RealGM

Meh could do worse than him as your 3rd string center. He's had a rough 3 games recently and didn't realize that he was so ground-bound for guy that young and with his frame. He does have a good feel for the game though, so he'll blossom with an off-season with our staff.

DelAbbot wrote:This makes me think that's our C rotation for next season. Gill/Birch. We are not getting another C via FA this summer.

If Birch comes back, they'll make a combined $6-8M at most. This has no impact on getting another C.

There will be some intriguing options at C in late 1st and 2nd rounds this draft.

Happy for him.

Big up Freddie Gibbs!

Can't wait to see what he will do with a full off season with the Raptors. Once that J from the free throw line extended is down pat....mmmmmmmohhhhmyagaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwd

OAKLEY_2 wrote:Talk about double your money. Freddy and Khem for less than the price of Baynes. The tandem back-ups.

Raps a different squad with Birch x Freddie Gibbs at the 5.

Really happy for him. Dude deserves it

Even if he ends up not being a key piece to our bench for the future, he could be solid trade piece given how cheap his contract is. Hopefully he stays with us and develops though

will wrote:

OAKLEY_2 wrote:Talk about double your money. Freddy and Khem for less than the price of Baynes. The tandem back-ups.

Raps a different squad with Birch x Freddie Gibbs at the 5.

Crazy that the Raps starters w/ Birch have been one of the best 5-man units in the NBA since they've come together.

As for Gillespie, I'm happy for him. It must've sucked missing out on Baylor's run by 1 year. He seems like a good guy to bet on, and this deal gives the Raps RFA flexibility to match, so it's all good.

I am glad he got the deal, but the last three games he looked like a rookie.

NY and Brooklyn were tough match-ups for him because those are high level teams. I like his feet and he knows how to position himself, but being a bulkier guy he is going to have to work on his tags as he gets caught on drives bumping the driver on the closeout. I would like to see him let guys go past him a bit and then block them at the rim. I think he has the speed and wingspan to do a late recovery.

If he doesn't figure that out he is going to struggle with fouls because teams are going small like Brooklyn.

Good news! Gillespie and Birch at least look like a passable big man rotation compared to Baynes and Len.

Maybe we get a draft pick big as well? Maybe a wing so we can play small ball. It at least negates the need for a bad signing.

Meh... Its' likely the minimum and one plus a team option.

I can go either way on Freddie.. he's a low risk contract and you might get a small amount of burn out of him next year and might improve. I don't expect we are rolling with Freddie as back-up center next year.

Well deserved. He's an NBA player, passes the eye test.

If we can get a starting caliber C next season then our C rotation will be really solid.

Johnny Bball wrote:Meh... Its' likely the minimum and one plus a team option.

I can go either way on Freddie.. he's a low risk contract and you might get a small amount of burn out of him next year and might improve. I don't expect we are rolling with Freddie as back-up center next year.

Yeah. Similar structure to Father BOoShay's deal, is my guess.

Less dollar amount.

50,000 dollar guaranteed next year is good because we can cut him in camp and still sign him to a two way. We lost Brissett because his guarantee was too high.

Tor_Raps wrote:Hes a nice 3rd center on a good team that can maybe develop into a primary backup. Also think Birch is a good backup too. Now let's add a starting center in the offseason and we're good at that position.

I agree with all of this, but if we secure Birch/Gillespie, there's no urgency to reach for upgrades there either, Birch/Boucher/Gillespie is solid enough for now.

For example, like a lot of fans I like Richaun Holmes, if we're saying spend FA money he's better than a lot of choices.

But would he produce that much more than one of those front 2 for us? I think maybe the better path is to use the cap space to absorb salary and young players/picks, try to use one of those assets coming back to develop a good C.

Maybe we end up drafting a starting caliber centre, & birch with gillespie end up to be solid backups

JYD wrote:

Tor_Raps wrote:Hes a nice 3rd center on a good team that can maybe develop into a primary backup. Also think Birch is a good backup too. Now let's add a starting center in the offseason and we're good at that position.

I agree with all of this, but if we secure Birch/Gillespie, there's no urgency to reach for upgrades there either, Birch/Boucher/Gillespie is solid enough for now.

For example, like a lot of fans I like Richaun Holmes, if we're saying spend FA money he's better than a lot of choices.

But would he produce that much more than one of those front 2 for us? I think maybe the better path is to use the cap space to absorb salary and young players/picks, try to use one of those assets coming back to develop a good C.

Boucher and Birch are 28 years old. They are what they are, which are inconsistent players who are better served as backups.

The main reason why we went from the 2nd best regular season team to whatever we are now is because of our center rotation. In order to get back to that, we need a starting Center that were on the level of Ibaka/Gasol.

Then to take another step past that and become true championship contenders, we need to real 1st option. This is obviously much harder to obtain so we will have to hope for this year's draft or via trade when the next star demands out. Let's hope we are deep enough to make that trade happen because we could have stolen Harden a few months ago if we were.

I've been following him a bit since you guys signed him. I've liked what I saw from him. He reminds me a lot of Richaun Holmes.