How good can Immanuel Quickley become & other Toronto Raptors offseason talk w/ Will Lou!
on your Friday episode of Locked on Raptors is there reason for optimism after a terrible no good Toronto Raptor season heading into a summer of turning the page we’ll get into that and much more with our dear pal will Lou from hello and welcome coming up on today’s show thanks for hanging you are locked on Raptors your daily Toronto Raptors podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day [Music] 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 Friday June the 7th 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 you can find the show on Instagram at lockon Raptors and of course you can join us in the lockon rptor Discord baby the link is in the description of the podcast it’s a great place to come hang out talk ball get mad about the Celtics being up in the finals all that good stuff it’s a lovely place to be unless of course if the Celtics win in which there’s no safe corner of the world it’s all hell in the world is coming to an end yay uh again free to join Link in the description would love to see you there in our listener community on Discord of course you can find the show for free wh get your podcast follow subscribe rate review tell a friend all that good stuff on the audio side of things you can also go to YouTube and subscribe to the lock on Raptor YouTube channel when you do that hit the notification Bell and you’ll get a push notification to your phone every single time the show show is about to Premiere or go live which is a wonderful thing uh especially when we got cool ass guests on the podcast like we do today before we get to that guest though today’s episode is brought to you by prize piix the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports go to prize.com lockon NBA use the code all lowercase lock in NBA for a first deposit match up to $100 and we say hello and welcome to a uh local celebrity I guess is just what you are now it’s will Lou from hello and welcome of course formerly of the Raptor show uh formerly of Yahoo and Raptor Republic and formerly of recording episodes of this year podcast at my kitchen table at my apartment near Christy Pitts way back in the day uh it’s William Lou Will how the hell are you man it’s great to have you back dude that’s a hell of an intro man I got to take notes honestly because the transition to from broadcaster to YouTuber which I know you’re both but like man I I got to learn some of those those tricks I got to I got to get used to saying hit that subscribe button uh put that notification Bell yeah man it’s been it’s been great I honestly when you said that this is 10 years in for covering Raptors I was like damn you and I are actually veterans in this game even though I remember us being like very very young coming into this new space so proud of you uh proud of both of us and I’m happy to be here as always yeah yeah you you’ve like taken like four career steps since doing those podcasts in my kitchen I’ve just stayed here I’m cool I’m chill but you you’ve uh Gone on to wonderful things what was that you’ve moved that’s that’s true it’s true I have moved up to Home Ownership which is a wonderful nice thing um that I can you know it’s all because of the little sickos of lock on Raptors and I’m been able to do it um but yeah will I also looked up before coming on before we get into actual stuff uh we can you know Pat ourselves in the back for longevity a little bit more your first appearance on this podcast October the 25th 2016 uh very long time ago we talked about like burning Raptors questions into one shared microphone with probably very low audio Fidelity yeah one shared microphone we were passing that back and forth like karaoke I think I had it set up so it had like it had two directions open on the on the yeti back in the day oh but I didn’t realize the whole thing of like oh when your mouth is close to the microphone it sounds better so it was just like two echoey voices yammering into a mic at the kitchen table yeah good times we’ve moved up in the world um sadly will since those days the Raptors have perhaps regressed a little bit of course they won a title in the intervening years everything is still mostly fine but uh not the best season we shared I think like exhausted texts at the end of the regular season just kind of congratulating each other on making it through the hell that was this past regular season and look I I think it’s no secret to those who listen to this show who those who listen to you I I don’t think many people uh who covered the team were particularly thrilled with the way things were handled from Pascal seum to uh Fred Van vet and the departure there the yaka purle trade etc etc going on back to like The Fad young deal and the Aaron Baines is the center uh decisions it’s been kind of a weird run here but I I gotta ask you will maybe this is just like Stockholm syndrome where like you talk about a team every day and you kind of have to talk yourself into them in order to be sane but I’m finding myself feeling somewhat optimistic going into this summer with the draft lottery behind us with the keep versus convey pick no like convey the pick thing no longer hanging over our heads all the picks back in store couple of picks in this year’s draft in a Range that I’m actually kind of digging when it comes to this year’s class of prospects are you at all on the optimism train going into this offseason sort of a turning of the page if you will to the Scotty Barnes Emanuel quickley RJ Barrett era or or are you still a little bit uneasy about where things go next from here okay first off Woodley you you saying that you’re optimistic about this team is the most most Woodly thing possible you Haven podcast for the last year it’s been bism all around I know I know but I know this is in deep in your heart this is how you are and obviously you can’t be optimistic when you see 25 wins you see a 15 game losing streak you see Malik Williams literally sign off the street and walk into the starting lineup and go over for seven against Rudy go and a 48 Point loss you know like okay yeah fine even that will beat the optimism out of you no I look I I think what you’re probably feeling and I’m certainly feeling a lot of this is like just the relief like we’re okay the previous core clearly wasn’t working they didn’t pull the Right Moves to get the right supporting pieces maybe the core players weren’t even good enough anyway the timelines weren’t meshing you move away from that of course then that was painful cuz you needed to figure out the right timing did you get the right players back I think they did well in the OG trade didn’t really do well in the Pascal trade but whatever those happen the pick conveys okay that sucks but at the same time at least have to about it in the good thing it’s a longterm View Vision all that stuff the top of this draft stinks anyway carry on I I would not have mined two top picks and given San Antonio like whatever in 2026 but like still um all that is gone and at least you’re feeling the relief of like okay we actually have made space for new developments and new story lines right now we’re following like how this young team can find a way to you know compete and find a way to win games and there’s no there’s no proven formula of that just yet right like you can look at it on paper and say well if this happens if this happens maybe it clicks together uh there is no proven track record yet but again that’s the same with most young teams so at least you get at least you and I get a chance to talk about things that aren’t just like you know uh when is Pascal getting traded and why do they trade for yakob and and the stupid pick and like should you tank or not it’s like you know what honestly we can actually just focus on the team at hand so I’m actually a little relieved on that front I’m not relieved in the sense that we’re probably not going to be talking about wins for a while but you know that’s okay that’s okay I guess I guess I don’t know bad for business man it is bad for business uh I would hate to be launching a new podcast in this climate would do that about the Raptors goodness yeah good man yeah um I I think I guess I’m a little and yeah again let’s be on brand for a second here I I maybe don’t think they’re as far away from winning games and not like 50 games but like being competitive and my sort of bar for next year is just like just be better than the Bulls and that feels like a step forward that feels like an indicator that the Young Dudes they have in house are headed in a positive direction here I don’t want to see them just go waste next season in tank in the hopes of getting a Cooper flag or race Bailey and yeah I just think tanking sucks and all of that everyone knows my stance on that at this point but um I I I think it probably is tied to I’m pretty bullish on quickly and Barnes in general um like I think I’m probably in like the top five% of quickly Believers I just like wanted him since last summer it was banging the table for it um and the day they traded for him was uh the closest I’ve come to streaking on the podcast enjoy um and then obviously bar mid December he’s streaking for quickly sorry go ahead yeah know um and then Barn’s like I I think how can you not be pretty optimistic about what we saw yeah there’s still some questions about the shooting and you know how real was it and can he be sort of like the fulcrum of a highlevel offense etc etc but the jumps he made were uh kind of unprecedented when you look at the sort of across theboard nature of them and so if you’re bullish on quickly and Barnes that’s two pretty key pieces who in theory can drive winning basketball I think yaka purle proved when he’s on the floor he’s pretty important and allows this team to play pretty competitive competent ball I maybe being seduced by the plus2 net rating for the starting five and like 10 games of action together where they looked really good for that sweet Fleet stretch of February but I kind of think like you know you make a a mid-level exception add this offseason maybe you trade Bruce Brown for something maybe you keep Bruce Brown and trade him at the deadline you bring back Gary you take your two picks I kind of don’t think they’re that far away in an Eastern Conference that doesn’t feel impenetrable to me from being like you know a fun spunky playin team with a little bit of upside to maybe surprised the way like a magic did this past season for example am I crazy there or or are you kind of ALS so like are you a little less bullish maybe on the quickly Barnes thing than I am and is that maybe uh sort of informing your lack of optimism that wins are on the horizon first off I mean I would love that scenario I think that’s better for both of us you know like that is 100 business mind constantly turning yeah um okay so for me actually I think I actually have I’m a little bit more stronger on RJ than I am on on quickly okay I really really liked what R.J did um coming back to well I guess coming back to Canada but coming to Toronto for the first time and his efficiency his scoring his ability to get into the paint just like how often he punctured the paint like all of that I I really really liked uh that’s something that you know I wish to see a little bit more from quickly actually um I think really the question of whether you try to like you know quote unquote go for next year um is number one going to be dependent on how far do those young guys take you right most teams go into the first 20 games of the Season see where they’re at and then pivot and strategize you know that’s happened with the Raptors last year right they gave it 20 games and they were like all right this team clearly sucks and they don’t like each other that much and it doesn’t work starting point guard D shter is not I say surprise surprise dead is shter not the answer unfortunately although thank you for making 100 Raptor show appearances um no but seriously like that’ll figure itself out to some degree and of course if the young guys really click a mesh they might keep going with it but I think the bigger question is just like how much potential do you believe uh Scotty quick RJ have because like if you really believe that that’s like a strong playoff Trio whatever like that then yes you continue to build upon this but I think if you don’t fully believe in that talent and I honestly I don’t know what the right answer is right now uh then you might need to continue to reach for more talent and add more pieces and the next year’s draft is really good like I got so bored of scouting for this year’s draft the 2024 draft that I was like let me just look at the all the all- American McDonald’s game and I was like yeah let me just watch like the Portland game you know the one that they the Nike hoop Summit and I was like no there’s some really really good players man Rod Harper’s younger brother is really good and I was like yo I actually would not mind adding him to the roster uh Dylan Harper but like yeah I I think that’s where that’s where I want to ask you like okay what makes you so what’s like what’s what’s the basis of the super optimism for quickly because we see what he can be right I think he’s like uh a good starting point guard right now maybe maybe average to good and what little potential to get better but what do you see quickly future as I think the the speed with which he kind of took to the lead guard duties like it just guys who are 24 who kind of get that responsibility I feel like it’s a it’s a long learning curve I think point guards are the guys who probably sort of their curves of development probably extend the longest among most player types just because like there’s a lot to learn with that position and the like the speed with which he just kind of was like okay I never turn it over and I get eight assists a game and I kind of can conduct and to pick my spots to score pick my spots to create for others I I just was really impressed with how fast all of that seemed to come for him in a context that was completely messed up right wasn’t really playing with the team that they figure to actually have on the floor around him next season there was no Scotty for the last 21 games his lead pick and roll partner and yach wasn’t there like I I just think I’m like I’m so impressed by the early returns in a totally messed up team contest that with a actual full season of planning with a team that they have not just for little portions of the season and just like a real Runway to work with Scotty and RJ the fact that they have like three years at minimum of Runway without having to worry about one of those guys being up the door um like just the time they have I’m not saying he’s going to go become an All-Star next season but I do think that there’s clear like top three or four point guard in the Eastern Conference potential in quickly um when you factor in the the pullup shooting like that’s the skill that makes careers we saw it with Kyle Lowry I kind of think I see that in quickly as well and I want to get a little more into this will we do got to get to a quick break we’ll come back on the other side um we’ll get more into quickly and sort of what they can do this offseason to supplement the trio of Barnes Barrett and quickly to maybe make us feel a little better about things going into next season we’ll do that coming up in just one sec Today’s Show is brought to you by your friends over at prize picks the single plus best place to play daily fantasy sports you got to check because it’s daily fantasy as it should be it’s not you and some expert who you can’t even uh see what their lineup is or anything like that in some basement that 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NBA for first deposit match up to $100 that’s of course the prize picks app Go download wherever you get your app use the code lock the NBA for a first deposit match up to $100 prize picks pick more pick less it’s that easy back at it here with Will talking to manual quickly um I’ll throw back to you you know what maybe leads you to feel less optimistic than I am the sort of conductor of the Emanuel quickly hype train over here um you know obviously I know like the the getting to the rim thing and finishing at The Rim has not been incredible although you know the the percentages when you look at it like at Rim percentage for him you know not crazy high frequency but he shot like 70% at The Rim as a raptor I think you’ll take that the Flow game kind of falling off was weird I don’t know how real that is if that can come back but um is it that stuff is there something else in his makeup that makes you a little less optimistic or bullish than than I seem to be about quickly being a guy who can kind of Drive the ceiling of this team yeah so I think maybe part of this is informed because the last two months we’ve just been watching straight playoff basketball right right think the other part is we’ve been watching um like a decade of kyar and then Fred at at point and those guys are much much stronger Defenders and but I’m watching these playoffs and I’m like okay where can quickly sort of slot in for certain teams especially the top level ones and I think the one thing holding him back obviously is the defense like I you know it concerned me how much Darko um looked to hide him on defense when he first came to Toronto and of course like when you first join the team you know I’m not expecting necessarily from him to just dominate defensively at the point of attack Nobody Does that right but it was like all right we’d rather have like Scotty guard point guards we’d rather have Scotty guard like Steph uh John Morant and dearen fox in on one road trip you know what I mean rather than you know and and that kind of persisted throughout the the course of the season I really want to know if he can get to an acceptable level defensively because obviously offensively he plays um you know I think there there is a the speed is really good I think it’s weird it’s not you don’t see a lot of in between shots from from quickly you know that you see from certain other like really really creative high motor point guards you see more of him might call it really good discretion really he kind of avoids those tougher shots um you know he’s not sort of just freelancing off the bounce like you kind of know the three type of shots that he wants to get to if he’s working pick and roll and he gets a good screen and the big isn’t drop he will set his feet and he will launch a three and he’s pretty good when he gets his feet down but he kind of needs to get that little onew T pattern down and it just takes a little bit longer for him to get his pullup release so it’s not as extendable um as I think that you might see from other point guards who have the the pull-up ability um Tyrese for example is a really flat footed pull-up three-point shooter but he gets off super quickly and he kind of shoot it whenever mhm um you know and then I think when when he’s going to the basket he’s mostly I mean yes he’s shot a high percentage but he’s not really getting to it at the volume that you would want necessarily so I think those are a little smaller things obviously offensively like the passing was above average that you would really expect right certainly improveed from his role in New York which was more of like a Lou Williams type of Gunner to like more of like uh you know a lead point guard you saw that um but I do have some concerns offensively and I do have some concerns in terms of just like what is like the ultimate ceiling of offensive creation because you see like a lot of really talented offensive creators in the East right you got like Tyrese hbr when he’s healthy I mean come on like you know all NBA Tyrese Maxi obviously is a killer Jaylen Brenton is a killer like to become a top three point guard in the Eastern Conference like you got to be above one of those guys that’s not even bringing in Dame although obviously Dame is on his way down but like still Dame is still Daman Lillard so um you know is he is he typing out like a Darius Garland for example like would you rather have his future over Garland’s future um that’s a question I want to Poe to you because I actually really like Garland as well but you know yeah I I think it probably just comes down to size like I I think quickly just like the length and he’s got a couple inches on Garland I’d probably take him over Garland long term just because of that um like Garland’s super fun I I just think he has a way more likely chance of being totally run off the floor defensively than I think winley does who I think like on ball yeah wasn’t great but I do think there’s something to work there he is a long dude and I think rotationally and like contesting shots in rotation I think he’s actually pretty good with that for his size okay um so I think there’s a pathway to being like a passable not ruining your life type Defender and I do think the sort of interesting thing is I found RJ Barrett’s defense to be way more arming than quickly it felt like he could just not keep his spot against anybody it’s like this weird sort of Y he’s like always a little flat footed yeah and just like it seems like on offense he’s just this bull right like he just like charges into dudes and they just bounce off of him and he scores and it seems like he uses all of his physical might on offense almost and on defense he just kind of gets pushed off the spot can’t stay in front of dudes can’t Slide the feet well and I think you know at that position I think that’s a way more concerning thing and like one of my big sort of things I’ve been all over this offseason is like they got to find someone who can push RJ to the two long term and just be a staple Wing Defender who can allow Scotty to play his ideal position as a low man doing some hell Rim protection sort of as a bit of more of a safety and kind of doing a little bit of everything and RJ I just think having someone who can absorb those big defensive assignments who is not him I think is is huge and hey maybe like you know it’s not like he’s been a terrible Defender his whole career right like he had moments in time with the Knicks where he had some moments of like okay like there’s maybe a decent defender in here but I think RJ Barrett the negative Defender is way more damaging than Emanuel quickly the negative Defender because quickly just brings more individual creation juice and I think just has like and to the creation point that you made of like what’s his creation ceiling I don’t think it has to be as high as some of the other guys in the East who are these sort of heliocentric guards because Scotty Barnes is going to take on a lot of that creation burden as well and there can be a really nice interplay between and unlock a lot of Quickly’s off ball stuff which is really exciting too uh Barrett just feels like a bit of a a tougher fit if the defense never comes along but I don’t know maybe you’re seeing something that I’m not like are you optimistic about him on that end or are you also of the mind that they got to find some insulation for him well I think number one I don’t think you can make quickly that type of heliocentric um point guard because when we’ve seen him this year really struggle with physical Defenders even like a Josh Green who’s like your classic Australian player loves to be over physical and over play things you know what I mean like they’re certainly a type um even that like I I you see him sort of like not fold but have to like even bring the ball past half get rid of the ball kind of thing um I think for me that that’s the thing I like about RJ’s game I believe it will translate better to like it’s more translatable to the playoffs because he’s already playing in like a very very high level physicality yes certain teams can obviously uh bring better Rim protectors and you know his game is relatively more onedimensional because he has to go to the basket a lot more um but we’ve also seen like a little bit more playmaking out of RJ than we did um I guess RJ and New York again this is a context of he comes to a raptor team that like was struggling so much he probably has to do more playmaking oh you can sort of dribble my God who sent you that’s what I’m saying you could dribble you can get past your man you get an angle on your guy and you get a step you can touch the paint I like that part about RJ’s game so so much but I mean I agree with you in in the sense that like yes it’ll be an ideal to bring in a wing Defender better than RJ Barrett cuz I don’t think he’s going to be the like three you know I mean look if he can get his defensive level to a higher degree then of course then all of a sudden your problem’s going to solve itself but you kind of do need a three and D type to like um ideally slot into that starting lineup but I think part of that is just like you RJ’s not a strong shooter um Scotty’s improving but not a strong shooter yet and you have Yak in the middle so all of a sudden like you look at it you know it’s going to be pretty difficult you probably need a really strong shooter uh as the fifth member of that starting five if you those other four are spoken for and that’s where it’s like okay yeah you probably maybe would like to see Grady come into stting up at one point but then if you put Grady in the starting lineup then all of a sudden your starting lineup is so bad defensively and that was R’s number one problem All Season super duper leaning into the Kings model of a couple years ago of yeah we suck at defense but we’re the best offense ever I don’t think that would be the best offense ever yeah and then you look at the Celtics and I and I hate doing that thing where it’s like okay you look at the Celtics cuz whatever but like how many 3 and D guys do they have like guys who are really good at threes and really good at defense it’s like six guys on the roster are really good at that and that’s why they’re like you know obviously three wins away from the finals or winning the championship as we speak Adam Silver please cancel the NBA Finals but um yeah that’s the kind of model that you want to get to even when the Raptors won 20 in 2019 there are so many guys who are really good on defense and also has at least a three on offense you know and so that’s where yeah I mean I don’t know it’s a weird it’s a it’s a weirder fit even though indiv usually we’ seen like a lot of growth from all three of those guys this season but uh you know it’s it’s a tricky bit of fitting around those three guys at least at the moment for me so definitely right like it’s not this the simplest fix and I think it’s it’s probably something they hope to find in the draft this year and you know I think this is the range of the draft to find you know really connective role players right like in this draft in particular where it feels like it’s like a group of 40 guys who could go between 10 and 35 right it’s a it’s kind of a flat pool and you know there are certain guys who excel in one area more than others please don’t take Ryan Dunn uh we need someone who can shoot just like a tiny little bit please please I’ve seen Blake Murphy once in the last two months and right away he’s like yo this Ryan dun guy I was like the Man simply cannot contain himself with defense only guys with the last name done he’s he’s got a sickness man if Blake Murphy was a GM he would have a he would have five mati tybl on the team I swear Chris Dunn Ryan Dunn uh matis tyel uh and I don’t know Ronde hollish Jefferson from his time with the Raptors yeah it’s the dream Blake Murphy Squad uh uh let’s uh let’s get in then to you know how they can address those holes in the roster get into some free agency stuff get into some pipe dreams for the offseason we’ll do that coming up in just one second here back at it here with Will Lou from hello and welcome everyone go subscribe to the new hello and welcome feed um it’s a wonderful thing that you guys are back and working you got Jerome producing it’s a it’s it’s a wonderful wonderful uh re introduction of Will and Alex back in everyone’s lives um it I had a fun time being like the only daily podcast in town for a while and I guess you’re not going daily yet so I’ll still take that mantle but yeah thanks for giving me the two hot seconds of not having to punch up at the Raptor show it was fun um a lot of good Raptors news came out during that time huh a lot of a lot of like live reactions of them conveying the pig um just before we get into the last bit of the show I want to remind everyone locked on sports today 247 is your all day streaming Channel over on YouTube with locked on shows covering the biggest stories in sports from the local angle and the national side of things all day long put it on just leave it in the background while you work or whatever uh lots of great NBA final stuff today don’t listen to lockon Celtics John corales is Happy enough but also you can go and check out the lock on NHL shows te up the uh Stanley Cup Final as well which should be super fun uh please God Don’t Ed don’t let Edmonton win because that would ruin our Liv Edmonton and Boston both winning in the same year woof woof is there no Canadian solidarity with hockey like is that there is not what are we talking about here I’m not familiar with the culture man expl it to me why not why is it not because uh like why would I root for one of these other teams who I hate uh to break this curse that I don’t really personally care about like I If if no team is if any team is going to win the cup from Canada I want it to be the team I like and not one of these other loser teams um is basically how I feel all right but so basically are wait are you a Le fan like is that I am a Leaf’s fan yeah okay yeah so do you have is it just beef with all the other six Canadian teams yeah I mean the Jets are fine whatever are F they don’t really matter but uh I don’t know like everyone else’s fans are annoying they’re on my T all the time they stink um anyway lock on sports today 247 will offseason stuff Let’s Do It um decisions looming Bruce Brown seems like they’ll probably pick up his option and try to trade him if they don’t trade him I think it’s fine if Bruce Brown is on the basketball team and I’m sure they can find a niche for him that they could not find for him last year in the busted team context within which he was operating um with a busted up knee as well of course Gary Trent Jr is hanging out there too I guess before we get into some spef specific guys to Target or pipe dreams for the offseason things you want to see happen uh you know I’ve talked a lot about this this week so I don’t need to offer my two cents but uh Curious where you think the the the Bruce and Gary things should go what are you kind of hoping there especially with the Bruce thing uh I’m I’m hoping for the Bruce thing to resolve itself because this is the least sexy trade soag of all time you know I can’t do another day of like yo Mark Mark Stein what’s happening with Bruce Brown can they get DeAndre Hunter oh my God I would love DeAndre Hunter for Bruce Brown actually well I guess I wouldn’t mind you try it on C love and DeAndre Hunter shouldn’t go in the same sentence but I would love to get him off of my team but uh I think he would be a fine sort of like for like fit fit upgrade I suppose yeah yeah so um I I just don’t want to see guys gone for nothing you know and if you pretty much I mean look if you don’t pick up the option and then trade them you’re not going to get anything back for him because you don’t have the players so you it is more preferable to do that um I don’t know like how much value he would have necessarily I I think he can contribute obviously in a playoff setting we just saw that last time he went to the playoffs but at the same time like Bruce Brown is also a pretty particular player and I think the salary slot um probably has some value in the fact that it’s expiring although it’s not necessarily that much value I think expiring used to hold so much more value won contracts for as high as like seven years but now it’s like contracts are four maybe very very small factors are five so uh and the Cap’s going up again too right it’s not like the last few years where there was kind of cap stagnation because of Co right yeah we we cut out inside the NBA and everyone got a little bit more money this is great I love capitalism but um uh love it man it’s fantastic another 22 million for Bruce Brown coming right up um but no seriously I think yeah if you can get something for Bruce Brown like again it’s not going something so sexy it could be something like a Dand Hunter for example um although I don’t necessarily see why Atlanta would be trying to get Bruce brown but still like uh yeah just pick up the options so you can get something for him and then Gary I don’t know I mean it’s we we’ve sort of seen where it’s at with Gary um I don’t know if like long term especially now that you’ve drafted Grady are you going to start Gary and keep him in that role but I do think that I wouldn’t mind just like going to him and saying Hey listen um we’re going to give you the same contract you’re on right now which is like 18 year we’ll give you two years of that and that’s our best offer and basically it’s sort of like a hold you over until Grady’s ready to step into the starting lineup and when he gets ready to start in the starting lineup all of a sudden you have another Bruce brown type contract that you can trade this is uh yeah it’s it’s not super sexy it’s not like you know should the Raptors trade for Kevin Durant but I think it’s probably the most prudent way to at least manage like the players that you have on your roster yeah I I I I’m with you and I think like look man I I think every decision has to be made through the lens of does this player fit with Scotty Barnes and for all of his warts Gary Trent Jr and Scotty Barnes have been pretty damn good at driving winning basketball when they’ve played together right like over the years those two guys in the floor together usually leads to pretty good offense um the defense doesn’t seem to struggle all that much and like having shooting is good yeah you wish the shooting also had a little bit more defense that wasn’t entirely tied to Steels being the value driver for him but you know steals are valuable you know live ball turnovers are valuable it’s a thing he can go and create it’s not like he’s a nothing defensively and I let me ask you I mentioned earlier the starting lineup quickly Trent Barrett Barnes purle 347 possessions played it was the uh second most used lineup by the Raptors this season wow very tiny sample but plus 11.8 net rating the defense pretty good 68 percentile 110 defensive rating like with those players kind of shocking yes it’s kind of a very small segmented sample from February where things were probably at their best at any point in the season for the Raptors but like can you ignore that level of production even with the small sample with those guys who in theory at least on offense really fit together I I don’t know yeah I mean I think more more than like are those specific five like worth doubling down on um I think what’s interesting is what the archetypes and and how those pieces specifically fit like how what kind of rols are on the floor because again like going back to the conversation who’s supposed to be that fifth starter around uh Barnes Barrett and quickley and purle I think in that case you had Gary who in this role in that time he was playing a lot of on ball defense he was kind of chasing around point guards stuff like that uh and then he was also obviously a you know um a catch and shoot three-point shooter as he always is with some like limit I think um off the off the off the bounce game like yeah I think what really does fit well with that with those other four guys is somebody who can shoot a high volume and be efficient on catch and shoot threes like a Gary and you know even if it’s not necessarily Gary I think we all would love to upgrade a little bit on Gary like that archetype works with those other four pieces um now I think granted like again maybe because I’ve been watching so much playoffs but like how would that team fair in a playoff setting like no I don’t think that’s not I don’t think that’s strong there’s a lot of ways to attack that lot of ways to defend that but at the same time like if we’re just looking for step one of how do we get to confident basketball it is to put a really strong shooter around those core four yakob and Scotty did a lot of the work defensively and then RJ did a lot of the work getting to the basket and then quickly you know and Gary gives you the three-point shooter and then Scotty kind of connects everything in between like it does work for me at least yeah like again it’s not perfect what you’ll have to face tougher questions when you get to the playoffs and that’s what getting to the playoffs is for to kind of figure out what you got right and got you run a little a little bit ahead of time like okay like I kind of know this is not going to work like like when you saw the the magic go to the playoffs you’re like okay this is this been a really nice run like in regular season wise but like in the playoffs like you guys are going to shoot 15% from three it feels like for sure I think the anticipation there a little bit is like not overdoing it to add like a big free agent piece with your cap space to this team this summer right like I would much rather have Gary Trent for a short term at 15 to 18 million bucks a year than go and spend the whole bag on Malik monk who would bring the exact same kind of big picture problems even if the overall Talent is higher right um and so it is more of like you talked about like a bit of a stop Gap until Grady’s ready until um sort of things down the line you know obviously they’re in a position now where they can kind of go and try to do the thing they did last decade where they have all their picks back they have a couple of extra picks here in the next couple years between the Pistons pick and the other Pacers pick in a couple Seasons like you can start to go to work on kind of building up that shadow core thing they had going on in the late 2010s and um you know maybe that’s when those sort of bigger decisions or bigger swings to go and fill out a playoff worthy roster or what happened that’s when that happens but in the meantime like I I think there is enough here to go and play reasonably competent playoff not playoff necessarily but like playing level basketball that is an indicator that okay good things are coming for this group um and so yeah I mentioned Malik monk as far as other like you know is there like a big move that you see out there that you’re at all interested in I think I’ve kind of accepted that hey it’s gonna be kind of a chill off season it’s probably you keep Bruce and Gary and there’s like a mid-level signing or something but um you know maybe Bruce plus 31 becomes something of a thing that teams start bidding for with the 24 hours between round one and two um not to say you’re going to get something amazing for that but maybe there’s a piece like I do think having the control of the board for day two is actually going to matter a little bit um but yeah like is there a name out there who kind of comes to mind sexy or unsexy who if like the Raptors were able to kind of bring them in this summer you’d feel pretty good about where things going in next season no I I actually really don’t I see the Raptors kind of sitting out almost this whole period sure like you mentioned like it’s it’s a more quieter kind of thing I don’t mind that honestly because we kind of been in the middle of like a lot of trade stuff and we did make two major trades obviously getting rid of OG and Pascal but um yeah I think what I would love to do then is just to get more backups like I would love to have a backup point guard like I’m I’m not that high on Javon for Liberty at least right now um maybe with another anybody Kyle Lowry anybody okay we all know Kyle’s not coming back although sh to Kyle one of the you know minor minority investors in the WNBA that’s awesome I love seeing that he’s coming he’s coming that’s that’s the first sign he’s got to be here yeah next time he comes to Toronto it’ll be like you know if when he gets his jersey retired and signs that one day contract um no but I like I would love to get a younger point guard that you can sort of like continue to grow and and um ideally you know become your backup and eventually even threaten to become your starter like a nart you know type for example uh well if only they had made a trade with the team that had hard and a thousand other prospects huh wonder if they could have perhaps tried to get that to happen yeah they also traded down in the draft and neart got taken two picks ahead of the where they were drafting at 33 that year um but like yeah and I think a backup center um those two things really were work well we saw I mean the center position has been real curs for the Raptors you know what I mean like it really has been yeah like we could call it the curse of like I don’t know I guess yonas Valen because we did have JB for a very long time that was stability at Center then obviously you make the all-in move and you flip him for marras that was absolutely the right thing to do is necessary to win the title but then once those guys aged out it’s been like just I mean it doesn’t get any worse than the fact that J Porter was like oo maybe you know him and then all of a sudden jont Porter turned out to be jonte Porter which like okay how are you how are you allowed to Parlay up to a million dollars on jonte Porter parlays that should not be possible I think those exist specifically to catch schemes it’s a Honeypot trap yeah the Honeypot is jante Porter under 2.5 rebounds goodness man oh but yeah seriously like the center position curse right we l we lose Christian Koko for like entirely unfunny reasons right we lose jonte for the dumbest thing possible we bring in literally centers off the street in Malik uh Malik Williams then we have yakob who is actually pretty good but all of a but it actually cursed Us in the sense that was the wrong player to be trained for at the wrong time and it’s created so much negativity around it too with sort of the discussion around to sort of where this team was I I mean I don’t know but I would love a young a young Center to go there as well cuz I look I just want us to be at least two deep at every position you know I don’t asking for too much no I it seems like kind of the thing you should be doing which they just kind of punted on the last few seasons hey seven good players this is this is the trick right and I think the one thing with thinking now about like okay the idea of keeping Bruce around or keeping you know Bruce and Gary around is like when are we ever going to get oai minutes because I do think besides do we want oai minutes I don’t know if we want oai minutes necessarily but like I think MSI went out there and got him you know reason like they specifically targeted him and they want to give him some time so yeah like I I think that um I think they do want to give him some minutes and I the sooner they resolve the Bruce pound situation I think the sooner they can get in more minutes but again I agree with you like he’s got to show you more there’s so many games where it was like even when the Raptors had like eight players and it was like a free-for all offensively he still was giving you like six points yeah yeah yeah uh I consider me as optimistic as I am on a manual quickly I as bearish on oai abaji don’t tell our palc Jacob who was the biggest oai Stan in the world I will just say that msai did say unprompted at the season ending press conference that oai can be one of the best defenders in the world he said that they did also say that Jeff dton and Dono Banton were going to be big parts of the team as they were sitting in the front row of the dark oppressor last year so oh yeah they lie we’ll leave it there will thanks so much man pleasure having you ran a little along today but that’s fine because uh talking to you is always a treat uh of course you got stuff to promote go ahead and promote yeah that’s right we’ve uh we’re back up we’re we are now under hello welcome pod and yeah we we unlike Woodley we drop Monday Wednesdays and Fridays but we’ll have lots of reaction podcasts we’ll get back to the point where it’s basically just me talking about the Raptors daily but yeah we’re covering all the things that you would expect the raps focused basketball podcast be covering a lot of WNBA coverage as well coming your way going to summer league going to to the uh you know focus a lot on the Olympics this summer oh yeah throw some Live Events you know hopefully we we’ll see Woodley out some of these events as well and um yeah just hope to see all of you there as well but um you know it’s it’s it’s it’s funny because I’m explaining a show that I’ve basically done for like a quite a long time so basically just Under New Management and a new name so hell yeah uh everyone go check out hello and welcome of course do it after you listen to this podcast but absolutely you know it could be your number two listen every day and it won’t bother me one bit uh we’ll leave it there we’ll be back again on Monday to you know we’re getting close to the draft and stuff we’ll keep doing our draft coverage I’m getting close to doing a sort of big board for pick number 19 and 31 which is basically all just the same group of guys uh anyway so we’ll get to that coming up soon and uh you know keep it rolling here on the show thanks as always for supporting the show by following subscribing rating reviewing going to YouTube supporting over there it’s much appreciated uh and we will talk to you again on Monday have a great weekend everybody thanks for hanging bye-bye bye oh
In Episode 1653, Sean Woodley is joined by old pal William Lou (Hello and Welcome) to talk about the Toronto Raptors’ offseason, the upside of Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, hopes for the offseason, and whether it’s justifiable to feel optimistic about where things are headed for the Raptors in the coming years. Off the top, Sean and Will get into the relief they feel now that the mess of 2023-24 is behind them, and reasons for optimism going into 2024-25. Next, they chat about Immanuel Quickley, why Sean is probably more bullish on him than Will, and what’s keeping him from jumping into the East’s upper crust of point guards before discussing Will’s belief in RJ Barrett and Sean’s slight bearishness in comparison. Lastly, Sean and Will chat about their hopes for this offseason, the types of players the team should be targeting to fill the gaps in their current rotation, and much more!
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