How should the Toronto Raptors operate in an East ruled by the Boston Celtics? | Mailbag!

How should the Toronto Raptors operate in an East ruled by the Boston Celtics? | Mailbag!

on your Tuesday episode of Locked on Raptors the Boston Celtics are regrettably in the NBA Finals again and seem to have an iron grip on the Eastern Conference for many years to come what does that mean for the Raptors and their plays within a conference that could very much be up for grabs at least if you want to be the runners up we’ll get into that and more on a mailbag episode thanks for hanging you are locked on Raptors your daily Toronto Raptors podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every [Music] day hey what’s going on and welcome to another episode of Locked on Raptors part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day it is Tuesday May the 28th and I’m your host Sean Woodley I’ve been covering the Toronto Raptors now for 10 seasons on various platforms you can find all my work over on the hell website at Woodley Shan and you can go and of course uh find the show on Instagram at lockon Raptors and above all join us on Discord the link is in the description of the podcast for the locked on Raptors Discord server it’s free to join no cost whatsoever you just get to join and talk with sickos just like you who love the podcast who love the Raptors who want to talk about it in a place that’s not uh Twitter it’s a great place to come hang out you’re welcome to join and uh please come better come armed with better fake trade ideas than the people in there right now they got terrible ideas I have to knock them down all the time uh please join and bring better fake trade ideas we need some fresh blood in the fake trades Channel okay uh be sure to find the show for free where get your podcast follow subscribe rate review tell a friend as always it’s much appreciated when you go ahead and do that and support the audio version of the show you can also go to YouTube if you want to watch the video you can subscribe to the lockdown Raptors YouTube channel hit the notification Bell and when you do that you’ll get a heads up via push notification every single time The Show Goes live or Premier so you never miss a second you can join the live chat hang out in there it’s a great place to be so thanks in advance for doing that Today’s Show brought to you by friends over at FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers get 150 bucks in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet visit fanduel.com lockon to get started and we will get started here on a mailbag edition of lock on Raptors we’ve got questions on the offseason to come free agency the draft how do we feel about the strength of the draft now that we’ve kind of had some more time to steep ourselves in the uh the prospects and all that good jazz and we’ve got some wild hypotheticals I’ll get into for some fun at the end of the show but I want to take the first segment just to focus on one question that came in from Mitch wheeler on Twitter Mitch Wheels 19 go follow Mitch uh lovely lovely follow to have and the question is outside of the Celtics who of course are in the finals now boo gross uh the East looks like it could be wide open for the next little bit you think that changes the Raptor’s approach in this rebuild SL retool it’s a very very good question and I think there’s a lot of different ways you can go with it right like I guess there’s sort of one school of thought that says well the Celtics have this sort of vice grip on the conference maybe you kind of wait and be patient and kind of wait it out and wait for that team to age out and then you go and take your shot I kind of don’t subscribe to that idea I think teams that try to challenge the incumbent you know sort of Main Stays super teams whatever you want to call them that own a conference at a given time like I I think teams are often a remembered pretty fondly I think of the Houston Rockets that nearly took down the Golden State Warriors yeah those teams kind of ended in weird ways but I think those are pretty widely regarded as some of the very best teams to play basketball over the last 15 years or so in the NBA they just lost to the Golden State Warriors and that’s not like a bad thing or any sort of Badge Of Dishonor and so I I just think there’s also the element of you know the Raptors benefited from this right like sometimes weirdness happens guys get hurt uh untimely injuries take place team chemistry falls into disrepair and all of a sudden you have an opportunity where oh wow we’re in the finals or oh wow we’ve just like we’re up 2-1 on the Celtics in the Conference Finals and all sorts of things seem possible like I think the NBA is too weird I think it’s too dependent on a topend talent not getting hurt in a league where guys get hurt all the time to sort of Punt years and wait for teams to age out and also there’s the element of well if one team ages out some other superpowers probably going to take their place so I do think in general you just kind of got to worry about what’s going on in your own house and how that fits into the landscape of a conference or a league is something to be figured out once you’ve kind of taken care and built the best team possible within your own sort of own plans and and independent of what everybody else is doing sure there are some times where you have to build your team sort of designed to take down a particular opponent but I do think those sort of tweaks and changes and uh roster upgrades take place at a bit of a later stage than the Raptors even find themselves at right now the Raptors I think are just trying to find some footing find some competitive uh grounds find a way to kind of you know slowly but surely add talent to the roster build up from what they’re at now into something that can then be parlayed into something that is even better down the line via you know well time trades or you know maybe a draft pick really Pops in two three years time and your sort of Team landscape looks a little bit different um as far as like this off season and what it means to be in this sort of wide open Eastern Conference I don’t know if it’s as wide open as it we may be think it is I think the Bucks still have something in them I don’t think they’re going to be miserable or some sort of playin or Lottery team next season like they still like yanis tentac kmo who if he was healthy may still be playing basketball in the postseason for a Bucks team that while definitely imperfect certainly I think POS the best potential chance of taking down down the Celtics just because of the individual might of Giannis himself um so I don’t think they’re going anywhere you know Dame is only going to have so much time their window may be kind of short because they’re a little long in the tooth and you know things like this season can happen to them right where the injury bug hits at the wrong time and all of a sudden their seasons’s a lost cause sure that’s there but I don’t think they’re just going to sort of pasture anything like that I don’t think they’re done being a competitive team in the Eastern Conference and I think with some offseasons a transaction win to kind of address some of their issues maybe swap out some bad players or uh you know misfitting players for better players who fit better whatever like I think the Bucks can be right back in the mix I think the Sixers like you know it seems like the Celtics conference right now the Sixers have the world in front of them this Summer that doesn’t mean they’re going to go and succeed at adding a star with their cap space and flexibility you know they could very well go and make the wrong move or maybe the the free agent wheel sort of stops and they’re sitting there like oh wow we we’re we’re the the odd man out in the musical chairs and that’s a problem right that that could totally happen Daryl M has a way of just going and procuring talent I would imagine the Sixers are going to look a lot better than they did this season next year so they’re going to be very much in the mix and I think a healthy Sixers team absolutely goes toe totoe to Boston um Toe to Toe with Boston and then you know beyond that I mean the Knicks I don’t think are going anywhere I think they’re going to try and add I think they’ll they’ll find ways to use their hord of picks they still have to make upgrades upgrades even if marginal upgrades on the roster still upgrades on a roster that was very good and seemed like the most likely team to give Boston a challenge in the Conference Finals for long stretches of this season so it’s I don’t think it’s like super duper wide open that said like there’s some attrition in that middle part of the conference that I think you can maybe expect I think the heat are going to be worse it seems like Jimmy Butler might just get traded this summer based on all you hear from the people who were in The know like that’s a thing that’s on the table and if the heat trade Jimmy Butler I love bamat bio and all that and I love the devil magic Eric spoler has just sort of emanating from his fingers but they’re probably going to be a worst team they’re probably getable in the sort of rankings and the the sort of standings of the East I think they’re a team that the Raptors could in theory jump next season the Cavaliers who the hell knows right like they could parlay their weird situation into more Talent better fitting talent and still be a very good top six team but I do think there’s a chance they have a setback this next season and I think the magic too like everyone loves Orlando and wow like the magic were so incredible this year these Darlings like they still can’t score and they need a guard this summer like they absolutely cannot afford to do the Raptors thing from a couple off seasons ago where it’s like oh cool fun young team had a nice move you know run to the the fifth seed and everyone’s very happy and surprised and now we’re just going to chill this summer we’re not going to do much to fix what ain’t broke when there’s clearly stuff that is broke within their team construct and I think they got to go out and get themselves a guard whether that’s Donovan Mitchell whether that’s Trey young whether that’s Darius Garland like there are going to be guards available but a lot of teams are looking for those guards right the Pelican’s probably in on one of them and they have Brandon Ingram to trade in exchange for one of them um you have the Spurs who seem like they’re very much going to be in the mix if a young talented guard becomes available there’s a chance the magic much like the idea of the Sixers kind of being on the the wrong end of the musical chairs game there’s a chance they get shut out of the the guard game and have to go the Dennis shrer route and kind of find like a backup Style guy to come and be a stop Gap guard for them and I think that could lead to a setback for them so I don’t think the top ranges of the East are all that much sort of in range for the Raptors but as far as like kind of positioning and jocking to try to be in that top six range like I think it’s there like I think they can get into a six seed if everything breaks right next next season with the Right Moves this summer and I don’t know if the state of the East is really going to inform all that much what the Raptors intend to do here I I think it’s pretty clear what they want to do I think they want to try to Parlay this flexibility this cap space they have on hand into some sort of roster upgrade I don’t think they want to go into the tank next season I think they want to try to be competitive and if they’re not competitive if things don’t work out then they have the the the freedom to say all right well we have our pick it’s a good draft we can sort of pull the plug on it at a certain point but I do think they’re going to go into next season regardless of the state of the East around them trying to be reasonably competitive fighting for the the plane fighting for a top six seed you know we’ve seen teams that did no one expected to be top six teams making it into the top six like it happens all the time it’s just the way that the the league goes with injuries and um attrition and things like that and so I don’t know if you if I really have answered the question from Mitch here but uh I think they’re just going to kind of I think operate under their own sort of timeline and and sort of within their own plans and not worry too much about what’s going on because there’s only so much you can control right who knows team out there makes a big trade and all of a sudden they becomes a they become a true blue Contender and that changes the landscape of the Eastern Conference I don’t think you can really gain plan for that stuff so just take care of what’s going on in your own house I think the Raptors have done a pretty good job of cleaning the slate and kind of hopefully setting themselves up to be in a position where the mistakes of the last couple seasons can be left behind them and no longer kind of hang over the franchise like this big cloud um that sort of informs everything they do it seems like there’s a chance to turn the page here and I do think that you know it’s just going to be typical Raptor stuff they’re going to you know do the draft thing where they uh sort of don’t go for Via consensus and pick their guys who they want they’ll take their guys they want and believe in you know standard operating practice for them I think in the summertime you know if there’s a big trade out there that they think can upgrade their team they’ll throw their name in the mix because that’s what they do they have a couple extra Surplus picks to work with maybe there’s something there um but for the most part I think it’s going to be kind of a quiet offseason honestly you know we’ll see what happens with Bruce and gar but I do think that it’s just sort of a time to maybe just kind of see what they have and let next year’s results kind of inform what the next big moves are going to be that’s kind of where I’m at right now and again I don’t think the state of the Eastern Conference around them really informs all that much of what they’re going to do we’ll come back on the other side and get into some questions about the off season and what ways in which the Raptors might be able to add uh via free agency or they’re under the radar free agent pickups that could be had uh and of course the strength of the draft we’ve been spending a while now think about this draft which is not as talented as most drafts how do we feel about where the Raptors sit in their range 1931 feeling good about a good player being there we’ll get into that coming up in just one sec Today’s Show is brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel the single best place to go and wager on all the sports you want to wager on it’s winner take all time in the NBA NFL and FanDuel is giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks to bet on spreads money lines player props and more visit fanduel.com lockon to make every playoff shot count when you do that you can go and peruse all the different lines obviously the Conference Finals still going on the Western Conference side of things maybe you think that it’s just like a no-brainer obvious thing that the uh the the what what team is it the Dallas Mavericks are going to take down the Wolves complete the sweep tonight and you think that is just like a clear obvious put the money line they’re going to win it’s it’s it’s it’s academic at this point the shop making is just too much if you think that and you want to get those 150 bucks in bonus bets why not put some money down to the Mavericks to win tonight little $5 bet and if you do you get those bonus bets right to your account where you can go and play all sorts of different ways FanDuel America’s number one sports book go check them out right now all right back at it here on your Tuesday episode of lockdown Raptors a reminder go check out locked on sports today 247 our all day streaming Channel on YouTube with locked on shows running all the live long day we have shows on the NHL playoffs NBA playoffs the NFL offseason College transfer portal stuff it’s all there for you the biggest stories and sports covered by the local Experts of the locked on podcast Network in only the way that the local experts at locked on can cover their teams go check it out 247 just have it on in the background while you work or don’t work I’m not your boss uh go check it out though on sports today 247 okay let’s continue on with your mailbag questions a couple about the off seon here uh this one comes from skip to myo looking back are you now more excited about this draft and some of the players in our pick range um yeah I I think I am because I don’t have to pretend to talk myself into any of these guys in the top 10 or so being a raptor uh I think my sort of general feeling about this draft and again this is like a thing that people have been saying saying for ages it’s just not as talented a draft as most years uh but I think my biggest concern with it was I just did not trust as far as I could throw them any of the guys who might have been there for the Raptors at six in the top four if they moved up I I just did not feel like the return on investment for a top six pick was going to be what you typically expect to be for a top six pick I think picking at 19 and 31 is like a perfect place to be in this draft this is a role player draft this is a draft that is kind of flat but deep in guys who should probably play a good handful of years in the NBA and in many cases provide like winning basketball when they do it because of their sort of connective abilities they’re they’re they’re sort of not not you’re not getting like heavy creation guys or anything like that in this draft it’s a lot of guys who are going to fill the gaps and I think that’s what this Raptor team really needs right now um it’s not to say you can’t use more talent and obviously they’ll continue to explore Avenues to add it but they seem pretty hellbent on Scotty Barnes and Emanuel quickle being their two pillars going forward RJ Barrett certainly part of that mix as well and I think that’s a perfectly fine place to be and a perfectly fine bet to make considering what we just saw from Scotty Barnes last season in his third year the jump he took the signs of stardom that were sprinkled all throughout it it’s really encouraging stuff I’m also again people know I’m super bullish on Emanuel quickly being something close to an All-Star at his Peak if not a full-on you know know fully-fledged All-Star I think he’s very good and I think the pick and roll um sort of creation and just like the general point guard stuff that Emanuel quickly does came so quickly and naturally to him upon getting a lead guard mantle with the Raptors that I I’m only more encouraged and bullish on quickly after after having seen him for half a season with the Raptors than I was even before when I was clamoring for the Raptors to go and trade for the guy um and so yeah I I think because of what they already have in house and the way the team is built I think finding connective pieces whether it’s a rotation big someone who can offer them a little bit more sort of stylistic Versatility defensively would be a wonderful thing um you know obviously I’ve been big pound of the drum give me some connective Wings who can elongate the Raptors lineups give them lineup versatility give them the ability to not have RJ Barrett be their sort of de facto main shutdown Wing guy because that is just not something he figures to be good at and so yeah I I I think where they’re at 19 and 31 one great place to be have no issues with uh with where they are in in that range of the draft my big concern was the whole you know deferring the pick again not having all your picks available in the summertime or in future years just you know the opportunity cost of not having your picks available um and just sort of the general lack of enthusiasm I have for a lot of the guys at the top of this draft you know my real sort of hangup was I just it’s better if they don’t pick up there with that pick and it’s better for the long-term future if they just defer it to the Spurs this year which they do which they’re doing or convey It Whatever the word is but and so yeah now 19 and 31 in this draft happy as a clan perfect place to be they probably are going to get themselves a role player or two and I think that’s a very very nice thing and there’s also guys you can make the crazy upside swings on to where there’s Maybe Star Talent hidden in an allrich shamay or something like that or or keesan George who’s younger than a lot of the other Wing types in this draft like that there’s there’s upside to be had here as well well and so maybe you can have your cake and eat it too at 19 and 31 where you draft maybe one guy is more of a sort of all right this guy’s going to be kind of a high floor low ceiling role player and then you can maybe make the high upside swing on someone else there’s optionality to having both of these picks that I think is pretty makes it a pretty good spot to be not to mention and this has been mentioned a couple times in the lockdown Raptors Discord but the idea of having pick 31 which is the first pick of the second round now that the second round is going to be on a whole new day in the NBA draft like they kind of control the board there for the second round a little bit and I’m curious to see I don’t think we can have any sort of inkl inkling of how it’s all going to work out because it’s the first time this has happened we don’t know what it’s going to mean to quote unquote control the board for the second round but it can’t be a bad thing I would think and so yeah I’m pretty cool with where the Raptors are at draft pick range wise and all of that um even though this draft at the top is is very not not exciting uh let’s get to the next one here this one comes from stago do you have any other radar free agents you want to Target with the mle if we go or if we go the cap space route look man the free agent class is pretty Grim this off season and I do think I’m coming around on the idea of more status quo than anything I I I think retaining Bruce Brown into the season is not a bad thing I think you can find a way to deal him at the deadline if you really have to or you just get the salary relief in a year’s time when he’s off the books I think he can be a helpful player to the basketball team he was injured you know from all reports he had something going on his knee down the stretch of the season and was playing on a team that had no identity no uh good players available for long stretches like not exactly the right context to accentuate what Bruce Brown does well you know I think his raw numbers were actually pretty solid the last month and a half or so 114 and four on well above average true shooting pretty good three-point shooting like there’s a useful player in Bruce Brown and if you just bring him back in Gary Trent Jr use the mid-level exception and your two draft picks as sort of your main vehicles to adding to this team for next year I think that’s a perfectly fine way to go about it and again it kind of going back to the the first segment it allows you to just kind of see what you have without making any big boisterous enormous moves before you kind of know what’s going on and so um yeah as far as the free agents yeah I I’m not looking at anyone who’s going to require cap space to sign because I just think I’ve said it before man some of the best free agent deals are the ones you don’t sign and I I I think this is a perfect class for overpaying in response to playoff over performance or uh overpaying just because you have the money and there’s guys out there and it’s not a very deep talent pool so you kind of got to be in the bidding wars for these guys I I I just kind of think sitting out this not very strong for agent class is kind of the move for this Raptor team right now and using the mid-level exception and their draft picks as their main ways of adding to the team I think is is perfectly fine so on the mid-level exception side of things you know I think a couple of guys come to mind obviously the positions that we’re talking about this team needing to address via the draft via free agency whatever it might be is you know a third big a rotation big who can fill in with yaka Purtle and Kelly oin preferably someone with some stylistic versatility to their game some switchability etc etc we’ve talked about that a million times um you know some wings More Wings give me some wings to fill out some lineups please give me some length give me some Wing defense Etc and then a backup point guard I think is kind of the third thing they need and you can do that like you could split up the mid-level exception between a couple of guys if you wanted to a couple of guys who come to mind you know I’ve always been a big Monte Morris guy I I think as like a a ninth man backup point guard type perfectly cromulent would be totally fine with him in there um and probably doesn’t take the full midle full mid-level exception you can then use the other chunk of your mid-level exception if Morris costs six or seven million ion bucks you can use the other six or seven million bucks left over for a guy like goab bat I think he’s the guy who comes to mind most um really nice play this season for the magic when he had to fill in for Wendell Carter Jr when he was out obviously a loaded front Court there so there wasn’t a ton of playing time and not a lot of like raw production for baz there but uh was a very useful player and I think showed that there’s like a little bit of defensive juice in him I would not mind if he was a guy they targeted with a chunk of their mid-level to just f that backup big spot um you know maybe they still draft a big maybe that’s where you kind of go more projecty maybe you take an eve Mei or a k wear in that spot who’s maybe going to take a couple years to refine into something or ramsh also comes to mind um if you’re looking at centers to kind of take some time with baz could be a nice stop Gap third big he’s kind of the the one that comes to mind for me among the uh among the wing types if you’re going like sorry among the big types that is um I mentioned for the for the guard situation I think Monte Morris is like perfectly fine Cameron Payne I guess would be fine too like you don’t got to get crazy with a backup guard like there’s going to be a lot of um sort of playmaking from unorthodox spots on this roster so I don’t think it’s like the biggest necessity or anything like that but getting someone in there who can dribble the ball and kind of run an offense you know even with just the second unit I think would be a pretty decent thing to do as far as sort of under the radar restricted for agents and let’s just say for argument sake they do go the caps space route which I don’t think is the way to kind of maximize how much you can add to this team this summer um but say they go the Cav space route and they want to go and try to find someone um either an under unrestricted free agency or RFA I think RFA is probably more likely just because there’s not that many good ufas and those guys are probably going to want to go elsewhere where there’s more opportunity Malik monk maybe being the one exception I could get on board with Malik monk just as as a talent play although I think there’s a chance that his next contract is a bit of an overpay as well um even with the cap going up I I just think the fit with the Raptors sort of locking yourself into the team that you would have with Malik monk maybe not my favorite move but if you’re going and looking at guys who are rfas someone you can throw an offer sheet at and maybe convince a team to not match I think Isaac aoro comes to mind um you know obviously offers Wing defense in Spades very very good positional or point of attack Defender etc etc and you know no one cares that he shoot three shoots threes like defenses do not give a single worry or care in the world if ISAC aoro is wide open for three but he hit a bunch of his threes this year he’s at like 40% if you can replicate that eventually teams will have to care about him on defense and you know that changes the shape of your team if you can throw Isaac aoro you know what four years 60 is that too much I don’t know like well that this is the thing when you when you do RFA stuff you gotta create a deal that is unfavorable for the other team to match and that often means it’s unfavorable to you as well and so I’m not like super keen on the idea but if there is a single RFA out there you know Patrick Williams we’ve talked about a little bit he’s one he’s fine I’m not super keen on him Isaac aoro not also not super Keen but he might be the best guy you could go out there as like an under the radar RFA guy to throw some money at um but yeah it’s it’s a grim scene the free agent class being what it is is why I’m kind of team status quo at this point um until further notice and you know I can change my mind on that whenever I want it’s my damn podcast we’ll come back on the other side we will round it out with a couple more questions regarding wild ridiculous hypotheticals my favorite thing to entertain in the offseason we will get to that coming up in just one second all right back ated here closing things out on your Tuesday edition of lockdown Raptors doing a little mailbag action uh and got a couple questions that are just like fun stupid hypotheticals great stuff for the off seon uh let’s get into this one here from Psychic asking strange question what non-title contending team would Scotty Barnes turn into a title favorite I love this question because it kind of breaks my brain um and I have like kind of a troll answer that I want to throw out there because I think it’s hilarious and it’s the Indiana Pacers uh Pascal seum Scotty Barnes pullup shooting guard could be pretty darn fun in my estimation um you know maybe that takes away some of the stuff that makes the paces really good but I don’t know you got a little Halton out there NIMH hard Miles Turner SE yakum Barnes that’s a damn good team and a team that makes me want to cry thinking about it even existing uh so I’m gonna move on from that one before I get too sad um you probably got to go to the Western Conference I don’t know there’s a ton of teams in the East where Scotty Barnes is just like an easy guy to drop into to make them awesome and this is the challenge with Scotty Barnes a little bit is he’s like kind of a particular player to build around it’s not a bad thing like he does a lot of really interesting things you can play off of but his three-point shooting is not guarantee right now I I think there were very encouraging signs last season but I think his three-point shooting more looks like the functional sort of catch and shoot stuff I don’t think there’s going to be a ton of Pull-Up to his game would love to be wrong but you know it’s a really really difficult thing to add in and he’s just never had success as a pull-up three-point shooter um so I think it’s going to be kind of standstill catch and shoot stuff and for him to really benefit from taking those shots like there’s got to be someone to create stuff for him as well and so you got to bake that in here it’s why I think the fit with him and Manel quickley is really nice I think quickley and Barnes if they can kind of get that two-man game going a little more effectively like there’s a real chance that Scotty Barnes helps to or that quickly helps Barnes kind of get back to where he was at the start of last season when he was banging threes a lot of which came as a result of wonderful things Pascal SE yakum was doing with the ball if we go over to the Western Conference I think a really interesting one is the Sacramento Kings I think there’s potentially a lot of overlap there between him and damont sabonis and so it’s not per Perfect by any means I think the sort of playmaking hub from the elbows having two of those guys like it’s nice for staggering minutes and surviving when the other one sits but um you know I still think the kings were like an OG and an Obi away from being pretty incredible um it’s a shame they couldn’t get in on that one because like a fox Murray an anobi a sabonis group is is a ton of fun um you know that that’s a tricky one I I think you know I mean he’d be pretty awesome on the Nuggets then have to say they’re not a title Contender because they are a title Contender but he’d be really fun in the nuggets and I guess like the Thunder too like I mean any of these teams right any really good team you add excellent Scotty Barnes to them they’re going to be even better and more title worthy but the Thunder I think in particular if you had Scotty Barnes playing the four on that team offering some helps side Rim protection playing just kind of being bigger and beefier than uh Jaylen Williams or Lou doar um and not to mention kind of offering a guy who you know he’s not an incredible three-point shooter but if teams are going leave him wide open to shoot threes like I think he can burn them we’ve seen that like he was pretty good catch and shoot guy on wide open stuff this season I think him and Shay would have a really fun twom man game like it might be tricky spacing wise it might not be perfect but playing next to Chad hren I think Scotty Barnes would be pretty damn awesome um so the Thunder might be the answer right now the Thunder needs someone of that size of that sort of stature um to kind of tie things together I think and give them a little bit more beef I don’t think they actually need like a big I think the sort of it’s been a misdiagnosis of the Thunder to say oh they need some more beef they need to move Chad hom homr to the four like no he was fine at the five they need someone who’s taller than 6’5 on the wing um and I think and someone who is not Josh giddy someone who can help complete those lineups with that fifth guy who makes that that sort of core four of theirs really really sing um and so yeah and also like having Scotty Barnes maybe makes it more viable to not play Lou dorton you can work in more Isaiah Joda at the spacing or Aaron Wiggins or whatever so yeah the Thunder might be my answer uh thankfully he’s not going to be on the Thunder because that would really really make me sad and irritate me next question here comes from Mugsy asking if an NBA if the NBA were to place an ex expansion franchise in Canada in the near future what would be the most likely location try Vancouver again Montreal not only a world renown City but loves its basketball Edmonton has showed a lot of love for basketball as well between the NBA and WNBA and of course the cbll on top of that a great question look I don’t think there’s going to be another expansion team in Canada cuz I frankly don’t think the Raptors would allow it at this point I’m not sure if they have like veto power over it or anything like that but um I think this is quite a wild hypothetical because I just don’t see it I think they’re GNA focus on Seattle and Vegas first and then do you need more than 32 teams you probably don’t I we don’t got to D stuff even more we don’t need to be MLS over here um when it comes to What team what city it would be like I think Montreal is my pick um probably even less likely to be allowed by Toronto um but I think you know with the NBA seemingly having eyes back for Seattle the Blazers are there I just wonder if Vancouver like they want to have three Pacific Northwest teams again did it really work as I’m not saying Vancouver can’t work as a as an NBA City they had really bad ownership and really kind of botched their early franchise draft picks and Maneuvers and stuff like that um I think they could certainly have a better more fair shot at it given another sh given another chance but I think Montreal is the answer I I think it would kind of have like a bit of an interesting Edge kind of luring European players I think um just because it is more of a European flavor City and and all of that obviously the weather is not perfect or anything like that but um I think Montreal would be kind of an incredible NBA City honestly I think it would be pretty fantastic Edmonton I think is a hard no I think it’s basically just like this is nothing against our friends who live in Edmonton but like it would instantly become that market that everyone whenever a good player is on that team everyone in the world goes well when’s that player leaving Edmonton and going to ex glamour Market I think it would just kind of be stuck in that Perpetual cycle um and I I just I don’t know if it really kind of has enough juice to be an NBA City maybe it does and I think it would probably you know be far enough from Toronto that uh that you know the the sort of powers that be at mlsc wouldn’t be too much of making a think about it but yeah I think Montreal to me is a clear City like that city is a killer basketball town it’s a great Sports Town when their teams are doing well obviously obviously the Habs draw incredibly well no matter what and I think just given the right sort of chance to start out and not be sort of a doormat franchise right right out of the gate um for like a super long prolonged period I I think Montreal would be a pretty amazing NBA market and the Rivalry between Toronto Montreal would be uh absolutely incredible it’s never going to happen we can wish we can hope but that’s why we answer hypotheticals here on the podcast um last one here this one comes from JD young go listen to lock on sharks by the way hosted by your friend JD JD Young on the lockedown NHL side of things um the question sliding doors moment what happens if Kawai shot doesn’t go in against 76ers entertaining the worst of all hypotheticals that shot is like a top five uh Sports Experience of my entire life probably top three or two it’s unbelievable it’s the greatest um never want to live in a world where it doesn’t happen never want to live in a world where JJ reck doesn’t have to think about it in every podcast he’s ever asked about it um and all that um I think for me probably means they kind of sell in that summer right like if Kawai and those Raptors lose in round two that team was kind of built to be torn apart um Kyle Larry probably goes away and you know that that just kind of ends that summer um I think he had one year left on his deal at that point I think they probably trade him I think um You probably move on from gasal and Ibaka a year early and you really kind of reorient things around the SE yakum van vet and anobi Trio and you know they’re probably not very good The Following Season just because those guys weren’t quite ready and Kyle Lowry was obviously such a key cog in that 201920 season um which is for my money the most uously joyful Raptor season of all time the uh sort of flipp in the bird the whole league after winning the title season with no kawhai it was an absolute Delight I’m really glad this didn’t happen because we wouldn’t have had that season the way it did way it played out if kawhai did not hit that shot and the Raptors lose in game seven to Philly um but yeah I I think you know the other hypothetical here is kais is that shot and they just like find a way to win in overtime and everyone’s fine and everything moves on and they go and win the championship but that’s no fun that’s that’s not fun to think about and they probably were going to lose that over time because they looked absolutely cooked but um yeah I I think you know a lot of sadness and despair and prematurely breaking apart a team that had end up having a really really fun season in it still if the Raptors do not win that game seven against the Sixers with the kawhai shot we’ll leave it there thank you so much for tuning in thank you for sending in question to those of you who did and we’ll be back again tomorrow Katie hinda will be along we’ll figure out what to talk about it’ll be a Katie episode who knows it can go anywhere and that’s the best part of KD episodes we will have some more draft stuff later this week Jamar Hines will be along as well and uh we’re moving into June here man it’s very exciting the draft the trades it’s all coming to us so much slop very much looking forward to it and uh you can keep up with it of course by following subscribing raing reviewing on your podcast app of choice on the audio side of things go to YouTube and subscribe over there always appreciated very much when you support the show however you support the show and we will leave it there we’ll talk to you again on Wednesday with another episode of lock on Raptors thanks for hanging bye-bye I left my ball on the floor give me one sec all right here we go please hit this ah bye

In Episode 1645, Sean Woodley goes solo to field listener questions about how the Toronto Raptors should operate in an Eastern Conference owned by the Boston Celtics, but with plenty of uncertainty after that, as well as some questions about the NBA Draft, free agency, and some wild Raptors-related hypotheticals. Off thet top, Sean digs into the idea of the East being at once dominated by the Celtics, and yet seemingly wide open behind them, and whether or not that reality should affect the way the Raptors approach their building plan this summer and beyond. Next, Sean discusses his feelings on where the Raptors are selecting in this widely derided Draft, and some under-the-radar free agents who could make sense for the Raptors in a summer where free agency is probably not going to be their saviour. Lastly, Sean tangles with some wildly hypothetical Raptors questions about which non-contenders Scottie Barnes would turn into no-doubt title contenders, where a Canadian expansion franchise would most likely land, and what would have happened in Kawhi Leonard didn’t hit the shot.

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