[STEIN]: Hawks have expressed interest in trying to hire Masai Ujiri away from Toronto

[Duffman100]

It will all make sense when we are the 5 seed next year with lots of playable youth and all our picks.

I agree that's a good spot to be in but a lot of people here won't see it that way

It's a stepping stone.

We all know we are better than our record this year and are adding BI, #9, and another offseason of development for a whole slew of kids.

And I still think Masai makes a sneak good trade...not a huge one...but another one of good value.

Yeah the were a 25-30 win team is just weird. Considering we won 30 games while trying to lose a bunch.

It'll be hard for this team not to win 40 games min.

[Scase]

Masai has made a habit of trying to find “value” in trading for pending free agents, who btw are not likely to be resigned by their former teams. IQ, BI, and Poetl were all acquired this way. I suppose it’s a quicker way to retool/rebuild. Will see how it pans out this year…..

Alternatively, he's acquiring players that other teams don't want/value for a reason.

The thing is that this strategy could make sense if you’re already a contender or championship calibre team but it makes little sense if you’re a lottery team.

We didn't even get BI for cheap either, like the acquisition wasn't much, but then we throw 40mil at him. That's not a buy low, that's a trade for, and pay market value. We did the same thing for IQ, sure the acquisition was good, but then we give him a bigger contract than need be, we don't have real value contracts outside of Jak and maybe Ochai, and he's an expiring.

[Pointgod]

It will all make sense when we are the 5 seed next year with lots of playable youth and all our picks.

So you’re expecting a roughly 20 game improvement just by adding the 9th pick and a guy who hasn’t played over 65 games since his rookie season?

[Tripod]

It will all make sense when we are the 5 seed next year with lots of playable youth and all our picks.

So you’re expecting a roughly 20 game improvement just by adding the 9th pick and a guy who hasn’t played over 65 games since his rookie season?

So you believe we were a real 30 win team this year?



We would have been closer to a 38-40 win team if we actually tried win every game this year. And I think adding BI and the development of the entire roster and playing a sound defensive system will result in 45+ wins next year.

[earthtone]

It will all make sense when we are the 5 seed next year with lots of playable youth and all our picks.

So you’re expecting a roughly 20 game improvement just by adding the 9th pick and a guy who hasn’t played over 65 games since his rookie season?

The Piston had a 30 game improvement by adding Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, and Tim Hardaway Jr. We have a better foundation and added a better player, not to mention that two teams in our division will be without their best player for the whole season.

I think 10-15 game improvement is a very fair expectation for the season

[nikster]

Alternatively, he's acquiring players that other teams don't want/value for a reason.

The thing is that this strategy could make sense if you’re already a contender or championship calibre team but it makes little sense if you’re a lottery team.

We didn't even get BI for cheap either, like the acquisition wasn't much, but then we throw 40mil at him. That's not a buy low, that's a trade for, and pay market value. We did the same thing for IQ, sure the acquisition was good, but then we give him a bigger contract than need be, we don't have real value contracts outside of Jak and maybe Ochai, and he's an expiring.

Even getting playeds are market value requires giving up assets, and virtually nobody can out right sign signficant players in free agency anymore. What we gave up for him is certainly cheap

[Pointgod]

It will all make sense when we are the 5 seed next year with lots of playable youth and all our picks.

So you’re expecting a roughly 20 game improvement just by adding the 9th pick and a guy who hasn’t played over 65 games since his rookie season?

The Piston had a 30 game improvement by adding Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, and Tim Hardaway Jr. We have a better foundation and added a better player, not to mention that two teams in our division will be without their best player for the whole season.

I think 10-15 game improvement is a very fair expectation for the season

Pistons are a definitely a fair example, but they pretty much complemented a player that was already an offensive hub with vets and tons of shooting that fit with his game and brought in a new coach. I also think the Pistons caught a lot of teams off guard last year and will probably take a step a back next year if they bring back relatively the same team.

Yeah we could have Pistons like jump or the Pistons could also be an outlier.

[NotMyKawhi]

So you’re expecting a roughly 20 game improvement just by adding the 9th pick and a guy who hasn’t played over 65 games since his rookie season?

The Piston had a 30 game improvement by adding Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, and Tim Hardaway Jr. We have a better foundation and added a better player, not to mention that two teams in our division will be without their best player for the whole season.

I think 10-15 game improvement is a very fair expectation for the season

Pistons are a definitely a fair example, but they pretty much complemented a player that was already an offensive hub with vets and tons of shooting that fit with his game and brought in a new coach. I also think the Pistons caught a lot of teams off guard last year and will probably take a step a back next year if they bring back relatively the same team.

Yeah we could have Pistons like jump or the Pistons could also be an outlier.

Pistons have a superstar, we dont. We are more like the bulls. Not even hawks. We don't have a trae

[Matty]

Masai leaving will probably be the dagger for me with the Raptors. You will not find a more passionate President-GM in the league for our franchise and its uniqueness being the only Canadian team.

[witnessraps]

Traded our star players to division/conference rivals now battling it out in the ecf. Team is currently about as average as it gets. Change of scenery could be best for both sides at this point. I like Ingram and maybe him and Barnes could be a good duo but he has injury concerns and feels like this team is destined for the treadmill again next year. Miss the Siakam/OG days wish we could've kept at least one of them and at the very least we should've shipped them out west. We helped make the Knicks so damn strong with the OG addition, it's a massive blunder for this franchise

[NotMyKawhi]

Best thing that could happen. We need to tank. New guy will blow it up

[Raptors Realtor]

Traded our star players to division/conference rivals now battling it out in the ecf. Team is currently about as average as it gets. Change of scenery could be best for both sides at this point. I like Ingram and maybe him and Barnes could be a good duo but he has injury concerns and feels like this team is destined for the treadmill again next year. Miss the Siakam/OG days wish we could've kept at least one of them and at the very least we should've shipped them out west. We helped make the Knicks so damn strong with the OG addition, it's a massive blunder for this franchise

You think Masai wouldn't have preferred to send them to the west?... We weren't getting any solid offers from anybody, thus, he took the best offers which happened to be from eastern conference teams.

[Courtside]

IMO, there is no way someone as intelligent as Masai takes a job in the US right now, when he can either stay where he is, or do real world changing work at a time when strong people are needed.

[CPT]

Alternatively, he's acquiring players that other teams don't want/value for a reason.

The thing is that this strategy could make sense if you’re already a contender or championship calibre team but it makes little sense if you’re a lottery team.

We didn't even get BI for cheap either, like the acquisition wasn't much, but then we throw 40mil at him. That's not a buy low, that's a trade for, and pay market value. We did the same thing for IQ, sure the acquisition was good, but then we give him a bigger contract than need be, we don't have real value contracts outside of Jak and maybe Ochai, and he's an expiring.

Not that we would, but could we get a first and expirings for BI right now? I’m honestly not sure. Maybe I just have no concept of trade value around the league, but he was sitting there for that price for quite a while.

Kinda feel the same about the OG and Siakam trades. Not that we would necessarily want them back, but their new teams would laugh at the offers - I think we’d at least consider them.

I realize “no tradebacks” is kind of a dumb way to evaluate trades between teams with different goals, but from a value standpoint I feel like it should feel a bit closer?

[bluerap23]

Wizards tanked as hard as any team I've seen in a long time and got the #6 pick, yet I'm still seeing people advocating for tanking in this thread. Crazy

Can anyone point to a previous Raptor front office that has been better even close to as successful as the current one?

[Duffman100]

Wizards tanked as hard as any team I've seen in a long time and got the #6 pick, yet I'm still seeing people advocating for tanking in this thread. Crazy

Can anyone point to a previous Raptor front office that has been better even close to as successful as the current one?

At this point it's truly just incredible.

[mtcan]

Wizards tanked as hard as any team I've seen in a long time and got the #6 pick, yet I'm still seeing people advocating for tanking in this thread. Crazy

Can anyone point to a previous Raptor front office that has been better even close to as successful as the current one?

At this point it's truly just incredible.

Some people aren't actually fans at all. They want to wallow in the unknown, love watching these mix tapes of these kids who may or may not amount anything then fantasizing about drafting the 6'10 tough shot maker until he is just 6'8 and exhibits poor shot selection. And you know...these draft "experts" are like the weather man such that they can speak confidently about the unknown and when they are wrong they just chock it up to the fact that scouting isn't an exact science...then on to the next hyped up high school kid. It's like you value your own hot takes over the success of the team you supposedly are a fan of. It's really bizarre behaviour.

[witnessraps]

Traded our star players to division/conference rivals now battling it out in the ecf. Team is currently about as average as it gets. Change of scenery could be best for both sides at this point. I like Ingram and maybe him and Barnes could be a good duo but he has injury concerns and feels like this team is destined for the treadmill again next year. Miss the Siakam/OG days wish we could've kept at least one of them and at the very least we should've shipped them out west. We helped make the Knicks so damn strong with the OG addition, it's a massive blunder for this franchise

You think Masai wouldn't have preferred to send them to the west?... We weren't getting any solid offers from anybody, thus, he took the best offers which happened to be from eastern conference teams.

How do you know that he didn't ? OG is a top 2-3 defensive player in the league there likely would've been decent offers coming from out West. He gambled on quickly and Barrett and it was a terrible decision

[Raptors Realtor]

Traded our star players to division/conference rivals now battling it out in the ecf. Team is currently about as average as it gets. Change of scenery could be best for both sides at this point. I like Ingram and maybe him and Barnes could be a good duo but he has injury concerns and feels like this team is destined for the treadmill again next year. Miss the Siakam/OG days wish we could've kept at least one of them and at the very least we should've shipped them out west. We helped make the Knicks so damn strong with the OG addition, it's a massive blunder for this franchise

You think Masai wouldn't have preferred to send them to the west?... We weren't getting any solid offers from anybody, thus, he took the best offers which happened to be from eastern conference teams.

How do you know that he DIDN'T ? He gambled on quickly and Barrett and it was a terrible decision

How do YOU know he didn't?... We're both obviously speculating, but what I do know is Masai has never been one to impulsively take his first offer, he's patient, sometimes to a fault.

I also believe the the OG deal wasn't bad at all, this team lacked scoring prior, and he added a desperately needed PG, one who is efficient on high volume 3's, added a good sized slashing SG in RJ which was another area of need, because we didn't have any slashers, and also added the Pistons pick in the deal which turned out to be Mogbo.

Both IQ and RJ are younger than OG and after only one full season where the team was often missing 2 to 3 players from its starting rotation (not factoring in Ingram), it's way too early to call this team a treadmill, failure or whatever other conclusions some of you guys want to jump to.

[PushDaRock]

The thing is that this strategy could make sense if you’re already a contender or championship calibre team but it makes little sense if you’re a lottery team.

We didn't even get BI for cheap either, like the acquisition wasn't much, but then we throw 40mil at him. That's not a buy low, that's a trade for, and pay market value. We did the same thing for IQ, sure the acquisition was good, but then we give him a bigger contract than need be, we don't have real value contracts outside of Jak and maybe Ochai, and he's an expiring.

Even getting playeds are market value requires giving up assets, and virtually nobody can out right sign signficant players in free agency anymore. What we gave up for him is certainly cheap

He turned down a 4 year extension at 160m with the Pelicans, so it's not even true that we got him at market value. We got him for less than that when you factor in term which is quite significant for someone with his injury history.