Official Speculation Thread ‘19-'20 I: Big decisions on the horizon

[ezzzp]

Like Steve Clifford said "you do not put a ceiling on a team." Period!

I love that mentality, sports are just way too erratic for certainties based on popular opinion...good teams come out of nowhere and players with little or no hype emerge from unlikely places regularly.

[npiper17]

Well we've been beaten by the easter conf champs and maybe the NBA champions.
Not that bad after all.

Won our first game.... got swept.....bucks won the first 2... then got swept.... therefore we are slightly worse than the Bucks! lol

We won one in Toronto and the Bucks didn’t win any therefore we are better than the Bucks!

[BadMofoPimp]

Paul Hembekides
@PaulHembo
The Raptors reach the NBA Finals without a top-10 pick playing a single minute for them in the playoffs.

According to
@EliasSports

[tiderulz]

Paul Hembekides
@PaulHembo
The Raptors reach the NBA Finals without a top-10 pick playing a single minute for them in the playoffs.

According to
@EliasSports

thats some great drafting and development.

[swarlesbarkley]

Paul Hembekides
@PaulHembo
The Raptors reach the NBA Finals without a top-10 pick playing a single minute for them in the playoffs.

According to
@EliasSports

thats some great drafting and development.

Also kind of a loophole stat since they traded their #9 pick DeRozan for Kawhi.

[BadMofoPimp]

thats some great drafting and development.

Also kind of a loophole stat since they traded their #9 pick DeRozan for Kawhi.

Yep, but even with that, their best pick was a #9 on that team over the years and they still were a top 5 team in the NBA for years.

[pepe1991]

Paul Hembekides
@PaulHembo
The Raptors reach the NBA Finals without a top-10 pick playing a single minute for them in the playoffs.

According to
@EliasSports

thats some great drafting and development.

Siakam, Powell and Vleet are drafted by them, rest not.

Gasol- Lakers
Lowry- Memphis
Leonard- Spurs
Ibaka- OKC
Green- Cavs

[tiderulz]

thats some great drafting and development.

Also kind of a loophole stat since they traded their #9 pick DeRozan for Kawhi.

that #9 pick didnt even get them to the conference finals did he?

[tiderulz]

thats some great drafting and development.

Siakam, Powell and Vleet are drafted by them, rest not.

Gasol- Lakers
Lowry- Memphis
Leonard- Spurs
Ibaka- OKC
Green- Cavs

Gasol - traded for Delon (raptors pick), Jonas(raptors pick) and CJ
Leonard/Green - trade for Demar/Poetl both raptors picks
Ibaka - traded for Ross (raptors pick)

so the other not-top-10 picks were acquired almost exclusively by Raptors picks. And Lowry moved into the upper echelon of PG's with his time in Toronto.

[BadMofoPimp]

thats some great drafting and development.

Also kind of a loophole stat since they traded their #9 pick DeRozan for Kawhi.

that #9 pick didnt even get them to the conference finals did he?

2015/16 he did. But, he did lead them to be a top NBA team for a few years during regular season. Who knows how he would have played with Siakam (now), gasol and Ibaka?

[Xatticus]

thats some great drafting and development.

Siakam, Powell and Vleet are drafted by them, rest not.

Gasol- Lakers
Lowry- Memphis
Leonard- Spurs
Ibaka- OKC
Green- Cavs

Fun fact: Daryl Morey used Orlando's 2009 1st-round pick to swipe Lowry from Memphis.

Lowry was a talented young PG that was available because Memphis used the 4th overall pick on Mike Conley the year after they drafted Lowry. It was widely known that he was available, but Morey didn't have a first round pick in the upcoming draft to send in return.

Orlando went into the season with only a 34-year-old Anthony Johnson as a backup for Jameer Nelson because Otis Smith... is Otis Smith. Nelson got injured that year and Smith got desperate. First, he traded for a 31-year-old Tyronn Lue; who didn't help much and who would be out of the NBA by the end of the season.

Morey seized upon the opportunity to fleece Orlando. He traded his 32-year-old starting PG (Alston) to Orlando and used Orlando's 1st-round pick to pry Lowry loose from Memphis. Houston won 53 games that year and was the fifth seed in the Western Conference, but Morey was willing to trade his starting PG because he had a basic understanding of economics that Smith lacked.

Rafer Alston would be out of the NBA one year later, while Lowry has since made five All-Star appearances and is on his way to the NBA Finals for the first time. Morey would eventually trade Lowry to Toronto for a 1st-round pick and he would later trade that same 1st-round pick in the deal that got them James Harden.

This all seems quite relevant to me right now with people throwing out ideas of trading our 1st-round pick to acquire a soon to be 32-year-old Mike Conley.

[Nyce_1]

Paul Hembekides
@PaulHembo
The Raptors reach the NBA Finals without a top-10 pick playing a single minute for them in the playoffs.

According to
@EliasSports

thats some great drafting and development.

Their drafting has been meh. More of an attribution to their savvy trades.

[tiderulz]

thats some great drafting and development.

Siakam, Powell and Vleet are drafted by them, rest not.

Gasol- Lakers
Lowry- Memphis
Leonard- Spurs
Ibaka- OKC
Green- Cavs

Fun fact: Daryl Morey used Orlando's 2009 1st-round pick to swipe Lowry from Memphis.

Lowry was a talented young PG that was available because Memphis used the 4th overall pick on Mike Conley the year after they drafted Lowry. It was widely known that he was available, but Morey didn't have a first round pick in the upcoming draft to send in return.

Orlando went into the season with only a 34-year-old Anthony Johnson as a backup for Jameer Nelson because Otis Smith... is Otis Smith. Nelson got injured that year and Smith got desperate. First, he traded for a 31-year-old Tyronn Lue; who didn't help much and who would be out of the NBA by the end of the season.

Morey seized upon the opportunity to fleece Orlando. He traded his 32-year-old starting PG (Alston) to Orlando and used Orlando's 1st-round pick to pry Lowry loose from Memphis. Houston won 53 games that year and was the fifth seed in the Western Conference, but Morey was willing to trade his starting PG because he had a basic understanding of economics that Smith lacked.

Rafer Alston would be out of the NBA one year later, while Lowry has since made five All-Star appearances and is on his way to the NBA Finals for the first time. Morey would eventually trade Lowry to Toronto for a 1st-round pick and he would later trade that same 1st-round pick in the deal that got them James Harden.

This all seems quite relevant to me right now with people throwing out ideas of trading our 1st-round pick to acquire a soon to be 32-year-old Mike Conley.

more fun fact, that specific pick was used on Steven Adams.

[tiderulz]

thats some great drafting and development.

Their drafting has been meh. More of an attribution to their savvy trades.

well, its not like they have been drafting in the top-6 or anything.

[Bensational]

thats some great drafting and development.

Siakam, Powell and Vleet are drafted by them, rest not.

Gasol- Lakers
Lowry- Memphis
Leonard- Spurs
Ibaka- OKC
Green- Cavs

Fun fact: Daryl Morey used Orlando's 2009 1st-round pick to swipe Lowry from Memphis.

Lowry was a talented young PG that was available because Memphis used the 4th overall pick on Mike Conley the year after they drafted Lowry. It was widely known that he was available, but Morey didn't have a first round pick in the upcoming draft to send in return.

Orlando went into the season with only a 34-year-old Anthony Johnson as a backup for Jameer Nelson because Otis Smith... is Otis Smith. Nelson got injured that year and Smith got desperate. First, he traded for a 31-year-old Tyronn Lue; who didn't help much and who would be out of the NBA by the end of the season.

Morey seized upon the opportunity to fleece Orlando. He traded his 32-year-old starting PG (Alston) to Orlando and used Orlando's 1st-round pick to pry Lowry loose from Memphis. Houston won 53 games that year and was the fifth seed in the Western Conference, but Morey was willing to trade his starting PG because he had a basic understanding of economics that Smith lacked.

Rafer Alston would be out of the NBA one year later, while Lowry has since made five All-Star appearances and is on his way to the NBA Finals for the first time. Morey would eventually trade Lowry to Toronto for a 1st-round pick and he would later trade that same 1st-round pick in the deal that got them James Harden.

This all seems quite relevant to me right now with people throwing out ideas of trading our 1st-round pick to acquire a soon to be 32-year-old Mike Conley.

I saw this the other day when looking up how Toronto's team came together. Was surprised to see that we could have had Lowry instead of Alston that year. Still wouldn't change anything.

But yes, good point about remembering where the value comes from. Conley would only provide value for a 2 year window. A draft pick could have an impact spanning multiple decades.

[ezzzp]

Fun fact: Daryl Morey used Orlando's 2009 1st-round pick to swipe Lowry from Memphis.

Lowry was a talented young PG that was available because Memphis used the 4th overall pick on Mike Conley the year after they drafted Lowry. It was widely known that he was available, but Morey didn't have a first round pick in the upcoming draft to send in return.

Orlando went into the season with only a 34-year-old Anthony Johnson as a backup for Jameer Nelson because Otis Smith... is Otis Smith. Nelson got injured that year and Smith got desperate. First, he traded for a 31-year-old Tyronn Lue; who didn't help much and who would be out of the NBA by the end of the season.

Morey seized upon the opportunity to fleece Orlando. He traded his 32-year-old starting PG (Alston) to Orlando and used Orlando's 1st-round pick to pry Lowry loose from Memphis. Houston won 53 games that year and was the fifth seed in the Western Conference, but Morey was willing to trade his starting PG because he had a basic understanding of economics that Smith lacked.

Rafer Alston would be out of the NBA one year later, while Lowry has since made five All-Star appearances and is on his way to the NBA Finals for the first time. Morey would eventually trade Lowry to Toronto for a 1st-round pick and he would later trade that same 1st-round pick in the deal that got them James Harden.

This all seems quite relevant to me right now with people throwing out ideas of trading our 1st-round pick to acquire a soon to be 32-year-old Mike Conley.

Rafer Alston was crucial to the Magic's Finals run. Without him, its doubtful the Magic get as far as they did.

Also that 18th pick ended ended up being DeMarre Carroll. So really the equation is, was that finals run worth more or less than DeMarre Carroll? I'll take the NBA finals appearance.

The trade was : https://www.basketball-reference.com/executives/moreyda99x.html

Houston Out: Rafer Alston
Houston In: Kyle Lowry + Brian Cook

Orlando Out: Brian Cook + Adonal Foyle + Mike Wilks + 2009 1st Rd Pk (#18)
Orlando In: Rafer Alston

Memphis Out: Kyle Lowry
Memphis In: 2009 1st Rd Pk (selected DeMarre Carroll at #18) + Adonal Foyle + Mike Wilks

In 3.5 seasons, Kyle Lowry was a back up PG half the games he played in Houston + he missed half of his final season with injury. While in Houston he averaged 11.5ppg / 5.7 apg / .549 TS% / 16.6 PER.

Morey traded Lowry to Toronto for Gary Forbes and a future 1st. A month later, he traded that 1st (Steven Adams) + a future 1st (Mitch McGarry) + 2nd (Alex Abrines) + Jeremy Lamb + K Martin for James Harden.

[VFX]

thats some great drafting and development.

Also kind of a loophole stat since they traded their #9 pick DeRozan for Kawhi.

that #9 pick didnt even get them to the conference finals did he?

Desperation trade of their top 10 lotto pick they “developed”, for a disgruntled one with a better skillset and a high chance at leaving. They’ve landed on later picks and decent role players though. Valanciunas was also the 5th pick, so they either missed on him entirely or they leveraged him (along with value in Delon and Miles) to “win now” for Gasol in either scenario.

[MasterGMer]

Some reports are saying Kyrie to either Lakers or BKN and some inside the BKN organization is saying that BKN is trying to pair up DRussell and Kyrie.

So no DRussell for Magic?

[OrlChamps2030]

thats some great drafting and development.

Also kind of a loophole stat since they traded their #9 pick DeRozan for Kawhi.

that #9 pick didnt even get them to the conference finals did he?

Pretty sure DeRozan made the ECF with Toronto. They just had to go up against one of the GOATs in Bron who eventually took down one of the best teams of all time in the Warriors

Either way, Masai has been great for Toronto.

[ezzzp]

I saw this the other day when looking up how Toronto's team came together. Was surprised to see that we could have had Lowry instead of Alston that year. Still wouldn't change anything.

But yes, good point about remembering where the value comes from. Conley would only provide value for a 2 year window. A draft pick could have an impact spanning multiple decades.

Alston was crucial for the finals run, Lowry wasn't good at the time of the trade.

He was a back up in his first 2 seasons with Houston. He only became a decent starter in his 3d year with Houston, but in 4th year missed half season then Morey traded him. He didn't really become the good Kyle Lowry until his second year in Toronto...six years after the Alston mid season trade.

The pick was #18 who Memphis used to draft DeMarre Carroll. I'll take that NBA finals run over him everyday. Otis got that one right.