Raptors Discussion: v97 Raptor's 2024-2025 - Training camp begins Oct. 1

Keep or Trade - Siakam

  • Trade

    Votes: 63 90.0%
  • Re-Sign

    Votes: 7 10.0%

  • Total voters
    70
  • Poll closed .

DuklaNation

Registered User
Aug 26, 2004
5,925
1,741
LMAO.

Man, the sports world is not prepared for Durant on the Raptors.

I dunno if any of you closely follow the Raptors or the NBA but:

- Durant is probably one of the most hated guys in the NBA
- Raptor fans - and I include myself in this group, are the most active online fanbase among NBA fans due to lack of attention from American and Canadian sports media so most of them engage online. Imagine the insecurity of Oiler fans on HFBoards combined with the smug self assuredness of the Don Cherry wannabes on this board.
Very true, they say Raps fans are the biggest online presence (in individual terms). KD won't have to defend himself anymore, he'll have an army online warriors to fight for him all the time.
 
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Wats

Error 520
Mar 8, 2006
42,231
6,987
I feel like as long as you don't give up Barnes, you give what it takes for Durant. The risk of his health is too high to risk Barnes. Everyone else + 1sts can be rationalized. Feel like Siakam+OG+ton of 1st picks isn't that far off.

PG - FVV
SG - Trent
SF - Durant
PF - Barnes
C - Young

Bench:
Curry (probably as cap dump)
Boucher
Porter
Achiuwa

Worst case scenario Durant barely plays after coming to Toronto due to injuries. You'll still have Barnes under control for a while to feed the ball and be the guy to make this team at least somewhat competitive/build around. The picks they give the Nets may be high in this scenario but you still have someone young and good to build on. I can't see Raps take that risk, it's too potentially crippling, especially with him being in same division.
 
Last edited:

HamiltonNHL

Resigning Marner == Running it back
Jan 4, 2012
22,710
13,884
The panel's facial reaction sums up the universal reaction to his comments.
I should say.

Toronto is the most racially accepting place ON THE PLANET.

Ridiculous.

All the players know Toronto is a legit destination.

He Stay

He Come.
 

hockeywiz542

Registered User
May 26, 2008
16,194
5,270

Not only do the Raptors not have the repeated failure that they had back in 2018, but they don’t have the Lakers’ history as a destination for top players nor the Bucks’ urgency from 2020. What they have is one of the best track records in the draft.

• Norman Powell was picked 46th in 2015, developed into a starting-quality player, and moved to Portland at the height of his trade value for the younger Trent. (Powell was selected between Marcus Thornton and Arturis Gudaitis.)

• Siakam, a two-time All-NBA member, was picked 27th in 2016. (Siakam was selected between Furkan Korkmaz and Skal Labrissière.) VanVleet, an All-Star and 2019 Finals MVP vote-getter, was undrafted that same year, and was signed by the Raptors.

• Anunoby was picked 23rd in 2017. (Anunoby was selected between Jarrett Allen — good pick! — and Tyler Lydon.)

• Barnes was picked fourth in a draft touted for having a clear top four that did not include him. After winning rookie of the year, he is as reasonable of a bet as Cade Cunningham or Evan Mobley to be the best player of what should wind up being remembered as a loaded draft class.

Yet, the Raptors have had some misses deeper in the draft. Since picking Anunoby, they have taken Dewan Hernandez (59th in 2019), Malachi Flynn (29th in 2020), Jalen Harris (59th in 2020), Barnes, Dalano Banton (46th in 2021), David Johnson (47th in 2021) and Christian Koloko (33rd in 2022). Acknowledging that Koloko’s future is unwritten, Barnes is the only home run there. He should be — the other picks, by definition, are hard ones to nail. However, the Raptors’ recent history should underscore that they’re merely good at this drafting-and-developing business, not unimpeachable. (That several of the club’s most notable development-focused coaches, from Jama Mahlalela to Brittni Donaldson to Patrick Mutombo, have left the Raptors in recent years is worth acknowledging, too.) Those higher-leverage picks are still hugely important, and even more so to the Raptors in particular.

First-round draft picks went from being massively coveted in the middle and back half of the 2010’s to being thrown into trades for superstars and even regular, top-40 players in the past few seasons. Their true value probably lies somewhere between the two poles. But under this Raptors front office, they will always carry a little more weight.

Ultimately, I would rather do a trade centred on Siakam than Barnes, partly because Barnes could extend the Raptors’ future past Durant’s hypothetical time in Toronto in a way Siakam could not, and also because Barnes’ rookie contract is so low it essentially necessitates throwing in both Anunoby and Trent with him to make the math work. Perhaps it is a touch cute to think so long-term when a player of Durant’s ability is available.

Perhaps it is that ability to not come at it with the same urgency as other teams because of the plausibility of a longer title window in the future that ultimately keeps the Raptors from pulling off a second trade for a transformational player in four years.

Not only have the Raptors won a title recently, but their future in both the medium and long terms are uncertain enough that they could very well conclude Durant, and the cost to acquire him, are not worth the risk.

Do the Raptors want to maximize and guarantee some championship equity now, or do they want to play the long game and bank on incremental growth not only opening a window, but keeping it open for longer? Pretending that decision is easy is pure fallacy.
 

Woodman19

Registered User
Jun 14, 2008
18,564
2,049
I feel like as long as you don't give up Barnes, you give what it takes for Durant. The risk of his health is too high to risk Barnes. Everyone else + 1sts can be rationalized. Feel like Siakam+OG+ton of 1st picks isn't that far off.

PG - FVV
SG - Trent
SF - Durant
PF - Barnes
C - Young

Bench:
Curry (probably as cap dump)
Boucher
Porter
Achiuwa

Worst case scenario Durant barely plays after coming to Toronto due to injuries. You'll still have Barnes under control for a while to feed the ball and be the guy to make this team at least somewhat competitive/build around. The picks they give the Nets may be high in this scenario but you still have someone young and good to build on. I can't see Raps take that risk, it's too potentially crippling, especially with him being in same division.
Im going with OG + Trent Jr. + Birch (For salary filler) and a ton of picks and swaps. Can't see any other teams who can beat that without gutting their core that Durant would go to.
 

Woodman19

Registered User
Jun 14, 2008
18,564
2,049
I loathe racial-based comments like this.

Not only is it fabricated, but it's an issue that I'd say 99.8% of the people would never have even thought or considered existed that for some reason will now become "a thing".
Dont blink or you will miss the moment Toronto became 1950's Alabama...
 
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Marmoset

Registered User
Apr 4, 2015
712
362
GTA
I feel like as long as you don't give up Barnes, you give what it takes for Durant. The risk of his health is too high to risk Barnes. Everyone else + 1sts can be rationalized. Feel like Siakam+OG+ton of 1st picks isn't that far off.

PG - FVV
SG - Trent
SF - Durant
PF - Barnes
C - Young

Bench:
Curry (probably as cap dump)
Boucher
Porter
Achiuwa

Worst case scenario Durant barely plays after coming to Toronto due to injuries. You'll still have Barnes under control for a while to feed the ball and be the guy to make this team at least somewhat competitive/build around. The picks they give the Nets may be high in this scenario but you still have someone young and good to build on. I can't see Raps take that risk, it's too potentially crippling, especially with him being in same division.
You have to be careful with giving too many picks in a trade no matter how good the player is. The Nets know this better than any team. Toronto needs those picks to build in the future, we don't attract free agents like the Lakers or Heat.

I'm not saying don't give any, but giving 2027 and 2029 unprotected picks would be extremely dangerous, as an example.

I'm against the trade anyway. I don't want to gamble everything on 34-year-old (and counting) KD who has hardly played over the last three years. We're not desperate, we have a lot of positives. I do think we need to make a deal soon to balance the roster, I just don't think this is it.

Of course I'd do a deal if he comes "cheap", but that's obviously very unlikely. I think whatever the cost will be, it likely eats too much depth from a team where depth is one of our biggest problems. Then you're one KD injury away from being in the lottery with no picks and little youth, just like the Nets have been.
 

TheRumble

Registered User
Feb 19, 2009
1,465
2,287


I think Brossard is an absolute hack but lemme play Devils Advocate for a bit.

African-American could be seen as a synonym for black.

But it could also specifically mean black American which is something Toronto isn't going to be able to offer. African-American culture is (obviously) unique to America.
 

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