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

[AcerComputer]

Don't want KD unless it's a soft deal, and KD would have to want to come here. Barnes is worth more, due to age, health, and contact and is a total non starter.

 

[stickty111]

Grange says Raptors believe they can put the best package, but they haven't yet which indicates Barnes hasn't been offered. He also says even though there isn't any direct contact with Durant, it seems Durant is open to playing in Toronto. The question is are the Raps sure they want to go for Durant, and can they land him without Barnes?

 

[Clark4Ever]

The KD chatter makes me a bit nervous to be honest but at the and of the day, I trust Masai. As others have stated, if the price is reasonable, then I'm on board.

There's also the tidbit that KD was apparently a Raptor/Vince Carter fan growing up.

 

[RCGP2]

Seems like everyone forgot about how he hates Toronto fans for cheering when he got injured

 

[donghabs98]

While KD's talent is unquestionable, I do question if KD would fit in with Raptors culture where its very much team first and no one player has huge say over team decisions. Then you have to consider the price it would take to get KD since it wouldnt be like Kawhi.

Ultimately I don't see KD coming here but we'll see.

 

[LeafSteel]

I will be relieved when I hear KD went somewhere else.

I like what we have going and I think KD is not the impact player we want or need.

You can point to losing Kawhi, but I honestly believe Masai felt he’d be able to extend him….

 

[Emerica]

Seems like everyone forgot about how he hates Toronto fans for cheering when he got injured

He's been on record multiple times saying he loves Toronto and loves playing in Toronto. He also grew up a Raptors fan.

 

[TeddyBare]

You simply cannot include barnes

Rookie deal, plus the supermax rookie extension

That level of control in a place that may not be as attractive to free agents considering the double taxation.

 

[The Nemesis]

One other big thing that concerns me is that all the talk about a KD trade indicates the price would include like 4+ years of draft picks (either trading the picks, offering swaps, or doing the "draft and then trade to circumvent the Stepien rule")

That scares me because Durant is one good injury away from being toast. If that happens and we're boned, we're then boned for the better part of the rest of the decade. And if by some good fortune Scottie isn't included in the package, we'd end up wasting most of his prime years in a period where they almost certainly wouldn't be able to fix the team in that span with the salary situation in ruins and no picks to get cheap young players to fill holes with.

 

[Eyedea]

One other big thing that concerns me is that all the talk about a KD trade indicates the price would include like 4+ years of draft picks (either trading the picks, offering swaps, or doing the "draft and then trade to circumvent the Stepien rule")

That scares me because Durant is one good injury away from being toast. If that happens and we're boned, we're then boned for the better part of the rest of the decade. And if by some good fortune Scottie isn't included in the package, we'd end up wasting most of his prime years in a period where they almost certainly wouldn't be able to fix the team in that span with the salary situation in ruins and no picks to get cheap young players to fill holes with.

Why exactly is Durant one “good” injury away from being toast? He’s already proven that he can come back from a career altering injury like an achilles tear and still play at a superstar level.

Raps can also probably make the playoffs without him anyway so there’s no issue with load management or an injury shortening his season. OG and GTJ are pretty much gone with them needing raises the next 1-2 years. If the Raps can get Durant for them + picks it’s honestly a no brainer. You keep Barnes and you have now found your #1 option for the next 4 years.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Hollinger: The 5 Kevin Durant trades that make (some) sense

When Durant made his request, Phoenix and Miami were supposedly on his list. But what about L.A.? Or Toronto? And how does Utah fit in?

theathletic.com

The Northern Exposure

Of all the non-Phoenix destinations, however, the one that seems the most realistic is Toronto. The Raptors have a lot of interesting pieces, plentiful options for salary matching, own all their future picks, and are unafraid to spend into the tax for a winner.

The question: Where is the line for the Raptors? Is it worth surrendering Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes? I’ll go with “hell no” on that one, actually, as the Raptors would be trading a decade-plus window with Barnes for a short-term supernova with Durant. Keeping Barnes, on the other hand, is the thing that would make surrendering a ton of future draft equity for Durant palatable.

Toronto can still build a really strong package, even without Barnes or a zillion firsts, if they’re willing to include two of Pascal Siakam, Fred Van Vleet and OG Anunoby. But I’m guessing if they’re going all-in around Durant, they’d rather only include one of them.

If that’s the case, the options narrow. A swap of Siakam – an All-NBA player signed for two more years — and Gary Trent, Jr. for Durant and Joe Harris would still likely require significant draft equity (say, three firsts and two picks swaps), but we’d be in the right ballpark.

Anunoby is the other option that could make sense; he’s not as good as Siakam but is younger and has a more favorable contract. His salary is low enough that the match becomes more problematic; Toronto would likely need to add both Trent and Khem Birch in that case and not take back Harris. Which players would the Nets value more between Siakam and Anunoby? For that matter, which one do the Raptors value more playing next to Durant? I think Siakam is the Nets’ answer and Anunoby is the Raptors’ answer, which is why I think the Siakam formulation is a bit more likely.

Again, all this will require some haggling between the Nets and Raptors. But the sheer fact that there are so many potential Toronto trade outcomes that could be palatable to the Nets has to make this option somewhat interesting. Durant didn’t have Toronto on his original list, but being The Man for an entire country certainly is a legacy move, and he’ll have a rising wingman next to him in Barnes. He should be persuadable.

 

[hockeywiz542]

The Raptors believe they can make the best Durant offer. But does that mean they should?

The Raptors are not only “lurking” in the Durant sweepstakes. As Michael Grange reports, Toronto feels it can put together the best package of assets the Nets are likely to get. But you can only go all-in once, and just because they could, doesn’t necessarily mean they should.

www.sportsnet.ca

Are the Toronto Raptors sure they want to do this?

There’s an increasing possibility we’re going to find out. On top of ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reporting Friday that the Raptors are ‘lurking’ in the background of the Kevin Durant trade discussions that have held the NBA hostage in recent days, I can confirm that not only are the Raptors ‘lurking,’ but they also feel they can put together the best package of assets the Brooklyn Nets are likely to get.

Confidence isn’t the word for it, but optimism might be.

There is also a sense – though it’s reading tea leaves at this stage, as teams can’t communicate directly with Durant, who remains under contract with the Nets – that the two-time champion and 11-time all-NBA force of nature is at least open to the possibility of playing in Toronto.

Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and just because the Raptors are confident in the assets they can offer it doesn’t mean the Nets agree, and it feels safe to say that it is perceived asset value that will swing this deal. There is no chance that Brooklyn will do any favours for Durant and take a scintilla less than the next best offer – not after Durant’s scorched earth tour through their franchise the past three years.

This is Brooklyn’s best chance to recover something in the wake of what has otherwise been a fiasco since Durant teamed with Kyrie Irving to join forces in the summer of 2019, so teams who want to win this deal are going to have to do it outright.

That the Raptors haven’t already tells you one thing: the Raptors have remained fixed on keeping rookie of the year Scottie Barnes out of any package they are offering.

Can they hold fast to that and still acquire the NBA’s second-leading active scorer?

As one person with knowledge of the situation put it: "That’s the billion-dollar question."

But just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.

 

[The Nemesis]

Why exactly is Durant one “good” injury away from being toast? He’s already proven that he can come back from a career altering injury like an achilles tear and still play at a superstar level.

Raps can also probably make the playoffs without him anyway so there’s no issue with load management or an injury shortening his season. OG and GTJ are pretty much gone with them needing raises the next 1-2 years. If the Raps can get Durant for them + picks it’s honestly a no brainer. You keep Barnes and you have now found your #1 option for the next 4 years.

I meant significant. Like if his lower body gives out on him again. In his career he's had:

-3 surgeries on his foot over the course of 6 months to deal with fracture issues in 2014.

-missed 20 games in 2016 with a dual MCL/knee bone injury

-suffered a calf injury in the 2019 finals that led to him being hit with the achilles injury when he returned in the finals. He ultimately missed the better part of a year and a half because of it.

-he had a nagging hamstring injury upon returning to the Nets and missed more than half of the regular season in his return.

Only like 3 times in the last 10 seasons has he played 70+ games. And since almost all of his injuries are in his legs it's only going to get worse. If he blows out his knee, pops his achilles again, suffers some sort of ligament damage, or whatever there's a very real chance that given his age and injury history he fails to bounce back to anything close to the level and reliability he had before. And if that's the case the Raptors will be hamstrung for the foreseeable future because the combination of assets shipped out to get Durant and the money left on the books to pay him will keep them out of any possibility of competing or contending for probably at least the next 5 years.

Kawhi's current state with the Clippers is a good cautionary tale of what could happen, only the Clippers are arguably in a better situation because they still have Paul George and a good supporting cast and didn't pay tons of assets in the Kawhi acquisition since it was just FA money, and he's several years younger. But he's played less than half of the Clippers' games since he was brought in and they're still on the hook for 3 more years with him no matter what happens.

 

[Nylanderthal]

One other big thing that concerns me is that all the talk about a KD trade indicates the price would include like 4+ years of draft picks (either trading the picks, offering swaps, or doing the "draft and then trade to circumvent the Stepien rule")

That scares me because Durant is one good injury away from being toast. If that happens and we're boned, we're then boned for the better part of the rest of the decade. And if by some good fortune Scottie isn't included in the package, we'd end up wasting most of his prime years in a period where they almost certainly wouldn't be able to fix the team in that span with the salary situation in ruins and no picks to get cheap young players to fill holes with.

As long as KD can walk he’ll be a reliable scorer, the dudes unguardable at his size/length. He can get that silky J up over anyone based on length alone. I don’t see how he isn’t an elite top 10 guy for the duration of his deal.
If you can do it without Scottie or pascal then you have to make that move, even if it means sacrificing multiple 1sts and swaps.
Gtj + OG is enough cap space wise to make the move work cap wise, then max out the futures. Fvv KD Scottie pascal C is a championship core and provides some youth and some veterans.
The raps are going to have to consolidate talent at some point, when gtj fvv and pascals extensions come up along with OG in a few years and Scottie’s super max you’re already at or above the tax threshold and that teams not a title contender with no depth.
KD has been one of those guys who I always thought if he came here would stick it out, dudes a complete basketball junkie and just wants an opportunity to lead a team to a chip being the unquestioned #1 guy on the team.
Neither of his preferred destinations can offer a packages better than precious OV GTJ unless the nets are also moving Simmonds in the same deal due to rules about having multiple rookie extensions on the books so that means no booker or not Bam. Phoenix can’t combine other players with ayton in a S&T so that limits those options.
Do it Masai.

 

[IceColdBear]

I'd be in favour of a KD move, but it would be a serious gamble.

I'm glad we have Masai and Bobby calling the shots - I think as fans we can rest easy knowing our organization is in good hands.

Our management team has shown the ability to both build a strong team patiently and intelligently, and the willingness to expend that capital and go all in when the stars align.

With the Kawhi trade, it was clear that while Demar and Lowry had led organization to new heights, there was a ceiling that we would never overcome without acquiring a truly great player.

This circumstance is different because our ceiling building patiently around Barnes is nowhere near as clear as in that situation - if Barnes develops into a true star (a very real chance ,but without the natural shooting talent, it is somewhat difficult to project him becoming a number 1 option offensively), the sky is the limit.

Holding off on acquiring KD right now would give us the chance to continue to build patiently, and potentially compete with our home grown talent OR to go all in for a different star in a year or two. At the same time, this opportunity could be the one chance this organization has to acquire the talent needed to seriously compete for a title for a decade or longer and if you miss out, you miss out.

I don't know what the best path to take is, but I'm glad I'm not the one making the decision.

 

[trellaine201]

I would also be worried about those twigs.

 

[Dr.Funk]

LOL

 

[Maplebeasts]

LOL

This has Lebron's fingerprints all over it.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[Dr.Funk]

This has Lebron's fingerprints all over it.

Maybe partially but mostly it's there really isn't a good match otherwise.

Kyrie is toxic with a big contract. Westbrook is on the decline with a big contract.

 

[hockeywiz542]

NBA Rumors: Kevin Durant, Rudy Gobert, OG Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr - HoopsHype

According to rival NBA executives who’ve spoken to the Nets, the asking price remains high for 12-time All-Star Kevin Durant, and is expected to go up following the boatload of draft picks the Timberwolves gave up to acquire Rudy Gobert.

Brooklyn is seeking a combination of the best assets from teams, including any All-Star player(s), rising young players with All-Star potential and substantial unprotected draft picks and pick swaps where applicable.

Brooklyn’s roster currently has role players and All-Star caliber players in Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving (for now) to field a competitive playoff team upon the return for Durant. Currently, the Lakers appear to have the most trade interest in Irving.

While the Suns and Heat are Durant’s preferred destinations, there are complications to a trade with both teams.

Devin Booker can’t be traded for a year once he signs his supermax extension with the Suns. Brooklyn can’t have Ben Simmons and Bam Adebayo together due to CBA rules. The Nets would have to trade Simmons before any potential acquisition of Adebayo.

With that in mind, the Nets would want more than Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges from the Suns. Tyler Herro, as the main trade chip for the Heat, wouldn’t scratch the surface of what the Nets want. At least a third team would need to be involved for Brooklyn to get all the desired assets it wants for Durant with either of these teams.

 

[Lightsol]

The KD chatter makes me a bit nervous to be honest but at the and of the day, I trust Masai. As others have stated, if the price is reasonable, then I'm on board.

There's also the tidbit that KD was apparently a Raptor/Vince Carter fan growing up.

KD also said after the Raptors won in 2019 that they were a dirtbag organization who would never win anything again. I have to admit, I smirk a bit that after that display of assholery, he left Golden State to try and win and now he desperately wants out, whereas the Raptors are looking good for the future.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[TMLAM34]

Thomas Bryant would be a nice low key pickup.

 

[stickty111]

Woj also says it's going to require those teams moving pieces around say a 3 or 4 team trade.

Raptors have a good chance I would think.