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Maybe if we draft a white guy named **** Cooper Flagg from Duke we can finally kill off the dumb Masai only drafts Africans nonsense.

Phezmo123 wrote:

Scase wrote:

DelAbbot wrote:
what da heck is bust potential?

ceiling is high and floor is low = high bust potential?
ceiling is high and floor is high = low bust potential?

this is incredibly confusing... unless you are talking about certain type of measurement guys are keenly aware of.

I think it might be a "fools gold" type deal, guys who look amazing in college but for some reason their games just dont translate to the NBA.

Like an Okafor or something. In this case since Ace only does one thing (scoring) so if it doesn't go well or translate he's a bust, but Flagg does so many things he can carve out a niche even if he isn't a true #1 type player.

damn we need a true #1 though

scottie already does everything pretty well and is a guaranteed #2 on a title team at least

hows bailey vs. anthony edwards at same age?

I dont put too much stock on high school performance so I wouldn't use that to compare, and he got injured in practice so he hasn't actually played yet for the college season, so it's a mystery currently.

Ell Curry wrote:

DelAbbot wrote:

Scase wrote:I think it might be a "fools gold" type deal, guys who look amazing in college but for some reason their games just dont translate to the NBA.

Like an Okafor or something. In this case since Ace only does one thing (scoring) so if it doesn't go well or translate he's a bust, but Flagg does so many things he can carve out a niche even if he isn't a true #1 type player.

Okafor is not a bust at all. He gave NBA level production - maybe not as a #2 overall pick - but that's only that draft class was weak (outside of DH)

I think a high bust potential is someone like Scoot Henderson who has athletic abilities near someone like Derrick Rose but not the skills, so the potential is high but if he doesn't develop those skills, he will be a big bust.

But if Scoot Henderson is high bust potential, what do you call this guy? Low bust potential or low potential period?

I think he meant Jahlil Okafor. Emeka Okafor was not a bust, he was a solid starting center before the injuries. Not a great pick, but not a bust.

Morrison's issue, as I recall, was that in college he was great at hitting tough shots but couldn't get separation from his defender at all, and in the pros that meant literally no separation from his defender, and he was well below average at everything but scoring. Also his 3pt shooting as a Junior was miles ahead of his first 2 years, and like Derrick Williams (who I thought would be good, he seemed to have everything you need to be a solid NBA starting 4 and say 3rd option on O), was probably unsustainable.

I did indeed mean Jahlil, granted Emeka was a let down for a 2nd OA pick with some of that definitely related to injuries so he gets a bit of a pass.

Busts IMO are directly related to draft positioning, with some wiggle room due to teams picking players much too high. Jahlil was mocked routinely at the 2nd spot with a few 1st/4th outliers, so it's not like he was drafted outside of the expected range, so what you got out of him for a 2nd OA is pretty bad. So by my own definition Morrison would also be a bust.

Certain expectations come with draft positioning, and the historical performance of players drafted at certain points is easy enough to gather, so if your average 3rd OA pick has like a 50% chance to be an AS level player and the player drafted tops out at a role player, or in Morrisons case, is out of the league in 3 years, yeah that is absolutely a bust.

720 wrote:

I wouldn't even sweat the fit with Scottie. they got the talent to make it work. the dream scenario is landing this guy.

Potential wrote:

Read on Twitter

I get the whole b2b rest games, but they are currently 2-8 and Maxey is still out, can they afford to just throw games away lol? Also why does Embiid need a rest day, he's played a single game all season

Fairview4Life wrote:Maybe if we draft a white guy named **** Cooper Flagg from Duke we can finally kill off the dumb Masai only drafts Africans nonsense.

He gonna draft Maluach.

Fairview4Life wrote:Maybe if we draft a white guy named **** Cooper Flagg from Duke we can finally kill off the dumb Masai only drafts Africans nonsense.

Does Gradey have African roots?

Lets keep this tank train rolling.

Im hoping we either split or lose both of the DET games coming up to keep us on pace for 5-20 record.

March will be very important and we need some extra focus.

We face Washington 3x, Charlotte, Brooklyn, Utah x2, Portland and even the Magic x2 are beatable if we're fully healthy.

Tha Cynic wrote:March will be very important and we need some extra focus.

We face Washington 3x, Charlotte, Brooklyn, Utah x2, Portland and even the Magic x2 are beatable if we're fully healthy.

The first game in March, is the 59th game of the season. If we are 16-42 (on pace for a 22-60 record) and we are rolling out a fully healthy lineup, Masai needs to be fired.

That is squarely in "This season was toast in January" territory, and any meaningless wins serve no purpose other than to kill draft chances, you make up injuries at that point. No one gains anything from wins in March, if they end up stealing a couple with lineups similar to the ones we are trotting out now, then so be it, but our FO should be giving them the lowest chance to win possible at that point.

wegotthabeet wrote:

720 wrote:

I wouldn't even sweat the fit with Scottie. they got the talent to make it work. the dream scenario is landing this guy.

Always take BPA.

If the fit ends up garbage you end up trading a 25 year old Barnes for a haul.

Win win

Fairview4Life wrote:Maybe if we draft a white guy named **** Cooper Flagg from Duke we can finally kill off the dumb Masai only drafts Africans nonsense.

"he only takes americans when he has no other choice"

The guy has drafted Dick, Flynn, and Barnes as his last 3 1st rounders. Didn't stop people from saying that **** this draft season before JKW

Fairview4Life wrote:Maybe if we draft a white guy named **** Cooper Flagg from Duke we can finally kill off the dumb Masai only drafts Africans nonsense.

I mean if a white guy named Gradey **** Dick from Kansas didn’t kill that nonsense, nothing will.

Barnes and IQ are probably out another couple of weeks (IQ maybe even longer).

We probably start 4-20

And Poeltl hasn't even missed any games. Put him down for 12 missed games and we go 3-9 in that stretch.

That means the "unhealthy" part of the season we probably go 7-29.

Unhealthy stretch: 7-29

Healthy: 17-19

10 game end of season super tank: 2-8

25 or 26 wins. Sounds bottom 5 to me.

Scase wrote:

Tha Cynic wrote:March will be very important and we need some extra focus.

We face Washington 3x, Charlotte, Brooklyn, Utah x2, Portland and even the Magic x2 are beatable if we're fully healthy.

The first game in March, is the 59th game of the season. If we are 16-42 (on pace for a 22-60 record) and we are rolling out a fully healthy lineup, Masai needs to be fired.

That is squarely in "This season was toast in January" territory, and any meaningless wins serve no purpose other than to kill draft chances, you make up injuries at that point. No one gains anything from wins in March, if they end up stealing a couple with lineups similar to the ones we are trotting out now, then so be it, but our FO should be giving them the lowest chance to win possible at that point.

how do u ask players to sit out like that?

Phezmo123 wrote:

Scase wrote:

Tha Cynic wrote:March will be very important and we need some extra focus.

We face Washington 3x, Charlotte, Brooklyn, Utah x2, Portland and even the Magic x2 are beatable if we're fully healthy.

The first game in March, is the 59th game of the season. If we are 16-42 (on pace for a 22-60 record) and we are rolling out a fully healthy lineup, Masai needs to be fired.

That is squarely in "This season was toast in January" territory, and any meaningless wins serve no purpose other than to kill draft chances, you make up injuries at that point. No one gains anything from wins in March, if they end up stealing a couple with lineups similar to the ones we are trotting out now, then so be it, but our FO should be giving them the lowest chance to win possible at that point.

how do u ask players to sit out like that?

The players aren't stupid, they understand that teams tank and the value of a high pick. I have faith that the guys would understand the purpose of it. They are competitors for sure, but if you are 16-42, what exactly are you competing for at that point?

Besides, people say we did it in Tampa, so why not this year? It's not like this is something teams never do.

We TANKIN tankin.

YogurtProducer wrote:

wegotthabeet wrote:

720 wrote:

I wouldn't even sweat the fit with Scottie. they got the talent to make it work. the dream scenario is landing this guy.

Always take BPA.

If the fit ends up garbage you end up trading a 25 year old Barnes for a haul.

Win win

Absolutely.

The only question mark is the shooting/spacing.

Would also push assets to land Maluach too if possible and try to build an elite defensive team.

Raptors 2025-2026
Quickley
Agbaji
Barnes
Flagg
Maluach

6th man: Barrett
7th man: Dick

Bench: Mitchell - Shead - Mogbo - Olynyk
Developing: Walter - Chomche - Battle

ArthurVandelay wrote:

Fairview4Life wrote:Maybe if we draft a white guy named **** Cooper Flagg from Duke we can finally kill off the dumb Masai only drafts Africans nonsense.

I mean if a white guy named Gradey **** Dick from Kansas didn’t kill that nonsense, nothing will.

The ratings would be off the charts.

wegotthabeet wrote:
Absolutely.

The only question mark is the shooting/spacing.

Would also push assets to land Maluach too if possible and try to build an elite defensive team.

Raptors 2025-2026
Quickley
Agbaji
Barnes
Flagg
Maluach

6th man: Barrett
7th man: Dick

Bench: Mitchell - Shead - Mogbo - Olynyk
Developing: Walter - Chomche - Battle

I can't see us getting another lotto pick in the draft to grab Maluach, even by trading Poeltl or Barrett. Feels as if one of our 2026 1sts is a likelier route to us getting a quality defensive center, or maybe we can get into the 2nd half of the first round and Zikarsky will be there? I haven't seen him play, but he's huge and supposed to be good defensively.

Not sure about the 2026 draft and centers, hard to project that.

It doesn't feel like there's a bunch of Jarrett Allens or Derrick Livelys coming up in the draft, sadly, though it's hard to project that (even for 2025 this early, like Ngbonba at Duke hasn't played yet but was #21 on 247, Thiam at UCF just had 6 blocks against Texas A+M and is also massive, so maybe one of those guys comes out and we can grab them with the Portland 2025 2nd rounder which should be top 35).