The 2016 Offseason thread

[ball4life]

The Pistons were a title team with Billups/Rip/Prince/Wallace/Wallace. Lowry/DD/Carroll/Milsap/JV isn't too far off from that.

Find me another team like that..

they are an exception not a rule. Another underrated aspect of that team is 1 through 9 they were defensive monsters.

We may very well create another exception but the odds are against us.

[JimiCliff]

Find me another team like that..

they are an exception not a rule. Another underrated aspect of that team is 1 through 9 they were defensive monsters.

We may very well create another exception but the odds are against us.

Well, it's either that or sign Durant. I know which one I think's more likely.

[Barolt]

The Lakers are working out Ellenson, who's projecting to go around our pick.

I'm wondering if that's an indication of something.

[NoPropsneeded]

The Lakers are working out Ellenson, who's projecting to go around our pick.

I'm wondering if that's an indication of something.

Ross + 9th for the number 2 pick?

[white men can't jump]

Man, how did I used to get through 2+ months of no Raps stuff to talk about. Season's still barely over for the Raps, and I'm dying here with the draft still 3 weeks away.

[Scraptor]

Man, how did I used to get through 2+ months of no Raps stuff to talk about. Season's still barely over for the Raps, and I'm dying here with the draft still 3 weeks away.

We were always so far away it was easier to be apathetic. Now that we're close we're all dreaming and scheming of how to get over the hump.

[Barolt]

Hypothetical question:

In Masai's shoes, if DeMar wasn't his priority in the offseason, but he wanted to keep that as a backup plan, and knew that if he said DeMar wasn't his priority it would piss off DeMar and take him off the table as an option, how would he handle the post-season presser?

He's say DeMar was the number one option, but hedge really hard in case his other plans work out and he doesn't bring DeMar back, knowing that DeMar is popular with the fan base, right?

Isn't that kinda what he did by refusing to answer the max question, and hesitating a lot before saying that DeMar was the number one option?

I'm not saying this is what's going on, but that'd be the right way to handle it in that case, wouldn't it?

[white men can't jump]

Hypothetical question:

In Masai's shoes, if DeMar wasn't his priority in the offseason, but he wanted to keep that as a backup plan, and knew that if he said DeMar wasn't his priority it would piss off DeMar and take him off the table as an option, how would he handle the post-season presser?

He's say DeMar was the number one option, but hedge really hard in case his other plans work out and he doesn't bring DeMar back, knowing that DeMar is popular with the fan base, right?

Isn't that kinda what he did by refusing to answer the max question, and hesitating a lot before saying that DeMar was the number one option?

I'm not saying this is what's going on, but that'd be the right way to handle it in that case, wouldn't it?

You're overthinking this.

It's Masai. He's too smart to do anything stupid in the media. He did what he always does: be very evasive and non-committal about every question asked. He says anything he loses power at the negotiating table. He sticks to vague remarks and fluff. I like it. No one should have any clue what his real thought process is and he's done a great job of that his whole time here.

[Barolt]

You're overthinking this.

It's Masai. He's too smart to do anything stupid in the media. He did what he always does: be very evasive and non-committal about every question asked. He says anything he loses power at the negotiating table. He sticks to vague remarks and fluff. I like it. No one should have any clue what his real thought process is and he's done a great job of that his whole time here.

I get it, but even Masai understands that certain things have meaning. He has to say DeMar is the number one priority, whether or not DeMar is, because saying anything else risks offending DeMar, and Masai hates closing off options.

[thead]

all of you are wrong...that is all

[thead]

except Barolt...Barolt is mostly correct

[white men can't jump]

I get it, but even Masai understands that certain things have meaning. He has to say DeMar is the number one priority, whether or not DeMar is, because saying anything else risks offending DeMar, and Masai hates closing off options.

It's also literally true. What can Masai do before resolving the DeMar situation? Pretty much nothing. His cap hold takes up too much space, and re-signing him will probably be to a deal larger than that. That means even if they have other priorities, they still have to talk to DeMar first. Whether that's to sign him, to part ways, or to get him to sit for a few days while they try to make moves and bring a big target in, they can't do anything without knowing how they'll resolve his situation.

[Barolt]

It's also literally true. What can Masai do before resolving the DeMar situation? Pretty much nothing. His cap hold takes up too much space, and re-signing him will probably be to a deal larger than that. That means even if they have other priorities, they still have to talk to DeMar first. Whether that's to sign him, to part ways, or to get him to sit for a few days while they try to make moves and bring a big target in, they can't do anything without knowing how they'll resolve his situation.

But they can take meetings with other players' agents, just like DeMar is going to take meetings with other teams, between July 1 and July 7, during the moratorium. And if they reach an agreement in principle that executing would require letting DeMar go, they can make that decision at that time.

[white men can't jump]

But they can take meetings with other players' agents, just like DeMar is going to take meetings with other teams, between July 1 and July 7, during the moratorium. And if they reach an agreement in principle that executing would require letting DeMar go, they can make that decision at that time.

They can do that, but still, doing anything without resolving what they want to do with DeMar is a pretty bold and possibly stupid ass move. As much as I don't care if we keep him, we're the Toronto Raptors. We can't just not talk to him and cut him loose. We still need to do things for show to a certain degree. So even if the meeting is to decide to part ways, we still need to talk to DeMar first. Meaning no matter the outcome of the meeting it still needs to happen before we can move forward in any way with the rest of our offseason.

And doing something like getting DeMar to wait, and then cutting him loose could really kill the team's reputation around the league, and especially our front office's. Definitely don't want that.

[Barolt]

They can do that, but still, doing anything without resolving what they want to do with DeMar is a pretty bold and possibly stupid ass move. As much as I don't care if we keep him, we're the Toronto Raptors. We can't just not talk to him and cut him loose. We still need to do things for show to a certain degree. So even if the meeting is to decide to part ways, we still need to talk to DeMar first. Meaning no matter the outcome of the meeting it still needs to happen before we can move forward in any way with the rest of our offseason.

And doing something like getting DeMar to wait, and then cutting him loose could really kill the team's reputation around the league, and especially our front office's. Definitely don't want that.

I agree with all of that, but none of that is happening for another month. In the meantime, in his end of season presser, Masai said exactly what he would say... whether he's keeping DeMar or not.