[Smith] No Raptors Trade Imminent - Could Wait Until End Of Summer League To Find Backup Center

[Yallbecrazy]

If the raptors are going to make a smaller move, I think they move Ochai.

He's expiring on a reasonable contract and has value around the league. I can't see the Raptors being able to pay him unless they trade RJ and/or IQ

Gets them under the tax, also he's not a great fit for the system as he's not a good dribbler or passer.

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

Where's Frederick Gillespie when ya need him

[WuTang_CMB]

With Temple back on a one-year deal that will pay him about $3.6 million (U.S.), Toronto has 12 players on fully guaranteed contracts (including Wednesday’s No. 9 draft pick Collin Murray-Boyles) and has to decide what to do with second-round pick Alijah Martin.

They have non-guaranteed contracts in place with Jamison Battle, A.J. Lawson and Colin Castleton, plus two-way deals with Ulrich Chomche, Jared Rhoden and Chucky Hepburn, an undrafted guard signed after the draft ended Thursday night.

The dozen guarantees: Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl, Jamal Shead, Ochai Agbaji, Gradey Dick, Jonathan Mogbo, Ja’Kobe Walter, Ingram, Murray-Boyles and Temple.

That’s 19 players under consideration already. Teams can have 15 full roster spots and three players on two-way deals.

12 Guarantees

IQ/Shead
IG/JKW/Temple
RJB/Dick/Agbaji
SB/CMB/Mogbo
Poeltl/

2 ways
Ulrich Chomche,
Jared Rhoden
Chucky Hepburn,

Non Guaranteed:
Jamison Battle,
A.J. Lawson
Colin Castleton

Alijah Martin

Exhibit 10
Tyson Degenhar
Clifford Omoruyi


Our summer league is going to be a test for the players to grab those final roster spots.

Battle is going to get guaranteed

Guaranteed (Total is 15) , + 3 x 2-ways

IQ - Shead
RJ - JKW -Temple
BI - Dick - Ochai - Battle
Scottie - CMB - Mogbo
Poeltl -
/13



Chomche - 2 way
Chucky - 2 way



Alijah Martin #39
Rhoden?
Castleton - non guaranteed
Aj Lawson - non guraranteed

[ConSarnit]

Yes Jakob isn’t a star, but one day y’all are gonna have to have a little more respect for how good Jakob is. This downplaying his talent because we didn’t have a back up C is starting to get ridiculous lol. I promise y’all other than the top back up Cs in the league, even if we had a backup C Jakob’s impact would still have been very large. I know y’all hated the timing of the trade, but Jakob is a very good player and his impact isn’t just because we had no back up C.

His impact is what it is because he fits our system perfectly. Other than shooting he does everything you want a big man to do very well and some extra stuff like passing that most big men can’t do. Great screener, great rebounder, good defender, great pick and roll player, nimble for his size, great finisher, has a really good push shot, you don’t have to give him the ball directly at the basket for him to score in the paint, good footwork in the paint for a 7 footer etc. No backup C is doing ALL those things better than Jakob (especially the passing part) along with being 6’10-7 feet tall, so his impact would still be what it is.

We are 13-44 over the past 2 years without Poeltl in the lineup. Even if you remove end of season tanking stretches we’ve still been terrible any time Poeltl has been out.

Poeltl is good to miss 20 games every year. The team completely falls apart whenever he is out (even when we are still trying to be competitive). He is by far our most valuable defensive player. If we actually want to be a top 8 seed we can’t afford to roll the dice on small ball or some G-league level backup.

[YogurtProducer]

If Poeltl goes down for an for extended stretch we are screwed unless they make a big trade for a comparable player. Playing plumlee or any other min guy 30 mins isn't going to save us.

Or you just play small ball for that period of time like OKC did when Holmgren went down (and especially when Chet AND Hartenstein went down at the same time).

Unless Jak misses 40+ games, there is no reason IMO we could not in a pinch "make it work" with Scottie/Mogbo/CMB as our small ball C. Jalen **** Williams does it IN THE WEST against much better centers.

This ignores the massive difference in roster construction between us and OKC. Do you think it’s easier to defend the rim when you have guys like Caruso or Dort defending the perimeter or guys like IQ and RJ? It’s far easier for your defense to hold up going small when you have elite defenders at other positions. How many times has small ball defense actually worked when not surrounded by great perimeter defenders?

When has any defence worked when you dont have great perimeter defenders to be fair? This is not an exclusively small ball issue.

IQ also is unfairly being labeled a poor defender.

[ItsDanger]

Yes Jakob isn’t a star, but one day y’all are gonna have to have a little more respect for how good Jakob is. This downplaying his talent because we didn’t have a back up C is starting to get ridiculous lol. I promise y’all other than the top back up Cs in the league, even if we had a backup C Jakob’s impact would still have been very large. I know y’all hated the timing of the trade, but Jakob is a very good player and his impact isn’t just because we had no back up C.

His impact is what it is because he fits our system perfectly. Other than shooting he does everything you want a big man to do very well and some extra stuff like passing that most big men can’t do. Great screener, great rebounder, good defender, great pick and roll player, nimble for his size, great finisher, has a really good push shot, you don’t have to give him the ball directly at the basket for him to score in the paint, good footwork in the paint for a 7 footer etc. No backup C is doing ALL those things better than Jakob (especially the passing part) along with being 6’10-7 feet tall, so his impact would still be what it is.

The fact this thread exists indicates that C position's importance is appreciated. This really warrants a response isn't politically correct but it's not allowed.

[YogurtProducer]

Poeltl is good to miss 20 games every year. The team completely falls apart whenever he is out (even when we are still trying to be competitive). He is by far our most valuable defensive player. If we actually want to be a top 8 seed we can’t afford to roll the dice on small ball or some G-league level backup.

Poeltl has only missed 20 games twice, and both times were with us when we were very much blatantly tanking.

He averaged 72 games per year every other year of his career (ignoring rookie year when he got DNP'd)

[YogurtProducer]

The fact this thread exists indicates that C position's importance is appreciated. This really warrants a response isn't politically correct but it's not allowed.

WTF does this post even mean?

[RapsFanInOhio]

I actually am buying into what Smith says here. I don’t think they’re going to do anything major until the next President is hired, and I really don’t think it’s going to be Bobby unless the process is drawn out and we have a bunch of playoff success this season.

The roster is in a pretty good spot, and they’re not going to pay the tax this year. I don’t see them adding any long term salary that they would need to move later (including any star players) if the new Prez didn’t like the player or fit. There’s also a ton of assets to work with and salary flexibility. It’s really a pretty good spot for a new President to walk into.

Most likely it’ll just be a backup center (they’ll get a guy with some size almost certainly) and training camp battles, which is the right call. Fortunately, and I say this as begrudgingly as I possibly can, if you were going to make a change at President, it makes some sense to do it now. You’re going to have a free season to evaluate the roster, which looks pretty good on paper, before letting the new guy sign off on any long term decisions. And as an added bonus, they should be pretty good unless the black cloud of the Masai firing hangs over the team. I’m afraid it will.

[YogurtProducer]

Mogbo is 6'6.25 without shoes. Calling him 6'9 is erroneous.

Yeah, I went initially off of the b-ref listed height. But he was 6'6.25, 215 lbs, with a 7'2 wingspan. Good call.

Well height is literally irrelevant anyways.

Mogbo has a 9 ft standings reach and 7'2 wingspan. He can play backup center as his size isn't the issue.

Poeltl for example is 9'3" and 7'3" respectively

[Yeezus_]

The fact this thread exists indicates that C position's importance is appreciated. This really warrants a response isn't politically correct but it's not allowed.

WTF does this post even mean?

Hes just typing for the sake of it

[Godaddycurse]

Mogbo is 6'6.25 without shoes. Calling him 6'9 is erroneous.

Yeah, I went initially off of the b-ref listed height. But he was 6'6.25, 215 lbs, with a 7'2 wingspan. Good call.

Well height is literally irrelevant anyways.

Mogbo has a 9 ft standings reach and 7'2 wingspan. He can play backup center as his size isn't the issue.

Poeltl for example is 9'3" and 7'3" respectively

215 lbs is kinda small for C though

[Duffman100]

The fact this thread exists indicates that C position's importance is appreciated. This really warrants a response isn't politically correct but it's not allowed.

WTF does this post even mean?

Hes just typing for the sake of it

Starting to feel like a bad LLM

[TimeForChange]

Read on Twitter

[RaptorPride]

Just another regular Raptors offseason, not to upset. Our best years in franchise history were built through internal development and chemistry so why not now when we arguably got the most talented roster we have ever got.

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

BI was our free agency

[LoveMyRaps]

The fact this thread exists indicates that C position's importance is appreciated. This really warrants a response isn't politically correct but it's not allowed.

[OakleyDokely]

WTF does this post even mean?

Hes just typing for the sake of it

Starting to feel like a bad LLM

We all know how politically motivated the C position is. Hard to talk about backup C without getting political.

[djsunyc]

jontay porter is such an idiot.

[Duffman100]

jontay porter is such an idiot.

Honestly, he'd just be so damn perfect right now.