Bill Simmons RIPS the Raptors roster and salaries. (UPDATE Zach Lowe & Rob Mahoney go in on Raptors)

[causal_fan]

If the team makes the playoffs this season, there will be less criticism of the payroll, but I think deservedly more criticism if the team misses the playoffs again - and there are no value contracts on the team.

[Dennis 37]

I remember when people flipped out that we overpaid for Amir Johnson.

[ishoy123]

My question is what's the big deal? It's not like the contracts that our starters have are untradeable. Just look at it as percentage of the cap it makes things simpler. Bill seems to be ranting on probably due to the gross cap management of the Bucks to appease their MVP in Giannis.

At the end of the day, it's whether you like the players on the team. Bill doesn't think Scottie and Ingram are stars, so every move the Raptors make to complement them are bad deals by definition.

If Houston made that exact contract with Quick, they'd be gushing about his perfect fit to Durant and Sengun.

[JB7]

Another point on those contracts is those amounts might also be required for salary matching purposes in a trade. So if a star player becomes available, having the matching contracts means the Raps have to offer up less players.

Ingram might be a slight overpay, but that is only for 2 or 3 years. A window for trade opportunities. Ingram alone is not getting the deal done, but Ingram tied to other trade assets, such as picks, or a rookie then becomes a more desirable package.

Even IQ. His salary looks like an overpay now, which the Raps can manage and stay under the tax, but 3 years from now his flat contract deal could look like a bargain, and he becomes a better trade asset.

[Raptorfan2012]

We will always have this issue - Raptors being in Canada will have to pay a bit more in salary and incentives (i.e Player options) to entice players to come or stay here. We have this conversation every damn off-season. It is what it is.

[HumbleRen]

He’s not wrong but this changes if Jakobe, Shead, GD and CMB are able to contribute to winning basketball during their rookie contracts.

We need guys to overperform their contract value. We currently have no one doing that.

[arbsn]

He's really not wrong Raps fans are just delusional.

Quickley getting 32.5m a year when Payton Pritchard is better and makes 7.5m a year is embarrassing

[ciueli]

If the team makes the playoffs this season, there will be less criticism of the payroll, but I think deservedly more criticism if the team misses the playoffs again - and there are no value contracts on the team.

The main reason this team is in line to make the playoffs next season is the Haliburton and Tatum injuries, that's two teams who were clearly better that are now going to be tanking to grab a lottery pick instead of contending for a title.

Ok, great, but now what happens in 2026-27 when Haliburton and Tatum come back and our team has to make hard decisions on who is getting jettisoned to avoid the luxury tax? Back to being a low play-in seed where we are first round of the playoffs and out at best? Or missing the playoffs entirely if Ingram gets injured again? Sounds like a repeat of 2021-22 to me, one season of "success" that leads the front office to believe they are on to something, then they get caught flat footed when they see next season it was just one year of weirdness in a weak conference, not something that's sustainable.

[OakleyDokely]

He’s not wrong but this changes if Jakobe, Shead, GD and CMB are able to contribute to winning basketball during their rookie contracts.

We need guys to overperform their contract value. We currently have no one doing that.

yup, if you win you're a genius and all your players are worth more and their contracts are fine. if you lose, you're an idiot who overpays everyone.

[sbsat]

The other thing is, people like Bill are still looking at the actual dollar amounts and not the % of the cap. The cap has risen significantly over the last few years. Bill acts like it's still 2008.

Salary rank, 25/26 season:
IQ - 25th among Gs
RJ - 32nd among Gs
BI - 17th among Fs
SB - 15th among Fs
JP - 14th among C's

exactly this. everyone on here looks at everything in absolute terms when the relative is what matters.

[Dalek]

I think the best way to describe Bobby Webster is to say he is an agent's best friend. He gives guys what their agent's think they are worth and it is always at market rate or a little higher and/or includes player options.

We just don't re-sign guys on team friendly deals which is why we are paying so much for an unproven product.

Someone point out a steal of a contract since he has been GM. Eventually the generosity catches up with you and you get locked into a bad team like the Bulls.

[HumbleRen]

The other thing is, people like Bill are still looking at the actual dollar amounts and not the % of the cap. The cap has risen significantly over the last few years. Bill acts like it's still 2008.

Salary rank, 25/26 season:
IQ - 25th among Gs
RJ - 32nd among Gs
BI - 17th among Fs
SB - 15th among Fs
JP - 14th among C's

exactly this. everyone on here looks at everything in absolute terms when the relative is what matters.

This also ignores context though.

Collectively you’re paying basically contenders levels money for a starting 5 that has no stars.

3 of them are probably negative assets as well.

[sbsat]

The other thing is, people like Bill are still looking at the actual dollar amounts and not the % of the cap. The cap has risen significantly over the last few years. Bill acts like it's still 2008.

Salary rank, 25/26 season:
IQ - 25th among Gs
RJ - 32nd among Gs
BI - 17th among Fs
SB - 15th among Fs
JP - 14th among C's

exactly this. everyone on here looks at everything in absolute terms when the relative is what matters.

This also ignores context though.

Collectively you’re paying basically contenders levels money for a starting 5 that has no stars.

3 of them are probably negative assets as well.

this gives you all the context you need. It captures all aspects of each player relative to their position and their peers. IQ has weaknesses, thats why he is the 25th highest paid guard.

Being competitive is on the the FO to build a cohesive team.

[OakleyDokely]

He's really not wrong Raps fans are just delusional.

Quickley getting 32.5m a year when Payton Pritchard is better and makes 7.5m a year is embarrassing

Using BOS best contract isn't exactly a fair comparison. BOS is the same team that just had to dump Jrue and Porzingis due to their huge contracts.

[arbsn]

The other thing is, people like Bill are still looking at the actual dollar amounts and not the % of the cap. The cap has risen significantly over the last few years. Bill acts like it's still 2008.

Salary rank, 25/26 season:
IQ - 25th among Gs
RJ - 32nd among Gs
BI - 17th among Fs
SB - 15th among Fs
JP - 14th among C's

exactly this. everyone on here looks at everything in absolute terms when the relative is what matters.

What I find most funny, is that RJ is actually our best value player (ie what he is paid compared to his production) and everybody wants to trade him

Not to mention he is still only 24, from Toronto, wants to be here, and is the most likely player of the 5 to take a home town discount. His advanced stats show him getting better every year.

Raps fans are so weird

[DatHomieYouHaTe]

We will always have this issue - Raptors being in Canada will have to pay a bit more in salary and incentives (i.e Player options) to entice players to come or stay here. We have this conversation every damn off-season. It is what it is.

The thing is when it comes to a guy like IQ who were we competing with? was any other team willing to give him 25 million let alone 30 million? I would rather Quick sign somewhere else than us signing this extreme overpay deal. We need to be WAY better at negotiating deals aka be cheaper like most teams in the league are doing now.

[pharring]

RJ is underpaid for his level of production. Simmons breezing over that shows the limit of his research.

[Pointgod]

https://youtu.be/D7fLWXUxvdk?si=qhn7GorXyf2D9nmj&t=4222



was funny but i agree with him we tend to overpay EVERYONE and the roster is nothing special.

Bill Simmons is a hot take spewing moron but it is crazy that we’re the 12th highest payroll but we probably won’t be the 12th best team in the league. Im not as concerned with the Quickley contract but base on his performance last year, I don’t think he’d get that same contract if he were a free agent this season.

I think the biggest problem is Brandon Ingram. Close to 40 million for a huge injury risk and good but not great offense and to top it off we drafted a player who’s best position overlaps with our two highest paid players. Plus we have upcoming contracts for Ochai, Dick, Shead, Mogbo that will need to be dealt with which puts pressure on our cap #.

[TimeForChange]

I think the best way to describe Bobby Webster is to say he is an agent's best friend. He gives guys what their agent's think they are worth and it is always at market rate or a little higher and/or includes player options.

We just don't re-sign guys on team friendly deals which is why we are paying so much for an unproven product.

Someone point out a steal of a contract since he has been GM. Eventually the generosity catches up with you and you get locked into a bad team like the Bulls.

so basically what you're saying is that Masai did nothing and Bobby did everything since 2017.

I guess Rogers was smart to fire him.

[arbsn]

We will always have this issue - Raptors being in Canada will have to pay a bit more in salary and incentives (i.e Player options) to entice players to come or stay here. We have this conversation every damn off-season. It is what it is.

The thing is when it comes to a guy like IQ who were we competing with? was any other team willing to give him 25 million let alone 30 million? I would rather Quick sign somewhere else than us signing this extreme overpay deal. We need to be WAY better at negotiating deals aka be cheaper like most teams in the league are doing now.

I'm shocked our management did not see this salary crunch coming this year where guys like Myles Turner gets 25/year, NAW gets 12/year, Tre Mann gets 8/year, Merrill gets 9/year, Levert 14m./year, FVV gets 25m/year, Ayton gets a mid-level, Aldama gets 17m/year, Naz Reid gets 25m/year

This was literally the off-season to sign amazing value contracts and we sign BI to 40m/year and JP to 26m/year... BI way over valued and JP maybe on value but I would rather Reid or Turner at 25