Toronto Raptors

[Majingir]

Been about 2-3 years since someone created a Raptors thread on here, so hopefully there are still Raptors fans out there on this forum.


Season starts on Wednesday with a home game. And then after that, we'll be the first real visiting team to play at the new Brooklyn arena for a regular season game(the first game is Knicks-Nets,so Raptors would really be first real visiting team there for a regular season game)

One thing I noticed about Raptors home games...prices vary depending on opponent. A team like the lakers, cheapest seats are $99. Team like Heat, it's about $90,Rockets is around $40, Hornets is about $12.

So you can see just how much these prices vary depending on who we face at home. No wonder Raptors finished bottom 10 in attendance...MLSE is worst sports owner ever. Toronto won't ever win a championship if their owners care 99.9% about making money and .1% about winning

[MrShowtime]

Re: Toronto Raptors

Article on the Bleacher Report. Should the Raptors have traded up for Damian Lillard an interesting read.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1400305-toronto-raptors-bryan-colangelo-should-have-traded-up-for-damian-lillard

[Mintsa]

Re: Toronto Raptors

Big win last night against the Pacers, especially after coming into the second half of a back to back (where we lost the first game in triple OT at home vs the Jazz).

Jose played great and posted a triple double. Jonas played nice and outplayed Hibbert for the second time this season (Hibbert was an all star last year by the way....)

The Raps only scored 5 points in the 4th quarter but still held on to win the game (thats a record for the least points scored in a 4th quarter by a team and STILL win the game in the modern shot clock era).

Yes it was a crazy night......hopefully they can build on this W and creep back to .500 or at least hold it down a bit better until Lowry is back from the ankle sprain (which is hopefully soon....more hopefully for the next game @ Boston on saturday).

[Majingir]

Re: Toronto Raptors

Thread abandoned lol. What do people think of this idea for what we do in offseason:

Our roster(assuming we get Gay for Calderon and Bargnani or something)

C-JV,Johnson
PF-Davis,Acy
SF-Gay
SG-DeRozan,Ross
PG-Lowry

Those are the ONLY guys the Raptors keep.

Then in free agency, we sign a starting PF,a bench SF,3rd string SF/SG and hopefully out of one of the deals we make(where guys like Kleiza,Fields and the others leave), we get a late 1st round pick out of it and are able to draft a backup PG(Kabongo?Projected to go late 1st round,and is from Toronto)

So my 2013-2014 Raptors:

C-JV or Johnson
PF-Free Agent(someone like Josh Smith/David West)
SF-Gay
SG-DeRozan
PG-Lowry

Bench:
JV or Johnson
Davis
Free Agent(backup SF)
Ross
Draft Pick(backup PG)
Acy
Free Agent(3rd string SF/SG)

So basically, in a single offseason, all Raptors would need to do is make 3 FA signings and draft 1 guy and their 2013-2014 team could instantly look like strong playoff contender.

Raptors would have salary to do that. Among the 8 guys I listed the Raptors should keep,that's a combined 50M(NBA median is about 68M).

So about 15-18M Raptors would have to spend on a starting PF and 3 bench players. Seems like more than enough to do that.

[Mintsa]

Re: Toronto Raptors

Rudy Gay's debut last night was the most hyped I've been for a game since 2010 when the Raps/Bulls played in late April to determine the 8th seed.

Good times last night!

Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!

[GrizzlyJuler]

Re: Toronto Raptors

Personally I didn't like the timing of the rudy gay trade. Too many wing players playing too good for the raptors this year and not enough minutes to go around. I'd like to see DeRozan out hopefully he finishes good enough this year where he can draw some interest for a possible trade this summer or next season.

The starting five of:

C-Jonas
PF-Amir
SF-Rudy
SG-Anderson/Ross
PG-Lowry

Seems pretty formidable next year. I'd like for raps to keep Acy, Lucas, Fields and Kleiza as the bench. DeMar and Andrea maybe you can package for some lottery picks or a reliable Center or Power Forward. I smell playoffs next year.

[AC]

Re: Toronto Raptors

Please, ffs, Amir/Valanciunas frontcourt. That would be deadly.

[Majingir]

Re: Toronto Raptors

Still sticking with the lineup I said in January before Gay deal, except since Bargnani was kept and Davis traded, I edited it abit.


So my 2013-2014 Raptors:

C-JV or Johnson
PF-Free Agent(someone like Josh Smith/David West)
SF-Gay
SG-DeRozan
PG-Lowry

Bench:
JV or Johnson
Ross
Acy
Free Agent(backup C/PF)
Free Agent(backup SF)
Draft Pick(backup PG)
Free Agent(3rd string SF/SG)


Fields,Kleiza,Bargnani can all be traded or something.


There's so much potential for next years Raptors team, all that matters really is just what happens with the moves we make. If we can fix up the bench, Raptors could really be playoff team(especially seeing the record it took this year to finish 8th in east, and considering a team like Celtics will be declining even more unless some big changes are made)

[AC]

Re: Toronto Raptors

I really want to nab a guy like Kabongo in the 2nd round. Maybe if we could trade Bargs for a 2nd/late first, we could land him.

I'm perfectly fine with Amir. Lowry/DD/Gay/Amir/JV was one of the most efficient 5 man units this year.

http://blogs.thescore.com/raptorblog/2013/03/30/torontos-promising-five-man-unit/

Amir is easily one of the most underrated big men in the game. I know Demar has a lot of haters but he's easily my favorite player, the kid can ball. He's been AMAZING lately, and Rudy's feeding off him. Lowry's playmaking has been off the charts. JV's post game is awesome right now and his rebounding is nice. If he bulks up he'll be a monster.

We could use a few FA pieces, though.

Lowry
Demar
Rudy
Amir
JV

Tony Allen
Kevin Martin/Jodie Meeks
Ross
Acy
Kabongo
Telfair
Elton Brand/Jason Maxiell/Andrins Biedrins
____ (No clue what to put here haha)

[Majingir]

Re: Toronto Raptors

Even going with the starting lineup of what you said:

C-JV
PF-Johnson
SF-Gay
SG-DeRozan
PG-Lowry

Our bench would have:
PG-Lucas(Lucas over Telfair since Lucas is under contract next year and Telfair isn't)
SG-Ross
PF-Acy

Meaning a backup SF, backup C are two musts. Then a PG/SG and a PF/C.

4 free agents really is what we need. With the lineup posted above, that takes up about 49M. Meaning we'd have about 20M to spend on 4 bench guys. The backup SF and backup C combined could prob take up around 16M and the 11-12th guys could just be small deals.

Just gotta see what we do with Bargnani,Fields. Both of which are under contract next year too. I'd hope we can trade them somehow. Would've been cool if we could trade one of these guys just for like a 2nd pick, buy out the other, and completely fix up our bench.

But if we have to keep those two guys, we'd have only 2 free roster spaces and 4M to spend.

[Majingir]

Re: Toronto Raptors

Rumors of Casey maybe not back for next season....(ironically,they say he wont be back if BC STAYS)

If so..who do people see as next coach? Stan Van Gundy would be good option, a guy whose never had a losing season in his career(though he's been in Florida for like past 20 years and was born in California so don't think he'd wanna come here)


Scott Skiles maybe(a former Suns coach who was around during BC days in Phoenix)?

[AC]

Re: Toronto Raptors

Phil Jackson wants to coach next year. I don't care how much money it takes, I don't care how far-fetched this is, I want this to happen.

[Majingir]

Re: Toronto Raptors

Phil Jackson wants to coach next year. I don't care how much money it takes, I don't care how far-fetched this is, I want this to happen.

He barely even wanted to coach road games for Lakers, he's not coaching out of California lol.

Mike Brown is another name that is available too.

Just some names at positions I think we could use:

C-Dalembert
PF-Hickson,West,Millsap
SG-Brewer
PG/SG-Gibson

1 guy of the 4 listed at C-PF we could/should get(and also sign a under 1M, 11-12th man big man for our team)

Brewer if he can find his shot like he had in Utah, he'd be good bench SF/SG(for times that 2 of Ross,DeRozan or Gay aren't on the court for)

Gibson would be good guy to add as backup PG/SG.

[AC]

Re: Toronto Raptors

If Mike Brown replaces Casey I'm done.

[Majingir]

Re: Toronto Raptors

Tim Leiweke will be President/CEO of MLSE as of June 30th and seems like big focus will be on Raptors(since Leafs are in playoffs and are obviously NHLs most profitable team regardless if they are 1st or 30th in league standings).

The thing that I don't like though, is the June 30th date. It's AFTER the NBA Draft. Meaning if GM/Coach decisions are to be made, it should be BEFORE the draft. Last thing we'd want, is BC incharge at the draft, doing some crazy move(or NOT accepting some trade that is great for Raptors,since he was told to hold off on deals until new CEO/President determines his future).

Raptors don't have 1st round pick so luckily we won't be potentially wasting a draft pick(since the guy who makes the pick,might not even be GM for the season).

All the Phil Jackson rumors are fun to hear, but realistically, I hope he is able to bring in some smart GM for Raptors. Someone who is great with drafting and loves to deal, cause those are only ways Raptors are getting players.