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

[aingefan]

So here's the thing...

If we sell everything, we still take back NBA players. If FVV wants to sign with Phoenix, for example, we take back Chris Paul. At this stage, Chris Paul isn't as good of a player as Fred, but he might be a better fit for the offense we will likely want to run.

GTJ is expected to opt out of his 18.8M option and comparable contracts are around 30M per year (like FVV). If he goes to Orlando (rumored), they likely need to move Isaac and Harris, or they would need to essentially gut their bench to make it work (and likely include a 1st to convince Toronto to not flat out say no).

If we trade OG to Portland (shopping a high pick), 3 + Winslow + 23 would work salaries wise.

If we traded Siakim to Houston (shopping 4 to rapidly improve), they could straight up trade us picks, or they could trade us younger players that could contribute.

Note: All of these scenarios could change in a hurry, but the result of this would be something like:

Poetl
Isaac
Draft Pick
Barnes
Paul

With a bench including: Winslow, Harris, Draft Pick, Draft Pick, Boucher, Koloko, Porter Jr

I can’t say that I’ve been following the Raps and the draft that closely that I’m familiar with the trade options you’re discussing, but who doesn’t love the swagger idea of two big trades at the draft to net two top four picks at the draft? Add that to 13 and Scottie and man oh man, sooooo much to talk about.

Sign me up for that reason alone. The new head coach loves development….he could be developing a three headed monster as soon as this year.

Edit to add: given that clearly the mix is off right now

 

[hockeywiz542]

Bradley Beal situation highlights the volatility, challenges of striking a deal with draft, free agency on the horizon

There are a variety of dynamics hanging over the draft landscape and the looming start of free agency.

sports.yahoo.com

Harden’s other potential free-agent outcome still stands to be rejoining the Rockets, although it’s hard to trace a straight line through all the forecasts of Houston’s offseason plans. There is one common denominator among the Rockets’ long list of summer goals: spend money, acquire talent and compete for the postseason under the guidelines from owner Tilman Fertitta. Rumored free-agent targets such as Lopez, Dillon Brooks and a long list of wings would seemingly slot well next to Harden. And yet, if the 34-year-old were to return to the franchise where he became an MVP, that would come after the Rockets pick at No. 4 in the draft, where Houston is said to be targeting a point guard, leading many rival teams to project the Rockets selecting Overtime Elite playmaker Amen Thompson.

The Rockets have also attempted to bring G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson to Houston for a pre-draft visit, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, albeit so far to no success. Moving up to land Henderson would also seem counterintuitive to any designs on netting Harden. Any lead guard-type drafted by the Rockets would certainly lose on-ball opportunities in Harden’s presence. Houston, though, doesn't seem to have the veteran talent that would entice Portland to slide down from the No. 3 position, should Henderson fall there, and it remains to be seen if Charlotte, holding the No. 2 pick, would entertain a legitimate offer from Houston, as the Hornets are also said to harbor playoff hopes for the 2023-24 campaign.

The Hornets are attempting to bring both Henderson and Brandon Miller back to Charlotte on Monday to visit with team owner Michael Jordan, league sources told Yahoo Sports. All signs appear to indicate the Hornets choosing between Henderson and the Alabama swingman, despite bringing in Amen and Ausar Thompson last week.

Charlotte could feasibly trade the pick, but the Hornets appear deep in internal deliberations between Henderson and Miller. There has been plenty of buzz about New Orleans and Toronto, in addition to Houston, registering interest in jumping up the draft board. The Pelicans are indeed quite high on Henderson, sources confirmed to Yahoo Sports. He boasts the explosiveness and athletic build of a bonafide franchise-caliber offensive engine, with Henderson measuring just under 6-foot-4 in shoes during visits with Portland and Charlotte. New Orleans is armed with all the future draft capital if those two teams were to value that commodity. But that’s just not the present reality.

 

[hockeywiz542]

The Ringer's 2024 NBA Mock Draft

Who will go no. 1 this year? The race couldn't be more open. We rank the top prospects in this year’s class and unveil our latest mock draft.

nbadraft.theringer.com

3. Scoot Henderson

G League Ignite, USA

Portland Trail Blazers

Charania’s original report stated that the Pelicans were targeting a top-three pick, so that means the Blazers have probably also received calls. Sources say the Raptors and Wizards have also explored trades to move up into the top three. Charlotte and Portland could wind up with a bit of leverage if Henderson is the prospect teams are targeting. And over the next week, I bet we will see more reports about other teams trying to move up: Indiana? Orlando? Both of them have multiple firsts to dangle. But if the Blazers do end up with Henderson, will he learn the ropes under Damian Lillard or replace him? The two of them wouldn’t be able to play together. Not to mention the complicating presence of Anfernee Simons. It’s a strange fit, but the Blazers should go with the best prospect available and figure out the rest later.

13. Jalen Hood-Schifino

Indiana, Freshman

Toronto Raptors

Hood-Schifino’s draft stock is all over the place, but the Raptors feel like a solid landing spot for him. Fred VanVleet’s future is in doubt, and if he stays in Toronto he could use some size in the backcourt next to him.

 

[DuklaNation]

NBA is quickly becoming the most overanalyzed league in sports. It isn't complicated, you need at least one guy who demands a double team in the half court. If you don't have that, the team needs to play an unselfish style. Raps don't have either currently. The latter will be addressed by the new coach. If you're in the lottery, addressing the first point is the priority.

 

[thewave]

NBA is quickly becoming the most overanalyzed league in sports. It isn't complicated, you need at least one guy who demands a double team in the half court. If you don't have that, the team needs to play an unselfish style. Raps don't have either currently. The latter will be addressed by the new coach. If you're in the lottery, addressing the first point is the priority.

NBA

Need a top 10 talent in the league or bust. Absolutely no point in doing anything without a top 10 baller.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[LaPlante94]

Kind of forced to do this and should have always been a priority. We need our draft picks to work out because we can't build through FA like other teams can so development and coaching are 2 things we need to be the best at since we can afford it.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[Dr.Funk]

 

[Bjindaho]

The more I read about the new coaching staff, the more I realize the problems with Nurse's system. Everything I asked to happen with Barnes is what the new guys are going to bring but go completely contrary to Nurse's system.

His entire system requires dribble penetration and kick to a shooter but he refused to trust the kids to develop that aspect of their games leading to Fred being overplayed and unable to play that game, leading to him expecting Siakim and Barnes to play that game (news flash, that isn't either guy's game).

The new system sounds like it will be closer to the one that DeRozan thrived in, which fits our roster to a T. If we can somehow keep the Nurse defense (which was the biggest positive of the Nurse era) and add a Mitchell style halfcourt offense, we will be very difficult to beat, because we won't be beating ourselves.

 

[Bjindaho]

What an ugly team to try to line up a trade.

They are 50M over the cap, so they have to match. 24 is only 2.6M of it.

Matching-wise, they could use Huerter (which they almost certainly won't do), which would be an interesting piece, or Holmes (which they absolutely would do) who has no value. 3 late 1sts and some poorly allocated salary for OG is a terrible deal.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Time for Raptors to seriously explore trading Pascal Siakam: Koreen

Bradley Beal's situation in Washington isn't identical, but it's worth thinking about whether it's time for Raptors to move on from Siakam.

theathletic.com

Pascal Siakam turns 30 next April. The situations aren’t precisely the same, given the contractual information laid out above and the types of players they are. Yet, the potential end of the Beal/Wizards partnership feels relevant to the Raptors. It is time for the franchise to seriously consider trading Siakam.

Siakam isn’t just a great development story, he’s an excellent player. At any given time, he might be one of the best 15 or 20 players in the league. He’s made All-NBA teams twice. Before the pandemic interrupted the 2019-20 season, he was the best player on the team with the league’s second-best record. He has no particular injury that has plagued him throughout his career, and has been comparatively durable compared to the league’s best players. If his scoring efficiency has slipped as his offensive usage has taken him to the top of the Raptors’ pecking order, his playmaking ability has made up for some of that.

Given the championship season and the one that followed it, the question isn’t whether Siakam can be a great player on a great team. It is whether the Raptors, with the players they have locked up and the players they do not, can turn his talent and production into meaningful success over the next few years, when Siakam would likely earn between 30 and 35 percent of the salary cap. Siakam isn’t currently eligible for the latter number, but he would be if he makes an All-NBA team next year. In dollar figures, that would mean a starting salary in 2024-25 somewhere between $40.2 and about $51 million per year. (The league’s official revenue/cap projections for the 2024-25 season aren’t out yet, so the latter number is just a reasonable guess.) It could take him through his age-34 season.

Again, there is proof of concept that a team can be a championship contender with Siakam as one of its two or three best players. We haven’t seen that with Siakam making an eight-figure salary, but to put the Raptors’ issues developing rotation-level players behind the group he and Fred VanVleet have led would be unfair. Maybe Siakam (and VanVleet) aren’t perfect for their roles within the Raptors’ hierarchy, but the front office has not acquired players who could make those roles better fits.

Saying that, as long as Siakam is with the Raptors, he figures to remain the highest-usage player on the team — at least until Scottie Barnes proves he has enough of a scoring repertoire to up his share of the ball. Of the 30 team leaders in usage percentage in the league this season, Siakam had the 23rd-best true shooting percentage. Only four of those 30 top options had a lower true shooting percentage than Siakam, and only one of those four, Terry Rozier, had a lower usage percentage than Siakam.

All of which is to say Siakam’s share of the offence wasn’t especially big for a player of his status, yet his efficiency was not very good, either. Unless his 3-pointer volume or free-throw attempts go way up, there isn’t an especially obvious way for that to improve, which caps the potential of any Siakam-centric offence, even if new coach Darko Rajaković re-orients it.

..............

And the draft is the right time to seriously explore Siakam’s value. Portland is expected to consider moving the third pick for the right player, while many teams behind them — notably Houston and Detroit — could have interest in doing the same. Now, there aren’t a ton of natural fits high in the draft to place next to Barnes – aside from Scoot Henderson and Brandon Miller, expected to go second and third in some order. Saying that, fit becomes less important than sheer talent if you are trading Siakam and accepting taking a step sideways or back in the near term. Also, perhaps moving Siakam allows the Raptors to recoup some picks to make up for their current deficit.

None of this is to say you have to force a trade now. Siakam is a very good player, and this isn’t the last window to move him, if that is what the Raptors want to do. Any team acquiring him at the trade deadline would get Siakam’s Bird rights just like they’d get them now. Masai Ujiri isn’t the type of executive who ever feels like he has to do something, and that should not change at this moment.

Siakam, though, is about to get more expensive, and there is no real evidence the Raptors are going to be in position to win at a high level in the next few seasons. It’s no fun to trade a player as good as Siakam, especially when you’ve seen him grow exponentially since you drafted him, but it’s less fun to watch your best player’s trade value lower while your championship equity doesn’t rise.

It’s unlikely the Raptors will ever be in as dire of a situation with Siakam as the Wizards are in with Beal. But that doesn’t mean they should invite the arrival of a reasonable facsimile into their lives.

 

[aingefan]

I don’t know anything about Scoot Henderson, other then I want a guy on my team called Scoot.

 

[Cor]

If we can get Simons and the 3rd pick for Siakam, as I've seen speculated a lot, we definitely should lol

 

[hockeywiz542]

Raptors Among Teams 'Strongly' Connected to Michigan's Kobe Bufkin Ahead of NBA Draft - Sports Illustrated

Something strange is going on with Michigan’s Kobe Bufkin.

The sophomore guard has been among the biggest risers as the NBA Draft approaches less than a week away and, according to ESPN, Bufkin has suddenly shut down his workouts leading to speculation that he could have a promise to be selected by a team in the lottery.

Who exactly that might be remains unclear but the Toronto Raptors, owners of the 13th pick, have been among the teams “strongly” connected to Bufkin, Jonathan Givony said on the Lowe Post Podcast.

Washington, Orlando, Utah, and Oklahoma City have all been connected to Bufkin as well, Givony said.

Bufkin was a breakout star for the Wolverines last season, averaging 14 points, 2.9 assists, and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 35.5% from behind the arc as an unusually young 19-year-old sophomore. Over his final eight games of the year, he averaged 19.3 points while shooting 45% from three-point range on five attempts per game.

There isn’t an obvious weakness in Bufkin’s game. He can create for himself and others, play both on and off the ball, and is a ferocious point-of-attack defender. The one question for him is going to be his size, 6-foot-5 and just 187 pounds, relatively slight for an NBA combo guard.

It’s unclear if Toronto has been able to bring in Bufkin but he appears to be a player to keep an eye on if he’s still available when the Raptors’ pick rolls around toward the end of the lottery.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[GoonieFace]

If we can get Simons and the 3rd pick for Siakam, as I've seen speculated a lot, we definitely should lol

If that deal is on the table and the Raptors don’t pull the trigger….I don’t know what to say

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[ErnieLeafs]

Wishful thinking, unfortunately. Blowing it all up is not Masai’s thing.

 

[DuklaNation]

I've got a feeling Raps are in on Jalen Hood-Schifino, 6'6 with a plus wingspan. Meets the prototype of combo guard that would fit the roster better than some other options in the draft. More of a pick and roll guard, good mid range game with floaters, better 3 pt shooter than stats say, kind of an average athlete, unsure about defense.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[Eyedea]

Wishful thinking, unfortunately. Blowing it all up is not Masai’s thing.

I don't know. Hard to say for certain that he'll try to compete for the playoffs if FVV leaves. Also unsure if GTJ opted in or not but that's another potential loss. Running Scottie at point will be fun but likely a lot of growing pains next season.

 

[trellaine201]

I don’t know anything about Scoot Henderson, other then I want a guy on my team called Scoot.

Matt Devlin will love it lol

 

[hockeywiz542]