Masai’s plan moving forward

[Scase]

The question I have is, what can Pascal fetch us?! Masai needs to silently shop him now and not wait to do that just before the trade deadline! That didn’t work last year and it could very well not work this year.

Just some ideas, Pascal for Sengun and pieces? Markkanen? Herro and pieces? A deal needs to be made soon!!

Lmao Sengun and Markkanen both have more value than Siakam. And sadly outside of Herro the heat have nothing valuable really. People are going to be real disappointed with what return he fetches us......if Masai even trades him that is.

[Merit]

If Barnes shooting and overall 3rd yr jump is real, Masai is going to keep doing what he's doing... build and trying to retain talent (especially shooting and defensive talent).

GTJ is a player type we would be looking for if traded away. Shooter. Young.

Pascal as complimentary #2 to a star SF that shoots threes and overpowers people (Kawhi), has actually worked in the past. Let's let Pascal adjust back to his previous role. I've seen this board write off Siakam multiple times, and then watched Siakam make an All NBA team right after. Patience.

OG can guard any position and hit 3s. What more would you want next to Barnes?

We just drafted the perceived best shooter in the lottery/draft (Dick).

We drafted a theoretical 3&D center last year (Koloko - check his combine shooting numbers).

Need to get:
- an efficient combo guard that isn't terrible on defense (Quickly?)
-a healthy 3pt shooting C (Draft? Olynyk? Koloko? Precious?)

Immanuel Quickley is exactly the type of player that would make sense for us. He’s a free agent after this year. If we wanted his bird rights, we may be able to acquire them, but IQ is a big part of the Knicks team.

[Merit]

The plan moving forward involves Scottie replacing Pascal as the number one option, Gradey will replace GTJ, OG will be resigned. Schroeder as the back up point guard long term.


And then we need to find a star guard, who can shoot and is a playmaker. We also need a stretch 5 to pair with Poeltl, similar to the Gasol-Ibaka combo at Centre.

That’s a solid 7 player rotation, if we can find that star point guard as our number 2 option.

Essentially we need to copy the 2019 championship team, here's what I propose
PG Davion Mitchell very similar game to Lowry same body type, and has a dog mentality
SG Malcolm Brogdon veteran guard that can shoot and run some point
SF Scottie Barnes, he's our Kawhi
PF OG, he will replace Siakam
C Jakob Poetl and Miles Turner, Gasol and Ibaka 2.0

I’d love to get Brogdon somehow. He’s always been a raptor killer too.

[Merit]

Not even really trying to hot take here, but is there any evidence that Masai has a plan?

I think there's a vague idea of staying "competitive" (re: not tanking) while stockpiling assets and accumulating value (even certain trades everyone hates are usually reasonable "value"), but I don't know what the next step is.

I have a feeling the Pascal trade will be one of those weird ones where the guys involved are kind of surprising. An old school player for player swap, not one of these star for cap space and picks deals. Something like the Sabonis for Haliburton/Hield deal.

That would be ideal if it landed us Dejounte and Griffin.

[Duffman100]

Not even really trying to hot take here, but is there any evidence that Masai has a plan?

I think there's a vague idea of staying "competitive" (re: not tanking) while stockpiling assets and accumulating value (even certain trades everyone hates are usually reasonable "value"), but I don't know what the next step is.

I have a feeling the Pascal trade will be one of those weird ones where the guys involved are kind of surprising. An old school player for player swap, not one of these star for cap space and picks deals. Something like the Sabonis for Haliburton/Hield deal.

Every FO in professional sports has a plan.

[Merit]

The question I have is, what can Pascal fetch us?! Masai needs to silently shop him now and not wait to do that just before the trade deadline! That didn’t work last year and it could very well not work this year.

Just some ideas, Pascal for Sengun and pieces? Markkanen? Herro and pieces? A deal needs to be made soon!!

Why can't he extend Siakam in the next three-four weeks?

Why is the return so good if he's that bad?

Except no Markkanen ever please.

And no Herro, unless it’s for expiring contracts not named OG or pascal.

[Johnny Bball]

As JJ Reddick put it - Scottie is the HUB. We need to build around him and play to his strengths. Similar to how the Nuggets offense revolves around Jokic.

Surround him with sharpshooters, slashers, & playmakers.

For example: I've been throwing this name around for years but I feel like we need him now more than ever - Doug McDermott. Not a sexy name, but he's exactly the type of player you want to play alongside Scottie.

He's a pylon. And he's 30. They aren't building that way.

[Merit]

As JJ Reddick put it - Scottie is the HUB. We need to build around him and play to his strengths. Similar to how the Nuggets offense revolves around Jokic.

Surround him with sharpshooters, slashers, & playmakers.

For example: I've been throwing this name around for years but I feel like we need him now more than ever - Doug McDermott. Not a sexy name, but he's exactly the type of player you want to play alongside Scottie.

Well the good thing is that he plays for the spurs, the only team we ever trade with. And the best part? It'll only cost us a couple FRPs!

Ideally he costs only expiring contracts. Brogdon for expirings and a second

[Airmiess]

Masai cant execute anything because he let DeMar shame him into being a pacifist towards aging stars instead of doing whats best for the team.

[JB7]

The question I have is, what can Pascal fetch us?! Masai needs to silently shop him now and not wait to do that just before the trade deadline! That didn’t work last year and it could very well not work this year.

Just some ideas, Pascal for Sengun and pieces? Markkanen? Herro and pieces? A deal needs to be made soon!!

Masai has been silently shopping Pascal for the last year (started with KD trade offer) but now it is not so silent.

I think a deal with the Heat probably makes most sense. Siakam and Trent for Herro and Lowry as the main pieces, plus probably picks/swaps from the Heat. Other pieces could be included in the deal like Flynn swapped for Jovic.

Heat are always star chasing, and they need to use Lowry’s contract as a trade chip (expiring contract) before he expires.

[YogurtProducer]

Not even really trying to hot take here, but is there any evidence that Masai has a plan?

I think there's a vague idea of staying "competitive" (re: not tanking) while stockpiling assets and accumulating value (even certain trades everyone hates are usually reasonable "value"), but I don't know what the next step is.

I have a feeling the Pascal trade will be one of those weird ones where the guys involved are kind of surprising. An old school player for player swap, not one of these star for cap space and picks deals. Something like the Sabonis for Haliburton/Hield deal.

The same plan he has had for a decade.

1) Bring in defense first players. Majority of draft picks we have ever made were guys who were defense first or projects who projected as best case defensively sound players and try to develop their offense. (Bruno, Delon, Poeltl, Siakam, OG, Flynn (outlier), Barnes, Dick, Koloko, Powell, Banton, etc. --- ALL were defensive players when drafted). Arguably our 2 best pieces right now (Barnes and OG) were two guys who projected as high level defenders who some offensive question marks.

2) Retain players. Outside of when deals absolutely need to be made (Gay, Powell, Demar, etc.), Masai has always been a patient guy who does not make knee jerk moves and prefers to build within. We might be approaching a necessary move with Siakam just to re-stock our depth shelves and/or due to salary constraints.

So there is a plan, it just is not the plan a lot of people on this board agree with despite a decades worth of results to suggest maybe the guy is on to something.

[YogurtProducer]

Masai cant execute anything because he let DeMar shame him into being a pacifist towards aging stars instead of doing whats best for the team.

Except Masai was like this long before the Demar trade.

[Airmiess]

Masai cant execute anything because he let DeMar shame him into being a pacifist towards aging stars instead of doing whats best for the team.

Except Masai was like this long before the Demar trade.

I disagree completely. He maximized on Carmelo and Rudy Gay, he had great timing before the aftermath of the Kawhi trade.

Losing a first time all star in FVV with no compensation is bad asset management.

[bluerap23]

We aren't that far off. Not trading OG was the right move last year. I would overpay him happily if we have to match someone else. Masai was rightly shopping Pascal but didn't get what he wanted. Now Pascal is the best player available via trade. I expect he will be traded as early as January. If we want to surround Scottie with shooters (which we should) we should keep OG and Gary.

[bluerap23]

Masai cant execute anything because he let DeMar shame him into being a pacifist towards aging stars instead of doing whats best for the team.

Yes I'm sure if he could do it over again he'd have turned down the Kawhi trade

Also - if this was the case - Pascal would be extended.

[Airmiess]

Masai cant execute anything because he let DeMar shame him into being a pacifist towards aging stars instead of doing whats best for the team.

Yes I'm sure if he could do it over again he'd have turned down the Kawhi trade

You lack the ability to compartmentalize information. You can experience guilt and still make the same moves in hindsight, as well as choose to be more hands off for future decisions due to past guilt.

[WuTang_CMB]

They were being overly patient waiting for the Barnes leap and then re-evaluate based on that. I would have moved Siakam last year so there's a clean slate this year and to provide him with better complimentary players. It's clear as day he needs shooters with secondary play making. Dick is one of these players we think will get there. But he's still couple years away.

Poeltl and OG have look like terrific fits next to him.

[billy_hoyle]

The plan moving forward involves Scottie replacing Pascal as the number one option, Gradey will replace GTJ, OG will be resigned. Schroeder as the back up point guard long term.


And then we need to find a star guard, who can shoot and is a playmaker. We also need a stretch 5 to pair with Poeltl, similar to the Gasol-Ibaka combo at Centre.

That’s a solid 7 player rotation, if we can find that star point guard as our number 2 option.

Essentially we need to copy the 2019 championship team, here's what I propose
PG Davion Mitchell very similar game to Lowry same body type, and has a dog mentality
SG Malcolm Brogdon veteran guard that can shoot and run some point
SF Scottie Barnes, he's our Kawhi
PF OG, he will replace Siakam
C Jakob Poetl and Miles Turner, Gasol and Ibaka 2.0

I'd actually like a Davion Mitchell play, and I like Brogdan for this team.

That said, when comparing to the championship team:
PG ?

SG: Danny Green ---> OG
Both optimized as 3&D guys. Obviously OG is on another level, so that's a win for the current Raps.

SF: Kawhi vs Barnes is a decent comp if Scottie keeps this shooting. It's Leonard or LeBron, those are the power 3s that can play awesome D.

PF: Siakam ---> Siakam
Come on he's not even 30, and better than he was during the championship run (this slump not withstanding).

C: ?

I don't think we have the same pieces at C, PG or on the bench. Not saying you need that to be successful, but that's where the similarities start to end IMO. Yak vs Old Gasol, I think they both good passers and good defenders, but Gasol still possessed a perimeter threat, and Yak can make a layup, so they're quite different there.

We don't have a Lowry. That would really push us into contention (if Barnes is real).

[bluerap23]

Masai cant execute anything because he let DeMar shame him into being a pacifist towards aging stars instead of doing whats best for the team.

Yes I'm sure if he could do it over again he'd have turned down the Kawhi trade

You lack the ability to compartmentalize information. You can experience guilt and still make the same moves in hindsight, as well as choose to be more hands off for future decisions due to past guilt.

Masai is the President of an NBA basketball team, he is not a child. He is surrounded by highly calculated professionals. If you think Masai doesn't pull the trigger 100x out of 100 on similar deals you have no idea how this business works.

[ItsDanger]

The plan is to contend as long as Larry T backs him. That may end in 2 years.