2020-21 Raptors and General NBA Thread - Page 8 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Strange Brew · 01-14-2021, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinny01

I do love the NBA blockbuster and how multiple teams are always brought in.

Huge risk for the Nets here and while this will likely have a better result than their 2013 trade with the Celtics that only got them to the 2nd round and cost them picks that turned into Brown, Tatum and Sexton. If all players are dialed in then there isn’t a better trio in the league than KD, Beard and Kyrie. Kyrie and Harden are absolute headcases though. Nets do have D’Antoni on their coaching staff though and he and Harden have a long relationship.

Rockets got the draft assets but I am not sure why they didn’t take the sizers offer of Simmons++. That is a 24 year old potential franchise player who is locked up long term. The rockets also sent a bunch of future picks to OKC for Westbrook a year ago so they can’t just go full tank. Oladipo is a good player and can be flipped or re-signed. Rockets still have a decent rotation with Dipo, Wall, Wood, Cozens. I heard the Rockets owner refused to trade Harden to Morey in Philly but that is dumb since it was the better deal. I guess banking on those Nets picks being higher in 5-7 years could turn out well for the rockets.

I love the deal for the Cavs who got Allen for dirt cheap. Apparently the rockets wanted to stay out of the luxury tax which is why they took the pick and Cleveland got Allen.

Pacers sent a guy who was likely to leave into a solid player who has 2 more years at a good price and a 2nd

Pretty exciting trade all around and so much more complex than any NHL deal

As for why the Rockets went with the Nets over the Sixers, from what I have heard there are two reasons. One, as you say, they preferred not to deal with Morey from a personal standpoint. But I also heard the ++ in the Simmons ++ offer really wasn't all that much. Not only did the Nets provide a bunch of picks, it was the ability to swap unprotected picks in four other years that is rather unprecedented. The chances of ending up with lottery picks really increases. It's doubtful the Sixers offered anything close to that.

Vinny01 · 01-14-2021, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

As for why the Rockets went with the Nets over the Sixers, from what I have heard there are two reasons. One, as you say, they preferred not to deal with Morey from a personal standpoint. But I also heard the ++ in the Simmons ++ offer really wasn't all that much. Not only did the Nets provide a bunch of picks, it was the ability to swap unprotected picks in four other years that is rather unprecedented. The chances of ending up with lottery picks really increases. It's doubtful the Sixers offered anything close to that.

I think the third reason could be money as well. Simmons comes with a max contract already in place and they could walk away from Oladipo rather easily.

The pick swaps likely will come in handy considering Harden and Durant are in their 30’s and might not even be in the league in 26,27 when the Rockets still own the pick/swap rights.

Strange Brew · 01-14-2021, 11:33 AM

I believe one of the reasons the NBA is able to pull off such complex trades is some of the brainpower involved. Harden hired Wasserman, an athlete representation and marketing firm to facilitate the trade. This isn’t Treliving phoning Garth Snow or Don Waddell. You have conference rooms of MBA’s working on these deals.

octothorp · 01-14-2021, 05:07 PM

Really fascinating trade, and I love it for the Pacers. Partly I love it because so many guys I like (Levert, Brogdon, Sabonis, Turner) all on the same team. They aren't deep, but it's a really exciting young core.

Senator Clay Davis · 01-14-2021, 07:58 PM

You know I saw a lot of possibilities for this season, but Chris Boucher legitimately being the Raps best player certainly wasn't one of them. He is definitely on the untouchable players list for the rebuild.

transplant99 · 01-15-2021, 11:13 AM

An example of how absurd salaries really are.

Quote:

Kyrie Irving will lose nearly $900,000 as the result of a violation of the NBA's health and safety protocols, the league announced Friday morning.

The NBA has fined Irving $50,000 for violating the coronavirus safety protocols, following an investigation into videos of the Brooklyn Nets guard at a family birthday party that began circulating on social media earlier this week.

The All-Star will also forfeit his salary for the two games he missed during his five-day quarantine, which ends Saturday. According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, Irving will lose $816,898.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...day-quarantine

Nsd1 · 01-16-2021, 05:53 PM

https://twitter.com/user/status/1350576581270515714

Bad luck for the Pacers but having to take a physical after being traded might have saved Caris.

octothorp · 01-17-2021, 01:53 PM

Hate seeing another medical issue for LeVert. I've been rooting for him since his college days and he just can't catch a break.

For the Raptors, the next stretch is going to be really tough: Dallas, two each against Miami and Indiana, and then Milwaukee. All teams that have legitimate big-man rotations, something that Toronto is really struggling against. I wouldn't start Boucher because I think another team going at him could get him into foul trouble so quickly, but the team bleeds points with Baynes on the court (not always his fault).

calculoso · 01-19-2021, 01:09 PM

The Toronto Raptors waived center Alex Len on Tuesday.

https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/2095513

The Big Chill · 01-19-2021, 01:38 PM

Hopefully that means somebody else is coming in. There has to be a 2nd or even 3rd string big man out there that can provide more then Baynes and Len.

octothorp · 01-19-2021, 02:01 PM

That's maybe a little surprising; it's already their weakest position, so there must be a plan to bring in someone else there either via trade or free-agent signing.

Hernandez could conceivably get brought up on a 10-day contract, but I'm not sure waiving Len to bring up Hernandez makes sense given that Hernandez is kinda undersized and inexperienced, and what the Raptors really need is a big body who can just play the non-Boucher minutes and not bleed points when doing so.

Regardless, I don't think they make this move without knowing their next move, so either we see the next move today or tomorrow, or there's a trade in the works.

Senator Clay Davis · 01-19-2021, 02:08 PM

I could also see them signing back Hollis-Jefferson and giving Watanabe more minutes as the big (and giving him a one-way NBA deal too). I'm definitely curious for more Watanabe.

octothorp · 01-19-2021, 02:18 PM

I'm down with more Watanabe, I really like what I see from him. But I don't think it makes sense to convert him until you're sure you don't need that one-way contract for someone else, or until you reach the limit of how many games you can keep Yuta up for.

octothorp · 01-19-2021, 04:46 PM

Saw this suggestion posted elsewhere, but two UFAs who would kinda make sense are Vonleh and Dedmon. Both would have the size to play against the larger Cs that Boucher can't handle, and both are more athletic than Baynes or Len, suiting Toronto's play-style. With Dedmon you get a bit more experience, with Vonleh you get a bit more upside.

bluejays · 01-19-2021, 06:20 PM

I'm kinda surprised about Len. He's inconsistent, but has shown some good signs. Nothing to cry over though.

Baynes on the other hand has been 100% junk. He doesn't show much effort and can't score for beans. If there was a crowd he'd be run out by now. Maybe there's complications about letting him go but I'd have waived him ahead of Len.

Agree with Watanabe. At times he's looked nervous but what can you expect when he's played so sparingly. I like him though - worth a look off the bench. I don't think any moves are imminent. They're likely looking to free up a spot in the event a month from now they want to make a deal. It likely gives them a little bit of flexibility now. Oh Baynes...

Senator Clay Davis · 01-20-2021, 04:14 PM

Boucher for Jokic, but it has to happen now to make sense...

https://twitter.com/user/status/1351984105072820225

The Big Chill · 01-22-2021, 06:25 PM

Terrence Davis always comes off the bench with aggression and energy. A lot of confidence too. It has a really positive impact when he plays well.

bluejays · 01-22-2021, 07:54 PM

There’s gotta be something going on with Terrence. He’s good enough to be a sixth man on this team but he’s been dog housed since his offseason domestic dispute. I don’t know if the Raptors management wants to keep a low profile on him until it’s sorted but based on talent alone the guy should be getting more minutes. If the Raps don’t like what occurred they should just deal him. He’s rotting sitting there.

mile · 01-23-2021, 12:07 AM

Nurse said earlier in the season that Terence and Matt Thomas were both making too many mistakes defensively and that he was really disappointed in both of them.

I think it's a combination of that and wanting to rotate in only a limited few off the bench (in addition to Powell and Boucher) during this early part of the season, so they get substantial minutes instead of spreading smaller minutes between too many players. Terence is one of these guys so on some nights he's playing quite a bit, and getting the night off or barely playing for others.

It seems like Terence is slowly finding his way out of the doghouse, he's been getting solid minutes lately. Nurse seems to be flavoring him, Flynn, Watanabe, and Stanley off the bench. I don't know how his legal issues will factor in but it doesn't seem to be a distraction right now which is good.

Thomas has only played ~four minutes since the third game of the season, I think Nurse is more disappointed in him than anybody. Disappointing, because I really enjoy seeing him shoot the ball.

bluejays · 01-23-2021, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mile

Nurse said earlier in the season that Terence and Matt Thomas were both making too many mistakes defensively and that he was really disappointed in both of them.

I think it's a combination of that and wanting to rotate in only a limited few off the bench (in addition to Powell and Boucher) during this early part of the season, so they get substantial minutes instead of spreading smaller minutes between too many players. Terence is one of these guys so on some nights he's playing quite a bit, and getting the night off or barely playing for others.

It seems like Terence is slowly finding his way out of the doghouse, he's been getting solid minutes lately. Nurse seems to be flavoring him, Flynn, Watanabe, and Stanley off the bench. I don't know how his legal issues will factor in but it doesn't seem to be a distraction right now which is good.

Thomas has only played ~four minutes since the third game of the season, I think Nurse is more disappointed in him than anybody. Disappointing, because I really enjoy seeing him shoot the ball.

Good explanation. Personally I haven’t seen Thomas and Terence making mistakes early in the season but I don’t have that coaches eye that nurse probably sees in practice. It seemed like right from the beginning both were benched. Thomas has good potential over Stanley, so I’m not sure why he’s not given more minutes. I guess it ultimately comes down to depth problems, which furthers my theory that the Raps need to package some of that for a starter. I’m personally not a fan of having young talent sit on the bench because of competition. Should always be a chance to flourish.