Woj: Kawhi still leaning towards Clippers, Raptors have a lot of work to do still

[Steelo Green]

Woj can go suck his momma. Pouring salt on our celebration every chance he gets

I do wonder why Woj keeps smacking the Raptors while pushing a pro LA agenda on everything. It's gotten worse since the move to ESPN.

Woj is terrible with predictions and great at breaking stories.

He said Masai is about to be offered an insane deal with the Wizards and an hour later that was debunked.

He's trying to help the LA teams as much as possible and throw off Kawhi's camp, and it's getting laughable at this point.

Lot of work to do? Even an idiotic basketball fan knows that that makes little sense.

Woj looks like a clown.

[vado]

Lol man, not even giving them 24 hours to celebrate.

Woj can suck a djck. They were out in the floor celebrating last night and he was tweeting about Washington making him a major offer to head up their organization.

Woj is public enemy #1 now. He's clearly **** with Toronto on purpose. Kawhi can leave as a free agent, it's his right but give us a day, an hour, even 5 minutes to celebrate and not think about it.

[Luigi]

How are the Raptors going to improve?

I think Leonard sees that it took a lot of injury to get it done in Toronto.
Clippers took that team to 6 when it was healthy.
He can join, with someone else, and clean up in big market money? I think he's gone.

[madmaxmedia]

What work would Toronto possibly have to do? They catered to his load management needs, they won a title, and they want him back in the worst way. No work has to be done. If he leaves Toronto now, he was never staying no matter what happened.

Pretty much this. Unless Woj is implying that Masai can offer him some sort of a "trade out guarantee" with a max deal, that way Kawhi gets paid the max, can stick around in Toronto for as long as he wants and be guaranteed a trade to the Clippers/Lakers whenever he'd like.

Seems like a long shot though, too many moving parts in that scenario, especially with the salary cap.

I think it's impossible to guarantee a trade to a specific place, a team could have nothing but bad contracts to match salaries with, etc. You can promise to honor a trade request in general, but seems hard to guarantee anything about the destination.

[RaptorsCity12]

Facts Woj is sick. Speculation Woj is an ****


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[TreyKincade]

Woj can go suck his momma. Pouring salt on our celebration every chance he gets

I do wonder why Woj keeps smacking the Raptors while pushing a pro LA agenda on everything. It's gotten worse since the move to ESPN.

Woj is terrible with predictions and great at breaking stories.

He said Masai is about to be offered an insane deal with the Wizards and an hour later that was debunked.

He's trying to help the LA teams as much as possible and throw off Kawhi's camp, and it's getting laughable at this point.

Lot of work to do? Even an idiotic basketball fan knows that that makes little sense.

Woj looks like a clown.

Except that WOJ is a Boston Celtic fan.

[NBAFan93]

What work would Toronto possibly have to do? They catered to his load management needs, they won a title, and they want him back in the worst way. No work has to be done. If he leaves Toronto now, he was never staying no matter what happened.

Woj and all these media outlets doing everything possible to get Kawhi and Masai out of Toronto. It hasn’t been 24hr and this dude has two stories cantering around Raptors GM and star player. F em and I hope Kawhi gives them big middle finger like Paul George and sings with the raptors long term.

they really have been - it’s just awful how the media pushes their agendas.

[Steelo Green]

I do wonder why Woj keeps smacking the Raptors while pushing a pro LA agenda on everything. It's gotten worse since the move to ESPN.

Woj is terrible with predictions and great at breaking stories.

He said Masai is about to be offered an insane deal with the Wizards and an hour later that was debunked.

He's trying to help the LA teams as much as possible and throw off Kawhi's camp, and it's getting laughable at this point.

Lot of work to do? Even an idiotic basketball fan knows that that makes little sense.

Woj looks like a clown.

Except that WOJ is a Boston Celtic fan.

What does being a Celtic fan have to do with anything?

There are a myriad of reasons why, ESPN being a big one.

He said PG, Westbrook, Love are all meeting up in LA no doubt, and it didn't happen.

[LKN]

I have to say - given how the Raptors have treated him and his chronic health issues he'd be taking a risk by leaving. I don't think he'll ever have it better than he does in Toronto.

[OkcSinceSGA]

If he goes to LA it's simply because he wants to be home, I don't think anyone should be mad at him if he does leave that's the reason. Cause I don't see how the Clippers are a better basketball situation than the Raptors are right now.

I think the Raptors are more built to win the next year or two. If you compare rosters top to bottom, assets, flexibility etc.. I think the Clippers (with Kawhi of course) will be better for 5+ years almost certainly. Lowry and Gasol are due to fall off a cliff at any time. Ibaka likely won't continue this resurgence. It's basically gonna be Kawhi+Siakam and an inferior role player cast outside of that. I get Siakam is the best young player, but he's not better than Harrell+SGA+Shamet combined for example. Clippers are younger with their core and the vets they do have like Lou/Gallo are borderline all star guys. So I still disagree that's it's a pure LA decision. Likely biggest factor, but the Clippers front office, ownership, coaching and future prospects are top tier as well.

All this said, I expect him to stay anyway.

Siakam + FVV + OG is definitely better than Harrell + SGA + Shamet

How so? SGA/Shamet just showed out as ROOKIES against the Warriors and this season both showed they definitely have all star potential. OG and FVV (25 years old) are 2nd and 3rd year players who have yet to even look like starters, let alone anything close to a star. Siakam is the best of the group, but he wasn't all that much better than Harrell this year TBH, despite the constant hype.

SGA and Shamet look like a legit great starting backcourt for the next 10+ years. Also Zubac, Robinson, Thornwell still can be good role players, I was just mentioning the top 3. Shamet showed he can play great D too the way he played Curry and Klay in the playoffs. He projects out favorably as a JJ Redick/poor man's Curry type player. SGA looks like a bigger Sam Cassell with more defensive potential. These are two kids who are 20 and 21 and just helped carry a team without a star to the playoffs. How many rookie guards started on a playoff team?

[HotelVitale]

If he goes to LA it's simply because he wants to be home, I don't think anyone should be mad at him if he does leave that's the reason. Cause I don't see how the Clippers are a better basketball situation than the Raptors are right now.

I think the Raptors are more built to win the next year or two. If you compare rosters top to bottom, assets, flexibility etc.. I think the Clippers (with Kawhi of course) will be better for 5+ years almost certainly. Lowry and Gasol are due to fall off a cliff at any time. Ibaka likely won't continue this resurgence. It's basically gonna be Kawhi+Siakam and an inferior role player cast outside of that. I get Siakam is the best young player, but he's not better than Harrell+SGA+Shamet combined for example..

I've been arguing that the Raptors are a this-year-and-next team for a while, but I also don't think the Clips are definitely better on the long haul. There's a chance that's true but if you're Kawhi you'd have to leave a short-term sure thing to roll the dice on a totally unknown longer one--though one with some real upside. That's a big gamble but not a crazy one, and it's just going to come down to how much he wants to be in SoCal.

[Quattro]

If he does re-sign, watching the egg on the face of all these so called "experts" will be almost as satisfying as watching this team win a championship.

And ya, I'd love to know what possible more work that this franchise could do at this point

[Mickey8]

Leonard is staying in Toronto, tist title have cemented his decision.

[Quattro]

How are the Raptors going to improve?

I think Leonard sees that it took a lot of injury to get it done in Toronto.
Clippers took that team to 6 when it was healthy.
He can join, with someone else, and clean up in big market money? I think he's gone.

When you've got the best GM in the business, it's not so daunting.

[RapsAndJays21]

LOL AWFUL TAKE BY WOJ. Raptors have done all they can do. If he leaves he leaves. Get outta here. Does he hate the Raps? I can't believe how quick he posted that Ujiri Washington rumours.

[BallSacBounce]

The Championship is so yesterday, let's move on to the speculation I say.

[OkcSinceSGA]

If he goes to LA it's simply because he wants to be home, I don't think anyone should be mad at him if he does leave that's the reason. Cause I don't see how the Clippers are a better basketball situation than the Raptors are right now.

I think the Raptors are more built to win the next year or two. If you compare rosters top to bottom, assets, flexibility etc.. I think the Clippers (with Kawhi of course) will be better for 5+ years almost certainly. Lowry and Gasol are due to fall off a cliff at any time. Ibaka likely won't continue this resurgence. It's basically gonna be Kawhi+Siakam and an inferior role player cast outside of that. I get Siakam is the best young player, but he's not better than Harrell+SGA+Shamet combined for example..

I've been arguing that the Raptors are a this-year-and-next team for a while, but I also don't think the Clips are definitely better on the long haul. There's a chance that's true but if you're Kawhi you'd have to leave a short-term sure thing to roll the dice on a totally unknown longer one--though one with some real upside. That's a big gamble but not a crazy one, and it's just going to come down to how much he wants to be in SoCal.

I've said this time and time again. I am not meaning to brag, but in terms of Clippers players upsides, I have yet to be wrong on this forum probably. I was on the Bledsoe bandwagon before 99% of people. I was on the DJ bandwagon when he was a bench player losing minutes to Kaman. I was on the Harrell bandwagon from 2 seasons ago when everyone thought I was nuts. I said he would be an 18/8 type player with more minutes, he went out and did almost exactly that the next season. Very few on this forum have a pulse on their young players like I do with the Clips, I can say that for a fact.

So all I will say is, don't bet against me when it comes to analyzing the talent on our team. This isn't me being a blind homer, I'm telling you SGA/Shamet are going to make HUGE leaps in the coming seasons. I see them as a top 5 backcourt in this league. I'm very good at spotting that "it" factor with players. Zubac/Robinson/Thornwell also have chance to be good bench players for years to come. I'd say our young talent is greatly underrated and I'm not gonna bet against Jerry West and co either.

[Pharmcat]

what exactly can Raps do? like seriously?

[ratul]

Can we please enjoy winning the title? It just freaking happened! Now I am thinking about this trash!

[clyde21]

if this run doesn't convince him to stay, he's gone. what also can the Raptors do?