Fisher: Raptors are still shopping RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley

[RaptorPride]

Don’t know why people are so low on IQ.
He actually played pretty well after returning from a major injury.

Give him a full season before giving up on him.

I think he’ll excel as that 3rd guy. Ingram and Scottie will create a lot of wide open spot up opportunities for him.

I rather Barnes start at PG than him.

This scottie barnes PG fantasy needs to stop lmao he can't do it we've seen him try for 4 seasons. He doesn't have the shooting/finishing or handle to be a PG.

Then lets go get a PG not IQ.

[RaptorPride]

Yes I think we can do much better than IQ and I'm not a fan of his contract.

Don’t know why people are so low on IQ.
He actually played pretty well after returning from a major injury.

Give him a full season before giving up on him.

I think he’ll excel as that 3rd guy. Ingram and Scottie will create a lot of wide open spot up opportunities for him.

Because some people are idiots

Whos better IQ or Coby White?

[djsunyc]

I swear if we keep trading players because of their flaws we'd never have a team. RJ has looked better with us because our playstyle suits him better. Look at Pacers. Turner was a guy Pacers have been trying to trade for years and NOBODY wanted him. Now he's an essential piece of a Finals run, 1 win away from championship. OB Toppin is an extremely flawed player who wouldn't work for most teams. Pacers live with his flaws and he's been a positive contributor off the bench. Hali is a terrible defender and doesn't have a quick 1st step and if he was on Raptors you'd all tear him to shreds and want to trade him.

We have had a history of drafting raw defensive talent acquiring them and it hasn't gotten us anywhere for a while now. Take a page from Pacers. Accept the flaws of your players. What are the schemes that compliments and enhances their strengths so that their strengths outweigh their weaknesses? After all, who CARES as long as we get 1 more point than the other team?

Searching for perfect player is why so many great girls are single. Because Mister Perfect doesn't exist! Or is already taken! Stop dreaming! MAKE IT WORK.

i agree with this but i think they've made the decision that they don't want to extend him. seeing how the og and pascal thing played out as they entered their final year, the thinking has to be trading guys you don't want to extend before they enter their final contract year.

so you trade rj now or by the deadline otherwise he will enter his final season where his value will drop considerably more and he can threaten not to extend to the trading team like pascal did with atlanta.

[HumbleRen]

RJ for Deandre Ayton wouldn’t surprise me.

what is portland doing with RJ? Does he come off the bench?

If so, he can just come off the bench here

Damn, I forgot RJ would never accept coming off the bench lol.

Yeah nvm on that Portland deal.

[HumbleRen]

IQ works just fine as a PG if his first option player isn’t an inept scorer like Scottie or an inefficient scorer like RJ.

He’ll look much better with BI. He’s no where near an issue like RJ is.

[djsunyc]

Ayton is not happening that is crazy talk.

That we are shopping RJ and IQ still is not a shock.

Seems pretty clear that ownership has given a win now mandate. And that Masai was basically fired a month ago. Thus all the RJ and IQ talks of the last month were not related to Masai trying to keep his job.

I still think a Cam Johnson plus another good player for RJ is the best option. 3 team deal.

rj for ayton is not outside the realm of possibility. Portland will be shopping ayton and we could use another center. Also like humble mentioned he is an expiring. I do think they will explore options like cam first but this is not crazy talk

ayton is a no motor big. we are also going to extend yak so we are not going to pay money to retain ayton. if we want to dump rj for an expiring then draft compensation would probably be worth more than ayton.

secondly, ayton makes $7 mil more than rj so we'd have to part with one of our young players to make the salaries match. so this trade is not an option.

[RaptorPride]

IQ works just fine as a PG if his first option player isn’t an inept scorer like Scottie or an inefficient scorer like RJ.

He’ll look much better with BI. He’s no where near an issue like RJ is.

I just like to have the PG be a defensive playmaker. Someone more in CP3/Lowry's mold. If IQ can look to get others involved first and play his ass off on defence then I won't mind it. Getting a shooter to play PG is not hard to find and come by.

[djsunyc]

Revisiting Brooklyn idea:

RJ + 2026 1st for Cam Johnson + Danny Wolf?

what's the protection on the pick? if it's lotto protected, i don't think brooklyn does it and we shouldn't if it isn't.

secondly that means the next frp we can deal is 2028 which could effect some trades down the road.

[djsunyc]

i am bullish on IQ. i think he can be a sniper and love his ATB 3's.

[HumbleRen]

Ayton is not happening that is crazy talk.

That we are shopping RJ and IQ still is not a shock.

Seems pretty clear that ownership has given a win now mandate. And that Masai was basically fired a month ago. Thus all the RJ and IQ talks of the last month were not related to Masai trying to keep his job.

I still think a Cam Johnson plus another good player for RJ is the best option. 3 team deal.

rj for ayton is not outside the realm of possibility. Portland will be shopping ayton and we could use another center. Also like humble mentioned he is an expiring. I do think they will explore options like cam first but this is not crazy talk

ayton is a no motor big. we are also going to extend yak so we are not going to pay money to retain ayton. if we want to dump rj for an expiring then draft compensation would probably be worth more than ayton.

secondly, ayton makes $7 mil more than rj so we'd have to part with one of our young players to make the salaries match. so this trade is not an option.

I don’t think you guys exactly realize how invaluable RJ is to the league. We are not getting draft compensation for RJ without taking bad a horrendous contract in return.

A good backup center that’s on an expiring would be a great outcome to get RJ off the books for MLSE.

He was a throw in for a reason in the OG trade, we did not suddenly change his perception around the league with his play under us.

[HumbleRen]

IQ works just fine as a PG if his first option player isn’t an inept scorer like Scottie or an inefficient scorer like RJ.

He’ll look much better with BI. He’s no where near an issue like RJ is.

I just like to have the PG be a defensive playmaker. Someone more in CP3/Lowry's mold. If IQ can look to get others involved first and play his ass off on defence then I won't mind it. Getting a shooter to play PG is not hard to find and come by.

I disagree. It’s pretty hard to find a good shooter who can play defence and play-make at the PG position.

It’s way easier to find a POA 3&D low usage defender at the SG spot, which is the opposite of what RJ provides.

[NotMyKawhi]

Ty Jerome is the guy you want. Maybe if you can get BK to take RJ you can work on a sign and trade

[Raptorfan2012]

What team would want RJ these days? I can still see a deal with the Nets.

[sbsat]

Yes I think we can do much better than IQ and I'm not a fan of his contract.

His contract gets better and will be well worth it by year 3 onwards

Exactly its a flat annual salary. It gets better with age

[PhilBlackson]

I don't think there is an "issue" with either guy, perhaps miscast in RJ's case as it's painfully obv (at least imo) that he'd be BEST suited as an elite 6th man buuut.....

This is all about taking advantage of a frenzied buyer's market.

Ofc we know Shams said prior to the start of the off-season that he anticipated that this one would potentially be the craziest & most active one ever. So the deals that have already occurred are likely just the tip of the iceberg. The last thing we'd want is to watch our FO miss out on some potentially great opportunities ie/ unexpected players being available (Bane) or others being traded for pennies on the dollar (ie/ KP). You can quibble on the cost of those particular trades (and feel free to debate those with a wall lol) but you really don't know who will end up on the move but you would assume that these guys won't be moved just for the sake of...as has been reported the Raptors are looking to UPGRADE (keyword) so it only makes sense they strike when the iron is potentially the hottest.

Last thing they want to happen is there be a flurry of player movement in the off-season and in the aftermath teams almost get gun shy with potentially elevated criticism on various moves to come and/or teams just want to stand still for a bit...and then on the flip side perhaps this team sputters, perhaps IQ has another injury, RJ lets some of the trade chatter effect him and he's a bit out of sorts, pressing his game to prove he still belongs or if the opposing teams would have preferred the extra time for training camp etc.

Not saying that will/would happen but we wouldn't want the dust to settle where the vast majority of meaningful players have been moved then we're at the following deadline or next off-season just desperate to find even a reasonable deal. It's much smarter to try and take advantage than to be taken advantage of as it pertains to trades and again right now is supposed to be the hottest buyers' market possibly ever.

Sadly for RJ, this really feels like he won't be here by the time the season rolls around or it would be incredibly damn awkward with how much his name has been at the forefront of trade talks here that at best the clock is just running down.

[RaptorPride]

IQ works just fine as a PG if his first option player isn’t an inept scorer like Scottie or an inefficient scorer like RJ.

He’ll look much better with BI. He’s no where near an issue like RJ is.

I just like to have the PG be a defensive playmaker. Someone more in CP3/Lowry's mold. If IQ can look to get others involved first and play his ass off on defence then I won't mind it. Getting a shooter to play PG is not hard to find and come by.

I disagree. It’s pretty hard to find a good shooter who can play defence and play-make at the PG position.

It’s way easier to find a POA 3&D low usage defender at the SG spot, which is the opposite of what RJ provides.

I don't know about IQs defence I feel like it could be much better.

[Anatomize]

RJ might not be an analytics darling but he looks like our best player most nights and plays with heart/passion. You can’t really quantify something like that.

However, if it’s between RJ and IQ I’d far rather deal RJ. You don’t give up on the kind of offensive talent that IQ brings especially when we’re starved for scoring/playmaking/3 point shooting.

[HumbleRen]

I just like to have the PG be a defensive playmaker. Someone more in CP3/Lowry's mold. If IQ can look to get others involved first and play his ass off on defence then I won't mind it. Getting a shooter to play PG is not hard to find and come by.

I disagree. It’s pretty hard to find a good shooter who can play defence and play-make at the PG position.

It’s way easier to find a POA 3&D low usage defender at the SG spot, which is the opposite of what RJ provides.

I don't know about IQs defence I feel like it could be much better.

It will be with a SG who can play defence beside him.

[Tha Cynic]

At this stage I believe the Raptors are operating as if trading RJ is addition by subtraction, and I agree. You will probably have a better fit in the starting lineup by starting Ochai or even Walter. I doubt they’ll get much value for RJ so if they can get an expiring or backup 5, you do it imo. Other option is to see if you can get a starting PG to push IQ to the 2, but I doubt you’ll get a starting PG for RJ.

[RaptorPride]

I disagree. It’s pretty hard to find a good shooter who can play defence and play-make at the PG position.

It’s way easier to find a POA 3&D low usage defender at the SG spot, which is the opposite of what RJ provides.

I don't know about IQs defence I feel like it could be much better.

It will be with a SG who can play defence beside him.

Its gotta be Ochai or Jakobe unless we trade RJ and IQ I doubt we get a new SG coming back. RJ is gonna be for a big.