2024-25 Season: Draft, Trades, and FA Ideas Thread V1.0

[God Squad]

Agbaji for Holmes would be a great deal for both sides. We'd slowly ladder that trade to be even better.

We are talking Daron Holmes yeah?

I sure as hell hope so. Every time I see Holmes on this board, I think Richaun.

[Morris_Shatford]

Agbaji for Holmes would be a great deal for both sides. We'd slowly ladder that trade to be even better.

We are talking Daron Holmes yeah?

I sure as hell hope so. Every time I see Holmes on this board, I think Richaun.

Richaun is too busy dominating the greek league.

[God Squad]

We are talking Daron Holmes yeah?

I sure as hell hope so. Every time I see Holmes on this board, I think Richaun.

Richaun is too busy dominating the greek league.

I know, just some PTSD over acquiring Holmes threads/talk over the years.

[LoveMyRaps]

I sure as hell hope so. Every time I see Holmes on this board, I think Richaun.

Richaun is too busy dominating the greek league.

I know, just some PTSD over acquiring Holmes threads/talk over the years.

Anthony Randolph
Richaun Holmes
Myles Turner

[CazOnReal]

We are talking Daron Holmes yeah?

The guy who doesn't project to be a shooter and is coming off of a tear before he's played a game in the NBA, correct

Typically stupid "mystery box" trade

[Thaddy]

We are talking Daron Holmes yeah?

The guy who doesn't project to be a shooter and is coming off of a tear before he's played a game in the NBA, correct

Typically stupid "mystery box" trade

He performed well in Summer League, better than Agbaji ever has. It's a gamble but a decent one that helps our cap situation.

[CazOnReal]

We are talking Daron Holmes yeah?

The guy who doesn't project to be a shooter and is coming off of a tear before he's played a game in the NBA, correct

Typically stupid "mystery box" trade

He performed well in Summer League, better than Agbaji ever has. It's a gamble but a decent one that helps our cap situation.

Summer League performance has zero correlation to NBA readiness or a player's ability at the NBA level. See: Trae Young had an infamously poor showing at Summer League but had a great rookie season & is having an overall great career.

I'm taking the known talent over the unknown 9 times out of 10.

[Thaddy]

The guy who doesn't project to be a shooter and is coming off of a tear before he's played a game in the NBA, correct

Typically stupid "mystery box" trade

He performed well in Summer League, better than Agbaji ever has. It's a gamble but a decent one that helps our cap situation.

Summer League performance has zero correlation to NBA readiness or a player's ability at the NBA level. See: Trae Young had an infamously poor showing at Summer League but had a great rookie season & is having an overall great career.

I'm taking the known talent over the unknown 9 times out of 10.

Agbaji is older and has a bench player ceiling. There's no known talent here.

[CazOnReal]

He performed well in Summer League, better than Agbaji ever has. It's a gamble but a decent one that helps our cap situation.

Summer League performance has zero correlation to NBA readiness or a player's ability at the NBA level. See: Trae Young had an infamously poor showing at Summer League but had a great rookie season & is having an overall great career.

I'm taking the known talent over the unknown 9 times out of 10.

Agbaji is older and has a bench player ceiling. There's no known talent here.

Yeah who wants a 40% 3-point shooter to come off the bench for their playoff rotation, absolutely disgusting!

Holmes isn't exactly a young prospect - he literally entered the NBA at the same age as Ochai did at 22 - not to mention he has a major injury that Agbaji has never had, and that's on top of Holmes not exactly projecting as some high ceiling tweener. He went 22nd in a bad draft and nothing in his scouting report suggests he's poised to have a higher role than bench player ceiling - the label you slapped on to OA.

While there's an argument to be made about getting ahead of the "pick 2, trade 1-2" SG rotation issue i.e. getting a proper backup big like Lively or <insert year 3-4 proven young 4/5 here> since reduced minutes means reduced production and thus their trade value might lower, trading Ochai only exacerbates the team's overall lack of spacing since there's nothing to suggest DaRon will become a stretch 4/5, not to mention the generally unbalanced set of contracts the Raptors have right now. If Agbaji is asking for $20M AAV? Sure, make calls to flip him since lots of teams will have cap space next year to potentially throw him an offer sheet we refuse to/can't match. As is, this is a stupid trade suggestion when nothing about Holmes screams high ceiling - let alone high floor - plain and simple.

[Thaddy]

Summer League performance has zero correlation to NBA readiness or a player's ability at the NBA level. See: Trae Young had an infamously poor showing at Summer League but had a great rookie season & is having an overall great career.

I'm taking the known talent over the unknown 9 times out of 10.

Agbaji is older and has a bench player ceiling. There's no known talent here.

Yeah who wants a 40% 3-point shooter to come off the bench for their playoff rotation, absolutely disgusting!

Holmes isn't exactly a young prospect - he literally entered the NBA at the same age as Ochai did at 22 - not to mention he has a major injury that Agbaji has never had, and that's on top of Holmes not exactly projecting as some high ceiling tweener. He went 22nd in a bad draft and nothing in his scouting report suggests he's poised to have a higher role than bench player ceiling - the label you slapped on to OA.

While there's an argument to be made about getting ahead of the "pick 2, trade 1-2" SG rotation issue i.e. getting a proper backup big like Lively or <insert year 3-4 proven young 4/5 here> since reduced minutes means reduced production and thus their trade value might lower, trading Ochai only exacerbates the team's overall lack of spacing since there's nothing to suggest DaRon will become a stretch 4/5, not to mention the generally unbalanced set of contracts the Raptors have right now. If Agbaji is asking for $20M AAV? Sure, make calls to flip him since lots of teams will have cap space next year to potentially throw him an offer sheet we refuse to/can't match. As is, this is a stupid trade suggestion when nothing about Holmes screams high ceiling - let alone high floor - plain and simple.

Short version:
Agbaji was traded for the 29th pick in that same bad draft. Going by pick position I guess Holmes is better by your logic.

Long version:
Agbaji doesn't have a lot of three point volume above the corners which makes him a weak shooter. He's just a crappy player with a low amount of skill. He was being played as a SG-PF hybrid at one point because he lacks guard skills. Holmes is 6-10 and shot some threes in college while showing year over year improvement. He's going to be better and more useful than Agbaji since he could likely fill in as a third big right away. Then you have basic supply/demand, stretch bigs are just way more valuable and Holmes has shown some potential to be one. That's just worth a risk for a rebuilding team, especially for a SG-PF hybrid you bought for a 29th pick, in that same bad draft you mentioned.

[CazOnReal]

Short version:
Agbaji was traded for the 29th pick in that same bad draft. Going by pick position I guess Holmes is better by your logic.

Because as we all know, a player getting traded for a bad draft pick automatically means they're bad instead it being a move that a savvy front office makes i.e. buying low on someone who had a notable sophomore slump while overall having limited assets.

Miss me with this nonsense. Several beat reporters were surprised Ochai was even available and praised the trade given how lacking in value that pick was because it was expected to be in the bottom 3 of the "Worst draft since 2000".

Long version:
Agbaji doesn't have a lot of three point volume above the corners which makes him a weak shooter. He's just a crappy player with a low amount of skill.

Yeah you can also miss me with this too. Ochai has a simple role but that's not inherently a bad thing for a bench player - and he fulfills that role quite well.

You're also just...wrong about Agbaji's non-corner 3s? Like, he doesn't take as many outside of the corner but it's not like he's missing the shots he's taking from behind the arc. In all but one area he was shooting over 38% from that area last season:



But even if that were the case, no one is asking him to regularly take 3s outside of the corner or to take a shot from midrange. He's asked to play good defense and take a 3-point shot when he has a good look or drive to the rim - and when he does take a shot, his efficiency is amongst the best in the league for 3-point shooters. Yes it's on low volume and he's a bit undersized for a 3 but again, you're not asking much for a bench 3 & D.

Holmes is 6-10 and shot some threes in college while showing year over year improvement.

He shot 83 3s total in college during his final year for an average of 2.5 3s a game. There is zero consistency in your argument when that is the definition of low volume - he certainly shot less than Ochai did in college who was on higher volume & making more shots at that (40% of 6.5 attempts per game) - and there's plenty of examples of college bigs whose shot either doesn't translate to the NBA (Holmes isn't exactly a good FT shooter which is a much sharper indicator of 3-point potential) or just flatout weren't asked to take 3s as part of their shot diet.

Holmes also isn't especially notable as a defender even relative to his position and, once again, is coming off of a major injury that we don't know how much it will affect him. It's a lot of "ifs", "mights" and no guarantee they're even good as a backup big man, just The potential of potentially being a Pontential Guy™.

And no, a few Summer League games is not an argument in favor of trading for him any more than one would make for, say, making AJ Lawson a starter just because he had some good outings in what is ultimately a showcase for the NBA.

He's going to be better and more useful than Agbaji since he could likely fill in as a third big right away.

Noted hole in most teams rosters...a 3rd big man.

I'm done wasting my time with this nonsense.

[Zeno]

Probably not going to effect the Raps, but Dario Saric is able to be aggregated in trade starting on the 13th, so I predict the Kings could be announcing a trade soon.