Masai Presser Live @ 11am

[junot111]

No that is your perception.

Mine is that having 2 elite wing defenders never hurt a team.

Barnes
Flagg
Ingram
Yak
Quickley

That is a top 3 defense in the nba. I'll take that team ever day. And if it wasn't optimum Quickley would be the one traded, not Barnes

Scottie is an elite wing defender now?

Yes. You could quibble and say he's more a big than a wing, but he spends a lot of his time defending the other teams best players regardless of position.

I've never seen a supposedly amazing defender get blown by on the perimeter as much as scottie. He's a very good help defender who has the versatility to switch between post and perimeter players, but he's far from an elite wing defender and I certainly would not trust him to guard elite wing players full time

[Jerry Lucas]

The fit is simply awful with two guys that are literally the same strengths and weaknesses. Siakam at least had isolation scoring chops but Scottie/Flagg would have very very little of that.

I would guarantee that if we got Flagg that Scottie would be moved within 24-36 months at most. And that quote means nothing. If Scottie is a phenomenal incredible player, what do we call Booker? Booker is simply just a better player and there is next to no evidence that Scottie will ever reach his level.

Y'all acting like I am saying give Scottie away. I am saying trade him for an all-nba player ffs


You can go back and find some Masai quotes about Derozan that are similar in belief. However, when a better player in Kawhi was available he was shipped out immediately. Masai wouldn't hesitate for a second to upgrade from Scottie if it made us a contender.

Zero chance we trade Scottie because of drafting Flagg.

The fit is great.

Great?

Two point forward types with questionable shooting are never a "great" fit.

Reality is both would be best paired with a lead ball handler who is an all-nba player.

Questionable shooting?

The same Cooper Flagg who shot 39% from 3 on 4.3 attempts as a freshman, and shoots 84% from the line?

I don't think you know enough about Cooper Flagg as a prospect if you think him and Scottie are THAT similar. Those predictive shooting markers do not suggest questionable perimeter shooting at all, in fact the opposite.

If you want to see questionable perimeter shooting markers in their draft year, look at the same 3 predictive shooting markers Scottie and Siakam had in their draft years (3P%, 3PAr, FT%).

[ATLTimekeeper]

I didn't get much from this interview, but he didn't really sell the team for next year. His voice was quavering throughout and it felt like the reporters were feeling sad for him.

[HumbleRen]

Scottie is an elite wing defender now?

Yes. You could quibble and say he's more a big than a wing, but he spends a lot of his time defending the other teams best players regardless of position.

I've never seen a supposedly amazing defender get blown by on the perimeter as much as scottie. He's a very good help defender who has the versatility to switch between post and perimeter players, but he's far from an elite wing defender and I certainly would not trust him to guard elite wing players full time

I think we’re confusing wing defender for perimeter defender. If we were a winning team, Scottie comfortably makes a defensive team this season IMO.

I think he would be considered an elite defender among the average wing player.

[Indeed]

Yes. You could quibble and say he's more a big than a wing, but he spends a lot of his time defending the other teams best players regardless of position.

I've never seen a supposedly amazing defender get blown by on the perimeter as much as scottie. He's a very good help defender who has the versatility to switch between post and perimeter players, but he's far from an elite wing defender and I certainly would not trust him to guard elite wing players full time

I think we’re confusing wing defender for perimeter defender. If we were a winning team, Scottie comfortably makes a defensive team this season IMO.

I think he would be considered an elite defender among the average wing player.

I think you are confusing forward defender for wing defender. Wing would be on the perimeter for the majority. Even elite forwards are scoring from the perimeter.

Barnes is definitely not at the level of Anunoby and Giannis, I don't see him being in the defensive team. If you are basing on end of the season defense, Barrett should also be considered. To me, it was more against tanking teams.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Read on Twitter

The sad part is when you look at all the guys surrounding Scottie you'd have to be a lunatic to say "Scottie isn't a shooter yet but it will come" especially when you look at the guys who suck at long 2s

Masai snake oil salesman

[TorontoBarneys]

We gotta really hit on this lottery pick. Either that, or he should swing some monster trade this summer to get us a true #1.

why not both

I think if gets Flagg or Harper he's not trading them away. Especially Flagg, would be dumb.

[YogurtProducer]

Zero chance we trade Scottie because of drafting Flagg.

The fit is great.

Great?

Two point forward types with questionable shooting are never a "great" fit.

Reality is both would be best paired with a lead ball handler who is an all-nba player.

Questionable shooting?

The same Cooper Flagg who shot 39% from 3 on 4.3 attempts as a freshman, and shoots 84% from the line?

I don't think you know enough about Cooper Flagg as a prospect if you think him and Scottie are THAT similar. Those predictive shooting markers do not suggest questionable perimeter shooting at all, in fact the opposite.

If you want to see questionable perimeter shooting markers in their draft year, look at the same 3 predictive shooting markers Scottie and Siakam had in their draft years (3P%, 3PAr, FT%).

It doesn't change that Barnes is about the worst possible fit with Flagg, even if Flagg is a 40% from 3 guy (I really doubt he will be though, at least not for a few years).

If you get Flagg the entire franchise shifts to him. He simply would become the guy you look to build around. About the worst thing you can do is say "okay Cooper - have fun playing with Ingram who loves the mid range, Barnes who cant score, and Poeltl who is non-existent out side the paint".

You would get Flagg on a rookie deal, which means you have 4 years to really take advantage of his cheap cheap cheap contract. In the new NBA where teams cap out constantly this is more important than ever.

Again, no where am I saying "GIVE SCOTTIE AWAY", I am saying if you can package him for a top 15 NBA player you simply just do it. There is no reason to "see how it works" when we already know what Scottie is. He is a great defender, who struggles offensively.

Sure, you gamble a bit on a guy with 0 NBA games, but if it works out and Flagg is a stud from day 1 (which everything suggests he will be), you automatically walk into title contention. If you have a chance to build a legit contender, you don't hold onto Scottie **** Barnes so that maybe one day you can be a contender.

[YogurtProducer]

The funniest part of this all is if you ask Suns fans they probably would say no to Barnes. But in classic Raptors RealGM fashion we overrate the **** out of our own guys

[Tacoma]

it's a pipe dream. Masai isn't trading Scottie after acquiring Flagg. If you are trading a 23 year old all-star locked up, you better get Giannis. That's a true difference maker, not Booker, who didn't even make the playoffs.

So is Scottie a difference maker?

Didnt Booker lead a team to the **** finals when his running mates were CP3 and Ayton?

He did. What happened this year with KD?

You're running on a bad take. We are not trading him for Booker lol. If you want to trade Barnes, you trade him for Giannis. Booker is a premier talent no doubt but he aint Giannis and if you are going to trade your young franchise player, no matter what you think about him, you do it for a top 5 player in the nba. Not to mention, Masai is super patient... just because we draft Flagg is not going to make him knee jerk into moving Barnes

MIL isn't trading Giannis for Barnes unless we land Flagg and he's included in the trade. The only reason anyone might think we can get Giannis (or even Booker for that matter) for Barnes is on the belief that Barnes will become a "franchise player" like you said because Barnes isn't that today.

But Booker is also an example of someone who didn't improve much after his 4th year. Even in 2022, his First Team All-NBA year, his performance metrics was not all that better than other years past his 4th season. If Barnes follows a similar career path, it may indeed be time to trade him while the belief of his "potential" (to some) is still high. But I doubt Phoenix is buying.

[brwnman]

lol well obviously if he's only going to play 33 games a year, he won't be worth it.

We paid him to be a starter and expect him to be a starter, so what would be a better stat to use to project him out on starter minutes than PER36 since he was injured this season and had his minutes limited?

League Average efficiency is at 57.6 TS% this year but that's greatly influenced by C's who are at 60.8 TS%. PG's are at 55.8 TS% and IQ is above that at 57 TS%. SG League Average is at 57.3 TS%, take the average of the 2 positions and he's still above league average at PG/SG.

When do you ever really see that approach work out well for a team when they force the player to go out and find a deal to match?

We signed him to be a starter, but can he play starters minutes? Can he compete with other starters? Will he be effective against other starters? That’s why we can’t use Per36. You can’t just extrapolate his stats to Per36 when he’s never proven it. With Ingram, poeltl and Barnes playing next season and the expectation is not to tank, it probably means less usage for IQ.

You’re not forcing the player to go out. Before the Raps gave him 32.5 - he was projecting anywhere between 22.5-27.5 - split the difference and offer him 4 yr 100M.

There were also not very many teams with cap space ; there was no reason to overpay for IQ.

Those salary projections were before he got traded here. He wanted 25m a year from the Knicks on an extension before the season when he was primarily a 6th man and didn't show much playmaking ability. There's zero chance he would have taken the same amount of money from us when he improved his stock last season both as a scorer and playmaker.

You don't have to use PER36 numbers if you don't want to but he's been fairly good as a starter in his career.

27 Starts with the Knicks: 21.7 ppg 5.0 rpg 4.9 apg on 58.9 TS%

71 Starts with the Raptors: 17.9 ppg 4.2 apg 6.3 apg on 56.7 TS%

Who else was going to pay him >25M last offseason? Raptors overpaid for him.

Right now, he's in the bottom half of starting PGs in the league. Doncic, SGA, Steph, Kyrie, Hali, Brunson, Ja, Fox, Trae, Maxey, Lillard, Lamelo, White, Jamal, Garland, Dejounte, Cade, Harden, Giddey are all ahead of him going into next season.

There are other guys that are really about team fit but may be better than him in terms of value (Suggs, FVV, Coby White, Castle). When you consider teams with multiple PGs on the roster, I think there's an argument to be made that he's in the bottom 3rd of starting PGs in the league. A very deep position in the NBA. With Raptors having 4 other guys making 20M+ - him being the 5th one doesn't make sense. He makes too much for what he provides, and I think there's a real question about his impact on winning and elevating other players. For Raptors sake, I hope there's a 'disgruntled star' where the Raps can package RJ & IQ for.

[Godaddycurse]

Right now, he's in the bottom half of starting PGs in the league. Doncic, SGA, Steph, Kyrie, Hali, Brunson, Ja, Fox, Trae, Maxey, Lillard, Lamelo, White, Jamal, Garland, Dejounte, Cade, Harden, Giddey are all ahead of him going into next season.

Dejounte is out most if not all of next year
Lillard is aging and dealing w/ a blood clot
lamelo is out half the season every year it seems
Jamal you get really good or really bad... and/or also miss tons of games
Kyrie is also out most of next year

[YogurtProducer]

Who else was going to pay him >25M last offseason? Raptors overpaid for him.

Who knows? Maybe we could have got him cheaper but on a shorter deal or with raises each year. His $32.5M deal is flat, which means by the end of the deal with 10% cap raises his last year he will be making the equivalent of less than $25M in todays cap dollars.

Right now, he's in the bottom half of starting PGs in the league. Doncic, SGA, Steph, Kyrie, Hali, Brunson, Ja, Fox, Trae, Maxey, Lillard, Lamelo, White, Jamal, Garland, Dejounte, Cade, Harden, Giddey are all ahead of him going into next season.

So a bunch of guys paid more than IQ are better than him? What exactly are you trying to prove here?

And Coby White and Josh Giddey need to do a hell of a lot more before we start throwing them into the same sentence as those other point guards. Either way, not convinced either are better than IQ.

There are other guys that are really about team fit but may be better than him in terms of value (Suggs, FVV, Coby White, Castle). When you consider teams with multiple PGs on the roster, I think there's an argument to be made that he's in the bottom 3rd of starting PGs in the league. A very deep position in the NBA. With Raptors having 4 other guys making 20M+ - him being the 5th one doesn't make sense. He makes too much for what he provides, and I think there's a real question about his impact on winning and elevating other players. For Raptors sake, I hope there's a 'disgruntled star' where the Raps can package RJ & IQ for.

Again, Suggs/FVV are currently both paid more, Coby White is not any better, and 52TS% Castle is better?

From my quick count he is about the 20th highest paid PG in 2025-26 (and will be waaaay lower due to the flat nature of his cap by 2028-29). If you think he a bottom 3rd starting PG, being the 20th highest paid means he is completely fair value, and by the end of his deal he will be underpaid.

So what is the complaint again?

[mtcan]

Read on Twitter

The sad part is when you look at all the guys surrounding Scottie you'd have to be a lunatic to say "Scottie isn't a shooter yet but it will come" especially when you look at the guys who suck at long 2s

Masai snake oil salesman

Shooting is something that can be taught and shot mechanics can be reworked as well. It can be improved even if the change is incremental.

Basketball IQ, instincts, competitiveness, feel for the game and defence is not something that can be taught. You either have it or you don't. Scottie has this in spades. And there is not a true metric that measures these intangibles.

[brwnman]

Who else was going to pay him >25M last offseason? Raptors overpaid for him.

Who knows? Maybe we could have got him cheaper but on a shorter deal or with raises each year. His $32.5M deal is flat, which means by the end of the deal with 10% cap raises his last year he will be making the equivalent of less than $25M in todays cap dollars.

Right now, he's in the bottom half of starting PGs in the league. Doncic, SGA, Steph, Kyrie, Hali, Brunson, Ja, Fox, Trae, Maxey, Lillard, Lamelo, White, Jamal, Garland, Dejounte, Cade, Harden, Giddey are all ahead of him going into next season.

So a bunch of guys paid more than IQ are better than him? What exactly are you trying to prove here?

And Coby White and Josh Giddey need to do a hell of a lot more before we start throwing them into the same sentence as those other point guards. Either way, not convinced either are better than IQ.

There are other guys that are really about team fit but may be better than him in terms of value (Suggs, FVV, Coby White, Castle). When you consider teams with multiple PGs on the roster, I think there's an argument to be made that he's in the bottom 3rd of starting PGs in the league. A very deep position in the NBA. With Raptors having 4 other guys making 20M+ - him being the 5th one doesn't make sense. He makes too much for what he provides, and I think there's a real question about his impact on winning and elevating other players. For Raptors sake, I hope there's a 'disgruntled star' where the Raps can package RJ & IQ for.

Again, Suggs/FVV are currently both paid more, Coby White is not any better, and 52TS% Castle is better?

From my quick count he is about the 20th highest paid PG in 2025-26 (and will be waaaay lower due to the flat nature of his cap by 2028-29). If you think he a bottom 3rd starting PG, being the 20th highest paid means he is completely fair value, and by the end of his deal he will be underpaid.

So what is the complaint again?

Suggs wasn't paid more this year, he will be paid slightly more next year when his contract kicks in, but his contract is more team friendly because it goes down each year if we're using the same argument for IQ. For all this talk about cap going up and IQ becoming underpaid in the future because of his flat salary in "2028/29"; it's not like his first 4 years won't count against the cap. He underperformed/was overpaid in year 1 of his contract.

It's fair to question Coby White/Giddey as being better, but I think they're definitely in the conversation. For my money, I think teams would take Giddey over IQ heading into next year. I tend to think Cody White is ahead too league-wide.

And yes, there's an argument going into next year regarding Castle. He obviously has holes in his game, but he averaged close to 20/5/5 in his last ~25ish games so he was already showing improvement. He'll be a key piece of that team going forward. As I mentioned, it would depend on the team build, but if I consider both IQ and Castle as 6th man type players heading into next year; you pick the player who best suits your team. In a couple of years, this won't be a conversation, Castle will be the better player.

Raptors have paid IQ for potential rather than production. Masai & co. have been pretty famous for that even going back to his Denver days. More often than not, it works out. I just don't think it will with IQ. I think he's overrated (by Raps fans), overpaid and doesn't pass the eye test. All I said was I know there are rumors that Raps will look to move RJ in the offseason (with Ingram's arrival) and that I hope they also look to move IQ and upgrade the roster.

[Dalek]

Masai has lost his touch with team-building and he has not improved the free agent situation here since first coming. Listen to Masai versus what we hear from Sean Marks from Brooklyn:

Read on Twitter

Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks on acquiring a star: “If you’re going after max-level talent, they’ve got to automatically and absolutely change the trajectory of your team. This can’t be like let’s go get this and lock ourselves into being a sixth or seventh seed. When we go all in, you’re going in to compete at the highest level and contend.”

Masai in his interview: "We have to do things in a different way in the market we are in." It sounded like a defeated Masai, very different than the guy who said Toronto should believe in itself.

We went all in and got Brandon Ingram who in his entire tenure did not make New Orleans a contender. He was just a high level role player who scored a lot but could not stay healthy. It was a move you make when you know you cannot go the slow way like Brooklyn and wait to sign the right max player. Even trading for IQ and Barrett hemmed us into a low ceiling team.

Now, this team is a locked into a core for two years and we are at best a 7 seed. I am more inclined to think we are Chicago Bulls level where we get bounced on a play-in game. My only hope is we get a top two pick this year which could disrupt this mediocrity.

[Godaddycurse]

We went all in and got Brandon Ingram who in his entire tenure did not make New Orleans a contender. He was just a high level role player who scored a lot but could not stay healthy. It was a move you make when you know you cannot go the slow way like Brooklyn and wait to sign the right max player. Even trading for IQ and Barrett hemmed us into a low ceiling team.

Now, this team is a locked into a core for two years and we are at best a 7 seed. I am more inclined to think we are Chicago Bulls level where we get bounced on a play-in game. My only hope is we get a top two pick this year which could disrupt this mediocrity.

in what world did we go all in? we traded a projected late 2026 1st and still have all our picks. Masai have never went all in during his time here

[junot111]

Yes. You could quibble and say he's more a big than a wing, but he spends a lot of his time defending the other teams best players regardless of position.

I've never seen a supposedly amazing defender get blown by on the perimeter as much as scottie. He's a very good help defender who has the versatility to switch between post and perimeter players, but he's far from an elite wing defender and I certainly would not trust him to guard elite wing players full time

I think we’re confusing wing defender for perimeter defender. If we were a winning team, Scottie comfortably makes a defensive team this season IMO.

I think he would be considered an elite defender among the average wing player.

Whats a wing defender that doesn't guard the perimeter? Are you arguing he's a wing defender on the technicality that he's a wing player that defends? Even though scottie isn't even a wing player?

And he absolutely does not comfortably make a defensive team, I wouldn't make that claim even if there were 3 defensive teams instead of 2. Make a list, I'd love to see who you leave out in favor of scottie

[MiamiSPX]

For Raptors sake, I hope there's a 'disgruntled star' where the Raps can package RJ & IQ for.

If we land the top pick, THAT is the trade you make. We can already assume Poeltl, Barnes, Flagg and Ingram would be 4 of the starters.

I am as down on Barnes as everyone else, but we know damn well that Masai will not move him anytime soon. He is (over)patient to a fault and has admitted this. And truth be told, even if we land the top pick, Masai isn't making any moves right away before letting it play out, probably a little longer than most fans would want.

[PushDaRock]

We signed him to be a starter, but can he play starters minutes? Can he compete with other starters? Will he be effective against other starters? That’s why we can’t use Per36. You can’t just extrapolate his stats to Per36 when he’s never proven it. With Ingram, poeltl and Barnes playing next season and the expectation is not to tank, it probably means less usage for IQ.

You’re not forcing the player to go out. Before the Raps gave him 32.5 - he was projecting anywhere between 22.5-27.5 - split the difference and offer him 4 yr 100M.

There were also not very many teams with cap space ; there was no reason to overpay for IQ.

Those salary projections were before he got traded here. He wanted 25m a year from the Knicks on an extension before the season when he was primarily a 6th man and didn't show much playmaking ability. There's zero chance he would have taken the same amount of money from us when he improved his stock last season both as a scorer and playmaker.

You don't have to use PER36 numbers if you don't want to but he's been fairly good as a starter in his career.

27 Starts with the Knicks: 21.7 ppg 5.0 rpg 4.9 apg on 58.9 TS%

71 Starts with the Raptors: 17.9 ppg 4.2 apg 6.3 apg on 56.7 TS%

Who else was going to pay him >25M last offseason? Raptors overpaid for him.

Right now, he's in the bottom half of starting PGs in the league. Doncic, SGA, Steph, Kyrie, Hali, Brunson, Ja, Fox, Trae, Maxey, Lillard, Lamelo, White, Jamal, Garland, Dejounte, Cade, Harden, Giddey are all ahead of him going into next season.

There are other guys that are really about team fit but may be better than him in terms of value (Suggs, FVV, Coby White, Castle). When you consider teams with multiple PGs on the roster, I think there's an argument to be made that he's in the bottom 3rd of starting PGs in the league. A very deep position in the NBA. With Raptors having 4 other guys making 20M+ - him being the 5th one doesn't make sense. He makes too much for what he provides, and I think there's a real question about his impact on winning and elevating other players. For Raptors sake, I hope there's a 'disgruntled star' where the Raps can package RJ & IQ for.

Right now, he ranks 15th in AAV among PG's. His contract is flat and other players will sign bigger deals with a rising cap that will bump him down the list as the years go on.

I don't know who else would have paid him, RFA's rarely change teams. But, I do know nickel and diming your players hasn't traditionally worked out too well either. I am saying with the rising cap projection and IQ putting in a career year, there was no way he was thinking 25m in AAV was adequate anymore. I don't think many people are saying his deal is/was a steal, only that it was about in line with what was expected.

Nobody expects this team as constructed to contend for a championship at any point, it's very high likelihood a consolidation move will happen at some point. But, they're also in talent accumulation mode right now and they're going to keep adding to that and figure out the fit and any potential need to cut salary later on.