2016 Toronto Raptors Off-Season

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Da_Chief

^Giving up youth only will not work salary cap wise anyways. Carroll and or Prince Patrick would have to go the other way. Raptors have young players/picks they can part with to add on to the deal.

At the end of the day, they're not winning the championship with or without Griffin but would be cool to have a star up here.

I don't think they would a championship, but I think they could certainly win the East with Griffin. Cleveland isn't untouchable. Toronto took them to 6 games with Derozan playing like #### and no JV. A front court of JV and a healthy Griffin would be unstoppable in the East division.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

It'd be cool for the 40 games he plays before he bolts. Thankfully Masai is maybe the smartest GM in the league and would never consider such a mistake.

Masai is one of the smartest GM's in the league. Maybe he sees taking Griffin for one year and unloading the Carroll contract as a great move. Gives the Raps a legit chance at winning the Eastern Championship next year, and allows him some freedom to make some moves going forward.

[howard_the_duck]

I'd also read somewhere that Griffin thought of Toronto as an 'appealing' market, so perhaps plausible he could sign on in this fantasy idea?

I think if you could pull the trigger on a Griffin trade you do it 10 out of 10 times. If it's that asking price? You take it and run.

It won't happen, but acquiring Griffin would be a massive coup for whoever gets their hands on him.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Swapping Carroll for Griffin probably increases their chances of winning the East from 5% to 5.2%. I don't think Griffin helps them that much in beating Cleveland. Losing Carroll hurts a lot more than people think, he's easily their best defender and we saw how badly Powell struggled against anyone bigger than him. LeBron and Kyrie are both a lot bigger than him. So you give up your best wing defender, a role now crucial in todays NBA, for a massive injury risk who downgrades you defensively. If Blake weren't such a massive injury risk it might be worth a gamble. Go after Cousins instead, I'd be willing to give up JV for him. Adding Cousins makes them a much bigger threat than Griffin does.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

I'd also read somewhere that Griffin thought of Toronto as an 'appealing' market, so perhaps plausible he could sign on in this fantasy idea?

I think if you could pull the trigger on a Griffin trade you do it 10 out of 10 times. If it's that asking price? You take it and run.

It won't happen, but acquiring Griffin would be a massive coup for whoever gets their hands on him.

I think a lot of players are starting to realize just how appealing the Toronto (Canada) market is. You are in a top 5 city in North America that has more to offer than most US cities not named LA, New York, or Chicago. Aside from that, the 2nd level superstars make serious bank in Canada. Lowry and Derozan are an after-thought in US marketing, and still would be if they played on a US based team. These guys are getting also sorts of marketing deals and face time they would not be getting in the US. They are the only fish in a very big pond.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Swapping Carroll for Griffin probably increases their chances of winning the East from 5% to 5.2%. I don't think Griffin helps them that much in beating Cleveland. Losing Carroll hurts a lot more than people think, he's easily their best defender and we saw how badly Powell struggled against anyone bigger than him. LeBron and Kyrie are both a lot bigger than him. So you give up your best wing defender, a role now crucial in todays NBA, for a massive injury risk who downgrades you defensively. If Blake weren't such a massive injury risk it might be worth a gamble. Go after Cousins instead, I'd be willing to give up JV for him.

Yup. Cousins would be an absolute dream for the Raptors. Way more valuable than Griffin in my opinion.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

I don't think they would a championship, but I think they could certainly win the East with Griffin. Cleveland isn't untouchable. Toronto took them to 6 games with Derozan playing like #### and no JV. A front court of JV and a healthy Griffin would be unstoppable in the East division.

Carroll is the one guy I wouldn't trade for Griffin. Filling a hole at SF is so difficult right now and such a crucial position in the East with the likes of James and George. And the Raptors have no true backup 3 at the moment. He didn't have a great playoffs this year, but that was after missing most of the season. Adding Griffin and taking out Carroll doesn't get them any closer to the finals, in my opinion.

If they can add Griffin for two of Patterson/Ross/Joseph, I'd do it though. And given Bird rights on every free agent (except Sullinger), they should have no problem keeping the core together long-term, provided ownership is willing to spend (which Masai has said they are).

[howard_the_duck]

I also think an injury prone Griffin is the only time he'll be available on the trade market. A healthy Griffin and Carroll wouldn't even be a starting point in trade talks.

In the event he can right his health issues, it'd be a gamble worth taking IMO. The Raps as constructed have no hope to come out of the East.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

I also think an injury prone Griffin is the only time he'll be available on the trade market. A healthy Griffin and Carroll wouldn't even be a starting point in trade talks.

In the event he can right his health issues, it'd be a gamble worth taking IMO. The Raps as constructed have no hope to come out of the East.

They are literally one injury to LeBron or Kyrie away from being the East favorites, even if they change nothing else from here on out. They have the most hope of any non-Cleveland team. Adding Blake does not make them any more of a threat to Cleveland. As I said from a pure matchup standpoint, losing Carroll means LeBron and Kyrie probably have their way with the Raps defense. Unless Blake's scoring 40 a game, he won't help them much to beat Cleveland.

[Da_Chief]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

They are literally one injury to LeBron or Kyrie away from being the East favorites, even if they change nothing else from here on out. They have the most hope of any non-Cleveland team. Adding Blake does not make them any more of a threat to Cleveland. As I said from a pure matchup standpoint, losing Carroll means LeBron and Kyrie probably have their way with the Raps defense. Unless Blake's scoring 40 a game, he won't help them much to beat Cleveland.

Boston has already moved past the Raps. With the future assets they have, they can easily acquire Westbrook right now and move further ahead.

Lebron is the Cavs, he gets hurt and Cavs are done. Kyrie is nothing without him.

Despite Carroll defending Lebron, he still had his way with the Raps. When he turned it up a notch in game 5 and 6 there was no stopping him. There's really no one in the league who can stop Lebron.

If you can get Griffin on the cheap even for a year, you do it and hope for the best.

[Senator Clay Davis]

But there's the rub isn't it? This "rumour" sounds like a very poor offer for the Clippers to take. It sounds like someone hopes the Clippers trade Blake for fear they'll lose him for nothing, and thus the Raps can lowball their way into getting him. But here's the thing, since the Clippers are in the same boat, why wouldn't they also take another run at it out West? I don't think they'll trade Griffin just to do it, it'll have to be a good offer. Carroll and Patterson is a pretty weak starting point. Raps would have to add multiple first round picks to make that happen I would think. The Clips want picks and young players mostly, and Carroll and Patterson are not that. I think it's just someone's fantasy to see happen. Just like all the Celts fans convinced themselves Durant was coming.

[St. Pats]

Wright out for at least four months. Not good news for him or the Raptors. Think he was going to see more time on the floor this year but this is a real setback for him.

[Trojan97]

Originally Posted by St. Pats

Wright out for at least four months. Not good news for him or the Raptors. Think he was going to see more time on the floor this year but this is a real setback for him.

Season doesn't start until the end of October. He should only miss 4-5 weeks of actual the actual season depending on how his recovery goes. Definitely right though that he's going to be playing catchup until at least Christmas. Wouldn't be surprised to see him work the rust off in the d-league until then when he does return.

This definitely opens up garbage time minutes to Van Vleet though, that will be an interesting storyline to follow.

[St. Pats]

So does this Oly experience help or hinder the Raptors. Lowry, DD and JV not getting much vacation/ rest time. Is that going to catch up to them in mid season? Or are the benefits of playing for their country worth the lack of down time?

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by St. Pats

So does this Oly experience help or hinder the Raptors. Lowry, DD and JV not getting much vacation/ rest time. Is that going to catch up to them in mid season? Or are the benefits of playing for their country worth the lack of down time?

I think it's a positive; always good to have experience at the highest possible level, and while the games aren't really competitive, the US coaching staff is doing an amazing job keeping them locked in and playing hard regardless of the score. That's a really useful lesson for DeRozan and Lowry, if it's something they can take back with them. And it's good for them to not be the focal point of their team (as well as great for JV to be the focal point of his team).

Besides, the Raptors have reached the point where with the goal now getting to that next level in the playoffs, reducing their minutes in the regular season would probably be a positive.

[calculoso]

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like JV is the focal point for his team vs Brazil. I didn't see him even get a pass (may have missed it) and he's not even on the floor when Lithuania started pulling away.

[Drake]

@EPSNSteinLine:

The Raptors just announced they've finalized the multi-year contract extension with team president Masai Ujiri that @espn reported Aug. 11.

In conjunction with Ujiri's new deal, Toronto promotes Masai's top aides Jeff Weltman (to general manager) and Bobby Webster (assistant GM).

[bluejays]

That's really big news for the Raps. Biggest of the off-season in fact. When there was news earlier this year that NY was interested in poaching him for President, you know he's highly regarded. I like his thinking process as well. Well done ownership!

[Senator Clay Davis]

Losing the Masaiah would have been a terrible blow. Great to lock him up long term, Raps are always going to be competitive with him running the show.

[Senator Clay Davis]

KG has retired. So will this be the greatest HOF class ever? Timmy D, Kobe, KG is a pretty amazing class.