Raptors 2024 Draft and Free Agency Primer Ft. Blake Murphy

Raptors 2024 Draft and Free Agency Primer Ft. Blake Murphy

hello hello everyone it is Kenny near basketball R wine for another week hopefully you guys aren’t getting sick of us yet it is summer Raptors aren’t playing but basketball is still you know in abundant Supply which is great uh we have a guest as you can see uh there’s obviously the usual Beyond uh there’s also Blake Murphy here now before I go further I will say that this episode’s probably going to be split up into several pieces so you will get you know maybe a piece on Monday uh or whenever this comes out and then you know a couple days later instead of the usual draft talk you might get the second part of this so stay tuned people Blake first of all welcome to the show uh you are the host of Jay’s talk uh plus right now uh you know how are you doing I’m good man uh you’re talking to me after the Jays have won a couple and actually scored some runs so that’s a nice positive change it was uh Bleak there for a little bit where it’s looking like yeah I went from that Raptor season where you know the last 25 games of that Raptor season even if you understood why it was not a whole lot of fun right into the Jays kind of doing the same thing so even against Bad teams nice to uh nice to have the Sun out here and the Jays scoring a couple runs if we only combine the two team somehow the team that can’t play defense with the team that can’t score yeah there’s a there’s a real team in there somewhere you could probably sprinkle the Leafs in too somehow I don’t know it’s things things dropped off quick after the 2019 champ ship for Toronto Sports as a whole somehow hey we had a good run though we did yeah I’m not trading I’m not trading the 2019 title Jay’s Raptor’s Leafs could be bad for like a decade I I’m not not traing that in well also at the TFC as well during that time which you know since you know but hey uh uh with that being said people I’ve been saying it again and again and again the pick has now conveyed so I don’t have to say will they or will they not um my question to you like probably the first question is leading up to that did you want it to convey did you what were your thoughts I didn’t really care that much honestly like I’d been so resigned to the fact that for the whole like second half of the season it’s like well the furthest that they could bottom out is like it’s going to be a 5050 to keep it so I just kind of had to you know make peace with either possibility and I see the arguments for both sides if you’re you know if you’re and it’s not just an optimist pessimus play but the optimistic view I think would be we get a high Talent a high pick in here in even bad drafts there are good players you get another good young player to get in there and learn and grow with Grady and and Scotty and and IQ and RJ um and maybe you know e young player with this core you just kind of have to suck it up and hope that you know you find that guy at 19 or 31 instead yeah I mean the way that I say about that that trade as we call it it’s the gift that keeps on giving uh it never ends it’s still not ending but it’s we’re almost there we are almost there we we’ve up uh it’s it’s almost like a like like a weird subscription model that isn’t you know quite at the end and uh we’re we’re we’re just about there and you know it’s like the the weird Xbox points where you you know you have to top it up a little bit just to get your game that you really want so we’re we’re almost there we’re almost almost next year’s second to I think was a part of that deal and then we’re done right okay yes yes could you imagine all say actually you have a you’re first born um so uh I think obviously we’ve been starting to cover the draft we it was it’s been interesting because we covered it from uh you know a little bit of people from the the back end of the draft and the front end of the draft and then now we’re kind of like okay now we actually have to cover guys in our range that we know that are in our range uh did you have any names I know you’ve been mainly focused on Jays but do you have any names that you want to kind of toss out we we we actually talked to uh Tyler Rucker a couple weeks ago and he’ll he’ll be back on soon hopefully after the the Celtics lose for me um yeah I mean full disclosure at this point in the process like those draft guys know will know a little bit more right like I would for the guys in the event that the Raptors won the lottery and we’re going to pick that high you I mean you guys know me like when I’m prior to this job now where I do jays all summer you know I’m going deep on like 60 70 different prospects right like I want to know all about those guys I want to try to find some g-league guys your you know Christian vatal your Jose Alvarado’s uh that that kind of guy too um this year with the Jay’s duties I just can’t be that locked in so um you know I read the people you’re supposed to read Vini javone switch Theory guys Ben Fifer like like all those you know draft Twitter people as well and I kind of Cobble together an opinion that way and and obviously I’m locked in for like March Madness and try to watch a bit of college ball and stuff but I won’t be as prepared for this draft as I um you know normally would be prior to um you know prior to taking on this Jay’s role so I don’t want to I don’t want to fake it and act like I you know hey this guy at 19’s going to be the guy or this guy at 31’s going to be the guy there are some guys that I have like a moderate interest in um I I’ve kind of circled Ryan Dunn at 31 because like he’s just so Raptors Z like another guy who’s really good defensively and their questions offensively and like the Raptors traded too many of them away now like now they need a guy who’s just a a defense first guy um unless you really think oai is going to be that guy so um you know I I’m not I’m not all that locked in on you know who’s going to be there at 19 to 31 who I like the most uh I’ll have a board together by draft time uh but a lot of that’ll be leaning on people like the the really smart draft Twitter people well if there’s ever a draft you don’t have to worry too much about this the big it is true the way I I describe it is it’s a very flat draft and I’ve I’ve described it that way the entire time uh Ryan Dunn was actually one of the first people that we covered and published on this channel for this year um you know positive or negative like you like him or you don’t like him we liked him but it was kind of one of those like okay at the same time at 19 it’s a little bit high and he’s a little bit of a project and that’s why I said 31 I was clear that I was talking 31 I was with you I think my second your point there about the Raptors part I think if he’s on another team and you wanted to add him in there but I just thinking for the Raptors like I I I’ve been down this road so many times I was like I don’t know if I want to go down that road again with another the yeah been traumatized a little bit over the years I honestly like you guys say you’ve been traumatized I actually think it’s gone the other way for me where I’ve just been like brainwashed with these guys like the raptness of it has seeped into me where like I just love defense first guys who can’t play on offense I don’t maybe it’s because I like my worst basketball skill is my handle as well and I’m a defense first guy so I just want guys who are out there trying to play like me although they’re not a lot of five you know combo cards out there so I’ll just look for the the 68 wingspan guys who can’t dribble instead I G say this Blake I haven’t I haven’t nightmares right now Eve Missy right now just floating through myir yes yeah I mean there’s definitely some interesting prospects we we’ve covered uh both in terms of high floor skills uh or high high skill floors um and those that are more say raptors Z on the offensive end uh we’ll see what happens but Messi in his presser mentioned mentioned that we need a lot of things but he did mention specifically that we needed offensive initiator SLO guard a defending Wing a forward Center depth that’s why I say you mentioned a lot of things it’s just like go through the Christmas list um if you were to prioritize you know and rank those obviously there’s only really three but if you were to rank them how would you rank them if if you were asked yeah um you know the ideal thing is always a big Wing who can shoot a little bit right like that’s you know there’s a reason that they were overp patient with the last core it’s because they had a lot of those guys and then when they eventually traded them they got like a I mean at least with OG’s case got a lot back um and then you know Pascal whatever we we’ll see what they turn Bruce Brown into um but it doesn’t look like that’s going to be the the spiciest of trade returns um pun pun intended um so yeah you love a wing with some size who can play some defense a knock down a three you know basically what you’re hoping oai can become or what OG was for you but guess what the list of guys who are available in free agency who do that is like OG and that’s it so there just aren’t enough of those guys so you’re GNA have to Cobble it together um through that lens I would probably lean toward more offensive creation just like you know the the the wing Defenders who are out there are not going to be the $25 million types anyway you’re probably looking to and this is going to give people like nightmares but like you’re trying to read do that Jaylen McDaniels play but hit on it this time right like that’s that’s where you’re probably focusing for a wing Defender and you’re continuing to try to develop oai into that so I’d be looking a little bit more at offensive creation um there is it’s it’s a the free agent class is poor but the one area it is pretty good is backup point guard um you can get uh there are a good number of potential backup point guards guys who could step in and start in a pinch like the tus Jones tier of guys who um you know no one’s calling their friends on June 30th we got Jones but you know when you’re in game 20 of the season and IQ misses one and he steps up you know that kind of guy I think at the higher end of where you could aim uh strictly from an offensive creation standpoint like D’Angelo Russell could be a free agent you know best guesses he resigns with the Lakers because that’s what the Lakers do with these guys in these situations um you know that that’s kind of the higher end of that self-creation type of guy um but the free agent list gets pretty thin pretty quick where are you guys leaning on that uh well I’ll let beond go first actually yeah I’m I’m with you on the on the wing side of things I prefer to look for a wing in the draft in this case I got a couple guys in my my in my mind I I would like to see at 19 perhaps get picked there um I think I agree with you I think the backup point guard you could probably find something of course you mentioned um Jones in this case I think he’s been somebody we’ve been eyeing for a couple of years now you know I remember we had a deal kind of thinki in our head last year at the draft we were um at the trade deadline we were trying to figure out something with Utah with Conley because we that same type of guy where it’s like oh my gosh you imagine Conley and his team if they were really going to make a run he would been a perfect fit so I I I totally agree with some guy could just organized the second unit is what I’m looking at and then of course I think that 31st pick at this point based on how things look right now you just try to get a young big that you could grow you know because I I don’t see much yeah yeah I should I should say too I I didn’t mention him but Malik Monk’s another guy who’s like in the mix and like is like the youngest good free agent who isn’t restricted uh so I should mention him as well because from an offensive standpoint but yeah the uh you know the list the list does get thin pretty quick Canen you yeah so for me taies Jones was discussed for sure several times on and offline I still like tyus Jones I do have some concerns because he did say he wanted to start and if you’re paying quickly and then all of a sudden the back court gets small I mean if he if he wants to start he he can go play on a bad team is the the reality with that and like and sorry I don’t I don’t mean that like tus Jones is the guy I just meant like tus Jones types right like if Monte Morris is yeah DeAnthony Melton’s another one that that type of guy there are a handful of them out there yeah so from another one actually well I mean I think it was last year uh at the Raptor Republic uh shindig I’ll say right before the trade deadline I I I was ended up talking to I believe Samson about downhill pressure guards and also how amazing Marquel folz is now obviously there’s a health standpoint there that it seems to always be in the mix for him but I and he shoots threes about as often as Ben Simmons at this point so you’re gonna have to be creative offensively a little bit you know the the fol Scotty lineups one four pick and roll stuff would be you know spacing challenged given that you don’t have a lot of Shooters on the team but they just got to get talent in the door right like more than Messi checklist or whatever they they got to get guys in who can play and who fit the timeline a little bit Yeah so from that standpoint I mean I yeah I I I agree with everything I mean we kind of just covered every one I I’m not as big on the Malik monk standpoint only because number one uh you know the recent injury that he has I don’t know are you going to overpay for someone that you don’t really have the medical information on um obviously that’s part of that process but it’s still it’s a it’s a concern for me and then uh the other thing is that where does he fit in this lineup and who are you I guess subj you know subjugating you know is Grady gonna now take a developmental hit so that you can get Malik monk in just to see how that kind of works um I’m not that worried about that kind of thing and like if Mug’s not your guy that’s fine but like the Raptors just don’t have enough good players right now right so like whether like and this came up sometimes too with like well what do you do if Gary’s back and Grady’s around it’s like there are enough like Malik monk came off the bench for 72 games for Sacramento this year and you know there are enough minutes and there are enough Touches for a guy like Malik monk to be second and Sixth Man of the Year voting even though he got hurt at the end of the season right like like on a good team if it’s if it’s a good environment you can figure that stuff out guys you know we we hear about the guys who want to start and don’t want to come off the bench and stuff like that you always hear about it more on a losing team or a team that’s underperforming right you didn’t hear like you you had a sense that like Serge Baka would have preferred to start but the Raptors were going for a championship Serge Baka is not going to be like pout and be like I want to start next to instead of marol when you’re going for a championship in a year like this year when you got to move Dennis shrew to the bench and the team’s not winning also that’s when you hear about that stuff so I think they just got to focus on getting the talent like like good teams have eight or nine guys that they have to find minutes for um you can look yeah like you can even look at the Nuggets right like I I know their starting five got rolled by the Timberwolves and that was like the biggest issue but they also you know that’s a team that had good depth in the play in the regular season and like I like Christian Brown I like Payton Watson and then come playoff team against another playoff level team they were maybe a body short so I think the Raptors are they’re a step away from like you got to worry about the fit and who goes where like they’re just at such a talent deficit relative to those top teams in the East right now I’m less concerned with you know those kind of secondary effects I agree um the other thing too is uh just from a drafting standpoint just really quickly terms of getting a point guard next year seems to have a lot more guard creators in that draft at the upper end I hope so um there’s one that I’ve kind of honed in on uh part of it is because you know his brother played on the 905 at one point which is uh Dylan Harper of course but uh you know obviously it helps having an uh you know NBA dad uh as well and he is all respect to the brother he’s a little bit better than his brother uh supposedly so uh you know to be determined of course but um you know he’s a very interesting Prospect uh I do have questions about uh you know Bruce brown but I’m going to save that uh just for the second part you kind of uh went towards free agency and I like that because you mentioned a name that seems to always get forgotten about that’s Gary Trent um it seems seems to always be the Forgotten man that he pops back up uh you know almost like The Undertaker sometimes um I guess my question for you is obviously Let’s ignore the dollar amount right because there’s obviously you know if the dollar is right there’s obviously a deal to be made in no matter what with anything really in life so the real question is is that is I guess you’re still on the talent Factor um I’m wondering you look at this free agency class you look at next year’s free agency class by signing Gary Trent are you risk ring ruining your financial flexibility at all in down the road and you know under a management team that as they said themselves they like to be a little patient yeah they do value flexibility a lot and I I definitely understand that concern because you’re going to sign Scotty to the super to the rookie Max extension this offseason that’ll kick in the following year uh you’re going to sign IQ to a New Deal RJ’s already under his full money deal um now we can look ahead some of this TV deal stuff that’s that’s starting to trickle in newswise I think we can start thinking the salary Cap’s going to continue climbing so maybe that makes you a little bit more comfortable we’re also like and Kenya I know this is stuff that that you get really interested in too like we’re headed for a fascinating offseason where this is the first offseason where we’re actually going to know how these like super tax teams are going to have to operate in the new environment where there are all these restrictive rules about them building you can’t aggregate players together you can’t take back more money you can’t sign and trade you can’t use more than you know the minimum salary after a certain point um so there are it’s going to be an interesting SE offseason to see how that shakes out and I say that because with respect to hey you know two years ago you would have said Well yeah if all else is equal sign Gary Trent you never worry about the flexibility because a young guy who shoots 40% on threes and makes 17 million a year you could find 10 teams in the league who would take that guy no questions asked right like like Gary Trent would always have a market as we head for this new environment where it gets really restrictive past that first tax Band um it might be a little more difficult I still think with where the Raptors are um you know and I’m I wouldn’t I wouldn’t resign Gary Trent at the expense of doing any free agent shopping or whatever there is a way you could tiptoe especially now that you don’t have that top pick where you could you know if you move off of Bruce Brown you can delay the quickly deal because he has the small cap hold you can get something done with Gary at his new number so the cap hold shrinks and still have a little bit of free agent money to play with and bid beond the mid-level exception so that’s probably what I’d guess they they end up doing now with Gary I’m not you know if that gets too far north of like 17 million I start to question like okay like I I like Gary and he he won me over a lot in the second half of this year and uh everything was going wrong and he became kind of this steady on court leader and was reliable and stuff like that the defense picked back up um I liked what he did this year but past like you know 1718 million you start to look at well is that is that better used somewhere else can you replicate what Gary does with Grady dick Improvement and a mid-level exception guy um so I don’t know if that number Hits 20 I probably walk away but I think with where they’re at and what they’ve shown us with how they operate in in similar situations in the past if Gary gets a similar deal to the one he’s already on that wouldn’t surprise me yeah I think beond has a question yeah I just want to follow up because with the you know rumored TV deal in we’ve already seen numbers what Shay’s deal might look like with this I think Luca has a similar one as well too I just I wonder now I always think of Gary’s like okay that’s your typical 20 million player that can shoot 40% from three what does that look like in the new TV what does the new 20 million do guy look like is that $25 million guy so I don’t I think if I’m Gary’s agent I’m looking these numbers coming out like yeah keep talking about shein getting 81 million Gary’s agent is also Rich Paul by the way so you know you know he’s got eyes on you know he’s going to the Lakers and being like hey if the Raptors don’t give us an offer we like we might explore that cavius cwell Pope or Malik monk oneyear clutch deal with the Lakers get my value up and then go get the big deal uh I could see that playing out if the Raptors and him or if there’s not a long-term deal for him there from someone else I I would think what teams would probably say back to that is the new TV money is not here yet right like it’s going to take a little bit before it hits the salary cap so you don’t want to you don’t want overextend right now based on something that’s going to hit the cap in like 2026 um because you’re you know you can disrupt your cap sheet now and stuff I just I I think agents will play that card but teams are going to have to be like hey sign a two-year deal then and then reenter free agency and you honestly we might like when 2016 we did see guys in like 2014 and 2015 more guys took shorter deals so they could re-enter that market knowing the cap was going up that’s that’s something that’s maybe on the table this offseason too well so this enters in a new question is that about Scotty from a raptor standpoint would they want to hold off on the extension to maybe have Financial flexibility next year the other more important question is from a Scotty standpoint and this is where I’ve been kind of paying attention to this TV deal for a while now could we see another Banana Boat crew where they sign smaller deals yeah so I mean that I can’t answer that’s going to be just up to what guys want to do right the one the one thing they did change after 2016 um and they messed up not address it in 2016 is we now have like a maximum the cap can expand per year so it can’t go up more than 10% at a time um and like players still get their 51% of basketball related income uh it just it’ll you know roll over to Future cap years or come back in the escro system or whatever um so we’re just we can’t see the cap go up more than 10% of the time so there’s no KD to the Warriors situation on there you can never stop guys from taking a little bit less money to play with their boys though or chase a ring um as for the Scotty question I get what you’re saying like it it would be great if you know like the IQ situation they have extra flexibility right now because Emanuel quickly is a restrictive free agent and he has a small cap hold that is not small but smaller than what he’s going to sign for so you basically get like six seven million of artificial cap space with Scotty Barnes I think because it’s such an obvious Max because his relationship with the franchise is going to so important over the next five six years they’re just going to get that Max extension done the the only question really is whether it’s the 25% Max or the 30% Max with the asterisk of if he makes an all NBA team or whatever uh next year the same way that Pascal had the escalate it was 25% but it escalated the 28% because he made all all NBA second team right right um so with that being said we’re going to actually take a little bit of a break and end part one uh for now but uh we will continue this uh right after so uh thanks everyone uh thanks to the listeners and of course for this part like comment and subscribe of course please and thank you

Blake Murphy joins Basketball Rewind to chat with Coach Roache, and BeyondTheLockerRoom ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft to discuss what the Raptors should do with Bruce Brown, Boucher, and other decisions.

Chapters
Blakes Thoughts on the Pick Conveying – 1:50
Ryan Dunn Talk – 6:00
What should be prioritized at the draft and in FA – 8:30
Free Agent Targets – 10:13
2025 Draft Class – 16:00
Gary Trent Free Agency – 16:45

Blake Murphy – https://linktr.ee/blakemurphyodc
Coach Roache – https://twitter.com/CoachroacheT
BeyondTheLockerRoom – https://twitter.com/BeyondLockerRm

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