RealGM

I have outlined the 3 main holes that the Raptors need to address this offseason to help compile a balanced roster.

In:
Backup PG - Monte Morris - Great buy low candidate coming off an injury plagued season.

Backup C - Jalen Smith - Indiana won't be able to afford all their talent so I believe we can take him away. He shoots 40%+ from 3 while being a good rebounder so it's a great pairing with Olynyk off the bench and good contrast to Poeltl.

Starting Wing - Wiggins - Now hear me out, im not saying he is the answer long term. I think we can get him while also receiving additional assets from Gstate to help with our rebuild. For the short term, he fills the need of a starting versatile wing defender. Long term, we need to hit on one of our draft picks to take over from Wiggins.

Out:
Trent (let go or accept whatever you get in sign and trade)
Brown (used in Wiggins trade)

PG Quickley/ Morris/ JFL
SG RJ/ Dick/ Ochai
SF Wiggins/ 2024 Draft pick/ McDaniels
PF Barnes/ Olynyk/ Boucher
C Poeltl/ Smith/ 2024 draft pick

I'm fine with losing. I refuse to watch another team that can't shoot while going through it. If GTJ isn't back, we need to get another shooter into the SL or just say screw the defense and throw Dick in there.

I think we first have to see how the lottery shakes out. If we keep our 2025 pick you might be patient and just let things be and see how next season starts - transition to a tank if you need to.

IF we get a top 6 pick you are a little more aggressive this off-season. Maybe you do a Brown for Wiggins and stuff, go after a FA and see what a GTJ s+t could look like.

Once the lottery is ran, our path will be a little more easily defined.

Tor_Raps wrote:I have outlined the 3 main holes that the Raptors need to address this offseason to help compile a balanced roster.

In:
Backup PG - Monte Morris - Great buy low candidate coming off an injury plagued season.

Backup C - Jalen Smith - Indiana won't be able to afford all their talent so I believe we can take him away. He shoots 40%+ from 3 while being a good rebounder so it's a great pairing with Olynyk off the bench and good contrast to Poeltl.

Starting Wing - Wiggins - Now hear me out, im not saying he is the answer long term. I think we can get him while also receiving additional assets from Gstate to help with our rebuild. For the short term, he fills the need of a starting versatile wing defender. Long term, we need to hit on one of our draft picks to take over from Wiggins

Out:
Trent (let go or accept whatever you get in sign and trade)
Brown (used in Wiggins trade)

PG Quickley/ Morris/ JFL
SG RJ/ Dick/ Ochai
SF Wiggins/ 2024 Draft pick/ McDaniels
PF Barnes/ Olynyk/ Boucher
C Poeltl/ Smith/ 2024 draft pick

Fixed this for you, and I am onboard completely.

YogurtProducer wrote:I think we first have to see how the lottery shakes out. If we keep our 2025 pick you might be patient and just let things be and see how next season starts - transition to a tank if you need to.

IF we get a top 6 pick you are a little more aggressive this off-season. Maybe you do a Brown for Wiggins and stuff, go after a FA and see what a GTJ s+t could look like.

Once the lottery is ran, our path will be a little more easily defined.

This is what I think too. If we lose the pick to San Antonio then we are not in a position where we can start trading for guys like Wiggins. That’s a good way to half ass your rebuild and get stuck as a .500 team.

MiamiSPX wrote:

Tor_Raps wrote:I have outlined the 3 main holes that the Raptors need to address this offseason to help compile a balanced roster.

In:
Backup PG - Monte Morris - Great buy low candidate coming off an injury plagued season.

Backup C - Jalen Smith - Indiana won't be able to afford all their talent so I believe we can take him away. He shoots 40%+ from 3 while being a good rebounder so it's a great pairing with Olynyk off the bench and good contrast to Poeltl.

Starting Wing - Wiggins - Now hear me out, im not saying he is the answer long term. I think we can get him while also receiving additional assets from Gstate to help with our rebuild. For the short term, he fills the need of a starting versatile wing defender. Long term, we need to hit on one of our draft picks to take over from Wiggins

Out:
Trent (let go or accept whatever you get in sign and trade)
Brown (used in Wiggins trade)

PG Quickley/ Morris/ JFL
SG RJ/ Dick/ Ochai
SF Wiggins/ 2024 Draft pick/ McDaniels
PF Barnes/ Olynyk/ Boucher
C Poeltl/ Smith/ 2024 draft pick

Fixed this for you, and I am onboard completely.

I knew that part was gonna turn some people off. I tried to start with the "hear me out" loll

YogurtProducer wrote:I think we first have to see how the lottery shakes out. If we keep our 2025 pick you might be patient and just let things be and see how next season starts - transition to a tank if you need to.

IF we get a top 6 pick you are a little more aggressive this off-season. Maybe you do a Brown for Wiggins and stuff, go after a FA and see what a GTJ s+t could look like.

Once the lottery is ran, our path will be a little more easily defined.

I totally agree. Before I even hit the submit button, I felt the same way but I was bored so I did it anyway lol.

Win lottery and select Sarr.
Select Devin Carter at 19.
Decline Bruce Brown option.

Clear more cap space by using pick 31 (bye McDaniels and Boucher) get a future 2nd round pick in exchange.

FA targets: Jalen Smith and Patrick Williams.
Resign IQ after signing PW and JS.

IQ, Carter, JFL
RJ, Dick
Pat Will, Ochai
Barnes
Yak

KO, Smith and Sarr all playing 4/5

billy_hoyle wrote:Decline Bruce Brown option.

People keep saying this. But there's really no good reason to do it. The contract is too valuable as an expiring salary ballast. If you don't trade him in the offseason you have until the end of the season to get his salary off the books and below the tax.

Smalltown wrote:

billy_hoyle wrote:Decline Bruce Brown option.

People keep saying this. But there's really no good reason to do it. The contract is too valuable as an expiring salary ballast. If you don't trade him in the offseason you have until the end of the season to get his salary off the books and below the tax.

The good reason to do it is the obvious $20+m cap space. This allows us to leverage cap flexibility to sign free agents with higher upside and positional need.

If you have comms from other front offices that they are considering putting players we want on the market next year, and they are willing to accept literally expirings, then obviously that's an appealing alternative. I'd imagine we would need to attach draft compensation to add something of positive value with the Bruce Brown expiring. So the upside is literally pay a guy who doesn't want to be here in the hopes that we will be able to use him as salary ballast to a pick heavy package for a star? I honestly don't see the appeal of that in our current stage of rebuild.

We only have a limited window before IQ and Barnes make us too expensive to leverage salary cap space. It's literally now or never (until we rebuild).

Ideally:

1) Get a top 6 pick and draft two productive players this draft at 6 (possibly) and 19.

2) Sign a solid back-up wing player, a solid back-up point guard and a back-up big, bolstering the bench.

3) Hope that Scottie, Gradey, Quickley and Barrett improve.

If I've learned anything, the results of our offseason will be completely unlike anything we predict in these threads.

Hopefully win the lottery. If not then the odds of it staying at 6 is very low so we likely lose the pick.

Hopefully get a high upside guy at 19.

Add as little as possible while maintaining cap flexibility. That way we are either garbage again (good because next years draft is great).

Tough to be realistic not knowing the reality of the pick.

Smalltown wrote:

billy_hoyle wrote:Decline Bruce Brown option.

People keep saying this. But there's really no good reason to do it. The contract is too valuable as an expiring salary ballast. If you don't trade him in the offseason you have until the end of the season to get his salary off the books and below the tax.

Zero reason to do it. Why decline a guy when you gain zero ability to replace him AND lose the salary to use in trades?

Brown has been vilified here for some reason. Not many guys are going to look that good in the situation we had to end last year.

YogurtProducer wrote:

Smalltown wrote:

billy_hoyle wrote:Decline Bruce Brown option.

People keep saying this. But there's really no good reason to do it. The contract is too valuable as an expiring salary ballast. If you don't trade him in the offseason you have until the end of the season to get his salary off the books and below the tax.

Zero reason to do it. Why decline a guy when you gain zero ability to replace him AND lose the salary to use in trades?

Brown has been vilified here for some reason. Not many guys are going to look that good in the situation we had to end last year.

Do people not understand how salary cap space works? Or do people think that Toronto just doesn't have a chance to actually woo an impact player?

This off season will be very unpredictable. A lot of teams will make moves and we have flexibility so it’ll be interesting to see if Masai looks to expedite our timeline.

Obviously, the ideal is to win the lottery, but If we keep the pick but it is at 6, would you be willing to trade that for our 2025 pick back instead and if not what would you want in addition?

Best outcome is we lose the pick and keep next years.

We need to target contention to be aligned with Scotties first year of his next contract. Otherwise he won't want to stay on a losing team. The easiest way to tank would be trade Poeltl to Memphis if they stay in the 8th pick range. After the combine and workouts Clingan will likely drop for high potential picks like Topic, Salaun, Buzelis, and others. I would consider him a good replacement for Poeltl. Maybe Kennard, Aldama, and 8th.

We aren't getting much for Trent Jr, but I would let him walk to avoid altering Dick's development. Gary is too expensive for what he brings and he could be easily replaced by someone like Jared McCain (target at 19).

Clingan - Olynyk
Barnes - Aldama
Barrett - Barnes
Dick - Agbaji
Quickely - McCain

We continue to develop Barnes around a strong spacing lineup consisting of decent B tier prospects like Agbaji and whoever we pick at 19. Dick and Clingan are developed as high end role players while Quickely and Barrett raise their value. After a tanking season and a top 5 pick to add to our core I would look to do a conslidation trade for an older all star player like Mitchell or AD (Barrett + Dick).

(Barrett + 1 or 2 young assets)
2025 pick
Barnes
(retained young asset)
Quickely

Players like Brown, Boucher, and other decent pieces like Olynyk should be eventually traded for 2nd round picks that could turn into rotation level players later this decade.

We target contention in 2027.

C_Money wrote:

YogurtProducer wrote:I think we first have to see how the lottery shakes out. If we keep our 2025 pick you might be patient and just let things be and see how next season starts - transition to a tank if you need to.

IF we get a top 6 pick you are a little more aggressive this off-season. Maybe you do a Brown for Wiggins and stuff, go after a FA and see what a GTJ s+t could look like.

Once the lottery is ran, our path will be a little more easily defined.

This is what I think too. If we lose the pick to San Antonio then we are not in a position where we can start trading for guys like Wiggins. That’s a good way to half ass your rebuild and get stuck as a .500 team.

Whether we keep the pick or lose it, Brown for Wiggins causes salary problems, starting in 25/26. Let's look at both scenarios, in both cases giving IQ $25 million this year, letting Trent walk, and giving Scottie 25% of the cap in 25/26.

Losing the pick gives us about $150 million in total salary in 24/25 before signing free agents or other moves, so adequate room to use the full NTMLE and most of the Siakam TPE or other salary onboarding moves. Assuming we use the full MLE, but don't bring in any additional salary that isn't expiring, our 25/26 salary runs about $185 million, or just over the 1st apron (if everything increases 3%).

If we keep the pick, that adds between $7.5 million and $12.6 million to 24/25, depending where the pick lands. That reduces our manoeuvering room significantly this year, and again puts us over the 1st apron next year.

There is no possibility that Wiggins makes this team good enough to pay tax for, never mind dealing with 1st apron restrictions for. In short, aside from all the very relevant questions about Wiggins as a player, we just can't afford him.