Masai Presser Live @ 11am

[deck]

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

lol yeah that's just odd considering the main complaint on here is that he doesn't go all-in by choosing optionality instead

I don't have a sense of what others on the board are thinking, but I look at this team in 2018 when we were a regular playoff team at a crossroads with taking the next step which was when Masai made the series of trades for a title shot.

Compared to now, which is a team with two consecutive 50 loss seasons. Why are we so desperate to add talent like Ingram that is mid career, injured and not an obvious difference maker. RJ and Quick are low level starters. I have come around to Poeltl as a good value contract who outperforms his cost.

We had a chance to be terrible for 2025 and 2026, during important draft years with quality prospects. We decided to go from terrible to middling which is the worst place to be in the NBA. Look at the Bulls the last three years being bounced by Miami in each play-in game.

I think lots on the board don't subscribe to your unfounded assumptions. You've assigned a ceiling to the team based on who we are now. 2019 showed us that this is a flawed premise. The same logic applied to the Raptors in 2015 would have demanded we reset back into tanking, because we didn't have a superstar on the roster.

Lots also understand that being bad and drafting high doesn't guarantee success. Look at Orlando or Detroit. They are likely to be just as middling as us next year after 10 years of tanking.

[deck]

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.

Marks and the Nets also went 'all in' with Kyrie, Harden, and KD and the outcome was mediocrity. 9 years as GM and he has 3 seasons above 500 to show for it. He is forced to go the 'slow way' now because his time in Brooklyn thus far has been a failure. Not a good example of the point you are trying to make.

eh. The nets failure was just bad luck. They really had a 2 year-ish window once they got Harden where all three guys were ALL-NBA level..one year was destroyed because iron man Harden got a hammy injury and Kyrie landing on Giannis's foot (and it took both, as Nets wouldve won if either was healthy). Another was ruined by a once in a generation pandemic.

Hate on Marks if you want, but the Nets just got unlucky

All teams played through the pandemic, and teams have to deal with injuries. The Nets failure was building a big three with no depth.

[YogurtProducer]

lol yeah that's just odd considering the main complaint on here is that he doesn't go all-in by choosing optionality instead

I don't have a sense of what others on the board are thinking, but I look at this team in 2018 when we were a regular playoff team at a crossroads with taking the next step which was when Masai made the series of trades for a title shot.

Compared to now, which is a team with two consecutive 50 loss seasons. Why are we so desperate to add talent like Ingram that is mid career, injured and not an obvious difference maker. RJ and Quick are low level starters. I have come around to Poeltl as a good value contract who outperforms his cost.

We had a chance to be terrible for 2025 and 2026, during important draft years with quality prospects. We decided to go from terrible to middling which is the worst place to be in the NBA. Look at the Bulls the last three years being bounced by Miami in each play-in game.

I think lots on the board don't subscribe to your unfounded assumptions. You've assigned a ceiling to the team based on who we are now. 2019 showed us that this is a flawed premise. The same logic applied to the Raptors in 2015 would have demanded we reset back into tanking, because we didn't have a superstar on the roster.

Lots also understand that being bad and drafting high doesn't guarantee success. Look at Orlando or Detroit. They are likely to be just as middling as us next year after 10 years of tanking.

Not to mention it is nearly impossible to go from bad --> contender in one year. Before our 2018 team was a regular playoff team we were a regular lottery team. Then we become a playoff team, then a fraudulent contender.

Getting Ingram, our pick this year, plus (hopefully) some health is a lot of additions to a team that had to scrape and claw to only win 30 games. If you are being honest, you go into 2025/26 and have some outside hope you can squeak out 45-50 wins. From there then you can build some more with all of your draft assets and moveable players to maybe upgrade the roster in a more significant way.

[YogurtProducer]

Marks and the Nets also went 'all in' with Kyrie, Harden, and KD and the outcome was mediocrity. 9 years as GM and he has 3 seasons above 500 to show for it. He is forced to go the 'slow way' now because his time in Brooklyn thus far has been a failure. Not a good example of the point you are trying to make.

eh. The nets failure was just bad luck. They really had a 2 year-ish window once they got Harden where all three guys were ALL-NBA level..one year was destroyed because iron man Harden got a hammy injury and Kyrie landing on Giannis's foot (and it took both, as Nets wouldve won if either was healthy). Another was ruined by a once in a generation pandemic.

Hate on Marks if you want, but the Nets just got unlucky

All teams played through the pandemic, and teams have to deal with injuries. The Nets failure was building a big three with no depth.

In BKNs defence, only they had to deal with Kyrie who made the effects of COVID way worse on his team than anyone else.

[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.

Marks and the Nets also went 'all in' with Kyrie, Harden, and KD and the outcome was mediocrity. 9 years as GM and he has 3 seasons above 500 to show for it. He is forced to go the 'slow way' now because his time in Brooklyn thus far has been a failure. Not a good example of the point you are trying to make.

Well on paper Kyrie, Harden and KD in their primes is an amazing coup for Brooklyn to do. It was more a product of Kyrie being in a weird headspace that brought the team down but any GM would leap at a chance to bring in three HoFers like those guys.

Marks had to pivot and he did so with retaining many draft assets. They have four FRPs and two SRPs in 2025 alone. They have 2 FRPs in 2027, 3 FRPs in 2028 and 3 FRPs in 2029. That is war chest of assets for making trades in the future which Toronto does not have anywhere close to.

They have 6 picks in this deep draft class which they could either build a core around, or they could make trades to get young star players. In watching OKC and Houston, it doesn't take long if you have a couple bad seasons and few picks to work with.

[deck]

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.

Marks and the Nets also went 'all in' with Kyrie, Harden, and KD and the outcome was mediocrity. 9 years as GM and he has 3 seasons above 500 to show for it. He is forced to go the 'slow way' now because his time in Brooklyn thus far has been a failure. Not a good example of the point you are trying to make.

Well on paper Kyrie, Harden and KD in their primes is an amazing coup for Brooklyn to do. It was more a product of Kyrie being in a weird headspace that brought the team down but any GM would leap at a chance to bring in three HoFers like those guys.

Marks had to pivot and he did so with retaining many draft assets. They have four FRPs and two SRPs in 2025 alone. They have 2 FRPs in 2027, 3 FRPs in 2028 and 3 FRPs in 2029. That is war chest of assets for making trades in the future which Toronto does not have anywhere close to.

They have 6 picks in this deep draft class which they could either build a core around, or they could make trades to get young star players. In watching OKC and Houston, it doesn't take long if you have a couple bad seasons and few picks to work with.

I do agree. I don't mean to be overly critical of Marks. When those original acquisitions were made, I for one thought Brooklyn was going to be a problem in the east. And the fact that he was able to pivot away from that team and get back the draft compensation he did has been impressive.

It's just to say that even with the acquisition of three MVP calibre players, the trajectory of the Nets as a franchise wasn't exactly automatic or absolute.

[Jcity08]

Masai says we need a young big but weren't not focused on that, its BPA all the way. That leaves me a little reassured that were not hyper focused on filling a need.

[Reeko]

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.

What exactly has Sean Marks done in his career that leads you to believe that he has more wisdom when it comes to team building than Masai?

[Duffman100]

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.

What exactly has Sean Marks done in his career that leads you to believe that he has more wisdom when it comes to team building than Masai?

I'm also confused by this "we went all in".

We didn't pay Ingram the max. We used very few assets to acquire him.

We very clearly didn't go all in.

[Tripod]

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.

Marks and the Nets also went 'all in' with Kyrie, Harden, and KD and the outcome was mediocrity. 9 years as GM and he has 3 seasons above 500 to show for it. He is forced to go the 'slow way' now because his time in Brooklyn thus far has been a failure. Not a good example of the point you are trying to make.

Well on paper Kyrie, Harden and KD in their primes is an amazing coup for Brooklyn to do. It was more a product of Kyrie being in a weird headspace that brought the team down but any GM would leap at a chance to bring in three HoFers like those guys.

Marks had to pivot and he did so with retaining many draft assets. They have four FRPs and two SRPs in 2025 alone. They have 2 FRPs in 2027, 3 FRPs in 2028 and 3 FRPs in 2029. That is war chest of assets for making trades in the future which Toronto does not have anywhere close to.

They have 6 picks in this deep draft class which they could either build a core around, or they could make trades to get young star players. In watching OKC and Houston, it doesn't take long if you have a couple bad seasons and few picks to work with.

You ignore that Mark's has big advantage over other teams being in a "destination city".

Yes he has lots of picks...because he traded away everything and is able to attract top FA for free or minimal cost, then sell them off. That's a big advantage others don't have, including the Raps.

And again, he has nothing to show for it.
10 years- .438 winning%
5 years in playoffs...1 time getting to 2nd rd
9 playoff wins

Masai
12 years- .565 winning%
8 years in playoffs...5 times getting to 2nd rd
46 playoff wins, including a Championship

It's so confusing to pine over Mark's vs what we have in Masai

[Tha Cynic]

The Raptors have set themselves up to make a huge trade. There’s a lot of jibberish going on in this thread, but that’s par the course around here. People make it seem like building a team can be done with the snap of a couple of fingers.

They’re no predetermining anything. The draft will determine a ton. I like the progress they have made since they flipped the roster. There’s still a lot more work to be done. What’s clear is the Raptors like their players but they will also make good moves if they present themselves. There’s no sense they are impatient and have lost faith in any of their players. That’s a fan thing.

[tecumseh18]

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:

.....

We went all in and got Brandon Ingram

What exactly has Sean Marks done in his career that leads you to believe that he has more wisdom when it comes to team building than Masai?

I'm also confused by this "we went all in".

We didn't pay Ingram the max. We used very few assets to acquire him.

We very clearly didn't go all in.

Exactly, which makes the contract and IQ's and RJ's contracts fairly tradeable (along with draft capital) for a disgruntled superstar assuming either or both prove they can play and stay relatively healthy.

Masai realizes that you have to have sizeable contracts to be in a position to trade for those max guys. That was the problem when Nets first made KD available three or so years ago. So we gave Thad and Boucher bigger contracts than they were worth. Unfortunately, we never had the opportunity to use them in trades, but at least we were ready.

As has often been observed, no superstar goes to free agency anymore. So we need contracts.

[LiSTWithLani]

If you think Malauch can play in the NBA tomorrow and not absolutely get destroyed, I have a bridge to sell you. He's a g-leaguer. If people believe in his potential (i dont), I can understand the pick long term. But he's absolutely a project

I think he can handle 10-15 minutes playing against opposing backups. Can't be worse than Castleton or ORob.

Is he worse than other gleaguers? We'll see, but he is a gleaguer. Is he worse than a midlevel signing? Because we have midlevel to spend and no other glaring weakness. A guy like Steven Adams is worlds better and would cost less than the midlevel

The going value of Centers in this league has been a VERY interesting thing to follow. If Steven Adams is available for lessthan the MLE, you pay the man the full MLE and laugh all the way to the bank.

Not sure if anybody else saw this, but I'm obsessed with anything and everything that Ben Taylor puts out:

Watch on YouTube

[Tor_Raps]

Anyone else notice Masai had a little dig at RJ?

He said something like "RJ exposed himself, he CAN play defense".

I think they has a convo with him about that when they started focusing on defense more as he was much better. And now the expectations are higher on that end of the court.

He and RJ also said the same thing at the end of last year. Both know that he needs to improve his 3 and D as he'll never be good enough to be your lead wing so in order to play successfully alongside a player like Ingram, you gotta have those supporting skills.

This was the main reason why the Knicks wanted to trade him because OG possesses those skills at an elite level and helps label you as a "winning player." Its why i think Ochai would work better with the starting lineup next year but we will find out real quick how successful RJ/Ingram can be together.

[Tripod]

Anyone else notice Masai had a little dig at RJ?

He said something like "RJ exposed himself, he CAN play defense".

I think they has a convo with him about that when they started focusing on defense more as he was much better. And now the expectations are higher on that end of the court.

He and RJ also said the same thing at the end of last year. Both know that he needs to improve his 3 and D as he'll never be good enough to be your lead wing so in order to play successfully alongside a player like Ingram, you gotta have those supporting skills.

This was the main reason why the Knicks wanted to trade him because OG possesses those skills at an elite level and helps label you as a "winning player." Its why i think Ochai would work better with the starting lineup next year but we will find out real quick how successful RJ/Ingram can be together.

Starting Ochai and having RJ as the main scoring bench option would just give us better balance on both units.

And RJ could still start games in which Barnes or BI miss.

We shall see

[mademan]

Anyone else notice Masai had a little dig at RJ?

He said something like "RJ exposed himself, he CAN play defense".

I think they has a convo with him about that when they started focusing on defense more as he was much better. And now the expectations are higher on that end of the court.

He and RJ also said the same thing at the end of last year. Both know that he needs to improve his 3 and D as he'll never be good enough to be your lead wing so in order to play successfully alongside a player like Ingram, you gotta have those supporting skills.

This was the main reason why the Knicks wanted to trade him because OG possesses those skills at an elite level and helps label you as a "winning player." Its why i think Ochai would work better with the starting lineup next year but we will find out real quick how successful RJ/Ingram can be together.

Starting Ochai and having RJ as the main scoring bench option would just give us better balance on both units.

And RJ could still start games in which Barnes or BI miss.

We shall see

The starting 5 will be given a chance. How much rope, im interested in seeing, but if they do fail, RJ will be the first casualty, even if his numbers look good. You need someone in the staring lineup who just plays hard, rebounds, hustles and doesnt demand the ball offensively

[ItsDanger]

The Raptors have set themselves up to make a huge trade. There’s a lot of jibberish going on in this thread, but that’s par the course around here. People make it seem like building a team can be done with the snap of a couple of fingers.

They’re no predetermining anything. The draft will determine a ton. I like the progress they have made since they flipped the roster. There’s still a lot more work to be done. What’s clear is the Raptors like their players but they will also make good moves if they present themselves. There’s no sense they are impatient and have lost faith in any of their players. That’s a fan thing.

Masai's style is asset accumulation. As a sports fan, I don't always like this style as it results in high roster turnover. Not that it can't work though.

[Tha Cynic]

The Raptors have set themselves up to make a huge trade. There’s a lot of jibberish going on in this thread, but that’s par the course around here. People make it seem like building a team can be done with the snap of a couple of fingers.

They’re no predetermining anything. The draft will determine a ton. I like the progress they have made since they flipped the roster. There’s still a lot more work to be done. What’s clear is the Raptors like their players but they will also make good moves if they present themselves. There’s no sense they are impatient and have lost faith in any of their players. That’s a fan thing.

Masai's style is asset accumulation. As a sports fan, I don't always like this style as it results in high roster turnover. Not that it can't work though.

Yeah, there are a couple of ways to do things. A lot of us did get frustrated during the Derozan and Lowry years too until they made the big trade. I think since that time, Masai is a bit more impatient and will take more swings at superstar level players like Lillard or Durant. I expect them to take a big swing at some legit superstar in the next year or so. The key to all that is the continuous player development and that’s something that was missing under Nurse.

[tecumseh18]

The Raptors have set themselves up to make a huge trade. There’s a lot of jibberish going on in this thread, but that’s par the course around here. People make it seem like building a team can be done with the snap of a couple of fingers.

They’re no predetermining anything. The draft will determine a ton. I like the progress they have made since they flipped the roster. There’s still a lot more work to be done. What’s clear is the Raptors like their players but they will also make good moves if they present themselves. There’s no sense they are impatient and have lost faith in any of their players. That’s a fan thing.

Masai's style is asset accumulation. As a sports fan, I don't always like this style as it results in high roster turnover. Not that it can't work though.

Not according to our former President/GM.

Former Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, asked about the monster, seven-player trade that saw Rudy Gay dealt to Sacramento, said the Kings have improved their talent leveL.

“I put a high premium on talent and character, and Rudy Gay has an abundance of both,” Colangelo told the Sacramento Bee.

“Obviously, Pete (D’Alessandro) has a mandate to increase the talent level of his team as opposed to depleting it. This move is a pretty good indication of that.”

https://www.thestar.com/sports/raptors/rudy-gay-trade-bryan-colangelo-weighs-in-on-raptors-trade/article_71608535-23fd-5d7e-a18c-f05a268e5edd.html#tncms-source=login

I'll never forget that quote. Bryan Colangelo ... what a maroon!