If you were the GM how would you rebuild this team?

[Local_NG_Idiot]

This is the perfect example of people being afraid - Many you guys look at out our past and think that going a different route automatically means we are going to **** things up for 5+ years.

It has nothing to do with being afraid and everything to do with looking at all of the data from all NBA franchises that show when teams decide to move on and start over, that a large majority are much longer rebuilds than 4-5 years.

Many of you want to prolong something that isn't going to be worth the reward in assets once were forced to tear down due to Lowry + Ibaka decline.

Who says the Raps hang onto them into their major decline? Their value this summer is at it's lowest because they are FAs and the exploding cap and new CBA have made S&Ts a thing of the past. So what you are advocating for is to allow 4 of the top 6 players on this team just flat out walk (Lowry, Ibaka, Tucker, Patterson) for zero return assets and with the Raps future current asset list being that only of their own 1st round pick. So what then, overpay the Dengs/Mozgovs/Lins/Turners/Noahs in free agency just to suit up?

It's nearly impossible for Masai ( as solid as he is) to make this team much better in the short-term due to the current assets + our cap situation we have at this point.

And what would lead you to this conclusion based upon his historic ability to get very good value for his current assets? Are you merely presuming this to support your own narrative?

In terms of our younger players like JP, Powell, Wright, JV etc while solid not a whole of upside which doesn't boost much confidence going forward for me at least.

And yet, this is the 'young core' that this team will have to play 35+ mpg moving forward in a blow-it-up scenario.

I truthfully believe the longer we wait to rebuild ( tank w/e you wanna call it) the more painful it will be for everyone.

It's actually a bell curve when plotted over time. Attempting to rebuild this offseason will be just as painful if not more painful than say 3-4 years from now. The least painful should be when Lowry/Ibaka finish the 2nd year of their newly signed contracts from this summer (barring major injuries to either).

[CoachJReturns]

This is the perfect example of people being afraid - Many you guys look at out our past and think that going a different route automatically means we are going to **** things up for 5+ years.

It has nothing to do with being afraid and everything to do with looking at all of the data from all NBA franchises that show when teams decide to move on and start over, that a large majority are much longer rebuilds than 4-5 years.

Many of you want to prolong something that isn't going to be worth the reward in assets once were forced to tear down due to Lowry + Ibaka decline.

Who says the Raps hang onto them into their major decline? Their value this summer is at it's lowest because they are FAs and the exploding cap and new CBA have made S&Ts a thing of the past. So what you are advocating for is to allow 4 of the top 6 players on this team just flat out walk (Lowry, Ibaka, Tucker, Patterson) for zero return assets and with the Raps future current asset list being that only of their own 1st round pick. So what then, overpay the Dengs/Mozgovs/Lins/Turners/Noahs in free agency just to suit up?

It's nearly impossible for Masai ( as solid as he is) to make this team much better in the short-term due to the current assets + our cap situation we have at this point.

And what would lead you to this conclusion based upon his historic ability to get very good value for his current assets? Are you merely presuming this to support your own narrative?

In terms of our younger players like JP, Powell, Wright, JV etc while solid not a whole of upside which doesn't boost much confidence going forward for me at least.

And yet, this is the 'young core' that this team will have to play 35+ mpg moving forward in a blow-it-up scenario.

I truthfully believe the longer we wait to rebuild ( tank w/e you wanna call it) the more painful it will be for everyone.

It's actually a bell curve when plotted over time. Attempting to rebuild this offseason will be just as painful if not more painful than say 3-4 years from now. The least painful should be when Lowry/Ibaka finish the 2nd year of their newly signed contracts from this summer (barring major injuries to either).

Would you argue it makes more sense to sign Lowry and Ibaka with the intention of giving it one more year, then trading them next off season? I'd be happy with that, though I have no idea how easy/hard it will be to move them once they're making 20+ million a season each. That's a lot of salary to get rid of. Still, I could live with one more year of this group, preferably with Stackhouse as the newly hired coach, if management were prepared to move on the following year if they believe they can get some return for these two.

[gerrit4]

Some people who experienced the 'tough times' like me still prefer the tanking route. At some point people need to stop being afraid of the unknown and embrace that we actually have a good management team who could probably succeed going down this route.

This team has peaked time to move on ( or at least it should be).

I think you make a good point here. Personally, I support either direction - my only stipulation is that we rely on our management (which I believe in) for our success, and not just luck. As Raptor fans, we know we have good management and a history of bad luck.

If we can get a nice return for Demar and JV, I think that's totally a respectable route to go. The thing is, I'm not sure if we can or not. If Boston is willing to give up a similar package for Demar as they were for Butler/George (he's not as good, or as good of a fit, but he is signed longer and a great teammate), then I think you need to consider it. If it's something like the Boogie package (which the equivalent would be Jamal Murray and this year's Denver pick), then I'm not so sure (unless they really believe in those assets).

I'd also be interested in offering our free agents deals that we believe are tradeable. So instead of maxing out guys to keep them, we offer fair deals that won't kill us down the road, with the expectation that they'll either accept them or not. For instance, I'd offer Lowry a 4 year max deal. That's as high as he can get elsewhere, but is still probably a positive trade asset next summer if we decide to go another direction. Ibaka, I'd give 4 years/75 million. If someone offers him more, then fine. Lower deals for PJ, and even Patterson. That way we might only hold on to two of the four, but without going into long-term cap hell. If they all walk, we rebuild, or come up with another plan.

The biggest problem with rebuilding I can see is that our two tradeable assets (JV & Demar) are probably worth more to us than any other team. If Boston comes begging for Demar, then I'll admit I'm wrong. If we're trying to unload them, it may not be the great return we're hoping for. If there's no great return for our assets, then there's no great path to a rebuild - rebuilding from scratch doesn't really look too promising. If we're going to rebuild, we want to do it with lots of picks and young players, not like the Babcock rebuild where we just had a bunch of crummy old guys and Bosh.

[Local_NG_Idiot]

Would you argue it makes more sense to sign Lowry and Ibaka with the intention of giving it one more year, then trading them next off season? I'd be happy with that, though I have no idea how easy/hard it will be to move them once they're making 20+ million a season each. That's a lot of salary to get rid of. Still, I could live with one more year of this group, preferably with Stackhouse as the newly hired coach, if management were prepared to move on the following year if they believe they can get some return for these two.

I think Lowry signs a similar deal to DeRozan as a 4yr with a 5th year player option (starting 28mil+/yr), Ibaka will sign a 4 year in the 94mil range, and I think Tucker/Patterson are both looking at 3yr/35s....at least I'm hopeful those are their numbers.

I think a retool outside of that at specific positions for specific roles to help the offense this coming playoffs is also what Masai and Co. have in mind and I'm happy to roll into next season watching that team.

Barring major injury, I think Lowry/Ibaka/DeRozan core will most likely have their highest trade value at the end of the 2019 season (2 seasons from now);

DeRozan will have 1 guaranteed year left on his deal and will be 29. As long as he can maintain the offensive production we've seen from him this past season, his contract will be of positive value and there will be suitors willing to give up real assets for him.

Ibaka will be "29", over his physical peak by a couple of years but only have 2 years of contract left and if he shows he can competently split his minutes between PF/C and hit open Js in the playoffs, his value that summer will at worst be neutral.

Lowry will be 32 with 2 guaranteed years left on his contract. If his game doesn't change where he never shakes the playoff woes, his value might end up as a slight negative.

If Carroll proves to be an unmovable contract, that is the year he comes off the books, and if Tucker/Patterson sign new 3 year deals with the team this summer, they'd both have 1 year left.

So yes, my opinion on the matter is you retain the assets this summer, retool, Masai evaluates for this season and if we see the same outcome as this season again, then 2018-19 season he better start shopping.