2015 Raptors Offseason - Everything rumors, musings and rumblings

[NoPropsneeded]

No way we have cap space for both... Would need trades to happen.

I think LMA is option 1 and guys like Wes, Aminu and Biyombo are backup plan if we miss you on him.

But we are headed in the right direction.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=qghbvdc Somethin like that maybe, throw in a second rounder if need be

[GLF]

I'm shocked that so many of you guys are so confident LMA has a good chance of picking Toronto. I hope you guys are right but I'm not holding my breath

[MixxAOR]

I'm shocked that so many of you guys are so confident LMA has a good chance of picking Toronto. I hope you guys are right but I'm not holding my breath

I don't think people are saying they are confident. They are good reasons for him to pick Toronto and it's not impossible. Obviously nothing is guaranteed.

[GLF]

I don't think people are saying they are confident. They are good reasons for him to pick Toronto and it's not impossible. Obviously nothing is guaranteed.

You're right but there are definitely a few ppl who are talking pretty confidently. I just think it's going to be very hard for him to pass up the Spurs. Especially when Tim Duncan, tony parker and Pop take the time to try and sell him on San Antonio. I know I would say yes pretty much right away.

[Raptorsnz]

Ayyyyy shout out to lil wright!

— Wesley Matthews (@wessywes2) June 26, 2015

Looks like he is a fan of our draft pick too!

Matthews did play with Dorell Wright for the last 2 seasons.

[BobLoblaw]

I don't think Dallas is a good option.

Houston and San Antonio are.

He won't be the man on either team.

He'll still be in the west.

Houston is ok, it would look great on paper, but I also feel that it wouldn't work out so well for him, especially at first. For one, they can't give him max without clearing almost everything, including Ariza. So either he needs to take a paycut for next year, or that team will have no role players. If it has no role players, it will probably be worse for a year or two.

Another thing is personalities... remember how Kobe said that Dwight is going to be his Tyson Chandler and that didn't sit well with Dwight? Is he now ready to be Tyson Chandler to Harden and Aldridge? Aldridge is a much much better big man scoring option, so offense should revolve around him and Harden, with Dwight picking up a few point off pick and roll and rebounds, like Chandler. Players often say the right things about sacrificing for the sake of winning, but then they lose motivation when they start sacrificing.

[BobLoblaw]

Lol there's really no point discussing it ad nauseum. He's a great player, no matter what you think of "midrange shooting" ,"fit" or what have you we'd be a better team with him. However, our discussions only serve to convince/argue with ourselves... Because in the long run, it won't make a difference to the teams pitch or his ideas. (I get its a forum but it seems we're all hitting the same keys here)

Side note, although we can offer him the max, his take home will be nowhere near what it'd be in Texas. I believe it's be something like $13-14 on an 18 million contract (it's actually probably less)

Telling us that our discussions won't make a difference, won't make any difference.

[BobLoblaw]

Lol seriously, like I'm just trying to understand...

Memphis gets away with running Conley/Allen/Green/ZBo/Gasol. That's 3 guys in the lineup that cannot make a 3 to save their lives. Then you add on the fact that Green is just OK from 3, shoots a decent percentage but hardly makes any, and Conley is a little bit better. And they were arguably the 2nd best team in the Western Conference last year.

- JV projects to potentially be as good as Gasol.
- Aldridge is better than ZBo
- Allen being a great defender is fine, but we're talking about fit here on offense. You're saying DD doesn't fit because he's not a great 3PT shooter... but Allen made like 10 3s last season.
- Conley is not any better of a player than Lowry is.

You said it yourself, you are talking about fit on offense. Grizzlies win with defense. They are just average on offense.

Also, they don't play Tony Allen and Green together a lot.

Conley is a better player than last year's Lowry, though hopefully that changes next year. Jonas being as good as Marc Gasol is a pipe dream, IMHO.

[BobLoblaw]

Think LMA has to take less to join the Spurs. If he wants more money Raptors are a better choice

Not necessarily, their cap situation is not clear yet. How much money will their older guys take this time? How much will they have to pay Danny Green? It depends on those answers, plus they could dump Tiago Splitter quite easily I suspect -- or maybe Diaw if they include some picks.

They can find a way to give him max. Plus with no tax, that's some extra money.

Besides, if he's signing just a 1 year deal, then it might not matter so much to him if he gets max or slightly below max for that one year.

[Bear]

Could be a plan B after LA.

could go along with plan lamarcus and plan removal of dd

[BobLoblaw]

I'm predicting we land him. Nevermind the rest of you...I deserve it after 20 years of heartbreak, frustration and agony

Yep, I'm predicting it too. Though my first option would be the Spurs if I were him.

[DanH]

Who cares if it's unlikely we land him? If we as fans can't dream at this time of year, when can we?

[Axel]

SI's Free Agent Rankings

Big
http://www.si.com/nba/2015/06/29/nba...ove-tim-duncan

Ball Handlers
http://www.si.com/nba/2015/06/29/nba...mavericks-suns

Wings
http://www.si.com/nba/2015/06/29/nba...d-jimmy-butler

[BobLoblaw]

i think lma and his versatility is one of the only ways to go all in with demar. without that presence i think you look for a demar trade option after. but if we can add lma to lowry, demar, jv and one of whoever at the 3. that is a really good and balanced starting 5

DeMar would be fine, I think. Aldridge usually commands a defender on him at all times, plus another help defender nearby, that will help everyone get easier looks, including DeMar.

But if you replace DeMar with a similar caliber player who's a 3pt shooter and slasher, I have no doubt that the team would be better. You would open up the floor for LaMarcus better, and that player X would benefit from LaMarcus even more than DeMar would.

Ultimately it sounds like some people argue that DeMar and Aldridge would be a disaster on the floor together, other people argue that DeMar would be great, and he shouldn't be traded. I think it's neither, DeMar would be fine, but he still should be traded, because it just wouldn't be ideal.

That's not to say trade DeMar for some scrub off the street. If you can't get fair value, then keep him I guess. But if you can make a good deal for someone who's more of a 3pt / slash / pass / D guy, then do it.

[thead]

and my head exploded. I'm dead now...and it's all your fault guys.