On the perception of the front office around the league:
>The perception has changed because the results have changed. They went from being among the best front offices at identifying and developing talent outside of the lottery to just another team, missing far more often than they hit, over the last half decade. That’s not perception; it’s fact.
>That doesn’t mean they are suddenly bad. It is a reason for the front office to self-reflect and see if they have fallen behind on anything. That is something hard to declare from the outside but easier to assess when you are within the NBA ecosystem.
On a Mogbo/Olynyk frontcourt:
>Not defensively, no. Let’s not put Jonathan Mogbo in the rotation just yet, either. He was the 31st pick in a weak draft. I don’t think the Raptors were considering his pairing with Kelly Olynyk when they drafted him, and nor should they have been.
On Bruce Brown’s future:
>As for whether he should start or not, see the previous comment about vacuums. Brown is a connector, a player who can do a little bit of everything: shoot, handle, pass, defend capably. Those players often work best with dynamic offensive players. Then again, the Raptors have priorities unrelated to Brown — namely the development of Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji and Ja’Kobe Walter. Balancing all of that is an organizational task.
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Tidbits:
On the perception of the front office around the league:
>The perception has changed because the results have changed. They went from being among the best front offices at identifying and developing talent outside of the lottery to just another team, missing far more often than they hit, over the last half decade. That’s not perception; it’s fact.
>That doesn’t mean they are suddenly bad. It is a reason for the front office to self-reflect and see if they have fallen behind on anything. That is something hard to declare from the outside but easier to assess when you are within the NBA ecosystem.
On a Mogbo/Olynyk frontcourt:
>Not defensively, no. Let’s not put Jonathan Mogbo in the rotation just yet, either. He was the 31st pick in a weak draft. I don’t think the Raptors were considering his pairing with Kelly Olynyk when they drafted him, and nor should they have been.
On Bruce Brown’s future:
>As for whether he should start or not, see the previous comment about vacuums. Brown is a connector, a player who can do a little bit of everything: shoot, handle, pass, defend capably. Those players often work best with dynamic offensive players. Then again, the Raptors have priorities unrelated to Brown — namely the development of Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji and Ja’Kobe Walter. Balancing all of that is an organizational task.