12 hours later: What are your thoughts on this deal?

[Vlade Divac]

read a few posts; listened to the bill simmons and zach lowe 'emergency' podcasts; and the conclusion is that it is a worthwhile risk as long as he's healthy. We have an uphill battle with a rookie coach but i'm hoping masai steady and firm hand will carry this team, because, with this move, this is now HIS team.

Yeah, I did check both of these pods too. Lowe was more on my side of thinking, while Simmons with guests was trying to spin it as a win for Spurs. Good luck with that. As Boston homers they are just salty like their total home base.

[firekil]

What I'm wondering is if Kawhi will resemble anything like the player he was under Popovich.

[Wasp]

read a few posts; listened to the bill simmons and zach lowe 'emergency' podcasts; and the conclusion is that it is a worthwhile risk as long as he's healthy. We have an uphill battle with a rookie coach but i'm hoping masai steady and firm hand will carry this team, because, with this move, this is now HIS team.

Yeah, I did check both of these pods too. Lowe was more on my side of thinking, while Simmons with guests was trying to spin it as a win for Spurs. Good luck with that. As Boston homers they are just salty like their total home base.

I listened to that pod for about 8 minutes before turning it off. When Simmons said stuff like "DeRozan is a Top-12 player" and "he played crunch time in the All-Star Game" I knew that he simply had a gut feeling about the trade, did no critical thinking and then just went with it. All while his yes-men agreed with every word he said, even though they were patently ridiculous. He's really lost it.

[StopitLeo]

Excellent trade. Masai and Bobby managed to make what at first glance is a risky trade but hedged the risk by trading one of our prospects with lower potential and protecting that first round pick in a way that limits the maximum lost value. Then they subtly sneak in a $27M salary dump.

With reports that Kawhi is going to play and not sit out or refuse to report, which would have been the worst result in terms of franchise perception, this is a win-win scenario as far as basketball goes.

On a personal note, as a long time fan I will never forget the impact DeRozan had on this franchise. He should be honoured in some fashion. I hope the Raptors create something like the BlueJays' Level of Excellence.

[Mattd97]

Still sad, still think it's the right move

[slothrop8]

An absolute heist for us - one of the most lopsided trades imaginable even if it is for only 1 season. If Kawhi by some miracle resigns, it becomes one of the great steals in basketball history. The team is positioned to win the Eastern Conference and have a puncher's chance at the title - that's never been true before, but is for this season.

[pkiskool]

I have to agree that the sadness did kick in a little but this will all go away once Kawhi reports to the team and has a positive media day.

[Mr_NC]

It still hurts

I’m a big Kawhi fan but it sucks it had to be done this way, teaming up Kawhi with Dekobe would have been bananas tho too bad Lowry and Ibaka have negative trade value smh

Hope Kawhi re-signs but if not, we traded Dekobe, Yak, and a protected 1st for Danny Green and as a Dekobe fan I can’t wrap my head around that

[GQStylin]

I wanted Casey, Demar and Lowry gone years ago and now I got two out of three so I'm happy! Right now I don't mind either way if Lowry stays or goes because at least he finally brought it in the playoffs for a change and when he's on he can be a difference maker unlike Demar who's somewhere between mediocre and horrible everytime we've needed him most.

Raps needed to go in a new direction one way or another because more of the same was simply unacceptable so I'm glad Masai finally acknowledged that changes were necessary and he went big instead of making minor cosmetic changes that preserved the existing core and coach that wasn't getting it done and likely will never get it done.

[jeffyjaixx]

Sad about Derozan leaving but excited about Kawhi coming here to potentially suit up and play his heart out.

[Anticon]

This team might have only had one year left anyway. Now that one year puts us as a finals contender.

Nurse is the biggest wildcard. Casey would have capped the teams potential, but would have been a strong voice over the first few months.

[ruckus]

At first I wasn't big on moving DeRozan + other parts for Kawhi but the final trade was extremely fair for both sides. We got the best player in the deal, we got to keep both of our best prospects and we didn't have to give up a ton of picks.

While losing DeRozan sucks, at the end of the day, Masai had to make changes to shake up the team. If anything, that last series against the Cavs showed that what we had wasn't enough. We modernized our offense, tweaked the defense and assembled the best bench in the league and it wasn't enough.

It was a good, fair trade for both sides.

[teamLeiweke]

24 hours later I’m a bit less hurt. And a little more accepting. I know on paper we look better but due to new coach and chemistry I don’t know if our results will actually be better. It’s worth the gamble I guess but if we lose him for nothing and I watch DeMar and the Spurs do well under Pop it’s gonna sting in 2019 and 2020 as they are winning and we are back to the dark ages. But on paper we are a MUCH better playoff team offensively and defensively. We can switch everything now. Our 3 point shooting is way up. We have a lot of 2 way players. Will it translate to Finals? Idk. This only makes sense to me if we go to the Finals. Cause we already won 59 games and went to a ECF and prob would have returned to the ECF with DeMar now that LeBron is gone. Only team that worries me was Boston. So we’ll see. Time will dictate if this move was right. But for now today a day later I’m less hurt and shocked and less worried and more accepting and understanding of the risk/reward Masai felt he needed to take. Thanks DD. I’ll miss u. And I hope you and the Spurs tear is up next year. San Antonio is officially my 2nd favourite team now cause you were my favourite player.

[Zappa012]

Still happy since i was also happy with getting rid of DD for free.

[canada_dry]

Wild Ling still in shambles.

The raptorsrepublic boys will get the reference .

Sent from my SGH-I337M using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Whole Truth]

Still think it was a bad idea in principle because I don't think he'll re-sign even if we make finals, but the actual trade was great. Masai did a great job with the price. Hell he even got the Spurs to give us 5M toward the tax bill.

The trade was made in the reality he wouldn't resign. What you're concerned about would be considered a coup to what was intended.

KL won't walk if Raptors agree to S&T him for the most money he can get & with 2 LA teams vying for his service, Masai will have some leverage if he doesn't get greedy. Probably targeting SGA from the Clippers.

So in a worse case

Raptors traded 2yrs Derozan for 1yr Kawhi, dump salary

Swap, Poeltl for maybe SGA long term value while removing Derozan to bottom out after having a year with Kawhi to contend.


They get him to stay, then someone needs to lock Masai up for grand theft.

[Whole Truth]

My thoughts are the same. It had to be done, the raps havent been able to get over the hump and now the team looks different and we have a chance to go to the finals.

But I need to stop watching these networks talk about this because all they focus on is the "loyalty" and franchise player BS. These clowns dont know how deep demars flaws are but you know this year they will see it.

These ESPN clowns and other networks, casuals also coming out of the woodwork all over Youtube and social media like Twitter trying to make the Raptors organization look bad for this. All I can do is SMFH.

Kat said it best, if people aren't hating you ain't doing sh#t right.

[Chevy Chase]

Let's be honest. Who had a lump in their throat for game one of the Washington series worried we would loose another first game?

Who, after loosing two games in Washington, and up by only 1 point at halftime during game 5 weren't worried that "Here we go again".

Who didn't feel trepidation about another round with Cleveland even though that team had just barley beaten Indy in 7 games?
Who through up a little after watching DD pass the ball to an injured FVV for the (should have been) winning shot twice in Game 1.
I was at Game 2 and have never felt more embarrassed as a Raptor fan. Lebron was toying with us during a playoff game. Love twice iso'd CJ and spent 10 seconds backing him down, before laying it in and no body came over to help. It was pathetic.

Something needed to change (more than just the Coach) and DD was the best option. His game simply does not translate to the playoffs. The playoffs are a different animal, where the refs swallow their whistles and allow all sorts of contact. You can't simply though yourself at the basked and hope to get bailed out. In the playoffs you have to make shots and finish. This is why Lebron is so good at it.

[Tacoma]

According to reports, the Spurs were asking for the moon from other interested teams for Kawhi. For example, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN:

The Spurs made it clear any deal with Philly would require Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid (likely Simmons), and the Sixers weren’t going anywhere near that

And BOS and LAL were similarly turned off at the high asking price, but for some inexplicable reason, SAS had such a hard on for DeRozan that they were willing to accept not much else. Maybe they think they can turn DD into Kobe or something. But whatever the reason, a one-year rental of Kawhi without giving up our future (with due respect to Poeltl) is a good outcome from any angle.

[sbsat]

When I thought the deal included Siakam or OG+1st rounder, I HATED it. But the fact it was Poetl and a heavy protected draft pick, this deal is looking fantastic to me.

This deal is a great potential upside play with hedged downside risk. Its a calculated, well thought out and multi-faceted strategical move. Masai dereves credit for this. Demar we will miss you however.!