Post-Mortem: 2021-22 Toronto Raptors

[Gasolina]

Dunno what the plan is long-term. I don't think you can win a chip with this core. Barnes will mature into a fantastic player one day but you will need another elite prospect next to him, soon.

Either the Raps go all-in next year and do something like a Lillard/Siakam tandem with Barnes, Precious, Boucher, Young etc. supporting or trade one or some of our core to grab that elite prospect to play next to Barnes.

However I think Masai is giving this core another year in incubation to see what happens. Not anticipating major moves this offseason. Earliest by the next deadline.

Dame is absolutely cooked lmao. Giving up a bunch of pieces or draft picks to get some aging, diminutive nodefense chucker would be the best way for your Raptors to lock themselves into a treadmill. Same thing with a guy like Beal, who has never been a winner, is a garbage defender, and who doesn't elevate his teammates because of how much he has to dominate the ball to be effective.

Raptors have a very interesting experiment going with this "longball" strategy, and it already proved capable of punching far above its weight and talent level. The biggest mistake your franchise could make would be to start hedging against that strategy now, so I am utterly baffled when I see some of you guys clamouring for another midget chucker like Dame to put next to Fred, or for some slow-footed 7 footer who is never going to be able to match up against Embiid anyways. It's very reactionary thinking. Fortunately for you, I think your front office is a lot smarter than the team's fans, and they will keep pushing forward with this ahead-of-the-curve style of play.

What the Raptors really need is to develop some more bench pieces so they don't have to grind their top 6 into dust during the regular season, and to wait for the opportunity to go all-in for an elite big forward. Guys in the mold of Giannis, Kawhi, LeBron, Tatum, Brown, PG13, Middleton, Butler, AD, etc. would fit perfectly with the team. Obviously, a few of those guys are untouchable and some others are getting kinda old, but that's the type of player that Toronto needs to become a real contender again. Not some washed point guard, nodefense shooting guard, or overrated garbage big like Myles Turner and Vucevic.

[Curmudgeon]

Nice GM, nice coach, nice players. But they need to get bigger.

[R-DAWG]

Strangely, they are a Kawhi Leonard type of player away from being a title contender

How many teams can you say that about?

Toronto got extremely lucky in the summer of 2018 that they were able to flip DeRozan + for Kwahi. That team was getting stale the way Portland did earlier this year and Utah is doing right now. Portland had to go the rebuild route because there wasn't a McCollum + for a Kwhai type on a short term deal available.

I am a firm believed that luck is when preparation meets opportunity, so I don't want this post to be interpreted that the Raptors just got lucky. But an outside opportunity presented itself that might not present itself again.

I think the questions of keeping the coach and GM aren't even questions.

The concern I have with the team going forward is that while they are a young team, they are an expensive young team. And while all their guys might be on fair contracts, teams loaded with guys on fair contracts for above average type of starters tend to be low end playoff teams at best - unless they have a generational type of talent on the roster. And at this point, Siakiam and Barens don't fit that description the way a Jayson Tatum or Luka Doncic do.

[Big J]

They need an alpha dog. They have been lacking that since Kawhi left. Don’t give me the Scottie Barnes line either. He’s at best Scottie Pippen, who was a damn good number 2. So maybe package some of their depth and trade for a Lillard type.

[Backcountry]

Raptors are in a fantastic place.

Have the ability to retain Thad Young and CB.

Healthy off season for Pascal.

Huge development off season for the young core(Barnes/Precious/GTJ) with a few possible gems in the making(Banton/Champagne)


Brooks and Banton should cover the SG/PG situation
Add in a shooter via MLE.

They're in a fantastic place IF they can lure a star to go north. Otherwise they will stay a first/second round team at best. They need a star added to the roster to compete for the 'chip.

Masai planning a Jokic-type draft choice at #33 this year.

[greg4012]

Infact I dare say the Raptors are a better and tougher defensive/offensive rebounding team then Miami minus the offense(Miami is good or better on offense)

Nah

[Backcountry]

Dunno what the plan is long-term. I don't think you can win a chip with this core. Barnes will mature into a fantastic player one day but you will need another elite prospect next to him, soon.

Either the Raps go all-in next year and do something like a Lillard/Siakam tandem with Barnes, Precious, Boucher, Young etc. supporting or trade one or some of our core to grab that elite prospect to play next to Barnes.

However I think Masai is giving this core another year in incubation to see what happens. Not anticipating major moves this offseason. Earliest by the next deadline.

Dame is absolutely cooked lmao. Giving up a bunch of pieces or draft picks to get some aging, diminutive nodefense chucker would be the best way for your Raptors to lock themselves into a treadmill. Same thing with a guy like Beal, who has never been a winner, is a garbage defender, and who doesn't elevate his teammates because of how much he has to dominate the ball to be effective.

Raptors have a very interesting experiment going with this "longball" strategy, and it already proved capable of punching far above its weight and talent level. The biggest mistake your franchise could make would be to start hedging against that strategy now, so I am utterly baffled when I see some of you guys clamouring for another midget chucker like Dame to put next to Fred, or for some slow-footed 7 footer who is never going to be able to match up against Embiid anyways. It's very reactionary thinking. Fortunately for you, I think your front office is a lot smarter than the team's fans, and they will keep pushing forward with this ahead-of-the-curve style of play.

What the Raptors really need is to develop some more bench pieces so they don't have to grind their top 6 into dust during the regular season, and to wait for the opportunity to go all-in for an elite big forward. Guys in the mold of Giannis, Kawhi, LeBron, Tatum, Brown, PG13, Middleton, Butler, AD, etc. would fit perfectly with the team. Obviously, a few of those guys are untouchable and some others are getting kinda old, but that's the type of player that Toronto needs to become a real contender again. Not some washed point guard, nodefense shooting guard, or overrated garbage big like Myles Turner and Vucevic.

Now this guy understands Raps philosophy better than a lot of our fans!

[cupcakesnake]

Raps have a few obvious and serious holes that held them back from being an absolutely elite team:

1. No main source of rim pressure. They had like 5 guys who could give you some rim pressure (Scottie, Pascal, OG, Precious, Boucher) but no one player who could consistently collapse a defense and put a team into defensive rotations. People think this means they need a superstar (and hey that would be great!) but more realistically this could be accomplished with a strong rim running center or rim attacking perimeter player. Neither of their guards can do anything inside 15 feet, and all of their forwards are matchup dependent. Now, Scottie has potential in this area so the solution is already maybe on the roster. If Scottie doesn't develop in that direction, and without a star, I think players like Mitchell Robinson, Jonathan Kuminga, Dwight Powell are the archetype they should be looking for. The perfect star for this roster would be Shai.

2. No primary rim protector. The biggest difference between Boston's #1 ranked defense and Toronto's #10? Robert Williams III protecting the backline. How many times this season did we see Toronto play ferocious defense for 18 seconds and then give up a layup or dunk out of nowhere. Just like with rim pressure, the Raps have a ton of solid scondary/tertiary rim protectors (Siakam, Boucher, and Khem Birch being the best on the backline), but no one crown jewel rim protector that can wipe out mistakes and let the Raps play their aggressive style without penalty.

3. Inconsistent shooting of the longbois. I mean we saw this doom them last night when they went ice cold in the 3rd. Even the best shooting longboi (OG) is inconsistent. Og can shoot his way to an easy 20 points (38% in games 1-3 on 21 attempts) or just do nothing as a shooter (20% on in games 4-6 on 20 attempts). So the Raps can't really consistently get away with playing the longbois in the playoffs and expect to be able to shoot it well enough to have functional offense. When the longbois hit shots they're basically unbeatable, but this doesn't happen often enough to be a viable playoff strategy.

The Raps patched up theses holes quite admirably all season, especially when they were healthy. But these holes are big ones and they need to fix 1-2 of them to be able to beat a good team in the playoffs. Phili was verrrrrry beatable and the Raps had lots of ways to **** them up. But ultimately, their holes on both ends would show up often enough for Phili to go on huge runs and take this series.

The Raps, if they aren't going to swing some big trade for a major talent upgrade, need to chase some shooting and size this offseason. They don't have caproom to do so, but they should sniff around with their midlevel. Mitchell Robinson (if he cant get a huge contract somewhere), Isaiah Hartenstein, Nurkic, Favors are interesting center targets. Joe Ingles is an interesting shooter veteran who may be affordable. But mostly the Raps can hope for internal development from Scottie, GT2, Precious, OG, and possibly their benched guards (Malachi and Banton).

[timO]

Didnt understand the trade for Young giving the frp, now they have to pay Young and spurs can catch something at #20 with rookie scale.

They are clear treadmill team, the unique Rising options is Barnes developing into a star, which is uncertain.

The trade for Thad was a trade down. They got the 33rd pick back in return, so they moved down 13 spots.

A genius move then

[srhcan]

Offensive Rating: 15th
Defensive Rating: 9th
Rebound %: 11th
Turnover %: 3rd

They are a treadmill team.
* Their offense is very bad. They have no shooters except Fred and he is injury prone. Trent is streaky shooter and not reliable. They have nobody who can go get bucket when needed.
* Their defense is overrated and is bad although not bad as offense. They have no lockdown defensive specialist. OG was supposed to be that guy but he has slipped and also he is injury prone. Teams were able to breakdown their defense.

[Duffman100]

Didnt understand the trade for Young giving the frp, now they have to pay Young and spurs can catch something at #20 with rookie scale.

They are clear treadmill team, the unique Rising options is Barnes developing into a star, which is uncertain.

Scottie is 20
Precious is 22
OG is 24
Trent is 23
Banton is 22
Flynn is 23 (though I don't like him).

What's your definition of a treadmill team? They're one of the youngest teams in the league with so much room to grow.

[First Step]

Call the Raptors a treadmill team, whatever. Since our championship run, we have lost virtually every contributor, and are further ahead in our trajectory than teams that were lottery teams during our run. (Knicks, Hawks, Wizards, Magic, Pistons, Pacers, Hornets and Cavs)

We also haven’t mortgaged our future for our current core like some of the current contenders.

The future is bright.

[timO]

Didnt understand the trade for Young giving the frp, now they have to pay Young and spurs can catch something at #20 with rookie scale.

They are clear treadmill team, the unique Rising options is Barnes developing into a star, which is uncertain.

Scottie is 20
Precious is 22
OG is 24
Trent is 23
Banton is 22
Flynn is 23 (though I don't like him).

What's your definition of a treadmill team? They're one of the youngest teams in the league with so much room to grow.

Dont see star potential outside Barnes in anyone of that list.

Trade down from 20 to 33 is a VERY BAD move.

Maxey was #21 for example.

[Duffman100]

Didnt understand the trade for Young giving the frp, now they have to pay Young and spurs can catch something at #20 with rookie scale.

They are clear treadmill team, the unique Rising options is Barnes developing into a star, which is uncertain.

Scottie is 20
Precious is 22
OG is 24
Trent is 23
Banton is 22
Flynn is 23 (though I don't like him).

What's your definition of a treadmill team? They're one of the youngest teams in the league with so much room to grow.

Dont see star potential outside Barnes in anyone of that list.

Trade down from 20 to 33 is a VERY BAD move.

By your definition, 90% of the league are tread-milling right now.

And VERY bad move is a complete exaggeration of dropping 13 spots late in the first round.

[-Luke-]

At least 8 Lakers fans participated in the poll (Fire the Coach).

[Deivork]

They should add some big body for the paint to counter Embiid and Giannis. The Gobert idea sounds interesting, but he's owed a lot so... I guess we'll see. Also, most of the roster should hit the gym and add up some pounds. They were getting pounced around. In any case, this team is has some good and/or young pieces so they're headed in a good direction.

[Duffman100]

Didnt understand the trade for Young giving the frp, now they have to pay Young and spurs can catch something at #20 with rookie scale.

They are clear treadmill team, the unique Rising options is Barnes developing into a star, which is uncertain.

Scottie is 20
Precious is 22
OG is 24
Trent is 23
Banton is 22
Flynn is 23 (though I don't like him).

What's your definition of a treadmill team? They're one of the youngest teams in the league with so much room to grow.

Dont see star potential outside Barnes in anyone of that list.

Trade down from 20 to 33 is a VERY BAD move.

Maxey was #21 for example.

So was Mitch McGrary, Justin Anderson, Pavel Podkolzin etc.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Boucher should go and get paid. This is his biggest window for earning, because he got a late start to his career. The Raptors should want him back, but if they have to choose between Thad and Boucher, they should go Thad + whatever's left in FA. No hard feelings. He's a 6MOY level player and he was incredible in the playoffs, but the Raptors aren't going to promote him into the starting line-up any time soon and they will likely keep adding rotation players through the draft over the length of his next deal.

More than anything, I think they should be encouraged to go with this style of team for one more season at least. They shouldn't be discouraged about Embiid having his way or anything like that.

[nikster]

Didnt understand the trade for Young giving the frp, now they have to pay Young and spurs can catch something at #20 with rookie scale.

They are clear treadmill team, the unique Rising options is Barnes developing into a star, which is uncertain.

Scottie is 20
Precious is 22
OG is 24
Trent is 23
Banton is 22
Flynn is 23 (though I don't like him).

What's your definition of a treadmill team? They're one of the youngest teams in the league with so much room to grow.

Dont see star potential outside Barnes in anyone of that list.

Trade down from 20 to 33 is a VERY BAD move.

Maxey was #21 for example.

So is no star the only definition of treadmill? And if you think Barnes has star potential why are they still treadmill? I dont see how a team like the Hawks is any less of a treadmill team despite having Young

[nikster]

Scottie is 20
Precious is 22
OG is 24
Trent is 23
Banton is 22
Flynn is 23 (though I don't like him).

What's your definition of a treadmill team? They're one of the youngest teams in the league with so much room to grow.

Dont see star potential outside Barnes in anyone of that list.

Trade down from 20 to 33 is a VERY BAD move.

Maxey was #21 for example.

So was Mitch McGrary, Justin Anderson, Pavel Podkolzin etc.

Its funny declaring this a bad move before the draft even happens. The raps said they weren't excited about anyone in that range, so if you consider them a good drafting team that explains there willingdness to drop in the draft