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Sam Vecenie Game Theory Podcast goes through all Eastern Conference team expectations.


Starts at 1:52:30 or so.

Some highlights:

Raps have a 'weird team' - young vets, vets and rookies with flexible/movable contracts.

If Raps aren't tanking - 40 win team and play-in expectation. Missing the play-in would be a disappointment.

If Quickly is a 20/6 guy, RJ plays the same and Scottie plays like he did first half of the season, should win 40 games.

Goal - what is the winning recipe with Scottie?

Could do the Utah, look strong first half of the season, then maximize draft position latter half of the season to pick up another piece.

Highest win total I've hear so far. Thoughts?

With no injuries to the “Big 3” it’s possible.

I dunno. With injuries and still meh bench depth, I have us in the low 30s.

That’s the worst possible outcome for this team.


Playin for what?

Trying to make the playoffs would be quite frankly the worst thing they could do with this roster.

Nobody really knows, in reality. Could be anywhere between 25-40 games. I highly, highly doubt we hit 40 unless Scottie, IQ, and RJ make insane leaps.

I would prefer to tank, but if they get to 40 wins organically (no win-now trades), I would have to reconsider my evaluation of the team's talent level.

That said, not doing things like moving Poeltl, Boucher, and/or Brown could be considered a win-now move in and of itself.

Raptors are clearly looking to win. I don’t think they win 40 of course but they are looking to try and win. Lord this board is gonna be insufferable this season ahahaha Every win is gonna just be people crying about tanking. But I’ve prepared mentally for it lol

MessiahUjiri wrote:That’s the worst possible outcome for this team.


Playin for what?

To prove that we are a mid-tier powerhouse!

GLF wrote:Raptors are clearly looking to win. I don’t think they win 40 of course but they are looking to try and win. Lord this board is gonna be insufferable this season ahahaha Every win is gonna just be people crying about tanking. But I’ve prepared mentally for it lol

I imagine more apathy than anything. As much as people hate to watch a tanking team, at least it's building towards something. I think a play in 35ish win team will just be a bunch of people not caring, and then another chunk of delusional fans that think the team has a punchers chance.

Scase wrote:

GLF wrote:Raptors are clearly looking to win. I don’t think they win 40 of course but they are looking to try and win. Lord this board is gonna be insufferable this season ahahaha Every win is gonna just be people crying about tanking. But I’ve prepared mentally for it lol

I imagine more apathy than anything. As much as people hate to watch a tanking team, at least it's building towards something. I think a play in 35ish win team will just be a bunch of people not caring, and then another chunk of delusional fans that think the team has a punchers chance.

People don't just hate to watch a tanking team, they literally don't watch at all. Game threads on here the last quarter of the season consisted of 2-3 pages.

I honestly don't at this point get why people aren't ok with just trying to win as many games as possible this year. We've gotten rid of our old core and now have a new younger core which will take time to gel. Of course we need to add talent.

We aren't nearly bad enough to be in the Cooper sweepstakes so might as well try and surprise a little. If we fall flat mid year, simply get rid of Bruce, Chris...for younger players.

It could be a lot more depressing if we still had the old regime with Pascal and OG... At least we have a new direction.

Nightmare scenario

Vecenie simps for Kristen Peek. That's all you need to know about the guy and his basketball knowledge.

If everything goes well (no major injuries), plus BBQ Dick show great growth, then its possible we make the play-in; sure.

CPT wrote:I would prefer to tank, but if they get to 40 wins organically (no win-now trades), I would have to reconsider my evaluation of the team's talent level.

That said, not doing things like moving Poeltl, Boucher, and/or Brown could be considered a win-now move in and of itself.

Right, because you can just trade players like it's 2K

Scase wrote:

GLF wrote:Raptors are clearly looking to win. I don’t think they win 40 of course but they are looking to try and win. Lord this board is gonna be insufferable this season ahahaha Every win is gonna just be people crying about tanking. But I’ve prepared mentally for it lol

I imagine more apathy than anything. As much as people hate to watch a tanking team, at least it's building towards something. I think a play in 35ish win team will just be a bunch of people not caring, and then another chunk of delusional fans that think the team has a punchers chance.

Well I guess I’m in the like 1% of fans because I’ll care without being delusional about what this team is currently lol. I hope it’s just apathy, because this place becoming a breading ground for people being pissed after every win (even with how few those will be) is going to be annoyingl lol. I just think no matter how much one may want to tank, being mad at the team you’re a fan of anytime they win a game is a little wild. Especially if you’re going to spam the forum with said disdain and rain on everyone’s parade lol. I know we will hear a lot of I told you so after the draft when we don’t get a top 5 pick. Let people at least enjoy the wins during the season.
And I’m not saying you’ll be doing that, but I’m preparing for it to happen in a general sense haha

40 wins means our starters are really freaking good and stay healthy. And the bench isn't bad enough to make us a tank...

Not a bad position to be in.
35 seems more realistic but I can definitely see a scenario where everything clicks and BBQ looks like a dominant trio.

Duffman100 wrote:I dunno. With injuries and still meh bench depth, I have us in the low 30s.

It's just going to depend on if RJ can maintain his efficiency and one of the other 3 (IQ, Barnes, Gradey) makes a noticeable leap.

High expectations.Thats a 60% increase in wins from last year. We lost Siakam, OG and Trent Jr. Vecenie is expecting our improvements to come internally which is an interesting perspective.