Unemployed Centers Thread: Raptors opening

[ill-Will03]

We should do the Ochai for Richards trade. I think they'll probably wait for the deadline to keep flexibility. I doubt we sign anyone either.

The likely scenario is we trade Ochai + 59th for Richards, that'll create some space. Then we sign another GLeague center and then wait until the off-season to get a real acquisition.

The ideal scenario would be to get into the playoffs at the 6th seed, get the highest 1st round pick we can while being a lock for the playoffs (avoid play in), and then draft some steals.

Then what happens if Barrett or quickly get injured? We are forced to play more Gradey and Jakobe, and we’ve seen how that plays out.

As sad as it is, Ochai is one of our most reliable bench guards lol

We have Lawson, Martin and Hepburn too. I'd give them some run. Agbaji isn't that good either. Agbaji is out most expendable piece.

If Quick gets injured RJ isn't a bad PG option. He was used as the back up PG in NY (fairly sure about this).

Dick shouldn't be traded with his value this low. He's going through a tough stretch but he isn't this bad. The shooting should come back at some point. It was his best college skill.

If he could pull in a Mark Williams or similar type prospect I would definitely ship him out.

The fact is Gradey hasn’t been a higher than 38% from 3 since he got in the league. The shooting was never there to come back lol. He never had great range and clearly the nba distance has effected his shot

[PushDaRock]

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Also GD for Thomas Sorber actually works 1 for 1, I wonder if Okc would bite seeing as they need to shore up their wing rotation.

lol what? OKC has like 6-7 wings in their rotation.

Can you actually list these 6-7 wings? Besides Jdub and Kenrich williams their bench is just 6'5 guards and under, not what im referring to as "wing rotation".
Anyway, you seem to have a pretty set agenda with having a vertically challenged basketball team you dont need keep reiterating it. Lol

JDub, Caruso, Cason, Joe, Dort, Wiggins, Mitchell

Do you consider Ochai and Walter to be wings?

[MEDIC]

Why did they draft Martin instead of Maxime Raynaud?

Yeah. This draft was stocked with bigs. It made sense to take advanage of that.

I like what Martin is doing on the 905 though. He looks like he is going to be a player.

[Rainman66]

JDub, Caruso, Cason, Joe, Dort, Wiggins, Mitchell

Do you consider Ochai and Walter to be wings?

In referring to my op only Jdub and K.Williams are considered wings, rest you just mentioned are guards.
and no, the players I consider wings are RJ, Barnes, Bi, GD and Battle.

[PushDaRock]

JDub, Caruso, Cason, Joe, Dort, Wiggins, Mitchell

Do you consider Ochai and Walter to be wings?

In referring to my op only Jdub and K.Williams are considered wings, rest you just mentioned are guards.
and no, the players I consider wings are RJ, Barnes, Bi, GD and Battle.

Do you think OKC would rather have Gradey to guard other "wings" in the league than any of those "guards" I listed?

[Thaddy]

Why did they draft Martin instead of Maxime Raynaud?

Yeah. This draft was stocked with bigs. It made sense to take advanage of that.

I like what Martin is doing on the 905 though. He looks like he is going to be a player.

Martin is probably going to be borderline starter level. He's been developing for us and one of the big reasons they are successful at the 905. Speaking of, we should be giving him minutes with the big club.

[MEDIC]

Why did they draft Martin instead of Maxime Raynaud?

Yeah. This draft was stocked with bigs. It made sense to take advanage of that.

I like what Martin is doing on the 905 though. He looks like he is going to be a player.

Martin is probably going to be borderline starter level. He's been developing for us and one of the big reasons they are successful at the 905. Speaking of, we should be giving him minutes with the big club.

16 games
18.8 pts
49.7 FG%
41.3 Three pt%
3.8 Reb
2.3 Asst
1.5 Stl
Plus/ minus + 10

With good defense.

I don't think Gradey or Walter could match those #'s in the GLeague.

[Rainman66]

Do you think OKC would rather have Gradey to guard other "wings" in the league than any of those "guards" I listed?

I think they would be fine with GD guarding a lawn chair, they need scoring off the bench after losing 4 of the last 6 games and have Ihart/Chet in the middle to help on D.
Do you think vertically advantaged players in basketball can or not have a significant impact on the game, and if not, how?

[PushDaRock]

Do you think OKC would rather have Gradey to guard other "wings" in the league than any of those "guards" I listed?

I think they would be fine with GD guarding a lawn chair, they need scoring off the bench after losing 4 of the last 6 games and have Ihart/Chet in the middle to help on D.
Do you think vertically advantaged players in basketball can or not have a significant impact on the game, and if not, how?

Who would Gradey be playing in front of in their rotation right now?

You think Gradey and his 6 ppg on 52 TS% helps them score more?

Absolutely, Wemby is a "solid" player who is really tall.

[Mark_83]

Not someone who would help us right now obviously but a post-hype guy we could acquire an try to develop: Balša Koprivica.

He's 25 now but was intriguing to some on this board as a college player with Florida State, where he was on the team with Scottie. His NBA rights belong to the Jazz, and he's currently playing overseas in the BSL (a high level Euro League) on a 1-year contract. Oh, and he's Serbian, albeit with no connection to Darko

16.1mpg 6.4pts 3.6reb 0.7ast 0.2stl 1.3blk
63%fg. 57.6%ft. 0%3pt

Watch on YouTube

At 7’1, 240-pounds, the Serbian’s greatest strength is his massive size…His length provides him easy opportunities near the rim, even more so when guards and forwards switch onto him…Koprivica is a great shot blocker, using both his long wingspan and solid timing to reject 1.4 shots per game…Plays within the flow of the offense, and sticks to taking shots that are in his range…Is a dangerous pick and roll threat, as his initial defender has to stay on him…This can open up space for the ball handler, or allow Koprivica an easy lane to the rim…He has the size and smarts to be a dangerous rebounder, particularly on the offensive glass…Runs well, and always hustles in transition…He shouldn’t guard the perimeter often, but his wingspan and quickness help give him a chance in space against smaller players…Can defend the pick and roll well because of his long arms…Can drop back to cover his man while still impacting the shot quality of the ball handler…There aren’t many people that can move like he can at his size…Should impact the game due to his length and strength on both ends of the court.

[Mark_83]

Big men playing overseas.

Austin Wiley
Daniel Oturu
EJ Onu
Killian Tillie

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

G-League:

Amari Williams

Williams projects as a reliable rotational big man at the NBA level, capable of contributing as a defensive anchor and facilitator. His combination of size, defensive acumen and passing ability makes him an ideal fit for teams seeking a versatile center who can impact the game on both ends of the floor. A realistic NBA comparison for Williams is Jakob Poeltl of the Toronto Raptors – a tough and skilled center who contributes with defense, passing and efficient scoring around the basket. Currently, Williams is projected as a second-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Watch on YouTube

[MEDIC]

Georgios Papagiannis

[Merit]

That would clearly means we end Barnes experience.

The reason we have a stretch 5 off the bench is to provide Barnes paint touches, having another rim running big means Barnes would be at the corner with his average (or likely below) 3 from there.

On the defensive end, that would also conclude the roaming Barnes experience, where you dont need to roam while your shot blocker goes for the block (you are unlikely to switch with a slower shot blocker).

Unless people can tell me their offensive and defensive strategy, otherwise, this thread is clearly meant ending the Barnes era.

I think you’re overthinking a situational big.

[Merit]

That would clearly means we end Barnes experience.

The reason we have a stretch 5 off the bench is to provide Barnes paint touches, having another rim running big means Barnes would be at the corner with his average (or likely below) 3 from there.

On the defensive end, that would also conclude the roaming Barnes experience, where you dont need to roam while your shot blocker goes for the block (you are unlikely to switch with a slower shot blocker).

Unless people can tell me their offensive and defensive strategy, otherwise, this thread is clearly meant ending the Barnes era.

Having Barnes wear out his body battling other team's bigs will end the Barnes era as well.

I don't see we made the same claim about Siakam on his last year of the Raptors, and he did a much better job on both end.
Regardless, if your near-max franchise player needs to be covered so much on both end, is he really someone you should build around?

The same claims were made about siakam. Nobody considers pascal a center. At least Scottie is strong enough to be a c occasionally.

[Merit]

Bring Serge home.

Bamba is the obvious one. I have a feeling we will persue him, but strike out on him once 10 days are allowed. It would be in Bamba's best interest to sign here due to available playing time.......but I know how these things typically go.

Could we cut one of our two way guys & sign Bamba to a 2 way?

I mean....if we aren't going to use Lawson, why not cut him & sign someone that plays a position of need?

I’d say wait until after Jan 15 when Jak can be traded for anything major to happen.

Smaller trades are likely to include one or both of Ochai and Gradey (who’s now playing garbage time minutes) so it’s likely that they duck the tax and convert AJ or chucky into a full contract while also shoring up their backup big situation with any money saved.

To me, that’s why we don’t waive AJ. He may also have value for salary matching purposes in a trade.

[Merit]

I have liked Charles Bassey since his draft year, wanted us to sign him in the summer, and he's currently available.

Mo Bamba is another guy who is available and who could play minutes right away.

The NBA luxury tax is calculated on the last day of the season. We have a roster spot and could add a center for the minimum any time we want. There will be plenty of time to make a trade to get under the luxury tax before the trade deadline. To be honest, it was very poor roster planning that we're worried about the tax to begin with.

Garrett Temple should've just been an assistant coach.

Agreed, although I’m looking forward to seeing whether he stays with us until the end of the season. He’s useful for salary matching purposes.

[Merit]

We should do the Ochai for Richards trade. I think they'll probably wait for the deadline to keep flexibility. I doubt we sign anyone either.

The likely scenario is we trade Ochai + 59th for Richards, that'll create some space. Then we sign another GLeague center and then wait until the off-season to get a real acquisition.

The ideal scenario would be to get into the playoffs at the 6th seed, get the highest 1st round pick we can while being a lock for the playoffs (avoid play in), and then draft some steals.

That is indeed the happy medium. I would be cool with this. However, I’d also like to see Gradey moved. Perhaps to Dallas with another small contract for DLo and a 2nd.

[Merit]

We should do the Ochai for Richards trade. I think they'll probably wait for the deadline to keep flexibility. I doubt we sign anyone either.

The likely scenario is we trade Ochai + 59th for Richards, that'll create some space. Then we sign another GLeague center and then wait until the off-season to get a real acquisition.

The ideal scenario would be to get into the playoffs at the 6th seed, get the highest 1st round pick we can while being a lock for the playoffs (avoid play in), and then draft some steals.

Then what happens if Barrett or quickly get injured? We are forced to play more Gradey and Jakobe, and we’ve seen how that plays out.

As sad as it is, Ochai is one of our most reliable bench guards lol

We have Lawson, Martin and Hepburn too. I'd give them some run. Agbaji isn't that good either. Agbaji is out most expendable piece.

If Quick gets injured RJ isn't a bad PG option. He was used as the back up PG in NY (fairly sure about this).

Dick shouldn't be traded with his value this low. He's going through a tough stretch but he isn't this bad. The shooting should come back at some point. It was his best college skill.

If he could pull in a Mark Williams or similar type prospect I would definitely ship him out.

I have some faith in the raps developmental system which by extension gives me some faith in Gradey. However, I’m not sure we can’t find someone who’s more consistent. Heck, Battle has been!

[Mark_83]

2 seconds to Boston for Amari Williams.

or

1 second to Utah for Balsa Koprivica.

[bluerap23]

The list of availables is really sad, starting with OPs 2 and getting more depressing from there