>Simply: They lost a core player for no return and did not decisively choose a way forward. It’s fine if the Raptors didn’t want to match Houston’s annual offer for Fred VanVleet, but it makes you wonder about their midseason approach of adding at the trade deadline. By not either trading away some of their veterans or moving aggressively to acquire one, the roster feels at odds with itself. The acquisitions of Jalen McDaniels and Dennis Schröder could be good value, but the bigger picture stuff remains unanswered. —
CazOnReddit
Yeah, can’t disagree with the grade
Not wanting to pay Fred? Fine, hard to get too upset at them not wanting to pay a max for a guy who had a bad season
You still messed up on replacing him/getting a starting PG unless you somehow land Harden/Holiday/some other 3rd PG that gets rerouted from Portland and the same issues with last year’s roster exist even if one could argue the roster is more well rounded/less top-heavy ie there’s still issues with shooting, too many forwards and not enough guards
You’re banking on Scottie and Anunoby making a jump, Dick to contribute off the bench and Siakam’s 3 point shooting to return to his peak in order to make up for the loss of Fred, and the failed Lillard trade is indicative that they know this is a lot to expect to make this team as good/better than last year’s squad
Honestly I could be talked into a D, the only reason I would consider C- is because at least they didn’t take on a crappy deal like that Hawks proposal
EarlofSlammwich
We added the Fiba MVP. Also added arguably the best shooter im the draft to address a weakness (and he’s 6’8). We also didn’t make a bonehead trade like one giving away Barnes or one that compromised re-signing OG. We had a great great summer folks and good things are on the horizon for the team.
HankScorpio4242
I find it interesting that no one talks about the coaching change. It’s like it didn’t happen. All season long this forum was chock full of Nick Nurse hate. Specifically, that the way Nick was coaching was underutilizing a lot of our talent. Plus there were obvious issues with chemistry and “culture”. All season long, that’s all we heard. Oh…and how much Fred sucks and how he was a big part of the problem as well.
So they fire him then go and get a guy who is seemingly exactly the kind of coach we need. One of the best young minds in the game with a proven track record of player development. Yet right now it’s like none of that happened.
Thing is, that’s the key piece of context here. If you believe that Darko can get more out of your roster than Nick did, that he can accelerate development timelines, and that his approach is a better fit for your team-building strategy, then maybe you want to see that play out before making any long-term decisions.
Are there risks? Of course. There are always risks. But in the context of the nature of the coaching change, it seems a reasonable risk to take.
q1someguy
Kinda fair, really don’t think the off-season was all that bad altogether.
They moved off Fred as he was far too overpriced to keep. They could have got a shitty 1st at the deadline for him probably, so sucks a bit.
Dennis & McDaniels were good signings with that room under the tax. I’m pretty excited for Dennis honestly, I like his game and having more of a slashing PG will be fun after years of Kyle and Fred. He was also very much the next best PG in the FA class after Fred.
Gradey was a great selection for their pick. Best guy on the board and a good fit. He has a ton of minutes to play for. The undrafted signings were good as well Freedom or w.e was probably one of the biggest summer league standouts and plays PG, Nowell is interesting but less likely to succeed. In the end the roster has a lot of cheap young guards that will compete for the backup spots. One breakout there would do a lot for this team.
They re-signed Poeltl to a good deal.
Gary took his player option which is a W.
Coach hire seems good. Too early to say for sure though.
5 Comments
>Grade: C-
>Simply: They lost a core player for no return and did not decisively choose a way forward. It’s fine if the Raptors didn’t want to match Houston’s annual offer for Fred VanVleet, but it makes you wonder about their midseason approach of adding at the trade deadline. By not either trading away some of their veterans or moving aggressively to acquire one, the roster feels at odds with itself. The acquisitions of Jalen McDaniels and Dennis Schröder could be good value, but the bigger picture stuff remains unanswered. —
Yeah, can’t disagree with the grade
Not wanting to pay Fred? Fine, hard to get too upset at them not wanting to pay a max for a guy who had a bad season
You still messed up on replacing him/getting a starting PG unless you somehow land Harden/Holiday/some other 3rd PG that gets rerouted from Portland and the same issues with last year’s roster exist even if one could argue the roster is more well rounded/less top-heavy ie there’s still issues with shooting, too many forwards and not enough guards
You’re banking on Scottie and Anunoby making a jump, Dick to contribute off the bench and Siakam’s 3 point shooting to return to his peak in order to make up for the loss of Fred, and the failed Lillard trade is indicative that they know this is a lot to expect to make this team as good/better than last year’s squad
Honestly I could be talked into a D, the only reason I would consider C- is because at least they didn’t take on a crappy deal like that Hawks proposal
We added the Fiba MVP. Also added arguably the best shooter im the draft to address a weakness (and he’s 6’8). We also didn’t make a bonehead trade like one giving away Barnes or one that compromised re-signing OG. We had a great great summer folks and good things are on the horizon for the team.
I find it interesting that no one talks about the coaching change. It’s like it didn’t happen. All season long this forum was chock full of Nick Nurse hate. Specifically, that the way Nick was coaching was underutilizing a lot of our talent. Plus there were obvious issues with chemistry and “culture”. All season long, that’s all we heard. Oh…and how much Fred sucks and how he was a big part of the problem as well.
So they fire him then go and get a guy who is seemingly exactly the kind of coach we need. One of the best young minds in the game with a proven track record of player development. Yet right now it’s like none of that happened.
Thing is, that’s the key piece of context here. If you believe that Darko can get more out of your roster than Nick did, that he can accelerate development timelines, and that his approach is a better fit for your team-building strategy, then maybe you want to see that play out before making any long-term decisions.
Are there risks? Of course. There are always risks. But in the context of the nature of the coaching change, it seems a reasonable risk to take.
Kinda fair, really don’t think the off-season was all that bad altogether.
They moved off Fred as he was far too overpriced to keep. They could have got a shitty 1st at the deadline for him probably, so sucks a bit.
Dennis & McDaniels were good signings with that room under the tax. I’m pretty excited for Dennis honestly, I like his game and having more of a slashing PG will be fun after years of Kyle and Fred. He was also very much the next best PG in the FA class after Fred.
Gradey was a great selection for their pick. Best guy on the board and a good fit. He has a ton of minutes to play for. The undrafted signings were good as well Freedom or w.e was probably one of the biggest summer league standouts and plays PG, Nowell is interesting but less likely to succeed. In the end the roster has a lot of cheap young guards that will compete for the backup spots. One breakout there would do a lot for this team.
They re-signed Poeltl to a good deal.
Gary took his player option which is a W.
Coach hire seems good. Too early to say for sure though.
No bad deals.