Shams: Bobby Promoted to "Final Decision Maker of Basketball (still GM) " update pg. 27

[Godaddycurse]

Yeah it was already obvious before, but now it should be impossible to deny from the "tax isn't the issue anymore it's the aprons" crowd. The Raptors apron situation is so easily manageable that it's not even worth mentioning (all they have to do is cut AJ Lawson).

That comment had to be about the tax. Which again, was already pretty obvious before. The repeater clock will not be started on this year's Raptors team, especially with how much harsher the repeater penalties are about to become going forward.

Masai and Bobby were very close to already having the tax situation for this season solved last season though. If they had been able to convince the Pelicans to take RJ instead of Bruce Brown as the primary salary filler in the Ingram trade. Let's see if RJ is still the intended casualty this season now that it's just Bobby in charge.

We are like a mill over the tax - the unlikely incentives only play for aprons & not the tax purposes. Ducking the tax will not take some giant move

And next year there is no tax problem, so no repeater issue to worry about. The only reason they are going to duck under the tax this year is Rogers is cheap.

The tax payments to non tax teams is dropping dramatically as tax teams get under the 2nd apron. So yes, aprons are becoming a bigger driver than the tax. Or the aprons are giving owners the excuse to drop their tax commitments/payments.

There is a tax problem next year if we re-sign agbaji and barrett is still here

[Jerry Lucas]

If we were truly worried about it, we simply wouldn't have signed a Lawson or Temple.

IDK why some people are making this out to be some grand issue.

Did you mean Mamu and Temple? AJ Lawson has $0 guaranteed in his contract and is very likely to never factor into tax calculations for this team like Castleton, when he is cut at the end of training camp.

They signed Mamu and Temple because ducking the tax won't be difficult for them, even with those 2 signed to fully guaranteed deals.

[JB7]

We are like a mill over the tax - the unlikely incentives only play for aprons & not the tax purposes. Ducking the tax will not take some giant move

And next year there is no tax problem, so no repeater issue to worry about. The only reason they are going to duck under the tax this year is Rogers is cheap.

The tax payments to non tax teams is dropping dramatically as tax teams get under the 2nd apron. So yes, aprons are becoming a bigger driver than the tax. Or the aprons are giving owners the excuse to drop their tax commitments/payments.

There is a tax problem next year if we re-sign agbaji and barrett is still here

They would have to re-sign Agbaji to create the problem. If they don't sign him, no problem. Or alternatively, if they trade him at the deadline for a pick, no problem in both years.

[causal_fan]

We are like a mill over the tax - the unlikely incentives only play for aprons & not the tax purposes. Ducking the tax will not take some giant move

And next year there is no tax problem, so no repeater issue to worry about. The only reason they are going to duck under the tax this year is Rogers is cheap.

The tax payments to non tax teams is dropping dramatically as tax teams get under the 2nd apron. So yes, aprons are becoming a bigger driver than the tax. Or the aprons are giving owners the excuse to drop their tax commitments/payments.

There is a tax problem next year if we re-sign agbaji and barrett is still here

That the team will be making playing the young guards a priority, unfortunately I think that means sadly goodbye RJ sometime this season - that's my expectation.

[djsunyc]

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Ha! They thought criticizing the guy who got fired would land them the job and win over Pelley. Idiots!

who internally would leak this? is this org now going to be a gossip mill?

[djsunyc]

Is the Ingram move really a hail mary. You didnt give up anything.

The contacts arent an issue since I keep seeing stupid contracts being handed out every summer

If the pick turns into a top 10 pick, then that's a hefty price and because "stupid" contracts are handed out every summer that doesn't mean your team should join the club and hand out "stupid" contracts - BI is injury prone and has never led his team to post-season success and with players like Naz Reid & Julius Randle getting considerable less AVV this offseason, BI contract is a definite overpay IMO.

trading a future pick always comes with risk BUT the big thing here is that it wasn't our pick. it was somebody else's pick and that somebody else, at the time of the trade, was going to be a top team in the east.

at this point, it will be a top 10 pick because indy reacquired it, so they have full incentive to tank it up if they want. if the pick was still with the pelicans then who knows what indy does. those are things out of our control - which is why it's important that the pick traded wasn't our own.

[DreamTeam09]

And next year there is no tax problem, so no repeater issue to worry about. The only reason they are going to duck under the tax this year is Rogers is cheap.

The tax payments to non tax teams is dropping dramatically as tax teams get under the 2nd apron. So yes, aprons are becoming a bigger driver than the tax. Or the aprons are giving owners the excuse to drop their tax commitments/payments.

There is a tax problem next year if we re-sign agbaji and barrett is still here

They would have to re-sign Agbaji to create the problem. If they don't sign him, no problem. Or alternatively, if they trade him at the deadline for a pick, no problem in both years.

The tax problem wouldn't be for next yr as Ochai will be playing on his RFA deal & we likely extend off of that. His RFA # is 8+ mill for next season

[bluerap23]

We are like a mill over the tax - the unlikely incentives only play for aprons & not the tax purposes. Ducking the tax will not take some giant move

And next year there is no tax problem, so no repeater issue to worry about. The only reason they are going to duck under the tax this year is Rogers is cheap.

The tax payments to non tax teams is dropping dramatically as tax teams get under the 2nd apron. So yes, aprons are becoming a bigger driver than the tax. Or the aprons are giving owners the excuse to drop their tax commitments/payments.

There is a tax problem next year if we re-sign agbaji and barrett is still here

Only if no one else is traded.

[Godaddycurse]

There is a tax problem next year if we re-sign agbaji and barrett is still here

They would have to re-sign Agbaji to create the problem. If they don't sign him, no problem. Or alternatively, if they trade him at the deadline for a pick, no problem in both years.

The tax problem wouldn't be for next yr as Ochai will be playing on his RFA deal & we likely extend off of that. His RFA # is 8+ mill for next season

What are you talking about? Ochai is on last year of rookie scale this year and need new contract for next year. He is not taking a Qualifying offer next year. He will sign MLE offer sheets instead if thats all we are offering

[mihaic]

They would have to re-sign Agbaji to create the problem. If they don't sign him, no problem. Or alternatively, if they trade him at the deadline for a pick, no problem in both years.

The tax problem wouldn't be for next yr as Ochai will be playing on his RFA deal & we likely extend off of that. His RFA # is 8+ mill for next season

What are you talking about? Ochai is on last year of rookie scale this year and need new contract for next year. He is not taking a Qualifying offer next year. He will sign MLE offer sheets instead if thats all we are offering

Let him sign it, we can match it. Odds are he doesn't get the MLE. No need to keep overpaying to keep average players.

[Godaddycurse]

The tax problem wouldn't be for next yr as Ochai will be playing on his RFA deal & we likely extend off of that. His RFA # is 8+ mill for next season

What are you talking about? Ochai is on last year of rookie scale this year and need new contract for next year. He is not taking a Qualifying offer next year. He will sign MLE offer sheets instead if thats all we are offering

Let him sign it, we can match it. Odds are he doesn't get the MLE. No need to keep overpaying to keep average players.

Sure but doing so will still put us in a tax problem unless we are trading RJ. NAW, LeVert and Robinson got around or above MLE this year as a comp.

[The Duke]

So candidates told them the truth, that the last 3-4 years move were terrible… and there was internal realization these candidates would spend the next 1-2 years undoing the acquisitions/moves (at further loss of resources)…. So they just stick with the devil you know and give the dog no title change

[Zeno]

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Ha! They thought criticizing the guy who got fired would land them the job and win over Pelley. Idiots!

who internally would leak this? is this org now going to be a gossip mill?

It could be internal but to me just as likely Lewenburg just called up the candidates themselves and asked about the interview process.

[Gold Dragon]

So candidates told them the truth, that the last 3-4 years move were terrible… and there was internal realization these candidates would spend the next 1-2 years undoing the acquisitions/moves (at further loss of resources)…. So they just stick with the devil you know and give the dog no title change

The better explanation would be that the candidates knew they were up against the incumbent Bobby and were fishing to see how happy ownership was with an entirely new direction to differentiate themselves from Bobby. They lost that gamble because in reality firing Masai was a financial and/or personality decision and not a basketball decision as keeping Bobby has shown.

[onions17]

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Ha! They thought criticizing the guy who got fired would land them the job and win over Pelley. Idiots!

who internally would leak this? is this org now going to be a gossip mill?

Lewenberg read it in his cheerios this morning

[DelAbbot]

I definitely called the move to trade and then re-sign BI Masai's desperation / hail mary to stay relevant enough for him to get an extension at his expensive contract - despite being negligent for most parts of last 3-4 years

Could BI work out? Yes, if he's healthy.

Could BI's contract turn into another IQ overpay? Yes, if he's fragile like he's been over the last 4 years.

It's perfectly on brand for Masai to take that gamble to secure his extension.

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[DelAbbot]

I want to get in the minds of everyone who wanted Masai fired and want to see what they thought would happen
All aboard the Magic School bus!

I wanted to see Masai get humbled (demoted / cut to his salary) - and I did say Masai should be fired, during my many emotional outbursts (when the tank was in trouble).

I didn't ask for the Shapkins era - which is what we are going to get for the Raptors.

[Pointgod]

So candidates told them the truth, that the last 3-4 years move were terrible… and there was internal realization these candidates would spend the next 1-2 years undoing the acquisitions/moves (at further loss of resources)…. So they just stick with the devil you know and give the dog no title change

The better explanation would be that the candidates knew they were up against the incumbent Bobby and were fishing to see how happy ownership was with an entirely new direction to differentiate themselves from Bobby. They lost that gamble because in reality firing Masai was a financial and/or personality decision and not a basketball decision as keeping Bobby has shown.

Most likely the candidates were giving their assessment of what they believe Masai and Bobby went wrong and to be honest there’s been plenty of criticism for the past couple years of management from people not vying for the President’s job. The whole point of a job interview is to differentiate yourself from the previous person in that role.

[TheAlchemist23]

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Ha! They thought criticizing the guy who got fired would land them the job and win over Pelley. Idiots!

who internally would leak this? is this org now going to be a gossip mill?

TSN (Bell) is out of owning the Raptors business, now they can be honest about how bad its been since 2020 under Masai and Bobby

[DreamTeam09]

I definitely called the move to trade and then re-sign BI Masai's desperation / hail mary to stay relevant enough for him to get an extension at his expensive contract - despite being negligent for most parts of last 3-4 years

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An expiring contract, Kelly Olynyk who's been traded 2x since + a pick that belongs to the team that went on to the NBA finals is not a desperation move