Shams: Raps one of teams to pursue Anthony Davis

[sidsid]

I really like AD, but I don't see this as the right time to make such a trade. Also...Scottie/Ingram/AD seems like a problematic spacing thing.

He has range out to the 3 and his main action is the mid-range. He's also a superstar with the gravity that comes with. He would be replacing Jak, who is a non-shooter who defenses ignore.

This is a pure, massive upgrade in those respects.

He does come with a lot more usage than Jak, but RJ would be out the door in this trade and it's a good chunk of offense that he could soak up.

He's got a very similar area as BI. We've seen this exact same thing with Bosh and JO. It didn't work then...what makes you think it would work now?

I'm saying it works better than what we have now in Jak, who we're currently stuck with on a 4 year contract, and who is a spacing and gravity negative impacting the offense. I'd rather have better spacing superstars to work with, but that's what's available right now. It's an improvement over the status quo

[ConSarnit]

I really like AD, but I don't see this as the right time to make such a trade. Also...Scottie/Ingram/AD seems like a problematic spacing thing.

He has range out to the 3 and his main action is the mid-range. He's also a superstar with the gravity that comes with. He would be replacing Jak, who is a non-shooter who defenses ignore.

This is a pure, massive upgrade in those respects.

He does come with a lot more usage than Jak, but RJ would be out the door in this trade and it's a good chunk of offense that he could soak up.

He's got a very similar area as BI. We've seen this exact same thing with Bosh and JO. It didn't work then...what makes you think it would work now?

We’re currently starting Poeltl, who has absolutely no range. AD will at least shoot from midrange and is a much better offensive player than Poeltl.

The issue with AD is not fit. He’s a big talent upgrade at C. It’s that he costs a lot of money and his health is a big question mark.

[iBall101]

The package gotta be Jakob + IQ. No way is RJ being dealt. I would bet on it. Bobby gets out both of those contracts while Raps form a big 3 of Ingram-Barnes-AD.

Have to be a massive believer in AD's health to make this trade which doesn't sound like a smart proposition. This is the type of trade you get excited about and then the bag you got blows up in your face and you're stuck with a 50+M contract for a guy playing 40 games a year

If they use minute restriction and take some fines for resting him on back to backs. This could be a high risk higher reward scenario

[mtcan]

He has range out to the 3 and his main action is the mid-range. He's also a superstar with the gravity that comes with. He would be replacing Jak, who is a non-shooter who defenses ignore.

This is a pure, massive upgrade in those respects.

He does come with a lot more usage than Jak, but RJ would be out the door in this trade and it's a good chunk of offense that he could soak up.

He's got a very similar area as BI. We've seen this exact same thing with Bosh and JO. It didn't work then...what makes you think it would work now?

We’re currently starting Poeltl, who has absolutely no range. AD will at least shoot from midrange and is a much better offensive player than Poeltl.

The issue with AD is not fit. He’s a big talent upgrade at C. It’s that he costs a lot of money and his health is a big question mark.

Uh...AD has always maintained that he's a 4...not a 5. He's not your floor spacing 5. And while CAN shoot a 3...he's not a good 3 point shooter.

[UnbelievablyRAW]

The package gotta be Jakob + IQ. No way is RJ being dealt. I would bet on it. Bobby gets out both of those contracts while Raps form a big 3 of Ingram-Barnes-AD.

Have to be a massive believer in AD's health to make this trade which doesn't sound like a smart proposition. This is the type of trade you get excited about and then the bag you got blows up in your face and you're stuck with a 50+M contract for a guy playing 40 games a year

If they use minute restriction and take some fines for resting him on back to backs. This could be a high risk higher reward scenario

At upwards of 64M a year I don't think so

[SurgeIblocka]

The only reason we would get AD is for a salary dump to get out of Jakob and IQ’s contracts. I can see them reset as they could have come to the conclusion that both are not long term pieces

[tsherkin]

I’m going to agree to disagree. First off, they’re trading AD. Secondly, they’re also likely to trade at least one of their bigs. Thirdly, while yes - flagg is solid and they have some rim protection, Trae gives up way too much. You think either of Kyrie or Trae could handle RJ? Mitchell? Cade? Brown? Nahhhh.

The minute they trade AD, they're going to suck anyway until Flagg really exposes, so it's all a bit moot.

And meantime, you're posting names of guys who are going to score regardless. Mitchell shoots a crap-load of 3s; there's no individual defender in the league who is going to mean anything against him when he's hot from downtown. Cade isn't a particularly strong scorer, so he isn't a major concern. He's more of a danger with his playmaking than with his volume scoring. Brown, prior to this season so far, same thing. I'm not sure any of those examples are really useful. Even RJ. He's very particular in when and how he's valuable on offense, and man-on defense isn't the thing that slows him down.

Theoretically, in terms of offensive skillset, they could certainly co-exist. Though it would be a hazardous defensive pairing. Even if Kyrie holds his own defensively I'd question how he fairs once Trae would enter the picture given that Trae is such a liability. He'd immediately put pressure on everyone to compensate and I'm not sure that Kyrie is an ideal backcourt partner in that scenario

I don't think Kyrie would be the deciding factor there. What they do with their rebounding and overall frontcourt play would matter a lot more. Would it be ideal? No. Do they have room to deal with that at the moment? Yes. It depends on specific personnel.

[Merit]

I’m going to agree to disagree. First off, they’re trading AD. Secondly, they’re also likely to trade at least one of their bigs. Thirdly, while yes - flagg is solid and they have some rim protection, Trae gives up way too much. You think either of Kyrie or Trae could handle RJ? Mitchell? Cade? Brown? Nahhhh.

The minute they trade AD, they're going to suck anyway until Flagg really exposes, so it's all a bit moot.

And meantime, you're posting names of guys who are going to score regardless. Mitchell shoots a crap-load of 3s; there's no individual defender in the league who is going to mean anything against him when he's hot from downtown. Cade isn't a particularly strong scorer, so he isn't a major concern. He's more of a danger with his playmaking than with his volume scoring. Brown, prior to this season so far, same thing. I'm not sure any of those examples are really useful. Even RJ. He's very particular in when and how he's valuable on offense, and man-on defense isn't the thing that slows him down.

Theoretically, in terms of offensive skillset, they could certainly co-exist. Though it would be a hazardous defensive pairing. Even if Kyrie holds his own defensively I'd question how he fairs once Trae would enter the picture given that Trae is such a liability. He'd immediately put pressure on everyone to compensate and I'm not sure that Kyrie is an ideal backcourt partner in that scenario

I don't think Kyrie would be the deciding factor there. What they do with their rebounding and overall frontcourt play would matter a lot more. Would it be ideal? No. Do they have room to deal with that at the moment? Yes. It depends on specific personnel.

You got owned by my post and you’re stretching right now.

[tsherkin]

You got owned by my post and you’re stretching right now.

I really didn't.

You mentioned a bunch of names with no real attention paid to how defense works, or to the quality of scoring from the players you're talking about.

We both agree that it would be a bad defensive pairing. It would be more problematic without AD, whenever he was actually on the court. But they would gain some of that back on offense and they're already a good defensive team, so they have some space to drop off and still be effective, especially with elite offense.

So you're heavily overstating the problem, especially since they wouldn't be a contending team anyway.

[Merit]

You got owned by my post and you’re stretching right now.

I really didn't.

You mentioned a bunch of names with no real attention paid to how defense works, or to the quality of scoring from the players you're talking about.

We both agree that it would be a bad defensive pairing. It would be more problematic without AD, whenever he was actually on the court. But they would gain some of that back on offense and they're already a good defensive team, so they have some space to drop off and still be effective, especially with elite offense.

So you're heavily overstating the problem, especially since they wouldn't be a contending team anyway.

You suggested that they would have AD. We were talking about moving AD in a trade for Trae. You failed to acknowledge that piece.

Let’s go with the idea that they trade for Trae without trading AD, then your post makes better sense. Even then, they are guaranteed to lose players who improve their defense in that trade. That doesn’t even account for the net negative that Trae is defensively.

Again, you’re understating Trae’s defensive ineptitude. They cannot start both Kyrie and Trae for defensive reasons. They would be forced to start both of them because of their “stature” in the league and their contracts. That’s a nightmare situation and would also create a secondary layer of locker room struggle, which we know for certain both Trae and Kyrie bring.

Dallas would effectively have zero point of attack defense with both of those dudes starting.

[Tor_Raps]

We have nothing to lose... get Poeltl off my team. If it doesn't work then we rebuild properly this time once AD expires

[LoveMyRaps]

We have nothing to lose... get Poeltl off my team. If it doesn't work then we rebuild properly this time once AD expires

Yup was thinking this.

I’m ready to package Poeltl for AD.

At least we’ll get out of that abysmal contract.

[NotMyKawhi]

We have nothing to lose... get Poeltl off my team. If it doesn't work then we rebuild properly this time once AD expires

Yup was thinking this.

I’m ready to package Poeltl for AD.

At least we’ll get out of that abysmal contract.

They have plenty of Bigs. Doubt they want him.

Its probably AD filler for IQ, RJ and stuff

[LoveMyRaps]

We have nothing to lose... get Poeltl off my team. If it doesn't work then we rebuild properly this time once AD expires

Yup was thinking this.

I’m ready to package Poeltl for AD.

At least we’ll get out of that abysmal contract.

They have plenty of Bigs. Doubt they want him.

Its probably AD filler for IQ, RJ and stuff

We gotta get rid of Poeltl somehow before his extension kicks in.
His cap hit is only 18mil right now. It'll be 27mil next year and damn near impossible to trade him.

[Jenga_tDot]

At first I thought this would be a terrible move considering how often he's injured...
but then I realized that we basically have key guys sitting out every other game so not much difference.
AD would also give us a higher ceiling than our current core.

[Merit]

I want nothing to do with Street Clothes

Our current big man (who is likely to head the other away) is pretty close to Street Clothes himself

Someone on X posted statmuse screenshots that Poeltl has only played 4 more games than AD over the last 4 seasons. That surprised me. Want nothing to do with AD though.

Did not know this; thanks for that nugget of info. I don’t think Jak is necessarily injury prone. Some of his injuries have been freakish. I’m concerned about his back at the moment, but I’m hopeful a good long rest and reset will help everyone on the team, but especially Jak.

[Merit]

If you can get AD for a future first and fillers he could be a benefical addition. I consider myself a hard critic of AD, but with Tatum out for Boston, and Hali for Indy, I think the Raptors need to do something. A run can be made to represent the East in the finals and I would like to see that happen.

AD is broken. Sure, he'd be fine on a team like LA where he can be the supporting role, but he would be shouldering such a load here in Toronto and the team isn't deep enough to get around that. I get that the East is wide open, but this move would be incredibly short-sighted.

I won't deny that he's broken.
That has been my take about him.
I just see a small gray area where the Raps can possibility make a significant run at the title and I would love to see it happen. Maybe it will be Giannis.

I would LOVE Giannis over AD. Don’t get me wrong, they’re both generational players, but Giannis’ fire and character are on a whole other level.

[PushDaRock]

Yup was thinking this.

I’m ready to package Poeltl for AD.

At least we’ll get out of that abysmal contract.

They have plenty of Bigs. Doubt they want him.

Its probably AD filler for IQ, RJ and stuff

We gotta get rid of Poeltl somehow before his extension kicks in.
His cap hit is only 18mil right now. It'll be 27mil next year and damn near impossible to trade him.

It's 19.5m next year

[WaltFrazier]

AD hates playing Center

I just read a piece saying how his recent improved play started when he was moved to center. AD at 4 along with another C wasn't working. And it seems he's accepted that now.

As per the article I read anyway

[Merit]

Yup was thinking this.

I’m ready to package Poeltl for AD.

At least we’ll get out of that abysmal contract.

They have plenty of Bigs. Doubt they want him.

Its probably AD filler for IQ, RJ and stuff

We gotta get rid of Poeltl somehow before his extension kicks in.
His cap hit is only 18mil right now. It'll be 27mil next year and damn near impossible to trade him.

Have you considered that the cap is rising and by percentage of the cap he effectively stays the same? The only reason we would move Jak would be in aggregate where we get a better big back.