PG: Wrecked

[2019nbachamps]

People need to stop making lame excuses. Our FO is why we’re this terrible, not due to injuries or a grand tanking strategy. We had a flawed roster yet they doubled down on it and allowed OG, Siakam, FVV to wind down their contracts which limited our options. They then tried to enter the season and compete but discovered we were still a bad team with a win percentage in the 300s. They pivoted with the two big trades and we still found ourselves in the 300s (understandable given we traded Pascal for draft picks). With absolutely nothing to play for they decided to call it in given Barnes and Poeltl are done for the year. Remember also they fired the best coach in team history because they thought he was under delivering with this roster. A less qualified coach is showed us this team was never capable of much. Now we need to endure being doormats for a few years to cleanse the mess our FO created.

[ArthurVandelay]

People need to stop making lame excuses. Our FO is why we’re this terrible, not due to injuries or a grand tanking strategy. We had a flawed roster yet they doubled down on it and allowed OG, Siakam, FVV to wind down their contracts which limited our options. They then tried to enter the season and compete but discovered we were still a bad team with a win percentage in the 300s. They pivoted with the two big trades and we still found ourselves in the 300s (understandable given we traded Pascal for draft picks). With absolutely nothing to play for they decided to call it in given Barnes and Poeltl are done for the year. Remember also they fired the best coach in team history because they thought he was under delivering with this roster. A less qualified coach is showed us this team was never capable of much. Now we need to endure being doormats for a few years to cleanse the mess our FO created.

The Poeltl trade was a fail. I don't think anyone can really deny that. Odds are Poeltl is a better player than pick 7+ becomes, but those odds aren't absolute.

Fred leaving for nothing was not good but the return does nothing to change the fortunes of the team in the short term.

The OG trade was the best case outcome. Waiting there delivered a better returned.

Siakam didn't have great trade value. I don't get why people don't see that. The rumoured returns were always quite mediocre despite him being all-NBA/Allstar. Indiana was never offering Mathurin or their 2023 lottery pick. Siakam intentionally tanked his trade value.

Two starters <25 year old starters, two rotation players, and 3 draft picks is a pretty good haul for Siakam and OG thus far. We'll see what else comes of it.

When Barnes/Poeltl injuries and RJ tragedy hit, what else are they supposed to do?

Nurse was fired because he was an @sshole and the future of the franchise didn't have a good relationship with him.

Just about every team that has any level of sustainable success goes through a multi-season period of losing first. The shorter the losing usually means the luckier or better (or both) the FO - take your pick.

None of these are excuses. It's the reality of the situation. No front office is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. But the idea the Raptors are a doomed franchise right now is dramatic hysteria. They have no bad contracts, draft capital, a 22 year old all-star, and young guys with room to grow. Things take time.

[Scase]

That Washington game might be the only winnable one for us. Brooklyn is on a B2B and away. Even if we lose every game from here, it still won't be good enough to catch Portland or Charlotte though. Pretty insane that we could end up with a 21 game losing streak and still not be a top 5 worst team.

Tank teams gotta wake up pretty early to catch that worm, we hit the snooze button until noon. Can't "compete" that way.

[rarefind]

Someone needs to be fired if that pick doesn't belong to us after the lottery.

Decent shot we hand the Spurs a quick route to a dynasty all for Jakob Poeltl. Hindsight is everything but this deal was always going to break our backs.

If we hand the Spurs a dynasty based on the #6 pick in one of the worst drafts of all time, kudos to them.

They drafted some tall French kid last year. You may have heard of him... Them having two more lottery picks the year after certainly won't help them though, right?

Also, we can keep rationalizing the trade by looking at the projected draft strength but it doesn't take away from how shortsighted the deal was.

[Senbonzakura]

Yeah the Poeltl trade was awful. I don't think anyone with a brain would deny that.

It's not possible to reverse that though, we need to focus on doing what we can now from where we are.

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

The Spurs got Wemby, and they're a 17 win team. Tanking isn't a quick fix, it's just the start of a slow multi year re-build.

You get to 23 wins because of lots of bad decisions strung together, by a leadership group that's floundering.

[Duffman100]

Someone needs to be fired if that pick doesn't belong to us after the lottery.

Decent shot we hand the Spurs a quick route to a dynasty all for Jakob Poeltl. Hindsight is everything but this deal was always going to break our backs.

If we hand the Spurs a dynasty based on the #6 pick in one of the worst drafts of all time, kudos to them.

They drafted some tall French kid last year. You may have heard of him... Them having two more lottery picks the year after certainly won't help them though, right?

Also, we can keep rationalizing the trade by looking at the projected draft strength but it doesn't take away from how shortsighted the deal was.

The point being the #7 pick in this draft isn't 'short routing them to a dynasty". That dynasty is Wemby and all Wemby.

[Truthrising]

I’ll go back to watching basketball when Barnes is back in the lineup again.

[Los_29]

People need to stop making lame excuses. Our FO is why we’re this terrible, not due to injuries or a grand tanking strategy. We had a flawed roster yet they doubled down on it and allowed OG, Siakam, FVV to wind down their contracts which limited our options. They then tried to enter the season and compete but discovered we were still a bad team with a win percentage in the 300s. They pivoted with the two big trades and we still found ourselves in the 300s (understandable given we traded Pascal for draft picks). With absolutely nothing to play for they decided to call it in given Barnes and Poeltl are done for the year. Remember also they fired the best coach in team history because they thought he was under delivering with this roster. A less qualified coach is showed us this team was never capable of much. Now we need to endure being doormats for a few years to cleanse the mess our FO created.

Nurse wasn’t going to coach here again. It was the right decision. He had checked out mid-way through last year.

[DelAbbot]

People need to stop making lame excuses. Our FO is why we’re this terrible, not due to injuries or a grand tanking strategy. We had a flawed roster yet they doubled down on it and allowed OG, Siakam, FVV to wind down their contracts which limited our options. They then tried to enter the season and compete but discovered we were still a bad team with a win percentage in the 300s. They pivoted with the two big trades and we still found ourselves in the 300s (understandable given we traded Pascal for draft picks). With absolutely nothing to play for they decided to call it in given Barnes and Poeltl are done for the year. Remember also they fired the best coach in team history because they thought he was under delivering with this roster. A less qualified coach is showed us this team was never capable of much. Now we need to endure being doormats for a few years to cleanse the mess our FO created.

You are dreaming if you think Masai isn't going to compete next year. His delusions are now based on IQ and RJ replacing the value of OG + PS + FVV.

[DelAbbot]

Someone needs to be fired if that pick doesn't belong to us after the lottery.

Decent shot we hand the Spurs a quick route to a dynasty all for Jakob Poeltl. Hindsight is everything but this deal was always going to break our backs.

If we hand the Spurs a dynasty based on the #6 pick in one of the worst drafts of all time, kudos to them.

They drafted some tall French kid last year. You may have heard of him... Them having two more lottery picks the year after certainly won't help them though, right?

Also, we can keep rationalizing the trade by looking at the projected draft strength but it doesn't take away from how shortsighted the deal was.

Anyone with brains cells realized that Poeltl was a short-sighted trade the moment it happened. It has only exponentially gotten worse over the past 12 months.

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

23W's to 45W's is a long way to go.

[Duffman100]

23W's to 45W's is a long way to go.

You have to factor in we haven't had our starting lineup for how long?

It's like somewhere around 32-35 wins to 45 wins. Which is still a tall order, but when you put the growth of Barnes and Dick, add KO and Ochai, familiarity of RJ and Quickley plus a mid first and an early 2nd round pick and it's possible.

[PushDaRock]

That Washington game might be the only winnable one for us. Brooklyn is on a B2B and away. Even if we lose every game from here, it still won't be good enough to catch Portland or Charlotte though. Pretty insane that we could end up with a 21 game losing streak and still not be a top 5 worst team.

Tank teams gotta wake up pretty early to catch that worm, we hit the snooze button until noon. Can't "compete" that way.

4th worst team last year was Charlotte and they won 27 games. Rockets and Spurs were tied for 2nd worst at 22 wins. This year is just a bit of an anomaly in getting a lot of extremely terrible teams. Winning 23 games should get you in the top 3 in a normal year and at least top 5.

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

23W's to 45W's is a long way to go.

You have to factor in we haven't had our starting lineup for how long?

It's like somewhere around 32-35 wins to 45 wins. Which is still a tall order, but when you put the growth of Barnes and Dick, add KO and Ochai, familiarity of RJ and Quickley plus a mid first and an early 2nd round pick and it's possible.

Yeah, but...it can get worse. Players can regress, the wheels can fall off.

[Duffman100]

23W's to 45W's is a long way to go.

You have to factor in we haven't had our starting lineup for how long?

It's like somewhere around 32-35 wins to 45 wins. Which is still a tall order, but when you put the growth of Barnes and Dick, add KO and Ochai, familiarity of RJ and Quickley plus a mid first and an early 2nd round pick and it's possible.

Yeah, but...it can get worse. Players can regress, the wheels can fall off.

Sure but given our average age that isn't likely to happen.

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

You have to factor in we haven't had our starting lineup for how long?

It's like somewhere around 32-35 wins to 45 wins. Which is still a tall order, but when you put the growth of Barnes and Dick, add KO and Ochai, familiarity of RJ and Quickley plus a mid first and an early 2nd round pick and it's possible.

Yeah, but...it can get worse. Players can regress, the wheels can fall off.

Sure but given our average age that isn't likely to happen.

Given the average age, winning's not likely either.

[Potential]

Knicks fan here. Just wanted to say I'm absolutely amazed at Gradey's shooting ability. Not too many players in the league aside from Curry where you are actually surprised when they miss.

Early on in the season we were surprised when he actually hit rim. He came a long way

[Duffman100]

Yeah, but...it can get worse. Players can regress, the wheels can fall off.

Sure but given our average age that isn't likely to happen.

Given the average age, winning's not likely either.

Based on what?

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

Sure but given our average age that isn't likely to happen.

Given the average age, winning's not likely either.

Based on what?

History, youth is inverse to winning.