Sam Vecenie: Raptors Off-Season Preview (Video)

[Brinbe]

They're fine in terms of grinding game tape and doing some prospect eval but their analysis/thinking on the team-building side of things isn't strong, especially since they're normally focused on the big-picture league stuff. You'll (usually, not always) get better stuff from team-specific content creators who pay closer attention to what's going on within their franchises.

I think we're lucky in that Raps Republic in particular are among the best in the game, period.

[Indeed]

They keep referring to the Siakam trade as just Pascal for BI which is terrible...but it is actually Pascal for BI, Jakobe and Ochai...and that really isn't a disaster.

They just keep talking about how they don't know how this roster fits and I get that but let's not make sweeping conclusions before more moves are made...or seeing how this roster looks after a summer of development and injury management.

The thing with Masai is that he's almost a genius when it comes to draft/evaluating young talent. The Siakam trade was ass but his ability to make the right picks helps offset that.

He could trade Ochai for the 59th pick in this draft and pick a stud in that draft slot. It wouldnt change the facf the original trade would be horrible value.

Its why people hated when he kept trading picks away to remain mediocre while not obtaining picks/young talent earlier from the Fred/OG/Siakam/Lowry/Trent core.

If we ignore Masai's drafting/subsequent trades and just stick to the basics of the respective deals, then we can summarize it as: Raptors received 3 1st rounders for Siakam, and subsequently traded one of these first rounders for BI.

So to state that the deal was Siakam for BI is indeed incorrect. We only traded about 1/3 of the value we got back for Siakam for BI.

The question is, are the others worth much of the value?
Even right now we look at the value of Agbaji, which team is interested? Unless it is a salary dump, teams have their players that they may more interested in, and probably can be acquired with full MLE.

Siakam and Ingram are the only players with values that teams would inquire about, and unlikely to have cap for signing them out right.

[Pointgod]

Good summary of our current position. I’ve listened to every team offseason assessment and these guys are very fair with their analysis, sometimes overly cautious because they don’t want to offend fans of teams. This is what a non homer analysis looks like.

[NinjaBro]

They're fine in terms of grinding game tape and doing some prospect eval but their analysis/thinking on the team-building side of things isn't strong, especially since they're normally focused on the big-picture league stuff. You'll (usually, not always) get better stuff from team-specific content creators who pay closer attention to what's going on within their franchises.

I think we're lucky in that Raps Republic in particular are among the best in the game, period.

Raps Republic is solid. It absolutely sickens me that Hello and Welcome is the #1 rated and downloaded raptors podcast in Canada. Here is an except on one of their recent shows:


Will: okay Alex I know you're not a draft expert but can you give us your thoughts on who we should pick at #9?
Alex: I have nothing to add, I didn't do my homework. Heehee, haahaaa

Yes this was an actual conversation on one of their recent shows from Will and that giggling buffoon Alex Wong.

That was my last straw, I quickly unsubscribed to that awful podcast. I want to support local independent media but I just cannot stand Alex Wong. When these 2 are together it's complete trash.

[rapsincr]

They're fine in terms of grinding game tape and doing some prospect eval but their analysis/thinking on the team-building side of things isn't strong, especially since they're normally focused on the big-picture league stuff. You'll (usually, not always) get better stuff from team-specific content creators who pay closer attention to what's going on within their franchises.

I think we're lucky in that Raps Republic in particular are among the best in the game, period.

Raps Republic is solid. It absolutely sickens me that Hello and Welcome is the #1 rated and downloaded raptors podcast in Canada. Here is an except on one of their recent shows:


Will: okay Alex I know you're not a draft expert but can you give us your thoughts on who we should pick at #9?
Alex: I have nothing to add, I didn't do my homework. Heehee, haahaaa

Yes this was an actual conversation on one of their recent shows from Will and that giggling buffoon Alex Wong.

That was my last straw, I quickly unsubscribed to that awful podcast. I want to support local independent media but I just cannot stand Alex Wong. When these 2 are together it's complete trash.

i dont mind will on his own, but alex drives me crazy. he instantly makes the show 90% harder to listen to with him trying to be the comic relief..problem is he isnt funny at all and the show has very little credibility or nuance with him around dumbing it down so much

[ItsDanger]

They're fine in terms of grinding game tape and doing some prospect eval but their analysis/thinking on the team-building side of things isn't strong, especially since they're normally focused on the big-picture league stuff. You'll (usually, not always) get better stuff from team-specific content creators who pay closer attention to what's going on within their franchises.

I think we're lucky in that Raps Republic in particular are among the best in the game, period.

Raps Republic is solid. It absolutely sickens me that Hello and Welcome is the #1 rated and downloaded raptors podcast in Canada. Here is an except on one of their recent shows:


Will: okay Alex I know you're not a draft expert but can you give us your thoughts on who we should pick at #9?
Alex: I have nothing to add, I didn't do my homework. Heehee, haahaaa

Yes this was an actual conversation on one of their recent shows from Will and that giggling buffoon Alex Wong.

That was my last straw, I quickly unsubscribed to that awful podcast. I want to support local independent media but I just cannot stand Alex Wong. When these 2 are together it's complete trash.

i dont mind will on his own, but alex drives me crazy. he instantly makes the show 90% harder to listen to with him trying to be the comic relief..problem is he isnt funny at all and the show has very little credibility or nuance with him around dumbing it down so much

I cut them off long time ago. Not interested in their side hustles.

[S.W.A.N]

Raps Republic is solid. It absolutely sickens me that Hello and Welcome is the #1 rated and downloaded raptors podcast in Canada. Here is an except on one of their recent shows:


Will: okay Alex I know you're not a draft expert but can you give us your thoughts on who we should pick at #9?
Alex: I have nothing to add, I didn't do my homework. Heehee, haahaaa

Yes this was an actual conversation on one of their recent shows from Will and that giggling buffoon Alex Wong.

That was my last straw, I quickly unsubscribed to that awful podcast. I want to support local independent media but I just cannot stand Alex Wong. When these 2 are together it's complete trash.

i dont mind will on his own, but alex drives me crazy. he instantly makes the show 90% harder to listen to with him trying to be the comic relief..problem is he isnt funny at all and the show has very little credibility or nuance with him around dumbing it down so much

I cut them off long time ago. Not interested in their side hustles.

They are fine. Perfect for casuals. But ya Raps Republic is the gold standard for detailed raps knowledge. Pensare is hit and miss. too scatterbrained and adhd brain to go with a contrarian personality. Locked on is Middle of the road. His shtick gets annoying at times and thank the gods he finally shut the f up about his hate for X. Expecting that show to be better while he's on hiatus and what's his face takes over.

I wish the pacers still sucked balls, because I live it when Folk would bring the pacers chick on to talk ball. She's one of the smartest bball people around

[sidsid]

I think we will show we are a better "fitting" team with players optimal for scottie this season when all these guys are healthy and playing for long stretches. BI is a scoring wing and Scottie is a passing wing - I don't see how that doesn't fit in a vacuum. IQ was injured a bunch and never found any groove. I think he bounces back next season.

I want to see what happens after the draft and any trades because the upside and fits will get better once Masai gets to wor

You can get stuff out of our players, but the fit issue they bring up isn't going away unless trades are made for a few core reasons.

Bringing up that Scottie is your in the mix creator type in the LeBron mold of plugging holes. But:
- you don't have shooting: Jak clogging the paint and taking up his space for playmaking/scoring inside (look how Siakam gets to play with Turner), with RJ still not established as a shooter either.
- he's your roaming defender but you don't have a single perimeter defender on the floor (RJ, BI, IQ).
- you need to pass to good off-ball shooters/movers but that's only IQ, Grady and maybe Ochai. (You hope Ingram plays more like that?)
- you want to play unselfish playmaking but bring in an ISO specialist to play with another mainly downhill slasher (BI, RJ).

When you look at the roster, IQ, Ochai and Grady are the only guys that fit the mold of what you'd want around a wing playmaker type.

[WuTang_CMB]

I think we will show we are a better "fitting" team with players optimal for scottie this season when all these guys are healthy and playing for long stretches. BI is a scoring wing and Scottie is a passing wing - I don't see how that doesn't fit in a vacuum. IQ was injured a bunch and never found any groove. I think he bounces back next season.

I want to see what happens after the draft and any trades because the upside and fits will get better once Masai gets to wor

You can get stuff out of our players, but the fit issue they bring up isn't going away unless trades are made for a few core reasons.

Bringing up that Scottie is your in the mix creator type in the LeBron mold of plugging holes. But:
- you don't have shooting: Jak clogging the paint and taking up his space for playmaking/scoring inside (look how Siakam gets to play with Turner), with RJ still not established as a shooter either.
- he's your roaming defender but you don't have a single perimeter defender on the floor (RJ, BI, IQ).
- you need to pass to good off-ball shooters/movers but that's only IQ, Grady and maybe Ochai. (You hope Ingram plays more like that?)
- you want to play unselfish playmaking but bring in an ISO specialist to play with another mainly downhill slasher (BI, RJ).

When you look at the roster, IQ, Ochai and Grady are the only guys that fit the mold of what you'd want around a wing playmaker type.

I expect RJ gone this offseason

[sidsid]

I think we will show we are a better "fitting" team with players optimal for scottie this season when all these guys are healthy and playing for long stretches. BI is a scoring wing and Scottie is a passing wing - I don't see how that doesn't fit in a vacuum. IQ was injured a bunch and never found any groove. I think he bounces back next season.

I want to see what happens after the draft and any trades because the upside and fits will get better once Masai gets to wor

You can get stuff out of our players, but the fit issue they bring up isn't going away unless trades are made for a few core reasons.

Bringing up that Scottie is your in the mix creator type in the LeBron mold of plugging holes. But:
- you don't have shooting: Jak clogging the paint and taking up his space for playmaking/scoring inside (look how Siakam gets to play with Turner), with RJ still not established as a shooter either.
- he's your roaming defender but you don't have a single perimeter defender on the floor (RJ, BI, IQ).
- you need to pass to good off-ball shooters/movers but that's only IQ, Grady and maybe Ochai. (You hope Ingram plays more like that?)
- you want to play unselfish playmaking but bring in an ISO specialist to play with another mainly downhill slasher (BI, RJ).

When you look at the roster, IQ, Ochai and Grady are the only guys that fit the mold of what you'd want around a wing playmaker type.

I expect RJ gone this offseason

I'm legit falling in love with the Durant idea, as long as it isn't picks, simply because the main pieces that likely end up going out (RJ and Jak) would go a long way to fixing the fit issues, assuming you're bringing in spacing/defenders in their place through other means.

[JB7]

I think we will show we are a better "fitting" team with players optimal for scottie this season when all these guys are healthy and playing for long stretches. BI is a scoring wing and Scottie is a passing wing - I don't see how that doesn't fit in a vacuum. IQ was injured a bunch and never found any groove. I think he bounces back next season.

I want to see what happens after the draft and any trades because the upside and fits will get better once Masai gets to wor

You can get stuff out of our players, but the fit issue they bring up isn't going away unless trades are made for a few core reasons.

Bringing up that Scottie is your in the mix creator type in the LeBron mold of plugging holes. But:
- you don't have shooting: Jak clogging the paint and taking up his space for playmaking/scoring inside (look how Siakam gets to play with Turner), with RJ still not established as a shooter either.
- he's your roaming defender but you don't have a single perimeter defender on the floor (RJ, BI, IQ).
- you need to pass to good off-ball shooters/movers but that's only IQ, Grady and maybe Ochai. (You hope Ingram plays more like that?)
- you want to play unselfish playmaking but bring in an ISO specialist to play with another mainly downhill slasher (BI, RJ).

When you look at the roster, IQ, Ochai and Grady are the only guys that fit the mold of what you'd want around a wing playmaker type.

I expect RJ gone this offseason

You guys realize they don’t have to play all their minutes together right. They might start the games together, but I can easily see them going to subs early and splitting up the rotation, so they have at all times at least 2 of Barnes, BI, RJ and IQ on the floor.

All of the bench players fit as complimentary players around that core 4.

[TGM]

People keep talking about fit. There is nothing wrong with the fit of the team, but its the lacking of scoring on the team.

If you watch Raptor games closely, one of the issues we have is scoring the ball, especially during crunch time. We end up giving the ball to like Scottie to try and take a low percentage shot. Scottie, RJ or anyone currently on the team is not fit for that. BI is probably the closest thing to a self creator that we now have, but even so. You need a Giannis type of guy that wants and calls for the ball play after play and can score 10 straight points.

[JB7]

People keep talking about fit. There is nothing wrong with the fit of the team, but its the lacking of scoring on the team.

If you watch Raptor games closely, one of the issues we have is scoring the ball, especially during crunch time. We end up giving the ball to like Scottie to try and take a low percentage shot. Scottie, RJ or anyone currently on the team is not fit for that. BI is probably the closest thing to a self creator that we now have, but even so. You need a Giannis type of guy that wants and calls for the ball play after play and can score 10 straight points.

Do you mean scoring in general or clutch scoring?

I don’t think they will have a problem with scoring over the course of the game. In the clutch they will possibly struggle, but that is what will fall to BI.

The strength of this team should be what it does to the other teams second units. As long as they stay close with the oppositions first units, I would expect them to have a significant spread on the opponents second units, if they are able to have 2 of their core 4 on the floor at all times, combined with their bench players.

[WuTang_CMB]

You can get stuff out of our players, but the fit issue they bring up isn't going away unless trades are made for a few core reasons.

Bringing up that Scottie is your in the mix creator type in the LeBron mold of plugging holes. But:
- you don't have shooting: Jak clogging the paint and taking up his space for playmaking/scoring inside (look how Siakam gets to play with Turner), with RJ still not established as a shooter either.
- he's your roaming defender but you don't have a single perimeter defender on the floor (RJ, BI, IQ).
- you need to pass to good off-ball shooters/movers but that's only IQ, Grady and maybe Ochai. (You hope Ingram plays more like that?)
- you want to play unselfish playmaking but bring in an ISO specialist to play with another mainly downhill slasher (BI, RJ).

When you look at the roster, IQ, Ochai and Grady are the only guys that fit the mold of what you'd want around a wing playmaker type.

I expect RJ gone this offseason

You guys realize they don’t have to play all their minutes together right. They might start the games together, but I can easily see them going to subs early and splitting up the rotation, so they have at all times at least 2 of Barnes, BI, RJ and IQ on the floor.

All of the bench players fit as complimentary players around that core 4.

He’s still starting next season no matter how u slice it.

[sidsid]

You can get stuff out of our players, but the fit issue they bring up isn't going away unless trades are made for a few core reasons.

Bringing up that Scottie is your in the mix creator type in the LeBron mold of plugging holes. But:
- you don't have shooting: Jak clogging the paint and taking up his space for playmaking/scoring inside (look how Siakam gets to play with Turner), with RJ still not established as a shooter either.
- he's your roaming defender but you don't have a single perimeter defender on the floor (RJ, BI, IQ).
- you need to pass to good off-ball shooters/movers but that's only IQ, Grady and maybe Ochai. (You hope Ingram plays more like that?)
- you want to play unselfish playmaking but bring in an ISO specialist to play with another mainly downhill slasher (BI, RJ).

When you look at the roster, IQ, Ochai and Grady are the only guys that fit the mold of what you'd want around a wing playmaker type.

I expect RJ gone this offseason

You guys realize they don’t have to play all their minutes together right. They might start the games together, but I can easily see them going to subs early and splitting up the rotation, so they have at all times at least 2 of Barnes, BI, RJ and IQ on the floor.

All of the bench players fit as complimentary players around that core 4.

You can do that, but that's how Knicks fans who still believe in KAT (and Brunson but he's not being moved) are coping around the core problem. If your best lineups can't actually feature your best players together, you're in trouble in the playoffs.

[JB7]

I expect RJ gone this offseason

You guys realize they don’t have to play all their minutes together right. They might start the games together, but I can easily see them going to subs early and splitting up the rotation, so they have at all times at least 2 of Barnes, BI, RJ and IQ on the floor.

All of the bench players fit as complimentary players around that core 4.

He’s still starting next season no matter how u slice it.

Yes, but I could also see other units play significant minutes like Yak, Barnes, Dick, Agbaji, IQ, and the other could be Mogbo, BI, RJ, Walter, Shead. And Battle could sub for Dick or Walter in either of those other two lineups.

The starting is just to keep those 4 happy. It is the rotations after the start, and how quickly Darko goes to them that will matter.

[JB7]

I expect RJ gone this offseason

You guys realize they don’t have to play all their minutes together right. They might start the games together, but I can easily see them going to subs early and splitting up the rotation, so they have at all times at least 2 of Barnes, BI, RJ and IQ on the floor.

All of the bench players fit as complimentary players around that core 4.

You can do that, but that's how Knicks fans who still believe in KAT (and Brunson but he's not being moved) are coping around the core problem. If your best lineups can't actually feature your best players together, you're in trouble in the playoffs.

I’ll take that problem, if the team is making it to the 2nd or 3rd round of the playoffs.

Really though, Barnes and BI are the 2 best players on the team, and the question would be their fit. RJ and IQ are more complimentary players. RJ’s game will need to fit the role that works best beside those two, which is more like his first season with the Raps. Focus on shooting open 3’s and attacking the basket when he sees open lanes. Just cut out a lot of the mid range game.

[WuTang_CMB]

You guys realize they don’t have to play all their minutes together right. They might start the games together, but I can easily see them going to subs early and splitting up the rotation, so they have at all times at least 2 of Barnes, BI, RJ and IQ on the floor.

All of the bench players fit as complimentary players around that core 4.

He’s still starting next season no matter how u slice it.

Yes, but I could also see other units play significant minutes like Yak, Barnes, Dick, Agbaji, IQ, and the other could be Mogbo, BI, RJ, Walter, Shead. And Battle could sub for Dick or Walter in either of those other two lineups.

The starting is just to keep those 4 happy. It is the rotations after the start, and how quickly Darko goes to them that will matter.

It doesn’t matter though. He’s starting and likely finishing games. Plus he’s going to look for a raise on his next deal which we cannot afford. You can supplement better fit with defense and 3’s on a lesser AAV. That’s the whole point to move him now.

[JB7]

He’s still starting next season no matter how u slice it.

Yes, but I could also see other units play significant minutes like Yak, Barnes, Dick, Agbaji, IQ, and the other could be Mogbo, BI, RJ, Walter, Shead. And Battle could sub for Dick or Walter in either of those other two lineups.

The starting is just to keep those 4 happy. It is the rotations after the start, and how quickly Darko goes to them that will matter.

It doesn’t matter though. He’s starting and likely finishing games. Plus he’s going to look for a raise on his next deal which we cannot afford. You can supplement better fit with defense and 3’s on a lesser AAV. That’s the whole point to move him now.

What he adds though is depth to the core 4, since the top 2 players won’t match up better than many teams. So having a stronger core 4 becomes the competitive advantage. And if they split up the minutes of that core 4, they will be able to avoid lulls in the game when other teams need to rest their top players. Similar to what the Cavs have done.

And with BI at $40M and IQ at $32.5M, he’ll probably be somewhere in there. Probably closer to IQ’s number. And with the cap going up, that shouldn’t be a problem.

[WuTang_CMB]

Yes, but I could also see other units play significant minutes like Yak, Barnes, Dick, Agbaji, IQ, and the other could be Mogbo, BI, RJ, Walter, Shead. And Battle could sub for Dick or Walter in either of those other two lineups.

The starting is just to keep those 4 happy. It is the rotations after the start, and how quickly Darko goes to them that will matter.

It doesn’t matter though. He’s starting and likely finishing games. Plus he’s going to look for a raise on his next deal which we cannot afford. You can supplement better fit with defense and 3’s on a lesser AAV. That’s the whole point to move him now.

What he adds though is depth to the core 4, since the top 2 players won’t match up better than many teams. So having a stronger core 4 becomes the competitive advantage. And if they split up the minutes of that core 4, they will be able to avoid lulls in the game when other teams need to rest their top players. Similar to what the Cavs have done.

And with BI at $40M and IQ at $32.5M, he’ll probably be somewhere in there. Probably closer to IQ’s number. And with the cap going up, that shouldn’t be a problem.

No it's a problem. We are not paying him $30+ while also having to factor in Jak's extension. As I said, you can supplement RJ's money for better fits in defense and 3's which is why Masai has already been shopping him.