2024-2025 NBA/Toronto Raptors thread

[Senator Clay Davis]

Cause even in the rare stretches he does play he still profiles as a top 10 player. I would assume he's a lock for the HOF, but his case will certainly be interesting. A meaningful portion of his career is effectively a "what if?".

[Paulie Walnuts]

Is he a lock for the HOF? 20 PPG has never played a full season or won MVP.

If we just basing it off rings, Robert Horry has 7 should he be in the HOF?

[trackercowe]

Two playoff MVPs with different teams? Yeah he'll get in. He was pretty dominant in both championship runs. I would agree his tenure with the Clippers has been a disappointment, but he was already at Hall of Fame calibre career when he left Toronto.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Chauncey Billups and Tim Hardaway are the HOF, Kawhi is definitely getting in. Two time Finals MVP, two time DPOY, six time All-NBA. He may not be a first ballot anymore, but he's a virtual lock to get in, unless he has some Diddy level #### in the closet.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Lol I had no idea Chauncey and Tim are in the HOF.

HOF has lost all meaning when you have guys like that and Kevin Lowe and Cam Neely in the NHL in the Hall of Fame.

[bluejays]

Baseball HOF seems to be the only one with particular standards. Kawhi getting in means nothing one way or another. The standard in basketball and hockey is mediocre at best.

[Sylvanfan]

This statue of Dwayne Wade looks like Mr. Clean.

[octothorp]

Probably the best case scenario for the Raptors so far... Lots of promising player development. I really like the glimpses of the offensive system that we've seen, but it's hard to build up any cohesiveness with key guys so in and out of the lineup. But between Dick starting to look like a home-run pick, and Shead and Mogbo both already proving to be rotation players (and Battle still with a shot, plus Walter not having played yet), there's a real chance that the Raptors entirely rebuild their prospect depth between last year and this year.

And yeah, with next year's draft class as epic as it is, I'm not going to mind the losses piling up.

[The Big Chill]

Nice win for the Raps on VC tribute night. Some of the young guys look good, this team could be decent if they could ever get healthy.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

Nice win for the Raps on VC tribute night. Some of the young guys look good, this team could be decent if they could ever get healthy.

Hate to use language putting down anyone's thoughts, but aside from Barnes, I don't think there are any others that are true championship starter players. So it's a long road to build this team into a contender if you ask me. Certainly we'll see nights where they look brilliant, but you can say that with every team. Consistency is key and with a roster this bad, I don't think they'll do very well this year.

[The Big Chill]

I certainly don’t think they are a contender, but it’s not a bad roster either. They are probably a playoff bubble team with some room to grow with 4 starters being young guys who could still reasonably get better.

It would be best to tank this year and get a high pick, but I think this roster is slightly too good in comparison to some of the other teams out there.

[bluejays]

^ I get it. Dick's emergence (early) plus Quickley does make for some upside to compete, so you're probably totally right there. Hopefully some "intentional" last minute coaching decisions put the ball in the wrong situation to get the tank done, or it's the perennial situation of not bottoming out and getting that desired high pick.

[octothorp]

A Poeltl trade would be the easiest way to ensure a tank this year, and Poeltl's off to a fantastic start and his value is probably at an all-time high (that career-high FT percentage on a career-high volume hugely changes his value if it stays even above 70% over the longterm). But the organization went through such dark times without a center after 2020... they might be really reluctant to move him. And he's perfect for Darko's style of play. (In retrospect, drafting Missi would have been so nice, he looks fantastic for NOLA).

If they were shopping Poeltl, I think the Warriors make a lot of sense... it looks like they might enough to take another shot this year, but center is a major hole, they don't have a rotation player over 6'9". I'd imagine a three-way trade with Kuminga going to a third team and the Raptors getting filler and picks/prospects. Mitchell will also have some value to contenders. Maybe Brown, but matching the salaries is harder than with Mitchell.

With how tight the bottom of the east is (and how good the bottom of the west is by comparison other than Utah), I think it's realistic that by the time they get to the trade deadline, both making the playins and finishing with top 5 lottery odds could be on the table based on whether they hold steady or sell.


I do like the vision of this roster overall... I saw this last year but even more this year I think there's something a little reminiscent of those great Kings teams of the early 2000s. (Not talking about actual levels of these players, everyone on the Raptors would need to develop well to match their Kings counterparts, more talking about style of team here).

Poeltl = Vlade in terms of a mobile, paint-protecting big who's great in the P&R, and can pass really well.
Barnes = modern-day (a little less size but a little more shooting), Webber point-forward if he ever embraces how good he is in the post. The game against Denver where he got injured had me so excited for him because the shot chart was basically all in the low post plus a couple threes... really where he needs to be playing from.
Dick = Peja-light: elite shooter, versatile scorer, smart cutter.
Quickley = Bibby: versatile PG who could play on-ball or off-ball.
Barrett = a little harder to fit, there isn't a great comp to him on those kings teams, but I don't think he's stylistically a bad fit for that style.

What the Raptors noteably lack here is anyone who fits the Doug Christie 3-and-D role. Agbaji would be the closest.

Most importantly, Darko's preferred style of offense that emphasizes movement and improvisation bears a lot of similarities to the Kings' princeton offense, and the Raptors have been laser-focused in their player acquisitions on getting guys who can thrive in that system... bigs and forwards who can pass, cutters, movement shooters, guards who can play both on and off-ball. And ideally guys who can do multiple of these roles. Pretty much every move going back to the OG trade has seemed to share that vision.

But is the player level enough with the current core? Even if the offensive vision is really solid and the fit is really good, is there enough defense? That was always the downfall of those Kings teams. I can't help thinking what a perfect fit Flagg would be. Of course he's going to be a great fit on a lot of teams, but he's absolutely perfect for the Raptors in terms of being that lock-down multipositional defender who can also be another elite point forward on offense.

[Trojan97]

Raps are commanding the tank beautifully to open the season. Lots of great efforts so far just can’t close anything out.

Tough miss by RJ on that buzzer beater tonight, that falls more often than not. Keep the L’s coming but i’m definitely intrigued to see how everyone fits together when the injured vets return. Need to find a way to keep Gradey going when guys like Quickley & Scottie return, his development has been astounding.

[trackercowe]

Some elite game management by the refs at the end. The other major sports must be envious by the leagues ability to micromanage games at the end so they appear closer than they truly are. Even if the Raptors were committing fouls the Nuggets were doing the same thing at their end of the floor. Penalties in the NFL and NHL don't guarantee points, but obviously they do in the NBA. The foul shot disparity in some games is outright ridiculous. Although I have to remember the NBA is more sports entertainment than athletics in 2024, presentation superceeds competition.

[Paulie Walnuts]

How quick time goes. Seeing Klay return to Golden State and those highlights. Those warriors teams brought a lot of fun to the NBA.

Especially the 1 dribble Klay and setting point records in a quarter. Feels like yesterday watching that.

[bluejays]

I didn’t see this coming but Dick may be the real deal. He’s putting up real points beyond just a coincidence. He’s blowing it out fairly consistently. I didn’t think he had the skills but it’s been a pleasant surprise.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by bluejays

I didn’t see this coming but Dick may be the real deal. He’s putting up real points beyond just a coincidence. He’s blowing it out fairly consistently. I didn’t think he had the skills but it’s been a pleasant surprise.

Agreed, his growth has been really impressive this year. His off-ball movement is really good, and he is showing he can do more than just shoot the 3. His game should pair really well with Barnes.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Also, I missed commenting on the Carter retirement, but it was great, and he did a lot for Canadian Basketball.

Lakers have always been my team, and I loved Kobe and Shaq, but Vince was the first jersey I got as a kid.

The Canadian expansion, and Vince made it cool to have a hoop and ball in my backyard growing up. He may have not won with Toronto, and it ended in bitterness, but without Vince we don't get SGA, Wiggins, Barret etc.

Also getting older ####ing sucks lol.

[St. Pats]

Let's go 2025 draft. Shaping up nicely so far. I mean Cooper Flagg would be awesome but Maluach would be a great fit.