2017-18 Toronto Raptors and General NBA Thread

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Eh, I wouldn't say masterful. Clarkson's contract is bad and on the books for two more seasons after this. Hill is not even close to what he was in his prime, defensively this season he ranks marginally better than Isaiah. Yes we can expect him to up the effort level, but he's a mild upgrade and his shooting stats are skewed by low volume. Hood is decent, but his injury history/soft reputation doesn't bode well for playoff basketball. And if it is Perkins who ends up filling the buyout spot, that's a nothing add. They also have no rim protection, and are set up to get destroyed on the glass. If they draw the Pistons in round one, they could easily lose that series watching Drummond average 10 offensive boards a game (and something stupid like 25 total).

The Cavs are better than they were yesterday, but they've been playing .400 basketball the past two months. It doesn't take much to improve. They're still banking on LeBron going mental and having the greatest postseason ever....and even then, the Celtics and Raptors are much deeper and have actual teams together. Oh and it doesn't change Lue being a terrible coach either. Frankly if they fire him and hire Fizdale, then they're a lot more intriguing than anything these trades did.

Yeah, past versions of the Cavs have had these lineups that were so difficult to match up with a really took advantage of James' versatility; when they put both Frye and Love on the court, that was such a tough matchup. I can't come up with a lineup for their current roster that's really scary. No combination of Love/Thompson/Nance as their bigs is really tough; maybe they rely more on going small with James as point-PF with Love, and then Hill, plus two of Hood/Korver/Smith? That's got some shooting, but it's still really weak defensively at the wings.

[bluejays]

Just got a Score mobile alert that the Kings and Raps have discussed signing Carter if Sacramento buys him out. I'm not opposed to it, but bringing back their best player ever for a swan song while a great story, is still something to be weary of. I think the guy has a bit in the tank to give, so the move I don't think will be bad, but if things go south in any given game, the fans will be chanting for more Carter, when he likely should be small minutes.

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Eh, I wouldn't say masterful. Clarkson's contract is bad and on the books for two more seasons after this. Hill is not even close to what he was in his prime, defensively this season he ranks marginally better than Isaiah. Yes we can expect him to up the effort level, but he's a mild upgrade and his shooting stats are skewed by low volume. Hood is decent, but his injury history/soft reputation doesn't bode well for playoff basketball. And if it is Perkins who ends up filling the buyout spot, that's a nothing add. They also have no rim protection, and are set up to get destroyed on the glass. If they draw the Pistons in round one, they could easily lose that series watching Drummond average 10 offensive boards a game (and something stupid like 25 total).

The Cavs are better than they were yesterday, but they've been playing .400 basketball the past two months. It doesn't take much to improve. They're still banking on LeBron going mental and having the greatest postseason ever....and even then, the Celtics and Raptors are much deeper and have actual teams together. Oh and it doesn't change Lue being a terrible coach either. Frankly if they fire him and hire Fizdale, then they're a lot more intriguing than anything these trades did.

To me the mastery is the complete about face when they realized the game was up. They did their usual fill the team with vets looking for a championship early this year. It clearly wasn't working and they jettison them all. Thomas the malconent also down the road.

Yet they didn't totally give up the chance as they know Lebron has taken their team to the Finals before with a nothing team. They still have Love and they have made themselves better. Unlike the Raptors pretend stars Lebron takes over the game on both ends. Defensively and rebounding he can just own if he wants to and, of course, offensively he is unstoppable. Any team playing them will be up against the refs as well. I'ts not like he hasn't done this before and taken a so so team to the Finals.

But even moreso is the astute planning for the future. They clean house and bring in some decent placeholders. Without giving up the Brooklyn pick. They can readily transition to the rebuild. They will deal Love for a good return and away they go. Thats pretty slick and takes a pretty honest admission that hey maybe we can't win it this year. But let's cobble together the best we can and see if Lebron can do it again. Meanwhile they get a jumpstart on the rebuild. That's very solid management.

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

New theory for this year's postseason: Start the Bench Mob, bring the starters off the bench.

Some of the games this year really remind us how badly DD and Lowry can play. This in a game with no pressure whatsoever against a sad sack team without their best player. Not hard to imagine them crapping the bed,as per usual,in the playoffs.

So yeah they aren't going change it up but IF Casey has a brain then he needs to limit their minutes when they stink as they almost for sure will do. Move them out earlier in the 1st and third. Rest them longer. Heck I would start going with quick switches O for D in the fourth.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I guess if you were to look at it in the context of hedging, then yes the Cavs did well today. But at the same time when you lose LeBron, you might as well get in on "Play like #### for Barrett". But for this year they still have a lot of areas you can exploit, and LeBron has to carry them so much more than before, like it was back in the first stint. Love coming back helps, but their biggest problem is once LeBron is off the floor, they have no one who can create offense.

And I do think Casey will let the bench play extensively if the starters are off. They have earned his trust, the thing they do even better than the starters is execute on both ends. Coaches always like that, and as long as players are doing that coaches will ride them. The bench also offers a bit more in terms of variety on both ends. If used properly they are unquestionably the biggest edge the Raps have over either the Cavs or Celtics.

[Drake]

Thibs yelling at KAT and the trash refs gave him a T. Trash refs continue the stellar week of garbage officiating (all season too). Go figure they lost by 1 too.

[savemedrzaius]

All this talk of Vince coming back, if he doesn't now I'm gonna be a little mad.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I'm gonna be mad if they sign him. Better, more impactful buyout guys will be available. I get the nostalgia factor, but given the current form of the bench, VC would be the 11th guy on the team, and if Powell gets it together he's at the end of the bench.

[TheAlpineOracle]

I don’t want Vince or the distraction that come with him.

[St. Pats]

No matter who they pick up the guy would be a situational player. You ain't getting an impact player from the rubbish bin. Vince has as much as any of them as far as three point shooting and that's it. Toronto can't even offer playing time or cash. They will grab somebody who can go out there if they are cold shooting. It ain't a threat to their chemistry or much of anything really. Maybe a shooter steps into one playoff game and drains a couple of three's. Just a pure depth/ insurance thing for the Raptors especially.

[The Big Chill]

The Raps are in a great spot now after the Celtics loss today. Celtics have 2 more losses then us. First place is within reach with a strong finish.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Missed this the other day, but congrats to Dwane Casey on 300 wins with the Raptors. We've all had our criticisms of Casey, some fair and some unfair, but 300 wins with a single team in the NBA is still a remarkable accomplishment. I think he's got a pretty good shot at coach of the year. The Raps are only three games back for best record in the league, unlikely they get it, but to even be close with the way Rockets have played this year and the Warriors being the Warriors is a great job.

And a stat that shows maybe this year will be different: The Raps have had eight game this year with 30+ assists. They had eight games of 30+assists in the last five seasons combined. There's certainly reason to be concerned when the playoffs come they will revert to old habits, but if they don't they are a lot harder to play.

[octothorp]

Yeah, I've been a huge critic of Casey over the years, but he's really earned my respect. Sometimes we forget that coaches, like players, can improve, and I think Casey is a much better coach now than he was even two years ago.

[jayswin]

How annoying is the East vs West in the NBA that the Raptors are #1 in the east and yet probably wouldn't win a single game in an NBA final.

It's so lopsided that being the eastern champions would be like our NBA championship, lol.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Jokic has a triple double in 14 minutes. Goddamn what the Raps could be if they drafted him and not Bruno.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by jayswin

How annoying is the East vs West in the NBA that the Raptors are #1 in the east and yet probably wouldn't win a single game in an NBA final.

It's so lopsided that being the eastern champions would be like our NBA championship, lol.

And even if they could win a game, the refs would ensure they didn’t like every other time they play the Warriors.

[TheAlpineOracle]

If we are taking old Raps back off the waiver wire, I’d much rather take a flyer on Bosh than Carter.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

If we are taking old Raps back off the waiver wire, I’d much rather take a flyer on Bosh than Carter.

Why not both?

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by fleury

Why not both?

Not going to lie, I want neither. Don’t want to mess with the chemistry we have or the beast that is our bench.

[octothorp]

I highly recommend this article on DeRozan and his background growing up in Compton. He's had a couple kinda cryptic tweets this weekend indicating how difficult this weekend is for him.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...-demar-derozan