Raps are Good But CAUTIOUSLY optimistic thread

[OakleyDokely]

Can we now be irrationally confident?

[AkelaLoneWolf]

Can we now be irrationally confident?

we’ve been generally lucky with health and having opponents who have been more dinged up.
We’re a top 10 team but not a top 5.
As long as we keep expectations in check it will be an enjoyable season for fans.

[Madvillainy2004]

Can we now be irrationally confident?

That game 1 at home to start the playoffs is gonna be cinema

[tsherkin]

honestly though....the realistic goal, is first show the world raps are a respectable regular season team with 45-50 wins, maybe 50-55, before figuring out the playoff contention part.....

We hit even .500 this year and I will be happy. If we exceed that, it would be awesome, but we're gonna have those little injuries and stuff, it's inevitable. So I'm just trying to enjoy a season that isn't a complete waste.

the playoff contention part can be tricky...because you have to make big changes (see Brad Stevens trading Marcus Smart at his highest value)

Yeah. A problem for another day. You need star power at some point in order to go places in the playoffs and that's a lot about luck. We've got an interesting core, though, and with a little bench development and some health, it'll be interesting to see where these guys can take themselves.

[anotherhomer]

honestly though....the realistic goal, is first show the world raps are a respectable regular season team with 45-50 wins, maybe 50-55, before figuring out the playoff contention part.....

We hit even .500 this year and I will be happy. If we exceed that, it would be awesome, but we're gonna have those little injuries and stuff, it's inevitable. So I'm just trying to enjoy a season that isn't a complete waste.

the playoff contention part can be tricky...because you have to make big changes (see Brad Stevens trading Marcus Smart at his highest value)

Yeah. A problem for another day. You need star power at some point in order to go places in the playoffs and that's a lot about luck. We've got an interesting core, though, and with a little bench development and some health, it'll be interesting to see where these guys can take themselves.

the best way to put it....we got an interesting mix of players...good but flawed...

presumably that Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram is part of your contention core for next few years, but everyone else, is up in the air


but HEY, we know Scottie Barnes and Ingram can be two pieces possibly...

[tsherkin]

the best way to put it....we got an interesting mix of players...good but flawed...

Yep.

presumably that Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram is part of your contention core for next few years, but everyone else, is up in the air

Yeah, providing a really good deal comes along, but not just for the sake of moving them, you know? Guys like Quick and RJ are doing relevant and good stuff for us, as is Jak. At some point, the return has to be pretty impressive to move those guys based on what they do provide to us with this unit.

[Raps in 4]

The Thunder are toast. Lock this thread up.

[Mr_NC]

We taking advantage of the soft schedule and we were all healthy til the RJ thing happened.

I said mid 40s in the preseason thread and I’ll up to to high 40s if we do decent against the good teams

[anotherhomer]

the best way to put it....we got an interesting mix of players...good but flawed...

Yep.

presumably that Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram is part of your contention core for next few years, but everyone else, is up in the air

Yeah, providing a really good deal comes along, but not just for the sake of moving them, you know? Guys like Quick and RJ are doing relevant and good stuff for us, as is Jak. At some point, the return has to be pretty impressive to move those guys based on what they do provide to us with this unit.

like....another BI deal....someone you absolutely need, and available for cheap

that won't happen with AD, ja Morant or Lamelo Ball....those guy provide nothing that we need....or cost, or salary make sense

[tsherkin]

like....another BI deal....someone you absolutely need, and available for cheap

that won't happen with AD, ja Morant or Lamelo Ball....those guy provide nothing that we need....or cost, or salary make sense

Exactly. Those are the wrong type of guys to chase, but a deal that works out the way the BI deal has thus far? That's a little more interesting, to be sure.

[rapsincr]

nice lil vid on the raps here.

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Watch on YouTube

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[ghuytro]

I'm just happy that I'm back to being super excited for every game like I used to be - excited for the leadup to the game, locked in watching the whole game cover to cover, checking social media during the game, watching post-game clips and takes online etc.

[Thaddy]

I heard SVG on the Lowe podcast.

They were sucking Piston balls hard af and calling our schedule weak.

America, it's media, etc are a joke.

[dTox]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

[isyed]

I heard SVG on the Lowe podcast.

They were sucking Piston balls hard af and calling our schedule weak.

America, it's media, etc are a joke.

Let's shut em up. Let's win the nba cup and win the next few games against the Lakers Knicks and Celtics. I want a 20 game win streak.

Sent from my SM-F946W using RealGM mobile app

[Got Nuffin]

We taking advantage of the soft schedule and we were all healthy til the RJ thing happened.

I said mid 40s in the preseason thread and I’ll up to to high 40s if we do decent against the good teams

High 40s would already be ridiculous good for this team considering where we were last year, and the age of some of our prospects. If we can hit that mark with current roster, we need just one or two of our prospects to really blow (Walter, CMB, Dick .. looking at you) and sky's the limit.

Or we could do a consolidation trade and try to hit gold that way. We still have a number of pathways to improve.

[mihaic]

We taking advantage of the soft schedule and we were all healthy til the RJ thing happened.

I said mid 40s in the preseason thread and I’ll up to to high 40s if we do decent against the good teams

High 40s would already be ridiculous good for this team considering where we were last year, and the age of some of our prospects. If we can hit that mark with current roster, we need just one or two of our prospects to really blow (Walter, CMB, Dick .. looking at you) and sky's the limit.

Or we could do a consolidation trade and try to hit gold that way. We still have a number of pathways to improve.

We have all our 1st round picks too.

[ChinaManTran]

where is the Raptors Good but Recklessly optimistic thread,

[MixxSRC]

If they go .500 rest of the way they will have 45 wins

[MiamiSPX]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

Ingram has gone out of his way, unprompted, to praise Darko on 3 separate occasions over the last few weeks in his postgame interviews. He loves him.