Raps V. Kings - Preseason - Wed, Oct 8th, 2025 - 10PM EST

[LoveMyRaps]

Why is it like a definitive narrative everywhere that this has to be a bad offensive team?

Dont we have like 4 guys who can score 18-20ppg in our starting lineup who could in theory be much more efficient? + Poeltl one of most efficient Centers?

As well as bench guys like - Obaji / Dick /CMB who should get big mins and could all be efficient?

It seems all this "max out at 40 wins or .500" revolves around the premise this team will DEFINITELY struggle to score and be a bad offense..why?

Starting lineup only has one above average 3pt shooter.

But Ingram and RJ’s outside shooting has looked promising this preseason.

[Appostis]

We can argue about individual players all night long, but what is clear is that this team is a long way from contending for the foreseeable future.

I don't think anyone expects them to be contending this year or the next. I do expect playoffs.Though 2 major parts of the starting lineup out iand pre season.. let's just wait on the judgement of the tean

If Barnes and a couple guys take a step or 2 in the next 24 months...

[Thaddy]

We can argue about individual players all night long, but what is clear is that this team is a long way from contending for the foreseeable future.

I don't think anyone expects them to be contending this year or the next. I do expect playoffs.Though 2 major parts of the starting lineup out iand pre season.. let's just wait on the judgement of the tean

If Barnes and a couple guys take a step or 2 in the next 24 months...

Barnes is probably actually dealing with knee soreness. Dick, Walter, Mogbo, Shead, Barnes Agbaji and Mamu. At least half of these guys must've improved.

This team is going to be close to 50 wins. They're better than the weak teams and competitive. I think we will have a top 5 defense with a wishy washy offense. It's good for year one.

[Appostis]

We can argue about individual players all night long, but what is clear is that this team is a long way from contending for the foreseeable future.

I don't think anyone expects them to be contending this year or the next. I do expect playoffs.Though 2 major parts of the starting lineup out iand pre season.. let's just wait on the judgement of the tean

If Barnes and a couple guys take a step or 2 in the next 24 months...

Barnes is probably actually dealing with knee soreness. Dick, Walter, Mogbo, Shead, Barnes Agbaji and Mamu. At least half of these guys must've improved.

This team is going to be close to 50 wins. They're better than the weak teams and competitive. I think we will have a top 5 defense with a wishy washy offense. It's good for year one.

Wasn't really doubting Barnes. He needs to take a step but I'm sure at worse he's going to be a damn good player. Him and BI might be an amazing combo. It's a shame that he didn't play and have a solid game just to shut up the haters who are creaming their pants after game one.

45-50 wins. But really do need at least one of IQ/Dick/Jakobe to take a solid step forward to really make this team work.

[Son Goku 25]

What are the chances we can trade Barnes for Giannis in some sort of package?

[nestea]

Does Mogbo have small hands?

Small hands but big ..

[mtcan]

Does Mogbo have small hands?

Small hands but big ..

He needs Gradey's Dick enlargement pills.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Ingram's C&S ability is legit and does wonders for this offense.
IQ wasn't hitting, but I loved the pace he played at and loved his relentless chucking. Those shots will mostly go in.
RJ was taking some higher degree of difficulty shots in this one.
JaKobe, Gradey and CMB all showed their talent.
Mamu is just doing what Kelly Olynyk was supposed to do but faster. It really makes a huge difference on a bench unit that doesn't have a lot of initiation ability.

Shead, Mogbo and Agbaji were fine.

Chucky was MVP of the 4th. Just played like a mad man on D and composed on offense. Martin was almost singlehandedly killing us at the end there.

For all those summer league watchers, Isaac Jones was the guy who destroyed us. He was abysmal for the Kings. This game was way too quick for him. I thought Raynaud looked nice. Devin Carter really locked up Shead. His hair is kind of distracting. It's like how you keep it if you aren't expecting company over. Also really like Eubanks as a 3rd big. Waiving him was a mistake. He's a much better player than Precious.

[OakleyDokely]

Ingram is the captain now.

And CMB is his assistant.

[Kingsway_fan]

Ingram is the captain now.

And CMB is his assistant.

Ingram clearly the Ace on the team, yes. Loved the trade then... love it now. He and RJ will be the scoring leaders on this team... and likely most consistent.

[Shakril]

Why on earth isn’t Barnes playing???

Read on Twitter

left knee issues

That is a little concerning. Barnes already ouf with knee issues and Poeltl already with back spasms. I can only hope, that they are extremely carefully so they sit them at 99% and only let them play when they are 100%.

[WuTang_CMB]

cmb will be the best player off the bench. Guy is getting heavy minutes in his rookie year.

[Backcountry]

My too soon, hot takeaways from only watching five minutes of the third quarter due to being busy last night, and the west coast game thing:

1. Our bench is going to win their minutes this season. They hustle!
2. Our starters aren't necessarily going to lose theirs.
3. CMB is a monster. He sometimes looks like a man amongst boys out there.
4. Gradey is fire!
5. Ja'Kobe is fire!
6. I still like Shead, he's a hustle guy who does a lot of stuff right, but he frequently makes bad passes that leave me shaking my head.
7. IQ is not bad. Actually, he's decent.
8. BI was totally worth the trade. Double down on this.
9. Missing Pascal less.
10. I may have underrated our win total this season.

[dTox]

Anyone watch that show where the dude's name is Mother's Milk? I think that should be Mamu's name. It just vibes with me Idk why.

The Boys. Gradey is definitely Hughie.

Ed Rogers is Homelander

[Duffman100]

Well I have a feeling CMB is going to be my favourite Raptor very quickly.

[Thaddy]

Well I have a feeling CMB is going to be my favourite Raptor very quickly.

He almost had a triple double in his 2nd non-official game. He should be played heavy minutes so we can load manage Poeltl. Poeltl is a keystone piece on this roster and we should be maximizing his availability, same with Ingram. It looks like the roster is good enough to handle below 500 teams on most nights. I'd keep Ingram and Poeltl around 25 minutes on those games.

[Duffman100]

Well I have a feeling CMB is going to be my favourite Raptor very quickly.

He almost had a triple double in his 2nd non-official game. He should be played heavy minutes so we can load manage Poeltl. Poeltl is a keystone piece on this roster and we should be maximizing his availability, same with Ingram. It looks like the roster is good enough to handle below 500 teams on most nights. I'd keep Ingram and Poeltl around 25 minutes on those games.

He definitely should be above Mogbo on the depth chart.

[djsunyc]

Ingram is the captain now.

And CMB is his assistant.

notorious BI3 and the Cash Money Billionaires collab?

[Thaddy]

Why is it like a definitive narrative everywhere that this has to be a bad offensive team?

Dont we have like 4 guys who can score 18-20ppg in our starting lineup who could in theory be much more efficient? + Poeltl one of most efficient Centers?

As well as bench guys like - Obaji / Dick /CMB who should get big mins and could all be efficient?

It seems all this "max out at 40 wins or .500" revolves around the premise this team will DEFINITELY struggle to score and be a bad offense..why?

There's a shooting problem. We need guys like IQ, Dick, Ingram, and Mamu to shoot incredibly well. Then the average ones like Walter, Agbaji and RJ need to take a step. Then there's the others like Barnes, Mogbo, CMB, etc who are developing their shot. We pretty much need everyone to "punch above their weight" for a successful season.

It's not impossible but it's unlikely. But we've seen this before. Can we expect non shooters to become shooters? How do we get our best shooters better looks? Darko doesn't seem to be able to figure that out.

[djsunyc]

cmb will be the best player off the bench. Guy is getting heavy minutes in his rookie year.

his first 2 games, he's thrown into the euro fire guarding jokic, jonas and sabonis...and he held his own. good stuff.