Tank World Order (The Remix Vol. IV)

[greekman]

i expect the fo to add talent in the offseason so i don't expect next years pick to be that high.

[DelAbbot]

I believe the front office has shifted gears on player acquisitions to target players that want to play here. Long overdue. However, that is going to limit trade possibilities, especially with older players. The draft needs to be prioritized.

What does it mean players who want to play here?

I'm 100% certain Siakam is second only to DD/Norm in terms of how much he wants to play here.

[DelAbbot]

i expect the fo to add talent in the offseason so i don't expect next years pick to be that high.

probably - the rebuild is mostly over with what we have plus the Indiana pick. This "younge core" feels worse than heading into Scottie's rookie year with Precious / Flynn etc along with the vets. I'm sure it is a downgrade in terms of overall talent and assets

[ItsDanger]

I believe the front office has shifted gears on player acquisitions to target players that want to play here. Long overdue. However, that is going to limit trade possibilities, especially with older players. The draft needs to be prioritized.

What does it mean players who want to play here?

I'm 100% certain Siakam is second only to DD/Norm in terms of how much he wants to play here.

More so on the age variable with younger guys and accepting a role for others. Once they get to that 3rd contract, financial viability becomes a huge factor in keeping them. For Norm, he wanted a longer term deal that they wouldn't give as their contract philosophy, regardless if he wanted to stay.

Edit: rumors of D.Murray & Lillard not wanting to play here can't be totally ignored.

[billy_hoyle]

Is this year a wasted season?

In what way could it be considered a waste?

We literally traded half our team (incl. our 2nd and third best assets) for future assets and younger guys on longer contracts (or RFAs).

Surprisingly, we might not have even gotten much worse. I think that has alot to do with the insane amount of talent duplication we had (how many big wings did we need?).

If we keep or pick (basically a coin flip) and nail this draft, I don't know how people can be down on this team.

We have a 22yr old all star.

We have cap space to add a max contract.

We might have multiple lottery picks including a top 4 pick.

We already have legit starters at all positions except at SF/PF (wherever Scotties isn't).

IQ is a starter, fringe all star upside, he's 24.
RJ is a starter, fringe all star upside, he's 23.

Bench lottery picks in Dick and Ochai.
Vet lottery pick bigs in Yak and KO.

Potentially useful young-ish vets in Brown, GTJ and Nwora.

We could use: a Keegan Murray type forward, a stretch 5 like a Myles Turner, or a high end guard to round out the backcourt rotation with IQ and RJ. Preferably the guard would be able to guard a SG and share the court with IQ, maybe someone like an Anthony Black/Lonzo Ball type.

Theres actually guys in this draft that are reasonable comps for these archetypes:
Risacher, Ware and Castle.

[Vampirate]

i expect the fo to add talent in the offseason so i don't expect next years pick to be that high.

probably - the rebuild is mostly over with what we have plus the Indiana pick. This "younge core" feels worse than heading into Scottie's rookie year with Precious / Flynn etc along with the vets. I'm sure it is a downgrade in terms of overall talent and assets

IQ is basically a younger FVV with way more upside (athleticism).

Barrett has a chance to be better than OG currently is.

Barret doing 55/40/59 is pretty random


Ultimately it's Losing Siakam that really hurts, but that's offset somewhat by Gradey actually becoming a very good backup, and soon to be starter.

Barnes was obviously struggling a bit due to becoming the #1 option on the team.

It all hinges as usual on Barnes becoming a reliable scorer as the #1 option.

[Scase]

What people overlook in the OG deal is acquiring 2 solid players fills the starting lineup already minus the C. You have room for 1 more starting calibre 2, 3 or 4 depending on where you position RJ & Scottie. As the other 3 players, as a whole, lack in shot creation, you need to pursue a scorer. However, this leaves the 4 man unit as likely kind if mediocre on the defensive side.

Dick is the wild card, but you hope he can be neutral defensively at some point? I just don't know here.

So, on a valuation basis, one might view the trade as solid. But on a rebuilding basis towards legit contending status, is it?

That's why they should pursue options in improving the C position immediately. There are interesting prospects there in next 2 drafts.

Or, you package a combination of RJ, IQ, Dick, Poeltl for an upgrade when you're closer to contention. As long as you build up the value of your players and they're playing well, they can always be dealt. The Raps ultimately packaged core players together in order to add key pieces like Kawhi and Gasol. The Raps really shouldn't have any untouchables at this point, with the exception of Barnes.

This is the only hope I have for this current roster. I think IQ sticks around longer term, but I think we move RJ in the next few years. I don't see Jak having much value in another couple years tbh. And Dick, he's a wild card. The potential he shows as a scorer could make him an incredible 1-2 punch with Scottie, but plenty of time for that to develop one way or another. I just hope he's turned a page and can blossom into a starter quality player.

With that said, expecting another Kawhi level trade is just setting yourself up for disappointment, that was a perfect storm.

[WuTang_CMB]

Looks like Grizz finally win one vs brk

[The Duke]

That helps

[deck]

The wasted year was clearly last year.

The only waste attributable to this year is not being bad enough to retain our first round pick.

[The Duke]

Fortunate win by Memphis!

[WuTang_CMB]

Nice memphis
Jackson a beast

[Tor_Raps]

So sad we're all monitoring Memphis but happy they won loll.

[bballsparkin]

Starting to get hopes back up. This does seem like the kind of draft a Raptor team would win into the lottery. Cooper Flagg who we kidding. Unknown international? Raptors! I'll keep doubting since that seems to be working

[LoveMyRaps]

LEGGO MEMPHIS. I feel like they're remaining schedule is easier than ours?

There's speculation that Bane could return soon as well. JJJ + Bane should be able to steal a couple wins.

[DelAbbot]

So sad we're all monitoring Memphis but happy they won loll.

This is a form of masochism

[Scase]

LEGGO MEMPHIS. I feel like they're remaining schedule is easier than ours?

There's speculation that Bane could return soon as well. JJJ + Bane should be able to steal a couple wins.

They have the 5th hardest, we have the 18th hardest.

[LBJKB24MJ23]

Is this year a wasted season?

In what way could it be considered a waste?

We literally traded half our team (incl. our 2nd and third best assets) for future assets and younger guys on longer contracts (or RFAs).

Surprisingly, we might not have even gotten much worse. I think that has alot to do with the insane amount of talent duplication we had (how many big wings did we need?).

If we keep or pick (basically a coin flip) and nail this draft, I don't know how people can be down on this team.

We have a 22yr old all star.

We have cap space to add a max contract.

We might have multiple lottery picks including a top 4 pick.

We already have legit starters at all positions except at SF/PF (wherever Scotties isn't).

IQ is a starter, fringe all star upside, he's 24.
RJ is a starter, fringe all star upside, he's 23.

Bench lottery picks in Dick and Ochai.
Vet lottery pick bigs in Yak and KO.

Potentially useful young-ish vets in Brown, GTJ and Nwora.

We could use: a Keegan Murray type forward, a stretch 5 like a Myles Turner, or a high end guard to round out the backcourt rotation with IQ and RJ. Preferably the guard would be able to guard a SG and share the court with IQ, maybe someone like an Anthony Black/Lonzo Ball type.

Theres actually guys in this draft that are reasonable comps for these archetypes:
Risacher, Ware and Castle.

the year it was wasted was not tanking for Wemby when the Raptors were so bad.

https://dailyhive.com/toronto/raptors-ujiri-travelled-to-france-wembanyama

for the record, on January 12, 2023 - Raptors were 19-23, Spurs 13-29, Spurs eventually were 22-60

so obviously by the time Masai did his due diligence, the Raptors would have to have gone on a few Detroit Pistons losing streaks to only win 2-3 more games the rest of the way. (and ofc without trading for Poeltl)

imagine Barnes and Wemby together this season.

[VanWest82]

I'm growing more hopeful by the day. Is Memphis really going to play JJJ down the stretch? Will Nikola Topic last until #6?

[Chandan]

I believe the front office has shifted gears on player acquisitions to target players that want to play here. Long overdue. However, that is going to limit trade possibilities, especially with older players. The draft needs to be prioritized.

What does it mean players who want to play here?

I'm 100% certain Siakam is second only to DD/Norm in terms of how much he wants to play here.

Weird thing is masai cant just wait till the off season to sign those players. He rather give up something to get them instead of just signing him outright.