Windhorst: Raptors making noise around the league looking for a “big fish” // Giannis & Toronto "Mutual Interest"/KD too

[Zeno]

obviously getting Giannis would be exciting but I feel pretty uncomfortable with making one of those whole draft plus depth sapping trades especially in the climate of the new 2nd apron restrictions. Even if we managed to keep some depth initially, we 'd be immediately powerless to respond to injuries if they occurred. I would be willing to give up our whole draft plus RJ for JJJ keeping our depth intact or perhaps trying to buy low on a guy like Bane for example. The two teams in the NBA finals have a lot of quality depth. Not saying I am against trading for Giannis if it were somehow possible but I don't mind the idea of winning 45 games(a lot of fakes ones in there probably) and building this up over the next few years and then making a big swing with our draft capital at that point.

[DreamTeam09]

How does it work otherwise? You want to take Barnes or Ingram out? I would think then they would obviously be shopping Poeltl for another backup C. Or draft one.

The spacing would be horrible. And I do not think that is out of position.

IQ
Ingram
Barnes
Giannis
Jakob

Spacing smasing, out the 5 best players on the court - IQ and Ingram can hit jumpers

Ingram is not a 2 and would get put on skates defensively

Good thing he has a back line of Giannis Barnes and Jakob lol lol - it's chip time with that lineup

[Tripod]

Giannis and 3 unprotected firsts for Poeltl and maybe another garbage contract. That's the most I'm prepared to give up for a washed up Giannis.

But as soon as he gets traded here, I'm going to change my opinion and consider him a GOAT. Unless you are on the Raptors, you are worse than a scrub, even a prime MJ.

Was it cold under the bridge?

[Raps in 4]

Delusion is thinking the gap between Siakam and Ingram + Turner and Quickley is greater than the gap between Giannis and Haliburton. Giannis is a top 3-5 player — a true superstar in the league — whereas Haliburton is a borderline All-NBA player. Giannis is one of maybe 5 players that singlehandedly would elevate almost any team in the league to contender status. That is far more important than the extra defence that Siakam and Turner give the Pacers while Ingram and IQ are slightly better offensive players.

Haliburton being hella overrated on here. Before this playoff run I bet most people wouldn’t have even considered him a top 15 player in the league and now all of the sudden he’s basically as good as Giannis? Okay lol.

A borderline All-NBA player doesn't take his team to the Finals by beating Giannis, the #1 seed Cavs, and a solid Knicks team. Hali is a top-10 player.

Haliburton
18/6/12 on 53 TS% against the Bucks
17/5/7 on 67 TS% against the Cavs
21/6/11 on 57 TS% against the Knicks
19/6/10 on 58 TS% overall

Siakam
20/6/2 on 63 TS% against the Bucks
18/6/4 on 60 TS% against the Cavs
25/5/4 on 60 TS% against the Knicks
21/6/3 on 61 TS% overall

Turner
17/5/2 on 65 TS% against the Bucks
16/7/1 on 64 TS% against the Cavs
13/3/2 on 66 TS% against the Knicks
15/5/1 on 65 TS% overall

Nembhard
15/3/5 on 61 TS% against the Bucks
14/3/7 on 65 TS% against the Cavs
10/3/4 on 50 TS% against the Knicks
13/3/5 on 58 TS% overall

Nesmith
15/6/2 on 69 TS% against the Bucks
14/7/2 on 66 TS% against the Cavs
13/4/1 on 67 TS% against the Knicks
14/6/1 on 67 TS% overall

Indiana has had one of the most balanced offences we've seen from a playoff team since the Spurs in the early 2010s while everyone has stepped up on the defensive end (even Haliburton himself) and the bench has been very productive (35 PPG, 14 REB, 7 AST on 61 TS% in ~80 MPG). Haliburton had a great ECF where both he and Siakam did the heavy lifting, but he has hardly "took his team to the Finals". It has been an entire team effort and everyone has had their moments in getting the Pacers to where they are now. Even just in the ECF, the Pacers took G1 in large part because of Nesmith's massive Q4 (20 PTS on 6/7 shooting which came entirely in the final 5 minutes) then Siakam dropped 39 PTS in G2 (with Turner chipping in 13 PTS in Q4 to seal the deal), 30 in G4 (but people just admittedly remember Haliburton's historic 32/12/15 night with 0 TOV) and 31 in G6 (with Nembhard chipping in 14/3/8 with 6 STL + Toppin and Bryant combining for 29 PTS on 10/16 shooting off the bench).

Haliburton assisted 43% of the Pacers' points in the Knicks series. You can't just evaluate a pass-first PG on scoring. Haliburton is the system in Indiana. He is the modern day version of Steve Nash.

[Madvillainy2004]

Delusion is thinking the gap between Siakam and Ingram + Turner and Quickley is greater than the gap between Giannis and Haliburton. Giannis is a top 3-5 player — a true superstar in the league — whereas Haliburton is a borderline All-NBA player. Giannis is one of maybe 5 players that singlehandedly would elevate almost any team in the league to contender status. That is far more important than the extra defence that Siakam and Turner give the Pacers while Ingram and IQ are slightly better offensive players.

Haliburton being hella overrated on here. Before this playoff run I bet most people wouldn’t have even considered him a top 15 player in the league and now all of the sudden he’s basically as good as Giannis? Okay lol.

A borderline All-NBA player doesn't take his team to the Finals by beating Giannis, the #1 seed Cavs, and a solid Knicks team. Hali is a top-10 player.

Haliburton
18/6/12 on 53 TS% against the Bucks
17/5/7 on 67 TS% against the Cavs
21/6/11 on 57 TS% against the Knicks
19/6/10 on 58 TS% overall

Siakam
20/6/2 on 63 TS% against the Bucks
18/6/4 on 60 TS% against the Cavs
25/5/4 on 60 TS% against the Knicks
21/6/3 on 61 TS% overall

Turner
17/5/2 on 65 TS% against the Bucks
16/7/1 on 64 TS% against the Cavs
13/3/2 on 66 TS% against the Knicks
15/5/1 on 65 TS% overall

Nembhard
15/3/5 on 61 TS% against the Bucks
14/3/7 on 65 TS% against the Cavs
10/3/4 on 50 TS% against the Knicks
13/3/5 on 58 TS% overall

Nesmith
15/6/2 on 69 TS% against the Bucks
14/7/2 on 66 TS% against the Cavs
13/4/1 on 67 TS% against the Knicks
14/6/1 on 67 TS% overall

Indiana has had one of the most balanced offences we've seen from a playoff team since the Spurs in the early 2010s while everyone has stepped up on the defensive end (even Haliburton himself) and the bench has been very productive (35 PPG, 14 REB, 7 AST on 61 TS% in ~80 MPG). Haliburton had a great ECF where both he and Siakam did the heavy lifting, but he has hardly "took his team to the Finals". It has been an entire team effort and everyone has had their moments in getting the Pacers to where they are now. Even just in the ECF, the Pacers took G1 in large part because of Nesmith's massive Q4 (20 PTS on 6/7 shooting which came entirely in the final 5 minutes) then Siakam dropped 39 PTS in G2 (with Turner chipping in 13 PTS in Q4 to seal the deal), 30 in G4 (but people just admittedly remember Haliburton's historic 32/12/15 night with 0 TOV) and 31 in G6 (with Nembhard chipping in 14/3/8 with 6 STL + Toppin and Bryant combining for 29 PTS on 10/16 shooting off the bench).

I'd argue that Siakam has had the way tougher matchups as well. Hali went up against injured Lillard, injured Garland, and Brunson all bad defensive players on their worst days. While Siakam was scoring in isolation against guys like Mobley, OG, Giannis, and Bridges.

[Syd-TK3]

There's zero chance of getting Giannis without moving Scottie unless Giannis himself says I only wanna play for the Raptors

[JustLucky]

which is the only way we get him so heres hoping

[mieshpal]

Doesn't surprise me that people think Masai is not a good president. Never satisfied fickle fans. Look at his track record. He does much more great than bad.


He's done much more than Kawhi and Gasol. Don't even want to think where this team would be without him. Raps may not be that great on paper right now, but they have quite a bit of assets and flexibility, plus the amount of winning teams that Masai has built is severely underappreciated


Sent from my Pixel 8 using RealGM mobile app

[Son Goku 25]

33 pages and only 1 guy claiming to have inside information? Disappointing.

I missed it, who was it and what did they say.. it's happening? My sauce is no longer with the organization unfortunately

[RapsFanInOhio]

Giannis and 3 unprotected firsts for Poeltl and maybe another garbage contract. That's the most I'm prepared to give up for a washed up Giannis.

But as soon as he gets traded here, I'm going to change my opinion and consider him a GOAT. Unless you are on the Raptors, you are worse than a scrub, even a prime MJ.

This is the way.

[OhCanada]

Top 10 player but not even ECF MVP

Had 8 points one game in the playoffs, but yet im the one who is delusional

It's almost as if PPG isn't the best way to determine impact.

Also, Steph didn't win the FMVP in 2015 either. I suppose that meant he was a borderline All-NBA player as well? Or perhaps Tatum not winning the ECF or Finals MVP last season meant he too was only a borderline All-NBA player? Or perhaps Giannis losing in the first round means he's a borderline All-NBA player? See how stupid this is?

LOL aight man, you do you

He's a top 5 player if u want.

Haliburton was a top 10 player while they were calling him the most overrated player in the league and hes a top 10 player now that hes in the Finals. Hes the reason Indiana is in the Finals.

Heres the thing. Back when Tyrese was playing in college at Iowa State I was following that team very closely because they had an intriguing Canadian prospect named Lindell Wigginton. They also had a Canadian senior named Mariol Shayok. Both guards (Lindell/Tyrese) were a part of Iowa States same freshman class. They both started but Tyrese was not nearly as a high in the pecking order but every time I would watch it would just be this Tyrese Haliburton dude clearly playing better than Lindell despite the offense not being run through him. It was frustrating. As time went on Haliburton was taking his minutes, usage and touches. He has a special skill and a true talent. Learning. This guy has a special abillity to learn. He finds routines in order to learn. He gets better every game he plays I promise.

After the first year Wigginton was projected as a late 1st round/early 2nd pick. Decides to return to college and prove hes a lottery talent. Hes the man, has agood debut game but gets injured. From that point on it was Haliburtons team and he never gave it back. Lindell came off the bench when he came back from injury and was never the same. He always had it though, he was just such a good teammate he didnt wanna steal Lindell's shine so he played in that secondary role, played effecient, did the dirty work and waiting for his time to shine. Hes still that way.

If Haliburton wanted to he could average 27 and 10 on crap effeciency but thats not his value. He lets his guys shine and it creates a winning enviroment.

[WuTang_CMB]

[djsunyc]

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[Clay Davis]

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It bears mentioning that any SUPER STAR TRADE occurs before THE DRAFT LOTTERY ON JUNE 25ST, 2025. RIZZ CALENDAR

[Tor_Raps]

Barnes + Dick + 9th pick + 2026 swap + 2027 unprotected pick for Giannis it is.

IQ/ Shead
RJ/ Walter
Ingram/ Ochai/ Battle
Giannis/ Mogbo
Poeltl/ MLE

Then we find the best SG possible for RJ + Walter + 2029 protected 1st Rounder. You trade for Giannis, you get your ass we're going into the tax.

[Appostis]

Don't think we have the assets without making the team another Bucks.

Bucks 2nd and 3rd options on that team right now are Portis(Might walk in free agency)/GTJR....Lopez is gone next year, Lillard is out the year, Kevin Porter Jr is your starting PG...And Kuzma is also one of your go to guys...

I swear some of these guys don't even know who is actually playing on that Bucks team its an absolute dumpster fire with no way to upgrade or improve....

We would potentially have IQ/Ingram/RJ/Yak + Young guys on the bench who have the possibility to take a leap like Walter/Shaed/Mogbo...

We likely make another move following the Giannis trade so who knows what players are on the team Post trade...

If Giannis wants the Raptors and demands to stay in the east Barnes/Dick/Ochai #9 + Alot of picks + swaps would be one of the better starting offers a team in the East can make....If you have to add RJ instead of Dick do that as well...

Alot of posters are also trying to talk about who fits with Giannis post trade like RJ etc....Who gives a damn about fit just get him in the door first and worry about that later... I swear guys are forgetting how good Giannis is....This is a legit top 3 player and one of the all time greats...

Giannis/Ingram are a legit duo and you have IQ/RJ or Dick/Yak to make a follow up move if you wan't to add a different player to that duo....Vets & Buy out options to fill the team out more as well as some of the young guys taking leaps with development....

And when you trade Barnes,IQ, Dick, picks.. is it really a massive upgrade over Giannis and a healthy Dame?

Legitimately.. it's starts being a question. If the trade package is RB/IQ/Dick and a massive load of picks? Sure. But when you add a few more rotation players and prospects to that...it starts getting a little dicier.

[Pointgod]

Read on Twitter

lol imagine all this excitement just to get Durant

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Read on Twitter

lol imagine all this excitement just to get Durant

He's still going to average 26+ points and we'd give up way less to get him.

[NinjaBro]

It's not Giannis we're getting it's Durant

[ciueli]

I would forget about Giannis, he only has 2 years left on his current contract before he can opt out and join Luka in LA as a free agent. We'll wind up mortgaging our future for a two year rental once he realizes there isn't enough left here to build a winner and the ownership cheaps out to avoid the repeater tax.