Update: It is time to trade Scottie Barnes before it's too late!

[VanWest82]

Unfortunately there are a few posters remaining who still believe Masai's claim that the vets were selfish,..

I mean, leaving the Scottie stuff aside, guys were playing selfishly that year. Specifcally, Fred, OG, and Pascal - the former who was playing for a contract, and the latter two also looking for deals the following year. I'll defend those three on just about anything, but it's not a coincidence the FO prioritized a coach who preached ball movement after that season.

[JB7]

If Masai was still here, maybe Giannis was a possibility. But with Masai gone, Giannis seems to have locked in on the Knicks. Just waiting for that deal to happen once the trade restrictions on Turner are lifted. I see Giannis, Turner & Kuzma for Towns, OG & Robinson + picks probably happening.

Just saw this article got posted: https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/282232/Knicks-Made-Jalen-Brunson-Untouchable-In-Giannis-Antetokounmpo-Talks-With-Bucks

In terms of Barnes, I say keep developing him, trying to build his value, and wait for the day SGA demands a trade out, which is coming. OKC's last chance at a title is this season. After this season, when the extensions for JDub & Chet kick in, they need to let the heart of their D go in Dort & IH. Once they start to fall off, I could see SGA demanding a trade home. By that time the US might have gone fully MAGA crazy.

Yeah, whatever will SGA do when he only has 2 other all-star level players left to play with (as well as the biggest draft cache in NBA history)?

Why would SGA ever leave OKC in the next few years? Here is their roster/asset base even if IH and Dort leave

SGA
JDub
Chet
Wallace
Caruso

Mitchell
Topic

Not only do they have a better core than us, they have twice as many draft assets. It’s ridiculous to think OKC’s last chance at a title is this year. They can dodge the 2nd apron in ‘26/27 by getting off of Joe and Wiggins which would allow them to keep both Dort and IH.

That owner won't pay the tax. OKC's estimated tax bill for that season is $184M. He'll need to drop Dort and IH to avoid the tax (both their salaries combined are basically the amount they are over the tax), and those two are the teams physicality on D. OKC will be too soft without Dort and IH. A team like Denver will just plough through them.

And that draft cache is not looking as good as it once did.

If the owner is too cheap to keep the team together, that will be the first signal to SGA, to start looking elsewhere. The other is letting Dort leave, someone who is close to SGA. Combined with the craziness going on south of the border, I would not be surprised if SGA starts to look north of the border for some serenity.

He's won his chip in OKC. As long as the Raps could be competitive, which they would with be with him in the East, he might start to think about his kids, and where he wants to raise them.

[Basketball_Jones]

I wonder if we try Scottie at PG experiment again now that we got BI. Have Quickley come off the bench

Certain matchups you can have Ingram at the 4 and Scottie at the 1 with IQ in the lineup with him for spacing. No way I see IQ coming off the bench for Scottie to play point though.

[ConSarnit]

If Masai was still here, maybe Giannis was a possibility. But with Masai gone, Giannis seems to have locked in on the Knicks. Just waiting for that deal to happen once the trade restrictions on Turner are lifted. I see Giannis, Turner & Kuzma for Towns, OG & Robinson + picks probably happening.

Just saw this article got posted: https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/282232/Knicks-Made-Jalen-Brunson-Untouchable-In-Giannis-Antetokounmpo-Talks-With-Bucks

In terms of Barnes, I say keep developing him, trying to build his value, and wait for the day SGA demands a trade out, which is coming. OKC's last chance at a title is this season. After this season, when the extensions for JDub & Chet kick in, they need to let the heart of their D go in Dort & IH. Once they start to fall off, I could see SGA demanding a trade home. By that time the US might have gone fully MAGA crazy.

Yeah, whatever will SGA do when he only has 2 other all-star level players left to play with (as well as the biggest draft cache in NBA history)?

Why would SGA ever leave OKC in the next few years? Here is their roster/asset base even if IH and Dort leave

SGA
JDub
Chet
Wallace
Caruso

Mitchell
Topic

Not only do they have a better core than us, they have twice as many draft assets. It’s ridiculous to think OKC’s last chance at a title is this year. They can dodge the 2nd apron in ‘26/27 by getting off of Joe and Wiggins which would allow them to keep both Dort and IH.

That owner won't pay the tax. OKC's estimated tax bill for that season is $184M. He'll need to drop Dort and IH to avoid the tax (both their salaries combined are basically the amount they are over the tax), and those two are the teams physicality on D. OKC will be too soft without Dort and IH. A team like Denver will just plough through them.

And that draft cache is not looking as good as it once did.

If the owner is too cheap to keep the team together, that will be the first signal to SGA, to start looking elsewhere. The other is letting Dort leave, someone who is close to SGA. Combined with the craziness going on south of the border, I would not be surprised if SGA starts to look north of the border for some serenity.

He's won his chip in OKC. As long as the Raps could be competitive, which they would with be with him in the East, he might start to think about his kids, and where he wants to raise them.

You are absolutely dead wrong.

OKC has paid the tax multiple times. They paid it 5 times between 2014-22. They’ve paid the 12th most tax in the league since 2002. They’ve paid 3x more tax than the Raptors have.

There is no proof that OKC won’t pay the tax for a couple of years. They can reduce their tax bill by a significant amount just from moving off of Joe and Wiggins. Even if they move off of Dort they have Caruso and Wallace as replacements.

[Yallbecrazy]

"Scottie is holding back CMB" lol

We are going to get a lot of these types of posts because the FO loves drafting the same type of players, that don't compliment each other

I don't care if they have nice things to say to each other, it has no impact on their development or winning.

[JB7]

Yeah, whatever will SGA do when he only has 2 other all-star level players left to play with (as well as the biggest draft cache in NBA history)?

Why would SGA ever leave OKC in the next few years? Here is their roster/asset base even if IH and Dort leave

SGA
JDub
Chet
Wallace
Caruso

Mitchell
Topic

Not only do they have a better core than us, they have twice as many draft assets. It’s ridiculous to think OKC’s last chance at a title is this year. They can dodge the 2nd apron in ‘26/27 by getting off of Joe and Wiggins which would allow them to keep both Dort and IH.

That owner won't pay the tax. OKC's estimated tax bill for that season is $184M. He'll need to drop Dort and IH to avoid the tax (both their salaries combined are basically the amount they are over the tax), and those two are the teams physicality on D. OKC will be too soft without Dort and IH. A team like Denver will just plough through them.

And that draft cache is not looking as good as it once did.

If the owner is too cheap to keep the team together, that will be the first signal to SGA, to start looking elsewhere. The other is letting Dort leave, someone who is close to SGA. Combined with the craziness going on south of the border, I would not be surprised if SGA starts to look north of the border for some serenity.

He's won his chip in OKC. As long as the Raps could be competitive, which they would with be with him in the East, he might start to think about his kids, and where he wants to raise them.

You are absolutely dead wrong.

OKC has paid the tax multiple times. They paid it 5 times between 2014-22. They’ve paid the 12th most tax in the league since 2002. They’ve paid 3x more tax than the Raptors have.

There is no proof that OKC won’t pay the tax for a couple of years. They can reduce their tax bill by a significant amount just from moving off of Joe and Wiggins. Even if they move off of Dort they have Caruso and Wallace as replacements.

So all of those payments were during their Durant/Westbrook runs.

OKC's tax bills:
2014-15: $3M
2015-16: $14.5M
2017-18: $25.4M
2018-19: $61.3M
2019-20: $2.4M

Their tax bill in 2026-27 (est. $184M) would exceed the combined total of all those previous tax bills.

I guess we will just have to wait and see.

[Morris_Shatford]

It would free up minutes for CMB....

[TravisScott55]

So reactionary lol

[dballislife]

im actually super excited to see a potential barnes and cmb frontcourt...9' and 8'10 standing reach and both weighting 240 is big enough...the defensive potential here is insane

[niQ]

Only if Giannis is the one coming back. But that's a pipe dream.

[WWSRD]

I think adding the offensive talent of BI, and the general competition from CMB, is going to increase Scottie's offensive efficiency and improve his defensive effort.

When that happens, the wing duo of Scottie + CMB is going to be the NBA's best defensive pairing and a cornerstone of how this team is built.


Roster construction wise, I'm set at the 3 and 4. I'd like more shooting from Barnes/CMB but we hope they can keep the defense honest by hitting open threes.
Poetl's my 5 and he's solid AF.
BI's making a lot but I'm not getting a better scorer. Going to have to force him to be the 2.


To me, Bobby needs to turn IQ/RJ/Abaji/Dick/Shead/WAlter picks into and elite point guard.

I'd go after Reaves HARD. Trae Young if it falls apart in Atlanta and maybe Garland but I don't like how often he gets hurt.

He can create, score, is efficient and his defence can be mitigated with Poetl/CMB/Barnes. Trade for him and give him that patented Raptors overpay in the summer.

Take those Vanderbilt, Vincent, Kleber bad contracts on top. Send them IQ who'll thrive playing off-ball with Luka/Bron. Then a combination of Abaji, Dick,Walter and picks .

[Syd-TK3]

If he cant hit open 3s

[Mr Funk]

god i hate this fan base.

so low iq

Arguably the most juvenile, ignorant, whiny, impatient, dumbest and insufferable fans of any NBA franchise. So cringe and embarrassing. Bunch of casuals who only watch the box scores and judge players on their PPG.

Scottie Barnes' ability to process the court, his IQ is off the charts. He can start and guard all five positions. He came into the league without a shot; he not only now has a mid-range game and jumper, but shot 40% from deep in November and December 2023. Rookie of the Year and an All-Star. Plus, he's the only player in league history to average 17 pts 7 reb 5 ast 1 block 1 steal in his first four seasons and before the age of 23.

Masai, Bobby, Darko, LeBron, Durant and Magic all know how good he is and how much better he's going to get. But nevermind, Rapsfan282 who hopped on the bandwagon in 2018-2019, knows better than all of these NBA personalities; nevermind their expertise, it's the impatient and ignorant casual on the internet who knows best.

Wrong stat.

First four seasons before the age of 23: 17 pts 7 reb 5 ast 1 block 1 steal = only Scottie Barnes

god i hate this fan base.

so low iq

Arguably the most juvenile, ignorant, whiny, impatient, dumbest and insufferable fans of any NBA franchise. So cringe and embarrassing. Bunch of casuals who only watch the box scores and judge players on their PPG.

Scottie Barnes' ability to process the court, his IQ is off the charts. He can start and guard all five positions. He came into the league without a shot; he not only now has a mid-range game and jumper, but shot 40% from deep in November and December 2023. Rookie of the Year and an All-Star. Plus, he's the only player in league history to average 17 pts 7 reb 5 ast 1 block 1 steal in his first four seasons and before the age of 23.

Masai, Bobby, Darko, LeBron, Durant and Magic all know how good he is and how much better he's going to get. But nevermind, Rapsfan282 who hopped on the bandwagon in 2018-2019, knows better than all of these NBA personalities; nevermind their expertise, it's the impatient and ignorant casual on the internet who knows best.

2 whole months of good 3pt shooting? We got ourselves a regular Steph Curry over here.

22%
40%
36%
24%
38%
24%
32%

18%
28%
28%
27%
27%
25%
35%

These are Barnes month by month 3pt shooting stats from his 1st year and his 4th year.

But please, go on about how he’s improved as a shooter.

Wow, how shocking: the over-the-top snark, snide comments, attitude and hostility from a total casual, oops I mean "fan".

We all know he entered the league with no shot. Nothing. He's now got a mid-range game. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and maintain patience, while you casuals just whine and cry and smear our players.

And don't ever quote or interact with me again, I'm blocking your snarky b.s. I have better things to do with my time than to engage and interact with snarky, snide casuals who can't even support the players on the team they purport to support.

[bboyskinnylegs]

it completely depends on what his trade value is. Given our cap situation and likely outcome this season, at least one of our starters is probably going to have to be moved before next season begins. To me, IQ or RJ seem more likely to be moved for different reasons (IQ is probably currently our worst contract, while RJ has played well enough that his contract isn't seen as bad as it was when we traded for him), but who knows what trade packages are out there for everyone.

[C_Money]

What an incredibly stupid thread. What if we’re a winning team this year?

[DreamTeam09]

wait, Scottie has a better 2pt FG% over the last 4yrs compared to BI, heard that stand in YouTube? if true, y'all out here worrying for next to no reason

[DelAbbot]

"Scottie is holding back CMB" lol

We are going to get a lot of these types of posts because the FO loves drafting the same type of players, that don't compliment each other

You mean they prioritize BPA? Idiots, all them.

At some point in a rebuild you have to give more weight to "fit" than the "gap between BPA and the player that best fit".

[NoBias]

Not yet. CMB will take over that spot sooner than later though.

[VanWest82]

We are going to get a lot of these types of posts because the FO loves drafting the same type of players, that don't compliment each other

You mean they prioritize BPA? Idiots, all them.

At some point in a rebuild you have to give more weight to "fit" than the "gap between BPA and the player that best fit".

it sure looks like there was a big gap between who we got and the players that came after. CMB falling to us was a gift. Who cares that he and Scottie have vaguely similar strengths and weaknesses. If they're good ehough to justify it we'll prioritize shooting bigs to fit around their talent, which is the more important part to get right.

[refshateRaps]

He's in the right role as a complimentary player on a deep team.

As it should be