PG & GT #6 - Raptors (1-4) @ Calves (3-2) - October 31st, 2025 - 7:30PM EDT - TSN/1050AM

[MEDIC]

Dick brings something to the offense with his constant movement, but what this team desperately needs is defense.

There was a video about how much the Raptors "moved" (distance travelled) last season. If I remember correctly, they were 1st in the NBA. They concluded that they sure moved around a lot, but most of this movement was wasted and amounted to nothing. So you have a bunch of guys running around like crazy with very little productive scoring for the amount of energy spent.

[Jerry Lucas]

Game 6 Win Shares summary:

Yesterday the players combined for 0.7 Win Shares, and got the 2nd W of the season.

Scottie: 0.2 WS
Ingram: 0.2 WS
Shead: 0.1 WS
Mamu: 0.1 WS
CMB: 0.1 WS
Battle: 0.1 WS

Gradey: -0.1 WS

Everyone else that played yesterday had between -0.04 to 0.04 Win Shares (either rounds up to 0 instead of down to -0.1, or rounds down to 0 instead of up to 0.1).

The totals (so far) are 2.2 combined Win Shares for the team, and 2 real wins.

[Godaddycurse]

Game 6 Win Shares summary:

Yesterday the players combined for 0.7 Win Shares, and got the 2nd W of the season.

Scottie: 0.2 WS
Ingram: 0.2 WS
Shead: 0.1 WS
Mamu: 0.1 WS
CMB: 0.1 WS
Battle: 0.1 WS

Gradey: -0.1 WS

Everyone else that played yesterday had between -0.04 to 0.04 Win Shares (either rounds up to 0 instead of down to -0.1, or rounds down to 0 instead of up to 0.1).

The totals (so far) are 2.2 combined Win Shares for the team, and 2 real wins.

kind of surprised battle didnt get more

[hyper316]

Dick brings something to the offense with his constant movement, but what this team desperately needs is defense.

There was a video about how much the Raptors "moved" (distance travelled) last season. If I remember correctly, they were 1st in the NBA. They concluded that they sure moved around a lot, but most of this movement was wasted and amounted to nothing. So you have a bunch of guys running around like crazy with very little productive scoring for the amount of energy spent.

Agreed, seen many times running DHO multiple times on same possession but not leading to any advantage, all it does is running down the clock and forcing end of clock shots

[causal_fan]

Comparison is the thief of joy. It's also pointless comparing the market from last year to the one this year. IQ obviously makes a lot less money if he was an RFA this last offseason than the previous one.

IQ would be making a lot less money if the Raptors had a FO with brains and spine - he would not have gotten close to 32m last year in RFA and even less this year as a UFA - there was no mystery, everyone knew teams didn't have money and yet this eager to please FO could not help themselves being overly generous.

if you say so

it's not what I say - The IQ contract was universally panned across the NBA landscape including that some NBA executives were furious at the Raptors for this deal.

[PushDaRock]

IQ would be making a lot less money if the Raptors had a FO with brains and spine - he would not have gotten close to 32m last year in RFA and even less this year as a UFA - there was no mystery, everyone knew teams didn't have money and yet this eager to please FO could not help themselves being overly generous.

if you say so

it's not what I say - The IQ contract was universally panned across the NBA landscape including that some NBA executives were furious at the Raptors for this deal.

If NBA execs are mad, then it must be true

[YogurtProducer]

IQ.

Nothing in the data or eye test supports that IMO

Of course nothing in the data supports that, Gradey is getting 6 fga per game. He's getting less shots this season than he did his rookie season.

If they gave him a proper role within the offense for a string of 20-30 games and he failed after showing what he could/couldn't do, then I could get behind trading him. But so far what you have is him getting limited touches, less than his rookie year, on offense and then having him play this insanely terrible defensive scheme that does not fit the team personnel at all.

I just don't see how anyone, and especially the FO, can look at what Darko is running out there and think that he is optimizing the talent on this team.

Dick hasn’t done a thing to suggest he deserves touches over IQ.

I swear yall are losing your mind over a shooting slump

[YogurtProducer]

Josh Giddey who's younger, more talented and making over 7m less than IQ scored 32 points and nearly had a triple double against the Knicks but posters will still defend IQ's awful contract.

Comparison is the thief of joy. It's also pointless comparing the market from last year to the one this year. IQ obviously makes a lot less money if he was an RFA this last offseason than the previous one.

IQ also got the extra year which is relevant.

There are two sides to negotiation. Maybe IQ takes $25M on a “bet on himself” deal if it’s only 2/3 years long.

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

Masai and Bobby, rushing to overpay when not needed. While failing to lock down integral pieces to the rebuild, and letting them walk for nothing.

[ConSarnit]

if you say so

it's not what I say - The IQ contract was universally panned across the NBA landscape including that some NBA executives were furious at the Raptors for this deal.

If NBA execs are mad, then it must be true

We have legit reporting from people who are plugged into front offices. John Hollinger (former exec) has said that front offices aren’t happy because players are trying to use IQ’s deal as baseline in negotiations. Basically, “if IQ is getting $32m then my guy must be worth at least that much”. If your contract is getting brought up as a negotiating tactic for lesser players it’s probably not a good contract. It was also signed at a time when the cap was projected to be going up more than it actually is (10% vs 7%). This has also sapped some of the potential value of IQ’s contract as it will now count more against the cap.

-disliked deal by front offices and (what I would consider) neutral NBA media (Hollinger, Duncan, etc). While not the be all end all I have not heard a single non-Raptors adjacent person (fan or media) say they think the deal is good.

-cap not rising as fast as previously thought making relative value of contract worse

-new dynamic of RFA’s getting squeezed more

Add it all up and it’s not looking all that great that we gave IQ $30m+ per year.

[Los_29]

it's not what I say - The IQ contract was universally panned across the NBA landscape including that some NBA executives were furious at the Raptors for this deal.

If NBA execs are mad, then it must be true

We have legit reporting from people who are plugged into front offices. John Hollinger (former exec) has said that front offices aren’t happy because players are trying to use IQ’s deal as baseline in negotiations. Basically, “if IQ is getting $32m then my guy must be worth at least that much”. If your contract is getting brought up as a negotiating tactic for lesser players it’s probably not a good contract. It was also signed at a time when the cap was projected to be going up more than it actually is (10% vs 7%). This has also sapped some of the potential value of IQ’s contract as it will now count more against the cap.

-disliked deal by front offices and (what I would consider) neutral NBA media (Hollinger, Duncan, etc). While not the be all end all I have not heard a single non-Raptors adjacent person (fan or media) say they think the deal is good.

-cap not rising as fast as previously thought making relative value of contract worse

-new dynamic of RFA’s getting squeezed more

Add it all up and it’s not looking all that great that we gave IQ $30m+ per year.

The contracts being given out that offseason were outrageous. As you said, teams were expecting the cap to be much higher. OG, Suggs, IQ and many others signed outrageous deals. None of them would’ve got the same contract this past offseason.

IQ will turn it around though. He’s a very good shooter who isn’t shooting right now.

[TheAlchemist23]

Every combination of the 4 or 5 man lineup of the starters is a negative 20 or worse.

They just don’t work together.

Let's wait till Jak is healthy before deciding

Lol how much any longer ? 'til 2030 ? The best ability is also availability. This construction is a pure mess.

Yup, back problems don't go away.

Bobby needs to bring in another big guy ASAP if this team wants to win. CMB/Mogbo larp isn't tenable.

[PushDaRock]

it's not what I say - The IQ contract was universally panned across the NBA landscape including that some NBA executives were furious at the Raptors for this deal.

If NBA execs are mad, then it must be true

We have legit reporting from people who are plugged into front offices. John Hollinger (former exec) has said that front offices aren’t happy because players are trying to use IQ’s deal as baseline in negotiations. Basically, “if IQ is getting $32m then my guy must be worth at least that much”. If your contract is getting brought up as a negotiating tactic for lesser players it’s probably not a good contract. It was also signed at a time when the cap was projected to be going up more than it actually is (10% vs 7%). This has also sapped some of the potential value of IQ’s contract as it will now count more against the cap.

-disliked deal by front offices and (what I would consider) neutral NBA media (Hollinger, Duncan, etc). While not the be all end all I have not heard a single non-Raptors adjacent person (fan or media) say they think the deal is good.

-cap not rising as fast as previously thought making relative value of contract worse

-new dynamic of RFA’s getting squeezed more

Add it all up and it’s not looking all that great that we gave IQ $30m+ per year.

I'm not saying it's a good contract right now. I am saying we have the power of hindsight.

If we knew IQ only plays 33 games last season along with this new era of penny pinching, obviously we don't give him the deal he got.

Suggs got 5 years 150m in the same off season as a far less productive player and track record. Obviously contracts from that off season don't look as good as this one for the reasons you mentioned. We got a bit unlucky that we had to pay our guys a year earlier. Even with Ingram, we would have obviously waited till FA if we knew how the market would develop. But, he might not have even agreed to come here without an extension locked up anyways.

[Son Goku 25]

People finally catching up about IQ I see.

I don't think we can expect Yak to come in and save us either. That back might be toast at this point I wouldn't put that much hope in him being fully healthy until maybe later in the season which isn't gonna help us.

He unfortunately isn't a savior either even though for us he gets us to being a decent team just because we have no starting center.

I don't want the same cycle to keep repeating. We go on a fools gold run at end of season when schedule much lighter and not move away from some of these players that don't fit. Easier said than done finding the right trades though.

The hard truth is the team will likely need to move away from this coach along with a few of these players and that might include either trading Yak, Scottie, IQ, RJ it's really finding the combination you think fits your team most and getting players that compliment each other better.

We're moving backwards and starting from scratch. Instead of getting more talent that fits we need to now find players that fit in general. Smh

[PushDaRock]

If NBA execs are mad, then it must be true

We have legit reporting from people who are plugged into front offices. John Hollinger (former exec) has said that front offices aren’t happy because players are trying to use IQ’s deal as baseline in negotiations. Basically, “if IQ is getting $32m then my guy must be worth at least that much”. If your contract is getting brought up as a negotiating tactic for lesser players it’s probably not a good contract. It was also signed at a time when the cap was projected to be going up more than it actually is (10% vs 7%). This has also sapped some of the potential value of IQ’s contract as it will now count more against the cap.

-disliked deal by front offices and (what I would consider) neutral NBA media (Hollinger, Duncan, etc). While not the be all end all I have not heard a single non-Raptors adjacent person (fan or media) say they think the deal is good.

-cap not rising as fast as previously thought making relative value of contract worse

-new dynamic of RFA’s getting squeezed more

Add it all up and it’s not looking all that great that we gave IQ $30m+ per year.

The contracts being given out that offseason were outrageous. As you said, teams were expecting the cap to be much higher. OG, Suggs, IQ and many others signed outrageous deals. None of them would’ve got the same contract this past offseason.

IQ will turn it around though. He’s a very good shooter who isn’t shooting right now.

Exactly, it's just a bit of bad timing there which you can't really control. They're making decisions based on cap projections which are obviously just that "projections". Obviously it looks even worse present moment when he's in a shooting slump.

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

If Yak/IQ came off the bench, would our record be better or worse right now?

[tsherkin]

Well, you said it all. Kobe was winning, so nobody cared. Scottie needs to win first, then he can do whatever he wants.

Again, though, it's not what is actually inhibiting us FROM winning. So it's really just something to complain about at this point, you know what I mean?

[Brinbe]

it's not what I say - The IQ contract was universally panned across the NBA landscape including that some NBA executives were furious at the Raptors for this deal.

If NBA execs are mad, then it must be true

We have legit reporting from people who are plugged into front offices. John Hollinger (former exec) has said that front offices aren’t happy because players are trying to use IQ’s deal as baseline in negotiations. Basically, “if IQ is getting $32m then my guy must be worth at least that much”. If your contract is getting brought up as a negotiating tactic for lesser players it’s probably not a good contract. It was also signed at a time when the cap was projected to be going up more than it actually is (10% vs 7%). This has also sapped some of the potential value of IQ’s contract as it will now count more against the cap.

-disliked deal by front offices and (what I would consider) neutral NBA media (Hollinger, Duncan, etc). While not the be all end all I have not heard a single non-Raptors adjacent person (fan or media) say they think the deal is good.

-cap not rising as fast as previously thought making relative value of contract worse

-new dynamic of RFA’s getting squeezed more

Add it all up and it’s not looking all that great that we gave IQ $30m+ per year.

It's pretty good starter money and the FO made a bet that he could play up to it or even slightly surpass it in those latter years with the flat strutcture, but unfortunately he's not proven he can do it, at least so far. And the new CBA environment exacerbates it even more since scoring guards of his ilk generally aren't being given big contracts.

Based on his play in NY there was some reason to believe he could breakout and he was def one of those literati darlings before he got traded but it just hasn't worked out here.

[PushDaRock]

Well, you said it all. Kobe was winning, so nobody cared. Scottie needs to win first, then he can do whatever he wants.

Again, though, it's not what is actually inhibiting us FROM winning. So it's really just something to complain about at this point, you know what I mean?

It's not, but nobody wants to see a team struggling to win showboating/trolling out there.

[tsherkin]

It's not, but nobody wants to see a team struggling to win showboating/trolling out there.

I care more about how brutal we are on defense than I care about that stuff, personally. It's just not relevant to our ability to succeed.