2022 Toronto Raptors Off-season Thread

[mile]

KD's favourite team growing up was the Raptors...

[Senator Clay Davis]

All this "drama" for Kyrie to ultimately sign the max with the Nets is pretty boring. There is no way they let him go and lose KD too with how bad their future draft capital situation is. They could end up having multiple future top 5 picks going to other teams, because they will be the worst team in the league for the foreseeable future if this happens. Whether they want to or not, they have no choice but to give Kyrie the max. Not doing so could set them back 10 years.

[greyshep]

I am enjoying seeing the player created "super" teams imploding on themselves. (Nets, Lakers, Clippers)

[Senator Clay Davis]

Lakers won a ring at least so it was worth it for them. But if the last few years have shown anything it's that the superteam approach might be on the way out. Seem now it's better to have a true superstar or two at most and have great depth than three superstars and G-League level players behind them.

[octothorp]

I'm a little surprised that they went with a C and especially a conventional, non-floor-spacing one, but I think Koloko projects to be a really solid roleplayer.

[Hockey_Ninja]

Good rim protector and decent post game? I’m sold

[KootenayFlamesFan]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1540171776273022976

[mile]

Sounds like the classic Masai pick. I like it

[Hockey_Ninja]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1540188845576175617

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by mile

Sounds like the classic Masai pick. I like it

It does sound like a classic Masai pick. Hard to doubt their development system, but let's be honest, it's a 2nd rounder so the upside is probably very limited. Not a complaint but that tends to be the case in most situations. I'm more interested in what moves or signings they'll pull shortly.

[mile]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1540192233776988160

[octothorp]

Learning a bit more about Koloko I definitely underrated his ability to eventually develop a shot - nice form, makes foul-shots at a good rate, shows a good shot in practice settings - which makes much more sense as a Raptors pick. I definitely got suckered in by hearing Clint Capela comparisons and didn't dig deeper than that, but his shot is way ahead of where Capela's was entering the league.

I'll take the Raptors' ability to turn bigs into respectable shooters over any other team's developmental staff, given what they've done with Siakam, Boucher, and Precious.

Predictions for free agency? I think the Raptors try to resign both Boucher and Young even if it means overpaying the market rate a little bit, and use most of their MLE on a combo-guard type. I could see them target Monk, but he might get more than the MLE. Payton II and Delon Wright are both possibilities as well.

Apart from trades, there isn't a lot of flexibility there. They could use their BAE for a cheap roleplayer, or break up the MLE money and split it between two $5m contracts, but I think it makes most sense to get the best player they can with the MLE.

[octothorp]

The Kyrie saga is getting a little weirder today, with rumours that he would opt out of the last year of his deal and sign the MLE (around $5m) with the Lakers. If LeBron were to leave the Lakers next year, they'd have the cap room to sign Kyrie to the max, but if LeBron stays, Kyrie's not any further ahead. He'd have to resign with the Lakers for at least two more years after that before they'd get the bird rights necessary to max him without cap space. So it's a pretty big risk for him.

I keep harping on the new CBA and TV deal, and a great example of its influence is Harden, who is rumoured to be opting into the last year of his contract and signing a two year max extension. That would get him to 2025, which is the first year of the new TV deal and likely a crazy-rich offseason. A lot of teams will be clearing cap space, a lot of top free agents will be available, and there's the potential for a huge jump in the cap. Both Harden and the 76ers benefit from that arrangement. It's exactly the sort of deal Kyrie should try to get from the Nets, with the agreement that the Nets will try to facilitate a trade (and the shorter length of the contract makes it highly-tradeable).

[Hockey_Ninja]

All of that for nothing lol. Kyrie is such a clown

https://twitter.com/user/status/1541551184372170752

[bluejays]

Kyrie is quite an attention grabber for someone who doesn’t want attention. Always has to do things unnecessarily headline grabbing. I’m personally sad this didn’t transpire in LA. Could you imagine Lebron giving him a second chance then Irving taking some unnecessary stance and games off? Would have been a great watch.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1542581090812149767

[KootenayFlamesFan]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1542582907029671939

[Hockey_Ninja]

KD finally got fed up with Kyrie and his antics. I can see him going to Phoenix

[devo22]

The Nets basically went from "who should beat KD / Irving / Harden?" to "we spend 70m a year on Irving and Simmons, who'll probably play a combined 40 games".

excellent. #### those buddy teams.

[Hockey_Ninja]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1542584184719425540

Him, CP3 and Book is a solid big 3