Lowry trade negotiations last year, in a move that was intended to kickstart a true rebuilding process (*tank*). We also have no idea what other moves he pursued involving the many expiring contracts on the roster this season. In both cases, the benefits of letting this core have a playoff run while letting those contracts expire (along with the resulting moves that can/will be made with that cap space), may have outweighed the benefits of making the moves that were available to him throughout the season.

I know very well how the saying goes about good intentions, but having a long-term strategy sometimes makes it hard to execute it in a short period of time, since so much is beyond the GMs control (ie: finding a dance partner for trades). As others have pointed out, players like DeRozan and Lowry have likely increased their trade value in the meantime. The only thing about that outcome that irks me, is the lack of development of the younger players - but we have no idea how involved MU has been with their development plan and/or if he supports whatever work has been going on behind-the-scenes.

I absolutely agree that this summer should be the moment that finally gives the fans a glimpse of the direction MU intends to take this franchise, in terms of personnel, coaching, development, timelines, etc...