Scotto: RJ was in trade talks for BI

[Pointgod]

I'm betting Ja'Kobe is the starting 2 next season, after RJ is shipped out. Gradey just can't shoot at the level he's billed at and is a really bad defender.

Ingram and Scottie will be the 3 and 4s, and ofc Quick is the PG.

That’s not how you spell Dylan Harper

[tsherkin]

This is why I didn’t like the Ingram trade, it means RJ is odd man ou eventually. Comparing the two, RJ is younger, healthier, and cheaper, I just see it as a desperate move to get something of value for Bruce Brown in spite the huge risks.

RJ sucks, but so does BI. I'd rather have neither on the team in the long-term. And I suppose we won't since BI is only signed for 3 years.

BI doesnt suck. He isnt a superstar and he has health issues, but he is a better offensive player than anyone on our team at the moment.

[hyper316]

I definitely do not view Dick as being a playery worhty of starting on a winning team. I feel as though he is best suited in a role coming off the bench due to him being a very poor defender. RJ is obviously not even an average defender if I am being honest, but he is better on that end then Dick. Walter has shown some promise though on that end of the court and I value him over Dick moving forward if the Raptors move off of RJ. I do not think they will. They want players who want to play in Toronto and I imagine that RJ is happy to be here. His play on the court since being in Toronto has improved since his Knicks days. Needs to be able to hit free throws though. That drives me crazy. They are called FREE throws for a reason.

Agree on every point here

I'm def higher on Walter than Gradey.

Barrett will net us a FRP in time

[ATLTimekeeper]

I definitely hope they move him in the summer, then.

[Jerry Lucas]

RJ and Dick will not be traded next year. They're prepared to eat tax to see what they have with a lottery pick added to the roster with the BI addition.

Sent from my SM-S908W using RealGM mobile app

I can almost guarantee you that ownership will not approve of next year's team being one that is worthy of starting the repeater clock.

They want to save starting the repeater clock for when they are pretty certain about the team being ready to win. Not a single Lowry/DeRozan team ever got tax approval, only when they got Kawhi.

[Tripod]

In the end, who cares?

All of our players should be on the table when discussing upgrades. No one is good enough to be deemed untouchable.

[MightyMouse10]

I don't find it hard to believe that they are exploring to trade him. I just dont think he was offered specific to this deal. It is more likely RJ was the ask from NO side. No way they pass up on RJ and not making Zion content/motivated to have his college buddy on the team. Raptors knew they had to move on from Brown or risk losing that asset for nothing.

This is either the raps front office telling us be prepared he's next or another team who was proposed to acquire Rj leaking it.

[Indeed]

Barrett is not a flame thrower by any means, but he shoots roughly leagye average from 3 and will put them up. I do agree with you though that his production may lead fans to think he has value, but that his shortcomings suggest otherwise. He is getting better though and at only 24 still somehow he may still improve going forward.

Just look at Demar. He’s a much better player than RJ and no contender has even contemplated getting him. Even fringe contenders just completely avoid him. That’s the archetype RJ is following.

We’re better off keeping him rather than trading him, atleast until his expiring year.

DeMar is/was a better player then RJ. Much better though not so sure.

The better comparison is DeRozan vs Barnes.
Barrett who gets to the rim and provide rim pressure isn't really the same as DeRozan in drawing foul to get his efficiency.
Barnes on the other hand taking mid-range jump shot, shooting over people would be more similar to the game of DeRozan, both are focus on being master of mid-range, while no 3s and no ball penetration, mainly bully ball.

[anotherhomer]

i think the offer was this
RJ for Brandon Ingram but Pelicans wanted the 2026 pick

[HumbleRen]

Just look at Demar. He’s a much better player than RJ and no contender has even contemplated getting him. Even fringe contenders just completely avoid him. That’s the archetype RJ is following.

We’re better off keeping him rather than trading him, atleast until his expiring year.

DeMar is/was a better player then RJ. Much better though not so sure.

The better comparison is DeRozan vs Barnes.
Barrett who gets to the rim and provide rim pressure isn't really the same as DeRozan in drawing foul to get his efficiency.
Barnes on the other hand taking mid-range jump shot, shooting over people would be more similar to the game of DeRozan, both are focus on being master of mid-range, while no 3s and no ball penetration, mainly bully ball.

Yeah.. no.

The reason why great teams don’t want RJ/Demar of the worlds is because they provide nothing of value to great teams. All the stuff they excel at are all things your #1 option is already going to be good at, which makes what RJ/Demar bring to the table less valuable.

That’s just how it is when an inefficient scorer who doesn’t play defence. You either accept being a 6th man on a contender or you hop from team to team making very good money but never being able to find a home on a team.

[Indeed]

DeMar is/was a better player then RJ. Much better though not so sure.

The better comparison is DeRozan vs Barnes.
Barrett who gets to the rim and provide rim pressure isn't really the same as DeRozan in drawing foul to get his efficiency.
Barnes on the other hand taking mid-range jump shot, shooting over people would be more similar to the game of DeRozan, both are focus on being master of mid-range, while no 3s and no ball penetration, mainly bully ball.

Yeah.. no.

The reason why great teams don’t want RJ/Demar of the worlds is because they provide nothing of value to great teams. All the stuff they excel at are all things your #1 option is already going to be good at, which makes what RJ/Demar bring to the table less valuable.

That’s just how it is when an inefficient scorer who doesn’t play defence. You either accept being a 6th man on a contender or you hop from team to team making very good money but never being able to find a home on a team.

I have to disagree, because Barratt can shoot the 3s much better than DeRozan and Barnes. Barnes is the only who is limited to be the 1st option, because his selling point is playmaking (need the ball) without 3s, those are exactly like DeRozan. Barrett does shoot the 3s better this season, and we have not utilize him on cuts (off ball) and leaking out (due to our poor rebounding that needs Barrett and wants him to push the ball).

Barrett is actually better fit as the 2nd option, and better than Barnes / DeRozan.

[ATLTimekeeper]

DeMar would rather make money and score points, and that's his best option. Accepting a lesser role like Westbrook pretty much destroyed his reputation and cost him money.

People often don't talk about the negative gravity of serving a great player in the NBA ecosystem, but fans scapegoat the hell out of these guys and the beat media is essentially just fans with a platform. Players should look out for themselves first.

Teams will always need buckets, though. Some teams could really use an RJ (Orlando, etc), whereas he'd be superfluous on a team like Indiana. The Raptors exchanging RJ for Ingram was a solid idea, if it meant the pick was off the table. They probably should have stuck to their guns there, because now they will sell RJ for scrap and no longer have the pick.

[Pointgod]

With the Toronto Raptors envisioning a frontcourt of Scottie Barnes and newly extended Brandon Ingram along with former lottery pick Gradey Dick at shooting guard, where does that leave current leading scorer RJ Barrett’s future?

Based on conversations before the deadline, Barrett could be a trade candidate to monitor this summer.

Barrett was discussed in trade talks for Ingram with New Orleans, but the Pelicans preferred the expiring contract of Bruce Brown and stretch-five center Kelly Olynyk, who’s owed $13.45 million next season, league sources told HoopsHype. With Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones already on the wing, the Pelicans didn’t view Barrett as a suitable fit for their roster as talks would have necessitated finding a third team, sources said.

Barrett, a Toronto native, is having the best season of his career, averaging career-highs in points (21.7), rebounds (6.4) and assists (5.6). He’s owed $27.7 million next season and $29.62 million for the 2026-27 season.

https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-intel-jimmy-butler-trae-young-lamelo-ball-mark-williams-brandon-ingram-kyle-kuzma-raptors-wizards-76ers-mavericks/

Now I could've sworn there were tons of people telling me there's no way we trade "starJ" because he's canadian and part of the "long term plans".

And when I said he definitely isn't a long term piece....I got called stupid. Super weird.

RJ has certainly played better since joining, but he's never ever been the type of player you keep on your roster long term.

Just doing basic math and understanding the team won’t pay the luxury tax, it’s obvious that either Barrett or Quickley is the odd man out long term. That’s another problem with the Ingram trade and extension, it forces us to cut costs somewhere, but if you move RJ or Quickley, which one of the bench guys are ready to step up and replace even 80% of his production. God help us if we have to attach a pick to move RJ’s contract.

[canz55]

RJ and Dick will not be traded next year. They're prepared to eat tax to see what they have with a lottery pick added to the roster with the BI addition.

Sent from my SM-S908W using RealGM mobile app

I can almost guarantee you that ownership will not approve of next year's team being one that is worthy of starting the repeater clock.

They want to save starting the repeater clock for when they are pretty certain about the team being ready to win. Not a single Lowry/DeRozan team ever got tax approval, only when they got Kawhi.

First apron is 195 and we're only at 177 with BI money and Scottie's raise. Rookie scale plus a Robinson renewal keeps us under the apron likely.

We're middle of the pack im terms of negative cap space. Nothing to cry home about.

[ConSarnit]

It's ok to not know anything about basketball Andy. At least you have a steady job and loving family.

Says the guy comparing Edey to Shaq

Apparently you still haven't learned how to read. I stand by my statement 100%, if a system were built around feeding Edey in the post and he were to get the NBA whistle over time he'd be a Shaq-type presence. Literally all the data backs it up and his early returns as a rookie back it up. Data that you have no idea how to interpret.

Instead he has been limited and told to adapt to the modern NBA instead of vice versa because the team that drafted him is afraid of shifting their offensive system to feed him in the post as they would rather follow the safer lower return route of keeping the keys to the offense with the gun-wielding wannabe thug.

Edey is one of the greatest post scorers in the history of the sport and your frequently worthless opinion won't change that.

By the stats Edey is not even a top 5 post scorer in the current league.

You don’t know what you’re talking about. This isn’t 2001. You can’t just post up a guy 10+ times a game.

1) there are now many other play types that return better ppp than an Edey post up

2) if you tried to feed Edey over and over teams would just double him and he’d be far less effective because he can’t pass (Edey has an ast% that ranks 493rd in the league). He can’t make teams pay for doubling him.

To be a real post up threat you have to be able to score efficiently AND make teams pay for doubling you. Edey can’t do the second part. This doesn’t even touch on the fact that he doesn’t draw fouls at a high rate on postups, which was a staple of Shaq’s game. Shaq was a more skilled post player who was a very good passer and could draw fouls at an incredible rate. Edey is Al Jefferson. A skilled post player who can’t pass well enough or draw fouls well enough to actually become a staple of any team’s offense.

If MEM tried to run an Edey centric post offense teams would just double him and it wouldn’t work.

[Indeed]

RJ and Dick will not be traded next year. They're prepared to eat tax to see what they have with a lottery pick added to the roster with the BI addition.

Sent from my SM-S908W using RealGM mobile app

I can almost guarantee you that ownership will not approve of next year's team being one that is worthy of starting the repeater clock.

They want to save starting the repeater clock for when they are pretty certain about the team being ready to win. Not a single Lowry/DeRozan team ever got tax approval, only when they got Kawhi.

First apron is 195 and we're only at 177 with BI money and Scottie's raise. Rookie scale plus a Robinson renewal keeps us under the apron likely.

We're middle of the pack im terms of negative cap space. Nothing to cry home about.

We are below apron, but we are above the luxury tax at $187,895,000 (with 8m rookie contract plus 2 roster spots at 2m each for 14 players would be at $187.3m)
https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/salary_cap

[ConSarnit]

RJ and Dick will not be traded next year. They're prepared to eat tax to see what they have with a lottery pick added to the roster with the BI addition.

Sent from my SM-S908W using RealGM mobile app

I can almost guarantee you that ownership will not approve of next year's team being one that is worthy of starting the repeater clock.

They want to save starting the repeater clock for when they are pretty certain about the team being ready to win. Not a single Lowry/DeRozan team ever got tax approval, only when they got Kawhi.

First apron is 195 and we're only at 177 with BI money and Scottie's raise. Rookie scale plus a Robinson renewal keeps us under the apron likely.

We're middle of the pack im terms of negative cap space. Nothing to cry home about.

I wager there is zero chance they pay the tax next year. Here’s why: tax paying teams don’t get luxury tax payouts. Non-tax paying teams stand to get $30m+ in tax payouts this season. The Raptors are not going to miss out on potentially $40m (tax payment + lost tax payouts) just to make the play-in.

It’s not just about the repeater tax. That’s easy to dodge. It’s MLSE missing out on a free potential $40m. It ain’t going to happen.

[LoveMyRaps]

Apparently we did try to get KD before landing Ingram.

My (bold) prediction is that we trade RJ + for KD in the off season.

Depending on we draft...

If we draft Malauch - RJ + Poeltl [Quickley/Ingram/Durant/Barnes/Maluach]

If we draft Harper - RJ + IQ [Harper/Ingram/Durant/Barnes/Poeltl]


Durant gets to spend his final years for his favorite team growing up and him & Drake are bestfriends.

Crazy that we could be contenders as early as next year depending on how we play our cards.

[ItsDanger]

Says the guy comparing Edey to Shaq

Apparently you still haven't learned how to read. I stand by my statement 100%, if a system were built around feeding Edey in the post and he were to get the NBA whistle over time he'd be a Shaq-type presence. Literally all the data backs it up and his early returns as a rookie back it up. Data that you have no idea how to interpret.

Instead he has been limited and told to adapt to the modern NBA instead of vice versa because the team that drafted him is afraid of shifting their offensive system to feed him in the post as they would rather follow the safer lower return route of keeping the keys to the offense with the gun-wielding wannabe thug.

Edey is one of the greatest post scorers in the history of the sport and your frequently worthless opinion won't change that.

By the stats Edey is not even a top 5 post scorer in the current league.

You don’t know what you’re talking about. This isn’t 2001. You can’t just post up a guy 10+ times a game.

1) there are now many other play types that return better ppp than an Edey post up

2) if you tried to feed Edey over and over teams would just double him and he’d be far less effective because he can’t pass (Edey has an ast% that ranks 493rd in the league). He can’t make teams pay for doubling him.

To be a real post up threat you have to be able to score efficiently AND make teams pay for doubling you. Edey can’t do the second part. This doesn’t even touch on the fact that he doesn’t draw fouls at a high rate on postups, which was a staple of Shaq’s game. Shaq was a more skilled post player who was a very good passer and could draw fouls at an incredible rate. Edey is Al Jefferson. A skilled post player who can’t pass well enough or draw fouls well enough to actually become a staple of any team’s offense.

If MEM tried to run an Edey centric post offense teams would just double him and it wouldn’t work.

Memphis doesnt use him in isolated post ups much at all. These stats mean nothing. His role currently is mostly traditional dunker spot big with occasional 3 pt shot.

[Scase]

https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-intel-jimmy-butler-trae-young-lamelo-ball-mark-williams-brandon-ingram-kyle-kuzma-raptors-wizards-76ers-mavericks/

Now I could've sworn there were tons of people telling me there's no way we trade "starJ" because he's canadian and part of the "long term plans".

And when I said he definitely isn't a long term piece....I got called stupid. Super weird.

RJ has certainly played better since joining, but he's never ever been the type of player you keep on your roster long term.

Just doing basic math and understanding the team won’t pay the luxury tax, it’s obvious that either Barrett or Quickley is the odd man out long term. That’s another problem with the Ingram trade and extension, it forces us to cut costs somewhere, but if you move RJ or Quickley, which one of the bench guys are ready to step up and replace even 80% of his production. God help us if we have to attach a pick to move RJ’s contract.

My money is on RJ, IQ has a fresh contract, and Shead would have to be the replacement which isn't something he's talented enough or ready for. The team could live replacing RJ with Ochai/JKW/Gradey, especially now that we have BI.

Whether or not someone believes RJ is the better or worse player than IQ, he is definitely the one that fits the least, and is probably easier to trade. All of this naturally is up in the air based off the 9th pick we're going to get