Scottie isn't going to be a #1 option superstar in this league

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

If we get a top 5 pick next year as Barnes/IQ/Dick/Walter/Barrett grow together you have one of the best young teams in basketball...

Strongly disagree

[agkagk]

If we get a top 5 pick next year as Barnes/IQ/Dick/Walter/Barrett grow together you have one of the best young teams in basketball...

Strongly disagree

Only happens if we suffer significant injuries.

Post siakan/ og trades, with a healthy scottie, thats basically a 500 team.


On paper were a play in team atm

[DreamTeam09]

Jason Tatum is 24 7 4 in 113 playoff games on 44 34 83% for whatever that is worth.

[Clutch0z24]

If we get a top 5 pick next year as Barnes/IQ/Dick/Walter/Barrett grow together you have one of the best young teams in basketball...

Strongly disagree

What do you strongly disagree with? If we add one more Barnes level prospect we are one of the best young teams in the league and the next up....Only way we ever get another Barnes level prospect is having a high draft pick...

If we want to make the play in next year which i don't think we make it based on how young we are....Your not adding anything next year to make a difference in our ceiling and if Barnes never becomes a legit Number 1 option than we will redo the Bosh era all over again...

[HumbleRen]

Best player on a championship team? You don't get those often and to say Barnes can or can't be one of them is too early to say. Based on stats highly unlikely.

Even Doncic couldn't achieve it.

As for a #1 option superstar, I think Masai has paved the way with Barret and Quickley taking some pressure off of him and allowing him to shine. Let's see what happens. I think this should be the year where we get to see what kind of player Barnes can really be. It's his 4th year, he's gotten his money, he's got help, what else does he need?

Doncic can achieve it though. He just went up against an otherworldly team lol.

[MEDIC]

I have to reserve judgement. Last year was his first year as face of the franchise. It was such a messed up year for the team with trades and injuries.

I'll give this young core a full season together before making any judgements about anyone.............including Barnes.

Right now I am hoping this group can eventually get to pre-Kawhi, Demar/ Lowry level.

Do I think Scottie can and will be better than Demar ot Kyle? Yes. Realistically, think he can become.more impactful than any previous Raptor other than 2018 Kawhi...........but even that isn't impossible. He has the tools.

[TheAlchemist23]

Not gonna lie, Scottie had me fooled with the way he started the season. He was pushing in transition and commanding the ball in the halfcourt. Then the organization stupidly decided to reorient everything to Pascal again from the Mavs game onward following Pascal's failure in his offball capacity and the media crying about it. That was the pecking order until Pascal was shipped to Indy. But bizarrely Scottie even started to take a backseat to RJ when he got here. When running the second unit Scottie was throwing the ball to Boucher in the post and Bruce Brown up top in the halfcourt because he didn't want to do anything. Coped as much as I could but ever since witnessing Scottie consistently defer to bench players with no on-ball ability, I can't deny it anymore...Scottie is a passive guy content on being a role player. As PatBev eloquently said: "no dog".

We're really building around premium Kyle Anderson. A good piece but that's a glue guy that can be the third best player on championship squad when #1 is a MVP and #2 is an All-NBA guy.

[Courtside]

Not gonna lie, Scottie had me fooled with the way he started the season. He was pushing in transition and commanding the ball in the halfcourt. Then the organization stupidly decided to reorient everything to Pascal again from the Mavs game onward following Pascal's failure in his offball capacity and the media crying about it. That was the pecking order until Pascal was shipped to Indy. But bizarrely Scottie even started to take a backseat to RJ when he got here. When running the second unit Scottie was throwing the ball to Boucher in the post and Bruce Brown up top in the halfcourt because he didn't want to do anything. Coped as much as I could but ever since witnessing Scottie consistently defer to bench players with no on-ball ability, I can't deny it anymore...Scottie is a passive guy content on being a role player. As PatBev eloquently said: "no dog".

We're really building around premium Kyle Anderson. A good piece but that's a glue guy that can be the third best player on championship squad when #1 is a MVP and #2 is an All-NBA guy.

What color is the sky in your world?

[Morse Code]

We are so far away from even having these type of concerns that it honestly doesn't matter right now. Once we have a good enough team and can determine if Barnes is the reason why it can't go further then sure, we can discuss. Right now, you're just projecting aimlessly.

I think this mindset is a cop out. That’s part of being a pro is predicting future outcomes. Of course it’s a game of percentages, but you have to try and win that. This is an important question to answer.

[HiJiNX]

Not gonna lie, Scottie had me fooled with the way he started the season. He was pushing in transition and commanding the ball in the halfcourt. Then the organization stupidly decided to reorient everything to Pascal again from the Mavs game onward following Pascal's failure in his offball capacity and the media crying about it. That was the pecking order until Pascal was shipped to Indy. But bizarrely Scottie even started to take a backseat to RJ when he got here. When running the second unit Scottie was throwing the ball to Boucher in the post and Bruce Brown up top in the halfcourt because he didn't want to do anything. Coped as much as I could but ever since witnessing Scottie consistently defer to bench players with no on-ball ability, I can't deny it anymore...Scottie is a passive guy content on being a role player. As PatBev eloquently said: "no dog".

We're really building around premium Kyle Anderson. A good piece but that's a glue guy that can be the third best player on championship squad when #1 is a MVP and #2 is an All-NBA guy.

This take is going to age horribly.

[TheGeneral99]

He's only 22 years old...

Maybe let's wait until he's 25-26 before coming to that conclusion?

Nonetheless averaging 20, 8 and 6 on solid efficiency with relatively low volume is extremely impressive for a 22 year old.

[Jadoogar]

Of course it's more likely that he will not reach that level. How many true championship level #1 options are there? Luka, Jokic, Giannis, who else?

Even guys like Tatum, is he even at the level you're talking about? He's an incredible player but the Celtics were also one of the most talented teams in recent memory.

Will Edwards ever reach that level? Haliburton? Booker? Zion? SGA? Only guy i'm sure who has best player in the league potential is Wemby?

I think Scottie can certainly get in the elite #2 group/top 8-15 level.

[ishoy123]

No one except LeBron can power a team to the finals with a weak supporting cast. What matters is how Toronto builds out the rest of the roster, as long as Scottie can be a consistent all-star.

Kobe didn't make the playoffs without Shaq and Gasol. Garnett never reached the finals until Boston. Both are clearly "#1 option superstars".

[TOStateofMind]

He is such an unselfish guy to a fault sometimes but I think there’s a world where he can be at least in that 2nd tier. He has come so far already so can’t rule anything out when it comes to him.

[Tor_Raps]

We are so far away from even having these type of concerns that it honestly doesn't matter right now. Once we have a good enough team and can determine if Barnes is the reason why it can't go further then sure, we can discuss. Right now, you're just projecting aimlessly.

I think this mindset is a cop out. That’s part of being a pro is predicting future outcomes. Of course it’s a game of percentages, but you have to try and win that. This is an important question to answer.

Having Barnes doesn't change the fact you try to add the most talent possible to this team. If Barnes doesn't become the best player on a winning team then it's Masai's failures to not be able to add anyone better than him.

This team currently is so devoid of talent that it this question just doesn't matter. It is why we just finished trying to tank and why we will probably suck again this year.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

If we get a top 5 pick next year as Barnes/IQ/Dick/Walter/Barrett grow together you have one of the best young teams in basketball...

Strongly disagree

What do you strongly disagree with? If we add one more Barnes level prospect we are one of the best young teams in the league and the next up....Only way we ever get another Barnes level prospect is having a high draft pick...

If we want to make the play in next year which i don't think we make it based on how young we are....Your not adding anything next year to make a difference in our ceiling and if Barnes never becomes a legit Number 1 option than we will redo the Bosh era all over again...

This is assuming that every single outcome will go your way. A top 5 pick can bust. Dick and Walter might be bench players. Barrett has shown 0 signs of being able to defend and is highly overrated by the fanbase. Quickley's production took a steep dive against NBA starters so it remains to be seen what he can do as one but I suppose it's easier to be hopeful for him than the others.

Ultimately given what the organization has said it seems unlikely that they will even secure a top 5 selection next year. It's what I'm hoping for but it will likely require quite a bit of lottery luck. A fully healthy Raptors team can probably win 28-30 this year. We are probably looking at a 20.2-31.9% chance of picking top 4.

[binjumper]

The dude just finished his 3rd year.... lol this fanbase is complete trash.

[raincityraptors]

Scottie will make the best play on or off the ball on either side of the court. He's shown a lot in the 4th quarter. Give him the ball and let him make the right play.

We have to appreciate what we have in this guy!

[PhilBlackson]

If we get a top 5 pick next year as Barnes/IQ/Dick/Walter/Barrett grow together you have one of the best young teams in basketball...

Strongly disagree

What do you strongly disagree with? If we add one more Barnes level prospect we are one of the best young teams in the league and the next up....Only way we ever get another Barnes level prospect is having a high draft pick...

If we want to make the play in next year which i don't think we make it based on how young we are....Your not adding anything next year to make a difference in our ceiling and if Barnes never becomes a legit Number 1 option than we will redo the Bosh era all over again...

Yeah they MUST get a top 5 -10 pick AND it MUST hit!

If that player is anything less than a comparable (or better) prospect than Scottie then this team will be on a fast track to a middle of the pack franchise that’s just praying on a miraculous trade to save them. So far the 2 guys I’m favouring the most is #1 Ace or #2 VJ but I think we’re gonna need a dynamic LEAD scorer next to Scottie.

I think Scottie has all the talent in the world to be however great he wants to be but I’m not sure he has that alpha dog mentality to actually become it. He’s still showing signs of being the complimentary player he was coming up. He’s gonna need a major shift in mentality and approach to the game if he’s to ever become that guy. I don’t write him off because I think he’s already well exceeded the player everyone thought he was coming in (ie/ Draymond) but hopefully with him realizing the franchise is looking to him to be “him” that we’ll see him take it up a notch.

Really though I think he’s gonna be best suited to be almost a “Pippen Jokic” hybrid offensively. I just wonder how much we can push him to be the focal point of the offence like Jok. But Jok does have a go to scorer in Murray that has bailed him out and even taken over full series (ie against Utah) to help get him over the hump. Scottie is gonna need a bucket getter like that, I’m hoping it’s Ace for the added size and dog mentality he has. We really need to trade Poeltl imo and fully commit to getting the best pick possible. This pick next year is really gonna determine what the next decade of Raptors bball is capable of or not

[lobosloboslobos]

I bring this up to illustrate how imperative it is for this team to tank next season. We do not have a player on this team with the upside of best player on a championship team. Scottie's really good and I think he can be the perfect complimentary guy to an actual #1 guy similar to the guy who imo he is most similar to (Pippen), but he's not got the upside to be the #1 guy. The issue being that those guys are typically excellent at something and Scottie is sort of just really good at everything. He's not an elite shot creator, he's not really an elite finisher, he's athletic but not one of the top athletes.

I think it's clear we need to get our hands on someone who can become a top 5-10 player in the league and #1 option on a championship team, and the best way to do so is through the draft (whether that's actually drafting the player or using the draft asset to acquire said player in a trade). I think without that happening this team is on the highway to mediocrity.

my god. can i sell you a bridge?

the draft position of the last 10 MVPs:

7th
14th
13th
15th
47th
3rd

All top 10 draft picks since 2010 who won a title as a starter:

Wiggins (1 title but was 4th option - 8th season)
Porzingis (1 title but barely played - 9th season
Jaylen Brown (1 title in 8th season)
Jayson Tatum (1 title in 7th season)
Aaron Gordon (1 title in 9th season)
Jamal Murray (1 title in 7th season)
Anthony Davis (1 title in 8th season)
Kyrie Irving (1 title in 5th season)

Of the past 150 top 10 draft picks only 8 guys won titles as starters, and only 5 out of 150 - Brown, Tatum, Murray, Davis, Irving - were batman or robin in winning their title and only one of them - Brown or Tatum take your pick - can be said to have been the best player on a championship team. That's in the past 15 years!

Why do people act like they can accurately predict the future ?

We have a bunch of very promising young pieces. Not one person knows how good they will be in 3-4 years. I will never understand why so many people pretend they do.