NBA 2018-2019

Knox and Robinson have looked very good in Summer League, especially Knox. Could be yet another player New York fans booed during the draft because they were so focused on Porter that would turn out to be much better than the one they all wanted. Last time they wanted Mudiay or Winslow ahead of Porzingis and he turned out miles better than either.

Ntilikina, Knox and Porzingis is a decent young core. Wonder what free agency holds for them in 2018, could be big. Kantor is off the books then, they might find a way to get rid of Noah which would create two max slots if I am not wrong. Hardaway’s deal is the elephant in the room because without it they would be able to offer two max deals easily.

Can’t believe Courtney Lee has $12.7million guaranteed in 2019-20, likewise Lance Thomas with $7.5million. Awful.
 


tag yourself, this is me

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Jabari to Bulls is a strange move. Why do they feel like they need another power forward when they have Markkanen, Portis and Carter. I imagine Carter will get all his minutes at center.
 
One fella looks like he's rubbing one out with his hand tucked in the sweatshirt, another fella looks like a clone of the Ronaldo puppet from that old Mourinho/Sven/Rooney skit show, and the big fella has the largest shirt I've ever seen on a human and the blonde girl appears to be holding her breath to not smell him.
 
Raptors have one loyal star in DeRozan and there willing to trade him for a year of Kawhi Leonard who may not even be fit or play the entire season. I'd be pissed if I were a Raptors fan.
 
Sounds like it’s happening bar a late move from any of the other teams.

DeRozan might be disappointed, he has every right to feel down about it having committed his career to Raptors so far. Truth is Raptors weren’t good enough to win last year and needed change, even if they lose Leonard after a year they will free up some cap space and be able to do a complete reboot from then. Locking themselves into the same core is basically trying to do the same thing again and expecting a different outcome, it doesn’t work too often.

Besides San Antonio won’t be the end of the world for DeRozan either. A good, competitive team with a great coach. He should be all right.
 
I always find the idea of having to uproot your entire life, your kids schooling, everything, because a team decides to trade you and you have very little say in it.

I know they're compensated very well but it's still a tough thing to swallow.

I do feel for DeRozan here and it does make you think about why players should show loyalty to a franchise that doesn't show it back.

If you're a player and you see how Raptors have treated DeRozan, do you want to go there? I wouldnt.
 
Bubz27 said:
I always find the idea of having to uproot your entire life, your kids schooling, everything, because a team decides to trade you and you have very little say in it.

I know they're compensated very well but it's still a tough thing to swallow.

I do feel for DeRozan here and it does make you think about why players should show loyalty to a franchise that doesn't show it back.

If you're a player and you see how Raptors have treated DeRozan, do you want to go there? I wouldnt.
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Check the trade scene in Moneyball (Brad Pitt)
 
Ugh as a Raptors fan really not happy with this trade.

Leonard is easily a top 5 player when healthy but we’re essentially tossing out our franchise player who’s given us nothing but loyalty and getting a sulky Leonard in return who’ll probably feck off to LA the following year.

Huge gamble from Masai. At the very least I hope he hasn’t chucked in Anunoby or Siakam in the package.
 
So now that it's confirmed I can give my thoughts.

I think it's a good trade for both teams, not so great for both players but marginally better for Leonard than it is for DeRozan.

San Antonio's perspective: They get a very good player back, a pretty decent young talent and an additional pick which will probably not amount to much considering that Toronto are easily a top 3 team in the East. I think with Popovich being almost 70 and their best player being on the wrong side of 30 they are trying to make their last run at competing. It's actually not that far fetched, they won 47 games last year without Kawhi and they were the only team that actually looked like beating the Warriors in a game in 2016-17 playoffs before Kawhi went out. Players get better after they join Toronto and they tend to get much more mileage out of their talent than any other team so DeRozan has proper value to them. Poeltl and pick are good sweteners.

Toronto's perspective: Danny Green is just a salary filler so let's leave him for now. It's a very good move for them, they went into this Summer knowing they weren't good enough to compete last year and needed big changes to get the blood flowing again. I thought they would find it very difficult to trade Lowry and DeRozan and get value back but they managed to get a potential top 5 player back. If all works out well, they will have a healthy Leonard for a year and could potentially compete for the finals more than they could have with DeRozan simply because he's a much better player. He could IMO resign anywhere he went, I don't buy that he's only going to LA and would not consider any other team - as proven with George who stayed in one of the least attractive destinations in the NBA after a very disappointing season because he embraced the culture. If it doesn't work out they will have cleared $30million a year and given themselves a chance to reboot albeit without any additional young assets. I think it would have been very tough to get a young player or a high pick back for DeRozan though, considering you need match salaries and all.

Players perspective: It's really harsh on DeRozan who has given everything to Toronto and has stayed there in 2016 offseason despite being able to get a max from virtually 20 out of 30 teams in the league. He will probably enjoy San Antonio because of great coaching and culture but he will feel down about it for sure. It's not a dream move for Kawhi but at least he gets out of San Antonio and goes to a team that might challenge for the Finals. Also, he might actually like it there I think.
 
That's probably the best version of the deal for Toronto. Keeping OG is huge for them. Poetl is a decent player and should do well at Spurs but he's definitely the lesser loss for the Raptors. I imagine that's what was holding up the deal for so long. Some suggestions were OG and Siakam which would've been a robbery.

Green could actually help them a bit and he's an expiring. Much better than taking on Gasol or Mills.

The pick is basically a 2nd rounder, who cares.

Even if it turns out to be a rental, it's not that expensive in the long run. Their reputation might take a hit, mind.
 
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Keeping nearly entire second unit is a good thing for Toronto too. It was their main strength during the regular season last year and they got to extend VanVleet and keep Wright, Miles and Siakam. Poeltl can be replaced although I also like him.

San Antonio wanted a 20 ppg or close proven scorer in the deal and this was apparently non-negotiable. Sixers and Celtics were not going to give them one.
 
I'll be really interested to see if Kawhi finishes out the season in Toronto. If things are going well and they think they have a shot at making the finals/winning the whole thing then I can see them keeping him and if he decides to walk at the end of the season they go into rebuild mode. On the other hand if Kawhi is just not gelling with the team I can see the Raps attempting to get the Lakers and Clippers in to some sort of bidding war before the trade deadline to try and get the best deal they can.
 
So Raptors can only offer Kawahi a 1 year contract? Is that how it works?!

American sports is soo socialist despite all their capitalist bravado in regular life!
 
kouroux said:
Kawhi sure went from one of the most appreciated players to a real joke now.
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He has handled the whole thing extremely poorly. Whoever his clown advisers are need to be given the boot (his brother right?).
 
Member 5225 said:
So Raptors can only offer Kawahi a 1 year contract? Is that how it works?!

American sports is soo socialist despite all their capitalist bravado in regular life!
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No, I believe they'll be able to offer him up to a five year max for more money than any other team. Similar to what OKC could do with George. Whether or not he wants that is another question.
 
Member 5225 said:
So Raptors can only offer Kawahi a 1 year contract? Is that how it works?!

American sports is soo socialist despite all their capitalist bravado in regular life!
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American sports is owners colluding together to limit the wages and power of the labor force. So not socialism at all.
 
ZDwyr said:
No, I believe they'll be able to offer him up to a five year max for more money than any other team. Similar to what OKC could do with George. Whether or not he wants that is another question.
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They will be able to offer him something like $190million for 5 years while everyone else will only be able to offer $140million for 4 years. The main difference is the fifth year, otherwise you are getting a very similar amount for the first four ($10million variance or so).

I have seen some sources say that Leonard is deeply disappointed with the move and is considering sitting out another season. If he does that I hope NBA bans him for three years.
 
What about the Raptors? Isn't this a better business for the Spurs?
 
Revan said:
It drives me crazy that some of the pundits put Leonard as the second best player in the NBA. I mean, when Warriors won the title in 2017, there was already talk that Durant had reached/surpassed LeBron, and Curry was the consensus third best player in the league. On the next year, Durant wins another MVP finals, Curry has an another superb season and probably should have won MVP finals instead, but yet somehow Kawhi Leonard who didn't even play has become the second best player in the league.

He has truly caught the Lucas Leiva flu. LeBron should be worried next season cause if Kawhi doesn't play, he's gonna surpass LeBron. And Jordan will get surpassed the season after that. All Kawhi has to do is to refuse to play and his greatness will be achieved.
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It's on.

https://clutchpoints.com/the-raptors-are-now-the-greatest-threat-the-warriors-have-ever-had/
 
SCP said:
What about the Raptors? Isn't this a better business for the Spurs?
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I don't think so. It's a good deal for both teams, considering their respective circumstances but in a vacuum it's better for Toronto, I think.
 
Member 5225 said:
So Raptors can only offer Kawahi a 1 year contract? Is that how it works?!

American sports is soo socialist despite all their capitalist bravado in regular life!
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No, Kawhi already has a contract and there is one year left of it. Players don't sign new contracts each time they are traded like in football, they keep their existing ones.
 
Sarni said:
They will be able to offer him something like $190million for 5 years while everyone else will only be able to offer $140million for 4 years. The main difference is the fifth year, otherwise you are getting a very similar amount for the first four ($10million variance or so).

I have seen some sources say that Leonard is deeply disappointed with the move and is considering sitting out another season. If he does that I hope NBA bans him for three years.
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Thanks for clarifying.

Surely he won't actually sit out another season. I agree that he should be banned if he does though. Who would have thought that it would be Kawhi that challenges Durant as the most disliked player in the NBA.
 
ZDwyr said:
Thanks for clarifying.

Surely he won't actually sit out another season. I agree that he should be banned if he does though. Who would have thought that it would be Kawhi that challenges Durant as the most disliked player in the NBA.
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I was under the impression he was injured for the entire year. Did he sit out this past season?
 
Leonard is not a top 5 player though - LeBron, Durant, Curry, Harden, Davis are all better and Leonard still has to prove he's capable of playing at the level he did during 16/17.
 
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