2016-17 Toronto Raptors and General NBA Thread

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by octothorp

That's essentially the existing rotation with Powell for Ross and Millsap for Siakam, which is really an amazing upgrade, as much as I like Ross.

I can't believe someone likes Ross!

I seen some of these articles, and for a marquee player (albeit a likely FA), some team will likely overpay than the few options you mentioned. I really don't think they should deal Joseph though. He'd be a tough one to lose as there really isn't a backup for Lowry. I do agree on the limitations the Raps should throw the other way though.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Apparently the Raptors already had a trade for Millsap done in the offseason.

Josh LewenbergVerified account ‏@JLew1050 Jan 3
Per @WindhorstESPN on TrueHoop pod, Raptors had a deal in place to trade for Millsap last summer but it fell through when Hawks lost Horford

https://twitter.com/JLew1050/status/816446507939430400

I would rather trade PP than Ross quite frankly. We all know Ross can go off on huge nights, and in the playoffs having that kind of guy you can turn to is important, more important than PP being able to stretch a team, since Milsap will replace that. Plus Ross is shooting nearly 42% from three this year, so losing your second biggest three point threat hurts too. Not quite sure how you make the money work on a trade without Ross though. I'm sure Masai is trying to figure that out.

[octothorp]

To make the salaries work without Ross, you could do Patterson, Joseph and Sullinger; or Patterson, Joseph and Poeltl.

For me the value in keeping PP over Ross is that you could roll out a lineup along the lines of Lowry/DeRozan/Carroll or Powell/Patterson/Millsap, which could match 3s with just about any lineup in the league and defend better than most of those lineups. To me that's the lineup that counters the best lineups Cleveland can bring. If you move Patterson and keep Ross, you're still going to always either be undersized or have one slow or non-three-threat big on the court.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Well la-dee-####ing-da, Cavs get Kyle Korver. So unless Paul Milsap is really cheap to get, probably not worth getting him or Ibaka considering the Cavs just made themselves even bigger favorites.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Kyle dropping another massive 4th Q performance against the Jazz. Doubt they wanna see him again anytime soon.

[octothorp]

And Pelicans now in the running for Millsap, and they can probably put together similar packages to Toronto but with better draft picks. And Millsap would actually be a pretty good fit for them beside Davis.

[bluejays]

So Korver's a pretty good complimentary piece with the Cavs. Given that, and teams thinking that Cleveland gets stronger, do some teams back out of the running for Millsap, thus dropping the Hawks' bargaining power for him if only a couple teams can muster much?

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by fleury

So Korver's a pretty good complimentary piece with the Cavs. Given that, and teams thinking that Cleveland gets stronger, do some teams back out of the running for Millsap, thus dropping the Hawks' bargaining power for him if only a couple teams can muster much?

If it's true that the Pelicans are in the mix, they obviously aren't affected by the Cavs: they're just trying to look like they're trying, and maybe giving themselves a shot at the playoffs. Being a non-contender right now they don't have great odds of keeping Millsap in the offseason (depending on what Millsap's priority is). It might make a team like Boston think twice.

To me, there's just a sliver of a chance that trading away Korver makes it more likely that they trade for Ross; Ross would probably be the best wing player on the team with none of Bazemore, Sefolosha, or Hardaway having good seasons. It's a strange move for Atlanta because they're still solidly in the mix for a playoff spot, they've got a huge offseason regardless of whether they're going to try to keep Millsap. And they've got to keep Howard happy; Pelicans can give them picks and trade ballast, but nothing that really makes sense for where their franchise is.

[Acey]

Golden State just blew a 24 point lead at home to Memphis. The number of stupid shots they take is only glaringly apparent when they lose.

[Jason14h]

Carroll really put on a clinic how not to play D and get shooting fouls in the 4th and OT vs Chicago

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Carroll really put on a clinic how not to play D and get shooting fouls in the 4th and OT vs Chicago

That was quite the display by the Raps. Blow a huge lead. Casey as dumb as ever. Dumb plays, zero defense and presto the tenth loss in a row to the Bulls.

This is going to be like last year where all the playoff teams will be trying to avoid the Cavs and to play the Raptors. B2B against Houston coming up / could be ugly with the way they have been on defense of late.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Officiating was pretty atrocious down the stretch of that game too, but when you blow a 19 point lead on the road there's no excuses, just cannot happen.

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Officiating was pretty atrocious down the stretch of that game too, but when you blow a 19 point lead on the road there's no excuses, just cannot happen.

Blew another lead and this time at home. The team is not looking good at the moment. Really does not matter though as it was obvious from last year they didn't have enough talent and they added nothing. Lost Biz. They have regressed on defense in a major way.

Thought the same all year whether they were winning or losing / only thing that furthers the cause of playoff success is a deal by MU. Otherwise even a first round exit isn't out of the question. Heck if they play the Bulls they wouldn't even be favoured to win.

[Senator Clay Davis]

To be fair, every single team has regressed on defense in a major way this year. We've seen an unprecedented scoring jump, and as we saw last night, it's because taking 30-40 threes is becoming a normal NBA game. If the Raptors had more three point shooters they too would be way up there. Right now there are only three teams in the league allowing fewer than 100 points: Predictably the Spurs and Grizzlies, and the Jazz as well. In the East alone last year the top four teams allowed fewer than 99 points per game. Not happening this year obviously.

End of the day though for everyone in the East, winning the East is about LeBron or Kyrie getting hurt, pretty much as it were from the beginning of the year. I guess we all kinda hoped we could see some growth forward for the Raps to be more of a threat, but that doesn't appear likely to happen. At this point, I don't even want to trade for Millsap or anyone else, just the difference between getting swept by the Cavs, or losing in 5 or 6. Stuck in no man's land sadly.

[killer_carlson]

So with Lowry on the record that he is opting out at the end of the season and the Raptors currently stuck as tweeners, what should they do?

Do they sell the farm and have a run with the Lowry / DD core?

Do they sell the farm and re-tool for next year?

For some reason i'm in the "have a run at this year" boat.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

So with Lowry on the record that he is opting out at the end of the season and the Raptors currently stuck as tweeners, what should they do?

Do they sell the farm and have a run with the Lowry / DD core?

Do they sell the farm and re-tool for next year?

For some reason i'm in the "have a run at this year" boat.

Lowry will be back in Toronto next year as they can pay him the most, and all the usual contending suspects are set at the PG position.

[Jason14h]

Yeah it's not whether Lowry is back next year. It's that he's an older PG with some injury/wearing down concern.

I think you have to look to make a move, and i think it has to be dramatic and involve JV

[Senator Clay Davis]

There's no dramatic move to be made out there, especially if it involves JV. Hawks have apparently taken Millsap off the table, so he's not a factor. Orlando doesn't want JV for Ibaka, Vucevic already puts up similar numbers to JV. Other than that, other moves are mostly middling moves, a bench guy or 3 point specialist. It's basically go for it this year, hope for a LeBron/Kyrie injury or a Masai miracle, re-sign Lowry and try and roster upgrade in the summer, and then maybe this time next year or more likely next summer, blow it up then if there's still no viable path to a ring.

[Drake]

This Derrick Rose situation is odd and a little scary.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Drake

This Derrick Rose situation is odd and a little scary.

It is, and while I can't say I knew it, I've always found him an oddball guy. A very good player, but a guy who seems to always be to himself to the point you wonder what his personal life is like because there's something that he seems to be hiding behind. Who knows really.