Seemingly content with a growing-younger roster that they hope matures on its own, Toronto didn’t make any splash or attempt to retain Gary Trent Jr., who can offer his skills to any suitor.
Seemingly content with a growing-younger roster that they hope matures on its own, Toronto didn’t make any splash or attempt to retain Gary Trent Jr., who can offer his skills to any suitor.
>The reasons are logical and it may be days or weeks before the Raptors dip their toes in the market.
>The holes in the roster, primarily size and frontcourt shooting, are still there but there is no need for Toronto to make rash moves to fill what are primarily backup roles.
>Armed only with the mid-level salary cap exception that was officially set at about $12.9 million (U.S.) on Saturday night, the Raptors are not shopping with buckets of disposable money.
>Trent, meanwhile, looks more and more as someone who just doesn’t fit with the Raptors any longer. He is a proven NBA shooter and did nothing to wear out his welcome, but there are others the Raptors want to look at in the coming months as they continue building back to legitimate contention,
>Sure, Trent or a full mid-level exception wing would add something tangible immediately but if the Raptors want to find out if the young kids can play, they may as well start the process now.
>The fact is that the Raptors didn’t make any big news on the first night because they didn’t have to, they didn’t have the money to do it and, content to give a young core a chance to jell, they really didn’t want to.
mMounirM
I’m ready for Gradey and Ja’Kobe to split the 48 minutes at SG.
gregbraaa
Aka we want to tank again next season
iambiggzy
I want Ja’Kobe to start at SG for the short term but RJ needs to be a 2 for the long term.. he can’t be a 3 if we want to win playoff games
Baulderdash77
I believe this article represents the Raptors front office unofficially telling the fan base that they will not be making a 4/50 type signing and Gary will walk. Setting everyone up to getting used to the idea that the young core will play and there is no reinforcements coming for them.
Brown and Boucher trades will come later.
ABlushingGardener
Thats why it’s called a rebuild. We are not handing the keys to anyone other than BBQ (and, for the short term, our two veteran centers.) Everyone else is on trial. Earn your spots if you want them, Gary did not.
FallenLemur
Honestly, class act, and if we can’t retain him, then it would suck. He has never been the type to complain about anything, and it always seemed like he just wanted to ball. I like his character a lot, I thought he was a fantastic teammate and all-around great person.
KINGTHANOS8
I’m completely ok with this. I don’t want any good experienced players trending us away from a bottom 5-10 finish.
I would rather just give most of the mins to the rookies, don’t hammer home defense too much, like last season, keeping the focus on offensive flow, and let’s hope we lose enough to get a strong chance in the lottery.
The absolute best thing for us this season, is landing a potential top 10 player in the 2025 draft, and then we ramp up and tighten up all the screws to compete.
vaalbarag
I like this approach a lot; ultimately it’s a team headed for the lottery, possibly high lottery unless young guys make huge strides, and either of those outcomes is great. Hell, it’s possible they get both those outcomes.
I was going through minute allocations yesterday, and of course you want the established starters all getting 30+ minutes (25 for Poeltl), and then you need Olynyk getting another 20 or so, and beyond that you need development minutes for Dick, Walter, Agbaji, Shead and Mogbo (though the last two probably get some 905 time as well) and probably Mitchell, and then Vezenkov if he is staying needs 15+ minutes (playing time has been a sore spot with him at Sacramento and even in Europe). So you look at Brown even, and it’s hard to find the minutes for him even with GTJ likely gone, unless the Raptors play a lot of very small units with 3 or 4 guards at 6’4″ or less.
At this point I’d still love a Brown / Ball trade with Chicago, with us getting a future draft pick out of it and then going with the lineup largely as-is.
vis-major
I think Ochai can fill in as the starter if GTJ doesn’t return but most likely it’ll be Bruce Brown. I would prefer Ochai through he plays well with Scottie, shoots the ball better, and provides better defence.
Uglyboi_85
Good, he was kind of all over the place. It didn’t seem like he had a real purpose on the team. He can score, but wasn’t anything spectacular on the team.
demarderollins
I’m excited for him to be a solid 6th man elsewhere
He has 2 options at this point of his career
– Jordan Clarkson Utah 6th man – Tim Hardaway JR, unreliable, streaky, but unplayable when it matters
Maya-Inca-Boy
Can we keep temple just to have a vet on the bench?
rbrt13
This team is ready to let the young guys get minutes, the core fel and if it works great and if it doesn’t then also great and they will be vying for a top 10 pick in a loaded draft.
It’ll be exciting to see the starting group play together with a few guys getting a crack at becoming the 5th starter since positionally we are versatile. My money is on Dick taking the steps needed to become the starting SG but who knows. Agbaji will get some of those GTJ minutes along with the kids coming in this draft, especially Ja’kobe.
_Gourmand
Let’s say we don’t sign Gary, and we trade Bruce Brown for a pick and filler. The lineup is:
PG: IQ, Davion, JFL
SG: Gradey, JaKobe
SF: RJ, Ochai
PF: Scottie, Vezenkov, Mogbo
C: Poeltl, Olynyk, Boucher
That’s 13 guys right there. We still don’t know what’s happening with Vezenkov either. But to me I’m good with this. The starting lineup is competitive enough that we will build confidence by winning games but we’re also very young and will be giving a lot of guys many opportunities to grow.
xc2215x
Could be good for a rebuild.
jamiecballer
This was the right move. Do not lock yourself into another deal with Gary unless it’s cheap and honestly, I don’t want him getting any minutes from anyone who is a developing player, with this roster and timeline.
Karl_with_a_C
I better not see any ounce of Gary hate in this thread. He may not have lived up to everyone’s expectations but he is/was a great Raptor who embraced the team and city from the start. Dude even got a Raptors tatoo. If/when he does leave he deserves to get his flowers.
19 Comments
LETS FUCKING GOOOOO
Other tidbits:
>The reasons are logical and it may be days or weeks before the Raptors dip their toes in the market.
>The holes in the roster, primarily size and frontcourt shooting, are still there but there is no need for Toronto to make rash moves to fill what are primarily backup roles.
>Armed only with the mid-level salary cap exception that was officially set at about $12.9 million (U.S.) on Saturday night, the Raptors are not shopping with buckets of disposable money.
>Trent, meanwhile, looks more and more as someone who just doesn’t fit with the Raptors any longer. He is a proven NBA shooter and did nothing to wear out his welcome, but there are others the Raptors want to look at in the coming months as they continue building back to legitimate contention,
>Sure, Trent or a full mid-level exception wing would add something tangible immediately but if the Raptors want to find out if the young kids can play, they may as well start the process now.
>The fact is that the Raptors didn’t make any big news on the first night because they didn’t have to, they didn’t have the money to do it and, content to give a young core a chance to jell, they really didn’t want to.
I’m ready for Gradey and Ja’Kobe to split the 48 minutes at SG.
Aka we want to tank again next season
I want Ja’Kobe to start at SG for the short term but RJ needs to be a 2 for the long term.. he can’t be a 3 if we want to win playoff games
I believe this article represents the Raptors front office unofficially telling the fan base that they will not be making a 4/50 type signing and Gary will walk. Setting everyone up to getting used to the idea that the young core will play and there is no reinforcements coming for them.
Brown and Boucher trades will come later.
Thats why it’s called a rebuild. We are not handing the keys to anyone other than BBQ (and, for the short term, our two veteran centers.) Everyone else is on trial. Earn your spots if you want them, Gary did not.
Honestly, class act, and if we can’t retain him, then it would suck. He has never been the type to complain about anything, and it always seemed like he just wanted to ball. I like his character a lot, I thought he was a fantastic teammate and all-around great person.
I’m completely ok with this. I don’t want any good experienced players trending us away from a bottom 5-10 finish.
I would rather just give most of the mins to the rookies, don’t hammer home defense too much, like last season, keeping the focus on offensive flow, and let’s hope we lose enough to get a strong chance in the lottery.
The absolute best thing for us this season, is landing a potential top 10 player in the 2025 draft, and then we ramp up and tighten up all the screws to compete.
I like this approach a lot; ultimately it’s a team headed for the lottery, possibly high lottery unless young guys make huge strides, and either of those outcomes is great. Hell, it’s possible they get both those outcomes.
I was going through minute allocations yesterday, and of course you want the established starters all getting 30+ minutes (25 for Poeltl), and then you need Olynyk getting another 20 or so, and beyond that you need development minutes for Dick, Walter, Agbaji, Shead and Mogbo (though the last two probably get some 905 time as well) and probably Mitchell, and then Vezenkov if he is staying needs 15+ minutes (playing time has been a sore spot with him at Sacramento and even in Europe). So you look at Brown even, and it’s hard to find the minutes for him even with GTJ likely gone, unless the Raptors play a lot of very small units with 3 or 4 guards at 6’4″ or less.
At this point I’d still love a Brown / Ball trade with Chicago, with us getting a future draft pick out of it and then going with the lineup largely as-is.
I think Ochai can fill in as the starter if GTJ doesn’t return but most likely it’ll be Bruce Brown. I would prefer Ochai through he plays well with Scottie, shoots the ball better, and provides better defence.
Good, he was kind of all over the place. It didn’t seem like he had a real purpose on the team. He can score, but wasn’t anything spectacular on the team.
I’m excited for him to be a solid 6th man elsewhere
He has 2 options at this point of his career
– Jordan Clarkson Utah 6th man
– Tim Hardaway JR, unreliable, streaky, but unplayable when it matters
Can we keep temple just to have a vet on the bench?
This team is ready to let the young guys get minutes, the core fel and if it works great and if it doesn’t then also great and they will be vying for a top 10 pick in a loaded draft.
It’ll be exciting to see the starting group play together with a few guys getting a crack at becoming the 5th starter since positionally we are versatile. My money is on Dick taking the steps needed to become the starting SG but who knows. Agbaji will get some of those GTJ minutes along with the kids coming in this draft, especially Ja’kobe.
Let’s say we don’t sign Gary, and we trade Bruce Brown for a pick and filler. The lineup is:
PG: IQ, Davion, JFL
SG: Gradey, JaKobe
SF: RJ, Ochai
PF: Scottie, Vezenkov, Mogbo
C: Poeltl, Olynyk, Boucher
That’s 13 guys right there. We still don’t know what’s happening with Vezenkov either. But to me I’m good with this. The starting lineup is competitive enough that we will build confidence by winning games but we’re also very young and will be giving a lot of guys many opportunities to grow.
Could be good for a rebuild.
This was the right move. Do not lock yourself into another deal with Gary unless it’s cheap and honestly, I don’t want him getting any minutes from anyone who is a developing player, with this roster and timeline.
I better not see any ounce of Gary hate in this thread. He may not have lived up to everyone’s expectations but he is/was a great Raptor who embraced the team and city from the start. Dude even got a Raptors tatoo. If/when he does leave he deserves to get his flowers.