Post-Mortem: 2021-22 Toronto Raptors

[Raps in 4]

I'm not even mad. We had too many injuries to win this. Can't wait to see how Barnes improves over the offseason.

[LoveMyRaps]

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[MrGoat]

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

Strangely so are the Clippers

[MrGoat]

Like the Pelicans, not much to complain about this season for the Raptors. Exceeded expectations and the future looks good with their ROY

[Tor_Raps]

Barnes has to become a superstar for this team to go anywhere meaningful. He's off to a great start and has shown flashes that it's a very realistic possibility.

Also need a real starting center to replace Birch, which will allow Siakam and Barnes to feast against smaller players. Precious might be that guy in the future.

[SelfishPlayer]

Toronto does possibly the best job I've ever seen at growing champion caliber role players. I just can't think of a franchise that has ever done a better job, whether you exclude it to just who they draft or add in who they acquire. As I type this the Spurs come to mind, but what role player have they ever developed that surpasses guys like Siakam and FVV? Everybody can see that they are a superstar away from absolute title contention.

[DangerZone13]

Alright ya 6 negative nancies, show yourselves! Y'all gotta be Team Negative Raps board members!

The team exceeded expectations, and staying the course with an eye on internal development and adding diamonds in the rough is a reasonable and positive outlook going into next year.
Furthermore, it was a fun team to watch on and off the court this year, and it genuinely felt good rooting for these guys.
Best of luck to the rest of the teams in the playoffs!

[timO]

Didnt understand the trade for Young giving the frp, now they have to pay Young and spurs can catch something at #20 with rookie scale.

They are clear treadmill team, the unique Rising options is Barnes developing into a star, which is uncertain.

[DroseReturnChi]

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

masai should pull trigger and trade anyone that has top 10 player value. i would run with another title than stuck with treadmill.they overachieved like atlanta. now who is the derozan of this yr? is it scottie/fvv/og/pascal? one of them will suck.

[anotherhomer]

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

masai should pull trigger and trade anyone that has top 10 player value. i would run with another title than stuck with treadmill.they overachieved like atlanta. now who is the derozan of this yr? is it scottie/fvv/og/pascal? one of them will suck.

At this moment, there's no top 10 player that's available for a trade.
And if there is, he's not trading it for a one year rental aka Pascal for Lebron type trade.

The Kawhi trade was unique in the sense, the team alrdy knew Derozan was a playoff choker.
Masai will give this team a few chances to step up.

[Quattro]

They're paying Siakam over 30 million dollars?

What do you think the going rate is for wings who average 23/8.5/5 and play great defense?

[Anticon]

Theres no real path to getting an MVP caliber player right now. Which is what they need to compete with Embiid/Harden, Giannis, Tatum, and Butler/Lowry/Bam.

Expect it'll be a low key signing like Oladipo if they can, and the rest internal growth. The treadmill thing is mostly to troll, but reality is until they find a path to an MVP level player, they'll be a second round team at best with how tough the east is now.

[Quattro]

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.

I keep reading stuff like this. Do people not think that Scottie Barnes is going to improve on a ROY season? Folks, they already have a “star”. They drafted him. In 2 years this kid is going to be the guy everyone is saying the raptors need.

[OakleyDokely]

Didnt understand the trade for Young giving the frp, now they have to pay Young and spurs can catch something at #20 with rookie scale.

They are clear treadmill team, the unique Rising options is Barnes developing into a star, which is uncertain.

The trade for Thad was a trade down. They got the 33rd pick back in return, so they moved down 13 spots.

[kwajo]

I’m banking on Scottie’s improvement to be the change going into next season, but we need to address our lack of a go-to scoring guard. I love Pascal but we saw last night that we need a perimeter shooter with speed and the ability to get his own shot when necessary because we’ve been going through scoring lulls for a couple of seasons now that no one digs us out of. Gary should be in a 6th man role and we need a stronger starting 2 guard with more size to balance out FVV, and honestly I wouldn’t mind trading OG + filler for one given his unlucky history of being in and out of the lineup.

Shout out to Banton, I think he’s going to be a major rotation piece some time in the next couple of seasons if we hold onto him.

[LBJKB24MJ23]

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.

FVV WILL make serious money

[Snotbubbles]

I don't really think the Raptors will be much better than what they showed this season. In fact, next year I expect them to drop in the standings and be a play-in team. I'm much higher on the future prospects of a team like Cleveland who have multiple young, good, potential star players, than Toronto.

Toronto's ceiling to me is maybe 4th best team in the Eastern Conference. Scottie Barnes is a nice player, but by the time he potentially develops into a star, Siakim and VanVleet will be in their 30s and out of their prime. Their 5-8 seeding range will guarantees that their draft picks (starting in 2023) will be out of the lottery so the chances of landing a star player to go with Barnes drops significantly. Toronto doesn't appear to be a place where star players are looking to go so they won't be landing any uber studs in FA if any became available. So apart from the GM making a trade for a younger star player to pair with Barnes (meaning they'll have to deal Siakim and/or FVV), this teams core doesn't excite me with their future prospects.

[kenwood3333]

This is a team suppose to be fighting for a playoff spot, they got in and didn't get sweept. So its a successful season. But just can't see this team do much further with the lack of talent on the team, plus not a free agent/trade destination for above average players. It will be an uphill battle for the organization to keep this team competitive in the future.

[Parataxis]

Keep the GM, Keep the coach, Performed better than expected, and a team on the rise.

Really, if somebody had offered this season to the Raptors back in September, that's absolutely a scorecard that you sign. This was the best realistic case scenario season for the Raps. Internal development, regular season success, a taste of the playoffs, and still much more room to grow.

Masai has a lot of tough choices to make in the offseason, especially around Fred and Gary, but it's all upside from here.

[Lockdown504090]

i have no idea what kind of player barnes will become, but that player does not mesh well with siakam. Get him outta there while his value is very high.