Kenny Smith 'doesn't understand' why Kawhi would leave Raptors

[execoftheyear]

doesn't make sense for kawhi to leave a team that's contending for a championship during his prime years and he doesn't seem like the type that would team up with fellow superstars. I think he stays unless we completely blow it in the playoffs (knock on wood).

[lobosloboslobos]

Yikes I thought this was a relatively positive link to post...surprised by the negative reaction by our Raptor faithful. I for one agree with Kenny we have a good thing going and would love to see it continue. Peace.

around here negative reactions are positive reactions

[Steelo Green]

To that sort of logic I would say: Kawhi wins wherever he goes.

He has two stars currently and one of the rising stars of the league in Siakim. He would likely win wherever he goes, but we win just as well without him, something most teams can't say.

Subtract him and we don't don't have much in the elite department but two almost worn out all-stars and a guy not quite there as a heavy lifter yet. Better probably awaits him somewhere else. Hell, he'd be better served on other East teams besides us if surrounding personnel matters. Here the only real upside is he can be treated as a king/God and live life outside of the US media umbrella. He does have the hopes of an entire country riding on his performance, though. I'd say our chances of winning the East get slightly worse going forward even if he stays. Mil and Phi will gain needed experience and Boston is going to acquire someone to push them over the top. We just keep getting older and everything resets after next year.

Again, we are still elite without him, something few teams can say without their best player. We have a lot of sample size that proves it.

You're really undervaluing how good Siakim is and can be along with a great FO.

[Chandan]

good thing Kenny is not Doug Smith.

[everdiso]

Honestly Kawhi is the one single superstar that I can see staying in Toronto, givenn that all he really cares about is winning and playing for a first class organization from top to bottom, which we are. He's not a guy who needs the hype life.

BUT, if he's setting his heart on making a home in california near his daughter, well, that's the one thing that nothing will be able to change his mind on.

[Zookz]

Kawhi is the hardest player to read, normally you can get a feel as to which direction a player is leaning, but with Kawhi there is no body language that gives me any kind of vibe...

I've noticed the past few weeks hes been on the bench more during "load management" games and he seems to be engaged with the game and congratulating teammates when timeouts are called.

I also think he stays and I've felt that way since we traded for him, I think if he leaves he will regret it like most of the other raptor greats that thought they were leaving for greener pastures.

let's keep our fingers crossed and enjoy the ride while it lasts. We may never have a team like this again or this could continue to be an amazing 60 win franchise.


Sent from my SM-G965W using RealGM mobile app

[KL78192020]

The question is who is going to come here to play with Kawhi? Lowry is pretty near the end of his career while Kawhi is in his prime.

[mrdressup]

Yikes I thought this was a relatively positive link to post...surprised by the negative reaction by our Raptor faithful. I for one agree with Kenny we have a good thing going and would love to see it continue. Peace.

This is the place where you get 10 negative threads after a win. Not surprised at all.

The negativity is all in the perception. I've seen very stoic and realistic comments made after wins that are attacked for not being up to the standard of the the most irrationally positive fans. Yo gave to be able to be incredibly self critical to attain greatness, but some people here think you get there by glossing over everything with positivity. The two are not incompatible anyway. The same reality can be seen as positive and negative by two different people. The best example of that is having JV on your team. Staying positive and hopeful never made him be the C we needed.

[mrdressup]

He has two stars currently and one of the rising stars of the league in Siakim. He would likely win wherever he goes, but we win just as well without him, something most teams can't say.

Subtract him and we don't don't have much in the elite department but two almost worn out all-stars and a guy not quite there as a heavy lifter yet. Better probably awaits him somewhere else. Hell, he'd be better served on other East teams besides us if surrounding personnel matters. Here the only real upside is he can be treated as a king/God and live life outside of the US media umbrella. He does have the hopes of an entire country riding on his performance, though. I'd say our chances of winning the East get slightly worse going forward even if he stays. Mil and Phi will gain needed experience and Boston is going to acquire someone to push them over the top. We just keep getting older and everything resets after next year.

Again, we are still elite without him, something few teams can say without their best player. We have a lot of sample size that proves it.

You're really undervaluing how good Siakim is and can be along with a great FO.

I can spell Siakam and that's not even seen as a positive. Siakam is far from being reliable at this point. He' ll completely disappear offensively on some nights. His defense is not always great either. It's not uncommon for him to have a 6 or 8 point game so we should still temper our expectations until he develops the ability to be effective consistently. When you start to see that happen then speak of it as being all-star worthy. Being a realist is not not lacking positivity. One the opposite end of the spectrum you can sign a guy like Norm Powell based entirely on your feelings of positivity and find out that wishful thinking isn't as useful as being critical.

[Steelo Green]

Subtract him and we don't don't have much in the elite department but two almost worn out all-stars and a guy not quite there as a heavy lifter yet. Better probably awaits him somewhere else. Hell, he'd be better served on other East teams besides us if surrounding personnel matters. Here the only real upside is he can be treated as a king/God and live life outside of the US media umbrella. He does have the hopes of an entire country riding on his performance, though. I'd say our chances of winning the East get slightly worse going forward even if he stays. Mil and Phi will gain needed experience and Boston is going to acquire someone to push them over the top. We just keep getting older and everything resets after next year.

Again, we are still elite without him, something few teams can say without their best player. We have a lot of sample size that proves it.

You're really undervaluing how good Siakim is and can be along with a great FO.

I can spell Siakam and that's not even seen as a positive. Siakam is far from being reliable at this point. He' ll completely disappear offensively on some nights. His defense is not always great either. It's not uncommon for him to have a 6 or 8 point game so we should still temper our expectations until he develops the ability to be effective consistently. When you start to see that happen then speak of it as being all-star worthy. Being a realist is not not lacking positivity. One the opposite end of the spectrum you can sign a guy like Norm Powell based entirely on your feelings of positivity and find out that wishful thinking isn't as useful as being critical.

Right, so because I misspelled a name, it somehow makes my point less correct? My apologies for a spelling error.

And hmm, let's ser, Pascal has had 1 single point game in his last 22, he has clearly developed consistency and gotten better month by month, averaging 20+ in his last 30 days.

His defense is not great? Really?

He's first on the team in DEFNETRTG, 16th in the NBA behind Steven Adams for players who play 30+ minutes, 3rd in the NBA in RPM, his defensive FG% is -6.4, meaning his opponents shoot 6.4 percent worse when he's defending. Do you know where that ranks for all starters in the NBA, or players who play 30+ minutes? Number one in the league. Pascal is arguably a top 5 defender.

He can defend 1-5. You have no idea what you're talking about if you think his defence is not that great either. You're wrong, and you're just saying statements with no truth because they're your narrative which have no basis whatsoever. You're wrong, accept it, move on.

We were all realists at the start of the season, but Pascal is a star, period. Every metric shows it. You're comparing him to Norm? Norm had shown glimpses of production, Pascal is scoring 20 every other night with some of the best D already and is seemingly getting better nightly.

Comparing Pascal to Norm is like comparing Tatum to Theis.

[Psubs]

Again, we are still elite without him, something few teams can say without their best player. We have a lot of sample size that proves it.

You're really undervaluing how good Siakim is and can be along with a great FO.

I can spell Siakam and that's not even seen as a positive. Siakam is far from being reliable at this point. He' ll completely disappear offensively on some nights. His defense is not always great either. It's not uncommon for him to have a 6 or 8 point game so we should still temper our expectations until he develops the ability to be effective consistently. When you start to see that happen then speak of it as being all-star worthy. Being a realist is not not lacking positivity. One the opposite end of the spectrum you can sign a guy like Norm Powell based entirely on your feelings of positivity and find out that wishful thinking isn't as useful as being critical.

Right, so because I misspelled a name, it somehow makes my point less correct? My apologies for a spelling error.

And hmm, let's ser, Pascal has had 1 single point game in his last 22, he has clearly developed consistency and gotten better month by month, averaging 20+ in his last 30 days.

His defense is not great? Really?

He's first on the team in DEFNETRTG, 16th in the NBA behind Steven Adams for players who play 30+ minutes, 3rd in the NBA in RPM, his defensive FG% is -6.4, meaning his opponents shoot 6.4 percent worse when he's defending. Do you know where that ranks for all starters in the NBA, or players who play 30+ minutes? Number one in the league. Pascal is arguably a top 5 defender.

He can defend 1-5. You have no idea what you're talking about if you think his defence is not that great either. You're wrong, and you're just saying statements with no truth because they're your narrative which have no basis whatsoever. You're wrong, accept it, move on.

We were all realists at the start of the season, but Pascal is a star, period. Every metric shows it. You're comparing him to Norm? Norm had shown glimpses of production, Pascal is scoring 20 every other night with some of the best D already and is seemingly getting better nightly.

Comparing Pascal to Norm is like comparing Tatum to Theis.

Theis is actually underrated. Maybe Tatum to Ojeleye.

[Meursault]

random question. which would you take:

A)
- 60% chance of making NBA finals this season
- 40% of winning championship
- Kawhi leaves

B)
- out in ECF or sooner
- Kawhi re-signs for next 5 seasons
- 30% chance of making NBA finals perennially while Kawhi is a Raptor
- 20% chance of winning the championship perennially while Kawhi is a Raptor

[edgehead411]

random question. which would you take:

A)
- 60% chance of making NBA finals this season
- 40% of winning championship
- Kawhi leaves

B)
- out in ECF or sooner
- Kawhi re-signs for next 5 seasons
- 30% chance of making NBA finals perennially while Kawhi is a Raptor
- 20% chance of winning the championship perennially while Kawhi is a Raptor

Option B.

[WaltFrazier]

I really wish reporters stop asking these insecure questions.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELVES
BELIEVE IN THIS CITY

Sid Sixeiro should re-work his "I believe in Masai" song of a few years ago, do one called, I believe in Kawhi

Watch on YouTube

[metafisical]

random question. which would you take:

A)
- 60% chance of making NBA finals this season
- 40% of winning championship
- Kawhi leaves

B)
- out in ECF or sooner
- Kawhi re-signs for next 5 seasons
- 30% chance of making NBA finals perennially while Kawhi is a Raptor
- 20% chance of winning the championship perennially while Kawhi is a Raptor

A. Championship means everything. The highest odds for a championship is always the best option. With Lousy and Ibricka coming off our books in some way, shape or form after next season (hopefully) we have flexibility to still contend.

[rrdjutriurt]

The guy i would love to see as the future point guard of the Raptors joining Kahwi is Damian Lillard.

The question is who is going to come here to play with Kawhi? Lowry is pretty near the end of his career while Kawhi is in his prime.

[suntzuballin]

random question. which would you take:

A)
- 60% chance of making NBA finals this season
- 40% of winning championship
- Kawhi leaves

B)
- out in ECF or sooner
- Kawhi re-signs for next 5 seasons
- 30% chance of making NBA finals perennially while Kawhi is a Raptor
- 20% chance of winning the championship perennially while Kawhi is a Raptor

If raps make finals and loses or wins i say he stay for 2 year contract if they dont he leaves joins one of the LA clubs.

[Joker]

Kenny Smith doesn't understand because he comes from a generation of players who would stick it out with an organization to the extent that they could win, get to play, and get paid --- geographical preference and personal branding/marketing growth weren't a part of the calculus for a player of the 80's, right or wrong. He doesn't understand because he comes from a different mindset of an NBA player.

[MEDIC]

He has two stars currently and one of the rising stars of the league in Siakim. He would likely win wherever he goes, but we win just as well without him, something most teams can't say.

Subtract him and we don't don't have much in the elite department but two almost worn out all-stars and a guy not quite there as a heavy lifter yet. Better probably awaits him somewhere else. Hell, he'd be better served on other East teams besides us if surrounding personnel matters. Here the only real upside is he can be treated as a king/God and live life outside of the US media umbrella. He does have the hopes of an entire country riding on his performance, though. I'd say our chances of winning the East get slightly worse going forward even if he stays. Mil and Phi will gain needed experience and Boston is going to acquire someone to push them over the top. We just keep getting older and everything resets after next year.

Again, we are still elite without him, something few teams can say without their best player. We have a lot of sample size that proves it.

You're really undervaluing how good Siakim is and can be along with a great FO.

I agree with you here. Even if we lose Kawhi, I think this team (if healthy) could still win 50+. Especially with Gasol on board now.

Lowry - Siakam - Gasol is better than the Derozan - Lowry combo.

Even if Kawhi left & we re-signed Green, this team would still compete for 1st in the east. Problem is Gasol & Lowry are aging, so the window isn't a very big one. 2-3 years.

[MEDIC]

random question. which would you take:

A)
- 60% chance of making NBA finals this season
- 40% of winning championship
- Kawhi leaves

B)
- out in ECF or sooner
- Kawhi re-signs for next 5 seasons
- 30% chance of making NBA finals perennially while Kawhi is a Raptor
- 20% chance of winning the championship perennially while Kawhi is a Raptor

B for sure.