Post-Mortem: 2021-22 Toronto Raptors

[LewisnotMiller]

Strangely, they are a Kawhi Leonard type of player away from being a title contender

I agree, but don't see it as strange. The Raps have coherent and consistent planning. That can't turn up superstars from nowhere, but it does mean they do a great job building a roster that is competitive.

And Nurse remains a very good coach, for all that I worry about the minutes load he puts on guys.

I'd stay the course, and be ready to trade if a star becomes available. I'd try and get at least one more versatile bench piece to encourage a slightly longer regular season rotation.

Good organisation, good team. And good fans, although I don't think I'm supposed to say that, as a Celts guy.

[jbk1234]

Raptors just need one superstar how about the King moving to the north?

This is like end of GOT.

[Bruin]

Lots to look forward to. Excited to see what step Scottie takes in his 2nd year. The development of the other young guys like Precious, Gary, OG, and Banton should be exciting as well.

No clue what type of player we target at 33 in the draft but I trust Masai to make the right pick so not really concerned with that.

I would personally like to see us move on from Fred and hand the keys to Scottie going forward especially since Fred is entering a contract year next season. Idk what is realistic in a trade for Fred but we need to move on from him in order to go all in on the extreme length vision that Masai has clearly been building towards

Excited for what’s to come

[Balls Deep]

Siakam isn’t taking you to the Finals. What’s the point of keeping him? They overachieved but will likely be a treadmill team unless they can finally convince a superstar to sign with them in free agency, which has never happened before.

[Appostis]

Raptors are in a fantastic place.

Have the ability to retain Thad Young and CB.

Healthy off season for Pascal.

Huge development off season for the young core(Barnes/Precious/GTJ) with a few possible gems in the making(Banton/Champagne)


Brooks and Banton should cover the SG/PG situation
Add in a shooter via MLE.

[YogurtProducer]

They're paying Siakam over 30 million dollars?

26th highest paid player in the league... is that not about right?

[YogurtProducer]

Dunno what the plan is long-term. I don't think you can win a chip with this core. Barnes will mature into a fantastic player one day but you will need another elite prospect next to him, soon.

Either the Raps go all-in next year and do something like a Lillard/Siakam tandem with Barnes, Precious, Boucher, Young etc. supporting or trade one or some of our core to grab that elite prospect to play next to Barnes.

However I think Masai is giving this core another year in incubation to see what happens. Not anticipating major moves this offseason. Earliest by the next deadline.

If Barnes hits his ceiling I can think of worse things than a Siakam running mate.

[Blazing_royale]

Siakam isn’t taking you to the Finals. What’s the point of keeping him? They overachieved but will likely be a treadmill team unless they can finally convince a superstar to sign with them in free agency, which has never happened before.

you keep him so he can play robin when the superstar comes.

[giberish]

If you've got a good, generally young core that's probably one elite player away from a title the answer isn't tanking. If you go that way then not only are you unlikely to draft the elite guy you're looking for anytime soon, but even if you do, you can be stuck without the surrounding quality to become a title team.

Much better is to stay good for a while and hope that the guy you need becomes available somehow. Possibly a great mid-1st draft find. Or a trade possibility (ex. Kwahi to Toronto).

[Clay Davis]

Strangely, they are a Kawhi Leonard type of player away from being a title contender

I agree, but don't see it as strange. The Raps have coherent and consistent planning. That can't turn up superstars from nowhere, but it does mean they do a great job building a roster that is competitive.

And Nurse remains a very good coach, for all that I worry about the minutes load he puts on guys.

I'd stay the course, and be ready to trade if a star becomes available. I'd try and get at least one more versatile bench piece to encourage a slightly longer regular season rotation.

Good organisation, good team. And good fans, although I don't think I'm supposed to say that, as a Celts guy.

Dude, us Raps fans are insufferable

[mediocrityrules]

Raptors are in a fantastic place.

Have the ability to retain Thad Young and CB.

Healthy off season for Pascal.

Huge development off season for the young core(Barnes/Precious/GTJ) with a few possible gems in the making(Banton/Champagne)


Brooks and Banton should cover the SG/PG situation
Add in a shooter via MLE.

They're in a fantastic place IF they can lure a star to go north. Otherwise they will stay a first/second round team at best. They need a star added to the roster to compete for the 'chip.

[rocketsfan100]

The Raptors are legit. They have the most athletic and lengthy squad in the nba who can virtually switch at every position on the floor. 5 guys who can defend at every position. They were a nightmare matchup for anyone.
They finished the season going 15-3 going into the playoffs with wins in Phoenix and Philly. This was a great workout for the Miami series for the Sixers. Infact I dare say the Raptors are a better and tougher defensive/offensive rebounding team then Miami minus the offense(Miami is good or better on offense)

[miamiheat319]

future looks bright for the Raps. just please change the jerseys

[Appostis]

Raptors are in a fantastic place.

Have the ability to retain Thad Young and CB.

Healthy off season for Pascal.

Huge development off season for the young core(Barnes/Precious/GTJ) with a few possible gems in the making(Banton/Champagne)


Brooks and Banton should cover the SG/PG situation
Add in a shooter via MLE.

They're in a fantastic place IF they can lure a star to go north. Otherwise they will stay a first/second round team at best. They need a star added to the roster to compete for the 'chip.

Not really.

I'm really high on Precious and Barnes.
They have all their future assets in terms of draft picks. You don't have to lure a trade target.


So it's internal development (pacal/FVV) or package some assets for a trade.

[SelfishPlayer]

Raptors are in a fantastic place.

Have the ability to retain Thad Young and CB.

Healthy off season for Pascal.

Huge development off season for the young core(Barnes/Precious/GTJ) with a few possible gems in the making(Banton/Champagne)


Brooks and Banton should cover the SG/PG situation
Add in a shooter via MLE.

They're in a fantastic place IF they can lure a star to go north. Otherwise they will stay a first/second round team at best. They need a star added to the roster to compete for the 'chip.

Is that financially possible? FVV and Siakam make serious money.

[AussieCeltic]

Obviously keep Nurse and Masai.

I’ll take an L for saying they’ll be a 30-35 win team. I actually liked the Barnes pick but didn’t think he’d provide that much of an impact straight away.

Precious has improved but they clearly need to get some help at the C position. I’m not sure who they can target.

Otherwise, they’re another good draft away from getting out of the first round with all the key players being under 28. Pretty good spot to be in.

[Ill News]

Nowhere to go but up for these young Raptors. All they need to do is keep Nurse as coach, and develop this core going forward.

Scottie Barnes will be a bonafide star in 2-3 years' time. Siakam with a great bounceback year. FVV will be solid as always. They might need a big man, but everyone on their roster save for FVV is big anyway, so it might not be a problem.

[Joshyjess]

Keep GM and Coach. Unless they make some kind of big move, I see them as more of a treadmill team in that they won't go far in the playoffs with the players they have. I think they see Saikim, VanFleet and Anunoby as too valuable, and won't be willing to make a trade that could bring them the kind of player they need to take the next step. The players they have are really good, but not good enough to win it all.

[TravisScott55]

Hopefully Scottie gets much better

[Marmoset]

I agree with most of the posts from non-Raptor fans that they have a good team that needs a star, a true "alpha". What many of us are hoping for is that we already have that guy in Scottie Barnes. Obviously there is a long road to go for him to get there, and the organization shouldn't just stand around and do nothing while waiting or hoping for that to happen. However, at least they have a young player where this is a measurable possibility. I never felt that way about any young Raptor in the Lowry/DeRozan/JV era.

Besides that I think most people see the needs of the team. The bench needs to improve (whether from internal improvement, additions, or both), they need shooting, and they need at least one more 'traditional' centre on the roster to deal with certain matchups such as Embiid or Jokic. I think the team will do its best to look after the first two items but I wonder if they believe they need a more tradiitonal C or not. Even if they think it can work with a bunch of 6'7" to 6'9" switchable guys, I think it would be beneficial to be able to throw a different look at an opponent by putting a capable, more traditional centre out there. It could be for just 15-20 minutes a night when the matchup calls for it - it doesn't need to be any kind of star player.