NBA Thread

[Abomination]

FVV needs to stop giving up his dribble unnecessarily.

[TheHurl]

As good as I've seen the Raps defend, during the 3rd anyway. Great reaction to the overturn call too

[Dr. Dinger]

Lol f***ing Boucher is throwing down blocks on Lebron James! What universe am i in

[Dr. Dinger]

Championship contender Lakers getting roasted on home court by G-league all-stars. Lol this is f***ing awesome!

[Abomination]

Hell of a game. The Lakers didn't really play poorly either. That second unit was all over them.

[Chappy]

A lot of credit has to be thrown at Nurse. He has a system and this team isn’t missing a beat. Granted we ain’t doing this nightly without Lowry and Ibaka, but the but there is still a ton of growth ahead for this team. Exciting time to be a raptors fan for sure.

[Orgfiller]

Monster performance from Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Terrence Davis and Chris Boucher. I love that Nurse rode them throughout the second half, their energy on both ends was infectious and the defense was genuinely brilliant. Nice of Pascal to not let his early offensive woes affect his defense. FVV and Norm were immense, especially in the first half when no one else was doing much scoring wise. Huge win.

[Dick_Pole]

Masai is gunning for Gillick's spot as top exec ever in Toronto. Just one game but that bench looks solid again after those three seconds last year post-Gasol trade where it looked shallow.

[Dr. Dinger]

Kawhi: *gouges out OG’s eyeball*

 

Ref: All ball.

[TheHurl]

Ball didn't go in for them. The defense was strong again though. Reffing wasn't great but that's the NBA

[Abomination]

We played great. We lost the game, but down the number of players we are, on a back-to-back, I think we served notice we're legit contenders.

[Orgfiller]

The rebounding was a big issue and we had a lot of misses at the rim that they usually make, but that's a factor of the back-to-back taking a toll on them. Still played outstanding defense, in a game with at least two of Lowry, Ibaka, OG and McCaw playing we probably end up with the win. Fred and Pascal had to force it a lot at times and they were running out of gas by the fourth quarter. The refs were bad but they weren't the main reason why we lost. It happens, I'll certainly take 1/2 against the LA teams B2B.

 

Also Boucher has been amazing, as have Terrence Davis and Hollis-Jefferson, especially on the defensive end. Matt Thomas clearly doesn't know where he's standing on defense but the guy is a cold shooter.

[Abomination]

Lol. Doc Rivers' son asking the ref to give his dad a technical, that was great!

[Chappy]

VanVleet is a beast!!

[Dr. Dinger]

Pascal Siakam might actually win Most Improved Player two years in a row.

[Chappy]

Hollis-Jefferson wants minutes. Raps gonna have a good problem when this team is healthy.

[Laika]

Just incredible to watch. Siakam is a superstar and complete player, FVV is a star now, Boucher, Hollis-Jefferson, and Davis were very effective at times. Lowry, Ibaka, OG, and McCaw are out and Norm has one of his dogshit games and they still win while at the end of a tough road trip.

 

The growth of Boucher has been pretty cool. He looks like a legit contributor on both ends now.

[Krylian]

Just incredible to watch. Siakam is a superstar and complete player, FVV is a star now, Boucher, Hollis-Jefferson, and Davis were very effective at times. Lowry, Ibaka, OG, and McCaw are out and Norm has one of his dogshit games and they still win while at the end of a tough road trip.

 

The growth of Boucher has been pretty cool. He looks like a legit contributor on both ends now.

 

Sounds like his scouting report if he were in porn.

[Dr. Dinger]

Loving Boucher. If only Marc Gasol had the balls to jack up 3s as ruthlessly as Boucher!

 

Also I still can’t tell the difference between Patrick McCaw and Malcolm Miller and neither of them should ever get minutes.

 

Siakam

Lowry

VanVleet

Anunoby

Ibaka

Gasol

Boucher

Hollis-Jefferson

Davis

Sometimes Matt Thomas against weak second units

 

Should be the rotation in descending order of minutes when everyone is healthy

[Frag]

The Raptors, according to 538's RAPTOR (min: 75 minutes):

 

WAR Rank: Player: Raptor Offense: Raptor Defence: Raptor: WAR

 

20: Kyle Lowry: +4.2: +2.0: +6.2: 1.3 WAR

21: OG Anunoby: +1.0: +5.0: +6.0: 1.3 WAR

22: Pascal Siakam: +3.1: +0.6: +3.7: 1.3 WAR

47: FVV: +1.7: -0.2: +1.4: 0.9 WAR

137: RHJ: +3.2: +3.1: +6.3: 0.3 WAR

147: Chris Boucher: +1.3: +2.3: +3.6: 0.3 WAR

151: Terence Davis: +1.1: +0.5: +1.6: 0.3 WAR

195: Serge Ibaka: -2.9: +1.6: -1.3: 0.1 WAR

235: Matt Thomas: +1.2: -4.2: -3.0: 0.0 WAR

237: Norman Powell: -2.9: +0.1: -2.9: 0.0 WAR

249: Marc Gasol: -3.3: +0.0: -3.2: -0.1 WAR

 

Good:

 

Lowry, Siakam, and OG have been off to a good-great start.

 

OG's play, in particular, is slightly below Kawhi's so far this season, but not by as much as I would have thought going into the season.

 

FVV continues to improve his game, even with his flaws.

 

The bench trio of RHJ, Boucher, and Davis have been fantastic to start the season, on both ends of the court.

 

Meh:

 

Thomas is a good bench option for shooting 3s, but that's it.

 

Ibaka is fine defensively, but his offense is a bit of a mystery at this point.

 

Johnson, Miller, and McCaw have not played enough, but their initial numbers don't look so hot.

 

Bad:

 

Gasol & Powell have not impressed so far, and the numbers show it. Both players need to step up their game, especially Gasol.

[Dr. Dinger]

Lol I totally forgot about Powell. Well I guess that says something. He’s a trade chip at this point strictly based on his mid-level salary.

[Brownie19]

It's pretty incredible that OG is just a fraction below Kawhi's production this year...He's been incredible.

[glory]

The Raptors are basically what the Spurs used to be. Find talent from practically anywhere, integrate them into the org, develop them, and watch them overachieve. Rinse and repeat. If Kawhi stayed we’d be looking at a 5 year run of title contention. Masai needs to be extended for life. Can’t believe I root for a team this well run.

[Dick_Pole]

I feel the window on Giannis is closing. The downside of having so many breakout players. Max contracts for all!

 

This is a good team, better than the DeRozan teams. But not a championship team. So if you're happy with 50-55 win seasons, some playoff round wins and maybe a fluky finals appearance, we are good!

[Dick_Pole]

Also Gasol needs to go ASAP. Ideally traded or benched. He is an absolute black hole on offense and this team doesn't really need his contribution on defense. Boucher deserves the minutes.

[Abomination]

Also Gasol needs to go ASAP. Ideally traded or benched. He is an absolute black hole on offense and this team doesn't really need his contribution on defense. Boucher deserves the minutes.

 

Boucher isn't ready to take on Gasol's role yet. I feel like his minutes are perfect right where they are right now - high enough to develop further, but low enough that the rough parts of his game aren't getting too exposed.

[Dr. Dinger]

We basically need Gasol for his positional defense against big bruising centres like Embiid. His offense is worthless now but we do need him in that niche.

[Dr. Dinger]

Some trade target ideas, assuming these teams continue to fall out of contention and the Raptors continue to impress with strong play from Siakam/Lowry/FVV/OG.

 

Bogdan Bogdanovic for Norm Powell + future Top 20 protected 1st

Lamarcus Aldridge for Gasol or Ibaka + Top 10 protected 1st

Danilo Gallinari for Ibaka + a Top 10 protected 1st

JJ Redick for Norm Powell + 2nd rd pick

 

The main idea here would be to add either a dead-eye 3PT shooter or a big man who can create offense without adding a big salary that extends beyond next season. Shedding Powell's $10M salary for 2021 would also be considerably beneficial to us while he still holds some upside for small market rebuilding teams who can't attract marquee free agents.

[Captain Adama]

Some trade target ideas, assuming these teams continue to fall out of contention and the Raptors continue to impress with strong play from Siakam/Lowry/FVV/OG.

 

Bogdan Bogdanovic for Norm Powell + future Top 20 protected 1st

Lamarcus Aldridge for Gasol or Ibaka + Top 10 protected 1st

Danilo Gallinari for Ibaka + a Top 10 protected 1st

JJ Redick for Norm Powell + 2nd rd pick

 

The main idea here would be to add either a dead-eye 3PT shooter or a big man who can create offense without adding a big salary that extends beyond next season. Shedding Powell's $10M salary for 2021 would also be considerably beneficial to us while he still holds some upside for small market rebuilding teams who can't attract marquee free agents.

 

JJ Redick please

[Dr. Dinger]

JJ Redick please

 

His 3 pt shooting would be absolutely lethal on our 2nd unit.