[Grange] Should the Raptors get involved re: Trae Young?

[JB7]

They are trading him ofc they would not play him...Was Lowry a horrible player when we were sitting him when he was on the trade block?

They have to add picks Because at his Price tag its hard to find a team willing to give him an extension of 150 mill or w/e he will ask for....Does that mean he is a worse player than someone like IQ? Not even close to being the case....News flash we would also need to give up draft capital to get off IQ or Yak....No difference ...

Does that mean they are all horrible players? Not exactly....It means at the price tags they are all at teams do not think they are worth that price and taking up that much cap space on their teams....

Trae? Is that you?

Get a haircut while you’re at it. You might play better if you weren’t so busy worrying about us all noticing that you’re almost bald.

Making an obvious statement to the reason Young is in the situation he is in makes me Trae Young now? lol wtf....Its like saying RJ Barrett is a bad player....On a 20 mill deal RJ is good...At 38-40 mill a year....Not so much....Doesn't mean hes a bad player just not worth the price tag...

Contracts especially in todays NBA could make a player lose value especially with the new cap rules....Trae is not a bad player hes better than alot of players in the league....Just at the price tag many teams are not taking it....Same with teams that are gonna take IQ/Yak off us....No one is taking these two off our hands without picks attached on both of them....Because they are not worth the price tag and teams can use that cap space in better ways...

Trae might be verging on the side of just being a bad player. When he was younger, his offensive production was enough to offset all of the defensive shortcomings, but as he ages, the O might just not be enough.

Also, the contract makes the situation even worse, because he is getting a max deal now, and expects something in that range on his next deal.

He is becoming a very toxic asset, hence the reason the Hawks are looking to just dump him.

[YogurtProducer]

Sometimes teams are just sick of being irrelevant.

He also might be the best they can get for those expiring veterans - especially if he's bringing a pick with him.

I don't know their exact situation in terms of ownership and front office competence, but it certainly seems like a thing the Wizards would do.

On the other hand - why is ATL giving up picks to get off Trae? They might as well keep him at that point.

Because Trae is hurting their chances at winning, and he does not seem like the type of player to be happy to be parked on the bench. They probably are that desperate to get him away from the team.

If they are not getting anything in return, they might as well tell him to go home and just wait it out.I could be wrong, but I do not see a world where ATL is giving up draft picks to get rid of Trae and get back garbage. If they do, that is downright stupid when they can just wait until the summer and let Trae opt out, or if he opts in he is just a high value expiring.

ESPECIALLY considering they already have sent out their 2026 and 2027's.

[tsherkin]

The problem is that we'd only get this year (and hopefully have him opted into next year) and then he's an expiring we'd have to pay. So if he does well, then we just rehab'd his image for the sake of someone else paying him, no?

what teams have space next season and would want him as their pg?

It'd be the season after, not next season. And I don't know who will have space ahead of the 27-28 season. As to who would want him, it would depend on the performance he had with us. My point was that if we rehab him here without extending him, then he hits the FA market after his PO is done and then there WILL be some interest in him if he shows he can still do it in a proper winning situation, you know?

It's low-risk depending on what we give up to get him because the contract's short, but we also kinda shoot ourselves in the foot if we then turn around and don't keep him around.

[PushDaRock]

The problem is that we'd only get this year (and hopefully have him opted into next year) and then he's an expiring we'd have to pay. So if he does well, then we just rehab'd his image for the sake of someone else paying him, no?

what teams have space next season and would want him as their pg?

It'd be the season after, not next season. And I don't know who will have space ahead of the 27-28 season. As to who would want him, it would depend on the performance he had with us. My point was that if we rehab him here without extending him, then he hits the FA market after his PO is done and then there WILL be some interest in him if he shows he can still do it in a proper winning situation, you know?

It's low-risk depending on what we give up to get him because the contract's short, but we also kinda shoot ourselves in the foot if we then turn around and don't keep him around.

I mean does that ever even happen? If he played well here and helped the team win, he would almost certainly re-up here.

[tsherkin]

I mean does that ever even happen? If he played well here and helped the team win, he would almost certainly re-up here.

We're the Raptors.

I will always believe in the free agent leaving before I believe in them staying, until proven otherwise.

[PushDaRock]

I mean does that ever even happen? If he played well here and helped the team win, he would almost certainly re-up here.

We're the Raptors.

I will always believe in the free agent leaving before I believe in them staying, until proven otherwise.

Outside of Kawhi, how many players actually wanted to leave after Masai got here?

Free Agency also barely even exists anymore.

[mihaic]

Grange thinks IQ has negative trade value? Not too many here are challenging that I see. $32M was an overpayment.

Unfortunately that was the market at the time. Suggs, Hartenstein, George, KCP, Claxton, OG, PWill. I don’t think any of those guys would get the same deals now.

A lot of us called it overpayment. Not only the amount but the duration of the contract for that amount, fir an unproven player.

[mihaic]

You're destroying the leagues 5th best defense for what exactly.

Calling IQ's contract "baggage" and not pointing out that's exactly the problem in trading away Young is pretty odd.

If they can unload both Poeltl and Quickley's contracts AND get back a pick, I would say Atlanta's this year, and a promise that Young doesn't take his option, then maybe. Because I'm waiving Young outright when it happens. He can sign elsewhere for 10 mil and make some of it back.

Something like this might work for Toronto.

Quickly
Poeltl
Agbaji

Young
NAW
1st round pick 2026

Atlanta fans might think that's nuts but after the trade it would not be a great pick and they do have the NOP pick. But that would be the only way it works. Then Toronto is stuck finding a backup centre for the deadline. Which is not good.

All Toronto really gets here is a pick and a different type of PG that's cheaper. And cap space next year.

Why would Atlanta trade both their point guards. They are not trading NAW. And then we need a center.

[tsherkin]

Outside of Kawhi, how many players actually wanted to leave after Masai got here?

Don't know, but he also isn't here anymore, so I don't know if it's the most important factor. More importantly, if someone wants to pay him more than we are willing, why would he stay?

Free Agency also barely even exists anymore.

FA does barely exist, but it's relevant in this context given the length of Trae's contract. Of course, as I alluded to earlier, it's only relevant if we don't also absorb some risk and try to extend him in advance.

I'm getting ahead of myself a little, to be sure. It's an interesting thought experiment, Trae in Toronto. But at their best, they were a slightly below-average team in terms of pace, and I don't know if that actually suits what we should be doing with this roster. We're relatively slow right now, 20th in the league, hovering around 99 poss/g. Given how effective in transition are Scottie and RJ, though, I have to wonder if we shouldn't be pushing the tempo. It's where Scottie thrives as a playmaker, for example, and RJ is a fiend with a head of steam. And that's not really Trae's jam. He's your conventional PnR spam artist.

And that may be enough, that may be better for us because it would give us some structure and proficiency in the halfcourt, I'm just thinking out loud at this point.

[mihaic]

I mean does that ever even happen? If he played well here and helped the team win, he would almost certainly re-up here.

We're the Raptors.

I will always believe in the free agent leaving before I believe in them staying, until proven otherwise.

Outside of Kawhi, how many players actually wanted to leave after Masai got here?

Free Agency also barely even exists anymore.

Danny Green, Fred, Pascal, Gasol, Bruce Brown, Dragic, Ibaka, and coach Nick Nurse

Edit: forgot OG.

[Zeno]

Grange thinks IQ has negative trade value? Not too many here are challenging that I see. $32M was an overpayment.

Unfortunately that was the market at the time. Suggs, Hartenstein, George, KCP, Claxton, OG, PWill. I don’t think any of those guys would get the same deals now.

A lot of us called it overpayment. Not only the amount but the duration of the contract for that amount, fir an unproven player.

His contract is not good, neither is Yak’s but it is flat. As long as he remains healthy and a net positive player, I don’t think there needs to be some kind of panic to move him. Yak on the other hand needs to get healthy and regain his form of last season not to look like an absolutely horrible deal. But again, I think we can afford to be patient with IQ’s deal if it means dropping at negative value.

[Clutch0z24]

Bobbys target this deadline is Anthony Davis....Idk what it will take to get him but i think thats who Bobby will be putting in some chips to get...

[Yeezus_]

We're the Raptors.

I will always believe in the free agent leaving before I believe in them staying, until proven otherwise.

Outside of Kawhi, how many players actually wanted to leave after Masai got here?

Free Agency also barely even exists anymore.

Danny Green, Fred, Pascal, Gasol, Bruce Brown, Dragic, Ibaka, and coach Nick Nurse

Edit: forgot OG.

Lol not re-signing players does not mean they wanted to leave. Danny, Fred, Pascal, Gasol, and Ibaka are such awful examples.

[PushDaRock]

We're the Raptors.

I will always believe in the free agent leaving before I believe in them staying, until proven otherwise.

Outside of Kawhi, how many players actually wanted to leave after Masai got here?

Free Agency also barely even exists anymore.

Danny Green, Fred, Pascal, Gasol, Bruce Brown, Dragic, Ibaka, and coach Nick Nurse

Edit: forgot OG.

Add Lowry to the list as well

[mihaic]

Unfortunately that was the market at the time. Suggs, Hartenstein, George, KCP, Claxton, OG, PWill. I don’t think any of those guys would get the same deals now.

A lot of us called it overpayment. Not only the amount but the duration of the contract for that amount, fir an unproven player.

His contract is not good, neither is Yak’s but it is flat. As long as he remains healthy and a net positive player, I don’t think there needs to be some kind of panic to move him. Yak on the other hand needs to get healthy and regain his form of last season not to look like an absolutely horrible deal. But again, I think we can afford to be patient with IQ’s deal if it means dropping at negative value.

I don't disagree. I mean it's not that great fit for him at PG, But it's not like we have to trade IQ, He can still play, the problem is they couldn't turn him into a PG.

[tsherkin]

I don't disagree. I mean it's not that great fit for him at PG, But it's not like we have to trade IQ, He can still play, the problem is they couldn't turn him into a PG.

Yeah, I think IQ's value as an off-ball guy has been pretty clearly demonstrated at this point. He's a volume 3pt shooter, so game to game, there's a lot of variance and that's something we need to accept. It's hard to internalize for a lot of people, I think. But he's definitely not a "lead guard" type of player, that is also clear. That archetype is something else, and not super easy to acquire.

So we're doing it somewhat by committee right now, but we do need to add some guys who can be more effective as POA initiators.

[Johnny Bball]

You're destroying the leagues 5th best defense for what exactly.

Calling IQ's contract "baggage" and not pointing out that's exactly the problem in trading away Young is pretty odd.

If they can unload both Poeltl and Quickley's contracts AND get back a pick, I would say Atlanta's this year, and a promise that Young doesn't take his option, then maybe. Because I'm waiving Young outright when it happens. He can sign elsewhere for 10 mil and make some of it back.

Something like this might work for Toronto.

Quickly
Poeltl
Agbaji

Young
NAW
1st round pick 2026

Atlanta fans might think that's nuts but after the trade it would not be a great pick and they do have the NOP pick. But that would be the only way it works. Then Toronto is stuck finding a backup centre for the deadline. Which is not good.

All Toronto really gets here is a pick and a different type of PG that's cheaper. And cap space next year.

Why would Atlanta trade both their point guards. They are not trading NAW. And then we need a center.

I don't think it works well for either team but little else works. Uh yeah.

[JB7]

On the other hand - why is ATL giving up picks to get off Trae? They might as well keep him at that point.

Because Trae is hurting their chances at winning, and he does not seem like the type of player to be happy to be parked on the bench. They probably are that desperate to get him away from the team.

If they are not getting anything in return, they might as well tell him to go home and just wait it out.I could be wrong, but I do not see a world where ATL is giving up draft picks to get rid of Trae and get back garbage. If they do, that is downright stupid when they can just wait until the summer and let Trae opt out, or if he opts in he is just a high value expiring.

ESPECIALLY considering they already have sent out their 2026 and 2027's.

Trae is not going to opt out though. That is the problem. It is too much money for him to leave on the table, and no team is paying him that much as a FA. So does the team want an unhappy star sitting on the sidelines, possibly talking to the media?

[JB7]

Best trade idea I saw for Trae was a potential 3 way deal:
- Atlanta trades Trae and draft compensation to the Nets
- Nets trade MPJ to the Pistons
- Pistons trade Ivey & Harris to Hawks (both players are on expiring deals)

[RaptorPride]

If we're taking risks I'd prefer Sabonis

Trust me you don't, his defence is pretty bad and offence will interfere with Barnes. He's also not some world class playmaker like Jokic. He's just way over paid for what he is. Him on an IQ contract I'm all for but not at his current contract. And we would need to keep jak to hide his weaknesses.

Disagree. Young is a world class playmaker. I think outside of John Stockton, Paul maybe Nash there hasn’t been such a strong passer as Young over the years

I was talking about Sabonis